Introduction

After the completion of the planning and development stages, it is important to evaluate the entire investigation process. This is due to the reason that evaluating the entire investigation process will help to understand the strength areas and the areas for improvement. In addition, another objective of doing the evaluation of the investigation is to identify the reliability and authenticity of the sources used in the analysis. On the basis of these analysis, a few recommendations will be discussed that can further enhance the quality of analysis from the next projects. This evaluation paper will discuss about the above identified factors and major strengths and weaknesses will be identified.

Assessment of the research objectives

The first objective was to understand the importance of CSR in the fashion industry. It is identified in the investigation that CSR and fashion industry is directly related to each other. It is analyzed that more than 50 percent of the respondents are having opinion that CSR is important in the fashion industry. In the current era of customer oriented business, this data is denoting the importance of the former. The next objective identified is the identification of the challenges faced by Primark in terms of the CSR activities. This objective is also being met in the further investigation. It is identified that lack of the communication with the supply chain partners is the key challenge for Primark in terms of their CSR activities. This is due to the reason that there are number of channel partners working with Primark and lack of communication is causing lack of control over their activities. Thus, CSR challenges for Primark are identified in the investigation.

The next objective is to investigate the benefits of CSR in business and impact on the market reputation. In this case, it is investigated about the buying preferences of the customers towards a brand and how the preferences are getting influenced by the CSR activities. It is also identified in the data analysis that more than 60 percent of the customers are unwilling to buy from socially tarnished brand. This is denoting the impacts of CSR on the market reputation. Thus, it can be concluded that each of the objectives identified is met without any further amendments.

Evaluation of the planning and developing stages

One of the aspects that worked effectively in the planning and developing stages is the identification of the CSR issue for Primark. This refers to the fact that proper issue identification is important to evaluate the same and match the research objectives. In the panning section, the chosen topic of using labor in the Indian operation of Primark is a significant CSR issue in the recent time and helped in evaluating the practical issues with that of the identified objectives. In addition, identification of the proper CSR issue also helped to maintain the real world implication of this research paper and reliability. Hence, this aspect in relation to the planning brief is effectively worked. In this section, the justification for selecting this issue is also identified with number of reasons that should prove the effective working mechanism of the activity.

In terms of the planning part, it is identified that involvement of both the primary and secondary analysis helped in enhancing the effectiveness. This is due to the reason that both primary and secondary analysis is having different sets of utilities and none of them are sacrificed. With the help of the primary research, the real data is gathered from the direct respondents while on the other hand, secondary research helped in leveraging on the extended information regarding the same topic and what other scholars are stating. Hence, the good of both worlds is added in this section. It is proving the fact that this aspect did work effectively. Lastly, in terms of the development report, different dimensions are added in the analysis. For example, the intensity of the CSR related activities in terms of both Primark as an individual company and the entire fashion industry helped in analyzing from different perspectives. It helps in meeting the research objectives in the most effective manner. Hence, this can be concluded that each of the aspects did work ideally and effectively.

Assessment of the reliability and validity of the information sources

Assessment of reliability and validity of the resources used in the information is important to ensure the real world implications of the report. The development section involved both secondary and primary resources. In terms of the secondary resources, only the peer reviewed journal articles are used. With the help of the secondary resources, qualitative research is being done. Inclusion of the peer reviewed journals helped in maintaining the authenticity of the report because they are already being reviewed and evaluated. This denotes the fact that prior to the use of these journals in this report, this data is already checked and ensured and thus it is also ensured that exact and accurate data is used in the qualitative research. On the other hand, it should also be noted that reliable journal sources are being used. The journals used in this report are renowned and are known for their authenticity. The scholars are also eligible for the give statements. Thus, it can be concluded that in terms of both the quality of journals and scholars, quality is ensured and checked and the qualitative research is also reliable.

In terms of the primary research and data analysis also, reliability and viability is ensured. This includes the probability and non probability sampling method. Only close ended questions are being used for the interview questionnaire. Hence, using different sampling methods helped in determining and analyzing the data from different perspectives. With the help of the probability sampling method, random selection is done for choosing the respondents. This is denoting that no bias and partiality is evident in the sampling process. The lower will be the bias and partiality in the selection process of respondents, the more will be the reliability of the research. On the other hand, with the help of the no-probability sampling method, proper respondents with the knowledge of this particular research got selected. Thus, the responses, which are gathered, are accurate and effective. This is also proving the quality of the research done. In terms of the validity of the research resources, the interview questions are based on different perspectives. This is helping in making the research output applicable in different scenarios and more valid in the real world situations. On the other hand, the secondary research resources identified are also termed as valid. This is due to the reason that all the peer reviewed journal articles used in this research paper are not before the published date of 2014. Hence, the information give in these journals are relevant with the current scenario being faced by Primark. This can be concluded that all the resources used are valid as well as reliable.

Assessment of strengths and weaknesses

On the basis of the analysis being done, there are few strengths and weakness identified. These weaknesses should not be there in the report but they are still evident and prove the fact that more areas of improvement should be mitigated. One of the major weaknesses identified from this report analysis is the different results from probability and non probability methods. This is due to the reason that responses from the random respondents are different to that of the responses from the specific respondents. These differences are ultimately posed problems in creating the consensus based outcome from the research report. However, on the other hand, it should also be noted that the final research report is not all about weak but there are few strength areas also being identified. The most prominent strength area of this research paper is the involvement of both secondary and primary research methods. Inclusion of both the methods helped in gaining the advantages from both the methods and implements them in the research paper. The outcome from the research paper got more perspectives covered due to this dual research methods used.

Recommendations for future investigations

It is recommended that in the future investigations, gathering information should be made more specific or totally on the basis of random sampling method. This is due to the reason that involving only the random sampling method or non probability method will help to gain less different type of responses. Moreover, it is also recommended that more primary data should be involved compared to the secondary data. This is because, primary data is gathered directly from the involved stakeholders and thus the probability of authenticity is more with it compared to the secondary data. Lastly, time management is another key aspect for getting better results from the future investigations. This is due to the reason that lack of proper time management caused difficulties in meeting the different elements of doing this research project. Thus, with the help of proper time management, all the steps and stages in the research project can be fulfilled effectively and probability of error will also be low.

Conclusion

From doing this research project, a number of skills and knowledge are gained in going through different stages. One of the major skills identified is the analyzing skills. This is due to the reason that on the basis of analysis skills, the raw data collected from the respondents is analyzed and manipulated data is presented. Another knowledge gained is the importance of CSR in the current business scenario.

Topic- Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility – Primark

Introduction 

Corporate Social Responsibility significantly refers to a set of business initiatives that organisations apply for social develop and community development as their responsibility to the society where the business perform its operation. Such initiatives may often fall into three different categories that are widely known as social, economic and environment. Some businesses often overlook corporate social responsibility and show limited concern towards the social and environmental duties and end up being the victims of green-washing.  In the current study, to investigate the impact of corporate social responsibility, business scenario of Primark has been considered. Primark is an international retailer which gains its popularity in latest fashion, beauty, as well as home-ware at the best values. However, the fashion retailer Primark failed to perform its corporate responsibility as low-wages to children under the age 11 is exposed to across the world. This research investigates how Primark has addressed the issue of exploiting children with low pay and the corporate strategies it has applied to make a positive change in their corporate initiatives.

Justification of the topic 

The research context or the topic is about impact of corporate social responsibility because CSR has become highly important for business. Customers in each market has been conscious about CSR activities of the brand. Thus, to remain competitive in business, it is highly important for organization to take part in the CSR activities. Some businesses strategically use CSR programs to gain market popularity both in home and abroad market.

Statement of the issues to be investigated 

Even though Primark has been able to strengthen its market position with fashionable clothing items and by wining customers’ trust but as per BBC news Primark is at its worse in dealing with the public protest in Oxford Street today in response to the claims that the retailers have been exploiting child labour (Hopkins 2019).  For example, in Indian market one of the Tamil girls have been spotted sewing sequins on short. It came in news that such children are paid 60 rupees per day.  Thus it is worth stating that Primark’s initiative towards Ethical Trade and Environmental Sustainability Programme is doomed to failure and moreover, the business is not able to comply with the norms of Modern Slavery Act.  In this context, Ukoha (2013) commented that growing pressure on the suppliers in India to provide fast –fashion at the lowest price has made it more challenging for the labour market. Dach and Allmendinger (2014) argued that UK retailers exploit the labours in the garment industry. Thus it is highly important to investigate how Primark has resolved the social challenge. It is also essential to investigate how the corporate strategies of Primark further changed the situation in relation to its corporate social responsibility.

Reasons for the choice of issues 

The major factor behind choosing child labour as the major issue in CSR of Primark because Primark has large marker share in UK market and CSR efforts are often revised in every year for the sake of social welfare development. However, despite being a leading organization in the clothing sector of UK, it has been accused of using a supply chain network where its suppliers are using child labour below the age 11 offering low pay. Thus, it is important to know how Primark has developed its corporate social responsibility strategies to deal with corporate social responsibility challenges. On the contrary, another significant factor of choosing the child labour as the CSR issues is the growing market pressure on cleansing the CSR policies. Large corporations, understanding the importance of social responsibility, have joined the CSR programmes. This increases the market competition among the large businesses with relation to CSR implementation. Nonetheless, it is challenging for the businesses that have negative reputation in the market especially, the business like Primark that has been accused of using child labour.

Research Objectives

• To understand the importance of CSR activities in fashion industry
• To analyse CSR challenges faced by Primark in UK’s fashion industry
• To critically investigate the benefits of CSR in business
• To examine the effect of CSR in business’s market reputation
• To evaluate the impact of CSR activities on Primark’s performance in the fashion industry

Research Questions 

• What are the challenges with respect to CSR faced by Primark in the fashion industry in UK?
• What is the impact of CSR activities on Primark’s performance in the fashion industry?

Data Sources

In order to investigate the impact of CSR on Primark’s organizational performance both secondary and primary data would be used in the research.  Therefore, for collecting secondary data, peer reviewed journal article, books, blogs, annual reports of organisations in the fashion industry would be used, while the primary data would be collected directly from the organizational members of Primark. For example, supervisors, manages who are dealing with external organizational activities are the primary data sources for carrying out the investigation.  In addition to this, University libraries, and Google Scholar would be used as data sources for collecting information.

Research Methods

Research methods are the strategies or set of techniques that are used to collect data or evidence for the analysis to explore new information and generate better insight about the topic. According to Quinlan et al. (2019) there are three different types of research methods which includes different tools for the data collection –such as qualitative research, quantitative and mixed research method. Qualitative research is usually applied to collect data regarding practical experience emotions and behaviour. By using qualitative research, researcher can develop a better understanding of the complex issues, social interaction or the topic of interest.  Qualitative study is fundamentally used when topic of the study is determined to find the reasons behind a certain event. For example, CSR initiatives of Primark are not up to the level of necessity; hence by using the qualitative research method, researcher can find out the reasons behind the poor level of initiatives.

On the contrary, quantitative research method is used to collect numerical data with the help of statistical analysis. Quantitative data is fundamentally used to understand the relationship the variables in the topic. For example, if the research investigates the impact of corporate social responsibility on firm’s performance; here quantitative research method would help to find the relationship between the dependent and independent variable which is corporate social responsibility and performance respectively. Bresler and Stake (2017) mentioned that quantitative research is used in the study to generate statistical findings and to measure the findings with numerical numbers and digits.

In the proposed study, both quantitative and qualitative research methods would be applied to investigate the impact of CSR on Primark’s performance. Qualitative research methods would be used because qualitative research methods would provide broad and descriptive view about the research problems –issue of child labour. On the other hand, quantitative research method would be used in the study because quantitative research methods provide different statistical measure to understand the extent to which CSR influences the organizational performance of Primark.

Data Collection Methods

Survey 

For collecting quantitative data, a survey would be performed among the organizational members of Primark. As put forward by Patten and Newhart (2017), survey is about collecting information from a large population based on pre-developed questionnaire. A close-ended questionnaire would be developed. In the proposed study, survey would be performed on the basis of the sampling method. To perform the survey, Primark’ customers will be involved.  

Interview 

In order to collect qualitative data, an interview method will be implemented in the proposed study. According to McCusker and Gunaydin (2015), interviews are usually implemented in person and face to face is most preferred method of interview.  In the proposed study, interview method would be applied among the executives of Primark UK. To perform the interview, an open-ended questionnaire would be developed but a semi-structured interview method would be followed to collect the interview method. Like the survey, respondents for the interview would be selected on the basis of the sampling method.

Sampling method: 

Sampling method is used in the study to treat a large population suitably for the study. Sampling method is usually divided into two different categories –such as probability sampling and non-probability sampling method (Smith 2015). In probability sampling method, respondents are usually selected on a random manner and each member of the population takes part in the data collection, while non-probability sampling method does not include all members of the population. Under non-probability sampling method, non-randomization is the major technique of non-probability sampling method (Jamshed 2014).  However, in the proposed study, non-probability sampling method would be applied to select respondents because non-probability sampling method enables researcher to select members who have knowledge about the research context. On the contrary, a randomization techniques would mislead the research because members are usually selected in a random order, thus, some selected members might not possess knowledge about the research context.

Justification for choosing the research methods in the study

Sources	Justification	Methods	Primary /Secondary	Justification of Method
Customers(Internal or External) EmployeesSupervisors, senior executives, and managers are engaged for data collection	Why?External are chosen and external Customers are the general consideration in the analysis used in the finding	In order to collect data, a survey method has been applied to the study and the survey has been conducted among the customers of Primark An interview method has been applied to collect qualitative data. Interview has been conducted among the senior employee of Primark	In order to perform the analysis, both primary and secondary data analysis have been conducted	Both secondary and primary research analysis methods have been used in the study because, to analyse the issue of child labour in Primark, both external and internal environmental facts need to be analysed. Thus, primary data analysis would help to learn the views about how organisation takes the initiative to address child labour issues, while secondary data would help to validate the findings by comparing with existing dataset.
Managers – who?	Senior managers and HR executives of Primark
Websites – list these (http:)	WWW.primark.com	Desk Research – searching Internet using Google or Athens	Secondary

References

Bresler, L. and Stake, R.E., 2017. Qualitative research methodology in music education. In Critical Essays in Music Education (pp. 113-128). Routledge.

Dach, L. and Allmendinger, K., 2014. Sustainability in Corporate Communications and its Influence on Consumer Awareness and Perceptions: A study of H&M and Primark. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 130, pp.409-418.

Hopkins, K. (2019). Child labour: Primark caught out. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/jun/23/primark.children [Accessed 2 Nov. 2019].

Jamshed, S., 2014. Qualitative research method-interviewing and observation. Journal of basic and clinical pharmacy, 5(4), p.87.

McCusker, K. and Gunaydin, S., 2015. Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion, 30(7), pp.537-542.

Patten, M.L. and Newhart, M., 2017. Understanding research methods: An overview of the essentials. Routledge.

primark.com (2019). About Us | Primark UK. [online] Primark.com. Available at: https://www.primark.com/en/aboutus [Accessed 2 Nov. 2019].

Quinlan, C., Babin, B., Carr, J. and Griffin, M., 2019. Business research methods. South Western Cengage.

Smith, J.A. ed., 2015. Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. Sage.

Ukoha, C., 2013. Business ethics, corporate social responsibility and the outsourcing of garment production: Theoretical perspectives. Business & Management Review, 3(2), pp.10-13.