IMPACT OF CORPORATE SOCIAL

RESPONSIBILITY
ON
FIRM'S
CORPORATE IMAGE (A CASE STUDY
OF DANGOTE PLC)

Contents
Chapter One:............................................................................................................................... 3
Aim and Objectives of Research..................................................................................................3
Research Questions.................................................................................................................... 3
Significance of Research.............................................................................................................4
Organizations Preview................................................................................................................4
Chapter Two: Literature Review...................................................................................................6
Proposed Model:.......................................................................................................................... 8
Chapter Three: Methodology.......................................................................................................8
The research onion...................................................................................................................... 8
Research Philosophy...................................................................................................................9
Research Methods..................................................................................................................... 10
Data Collection Tools................................................................................................................. 11
Primary Data Collection Tools.................................................................................................11
Secondary Data Collection Tools............................................................................................12
Sampling and Population........................................................................................................... 12
Data Analysis Methods.............................................................................................................. 13
Research Ethics......................................................................................................................... 13
Research Timeline..................................................................................................................... 14
References................................................................................................................................ 15

Chapter One:
Aim and Objectives of Research
The area selected for the proposed research is corporate social responsibility in
perspective of the image of the company. The proposed research will be conducted to
answer the several questions regarding the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and
its influence on the corporate image. The aim of the research is:
To evaluate the influence of the corporate social responsibility on the image of the
Dangote Plc
The aim of the proposed study will be evaluated in the light of following objectives:

To analyse the economical, environmental and social dimensions of corporate

social responsibility
To analyse the practices by which Dangote Plc has incorporated the economical,
environmental and social decisions of corporate social responsibility I its

practices
To examine the influence of economical, environmental and social practices of

corporate social responsibility on the image of the Dangote Plc

To study the response of customers towards corporate social responsibility

initiatives of the Dangote Plc

To propose the managerial implications of the research findings by which
Dangote Plc can improve its image by the effective implementation of CSR

Research Questions
The research questions have very important role in every study because entire study
aims at the research questionings. In this way, development of clear and appropriate
research questions is also crucial. If research questions are vague and unclear, the
results of the research can also be ineffective and unreliable. The researcher has
developed the following research questions for the proposed study:

How the economical, environmental and social perspectives of corporate social

responsibility have been incorporated in the theory?

How has the corporate image related with the corporate social responsibility

practices?
How has Dangote Plc incorporated economical, social and environmental

perspectives in alignment with the corporate social responsibility initiatives?

How do the economical, environmental and social practices of corporate social

responsibility influence the image of the Dangote Plc?

How do customers respond towards the corporate social responsibility initiatives

of the Dangote Plc?

What are the managerial implications of the corporate social responsibility
initiatives of the Dangote Plc to improve its corporate image?

Significance of Research
The proposed study will be highly appropriate to evaluate the influence of the
economical, environmental and social practices of corporate social responsibility
influence the image of the Dangote Plc. The corporate social responsibility stance has
been highly important in the current business world because of increasing knowledge of
the customers, suppliers and other stakeholders of the organizations. Although, many
researchers have evaluated this research area in an effective way, but a large volume of
such studies has ignored the African countries. In this way, the proposed study will be
significant to evaluate the crucial and under researched area of literature. The findings
of the proposed study will be effective to examine the extent by which an African
corporation incorporates CSR in its economical, environmental and social practices.

Organizations Preview
The proposed study will be aimed at the Dangote Group which is an important
corporation in the West Africa. It has been preferred as one of the most diversified
business conglomerates in the Africa. The business focus of the Dangote Group is one
the provision of value added products and services to the local people to meet the
needs of local population in an effective manner. The company has effectively
developed the manufacturing capacity for generating the employment opportunities in

Nigeria. It was established in 1981 as a trading business. Initially, the focus of the
company was on the cement (Dangote Group, 2013). However, with the expansion, the
company diversified into cement flour, fish and salt industries. By 1990s, the company
had grown into the largest trading companies of the Nigeria.

Dangote Group has

effectively incorporated the CSR practices (Dangote Group, 2013). In the proposed
study, the researcher will evaluate that how Dangote Group has been benefiting from
CSR practices to improve its image.

Chapter Two: Literature Review

In the existing literature, corporate social responsibility has been defined and explored
by many authors ad researchers in different perspectives. Despite of its large scale
importance and effectiveness on the organization, not a single agreed definition of
corporate social responsibility has been developed (Simmons & BeckerOlsen, 2006).
Hill (2006) has evaluated that the corporate social responsibility is the way by which
organizations design their practices to be at good place. On the other hand, Polonsky
and Jevons

(2009) Ellen et al (2006) have evaluated that the CSR is the continuing

commitment of the organizations to adopt ethical behavior for making effective

contribution in the economical and social development by improving the life of the life of
people in the workplace and society at large scale.
Since 1950s, the concept of corporate image or reputation has gained high level
importance. It has been agreed by the scholars and practitioners that the way by which
customers perceive an organization influences the success of the organization (Helm,
2007). However, it is also important to note that the literature lacks the appropriate and
common definition of the corporate image. By observing several definitions of corporate
image or corporate reputation, Fombrun and van Riel (1997) defined that the corporate
image is the representation of the past actions and results of the organizations that
enables the organization to deliver multiple stokeholds in an effective manner. Hence,
the corporate reputation is an important asset of the organization which needs to be
managed effectively. In the existing literature, one of the factors which influence the
corporate positive reputation or image is the corporate social responsibility (Helm,
2007). The literature has also discussed the influence of the corporate social
responsibility initiatives and practices on the organizations positive image (Polonsky
and Jevons, 2009 and Simmons & BeckerOlsen, 2006).
Barnett (2007) has explored the corporate social responsibility as the discretionary
allocation of organizational resources for improving the social welfare in order to
enhance the relationships with the key stakeholders in an effective way. In this regard,
CSR has been highly important for the organizations to survive in the competitive

environment (Polonsky and Jevons, 2009). Reputation is also explored as the unique
and distinctive set of skills for delivering the economic and non-economic benefits to the
stakeholders. Researchers have also explored that the corporate reputation may also
serve as the motivation for the organizations to engage in the corporate social
responsibility initiatives and, in this way, the positive reputation gained by the
organization can be considered as the outcome of the corporate social responsibility
initiatives (Garberg and Fombrun, 2006). In addition, Rettab et al. (2009) have also
explored that the CSR influences the organizational financial performance in a positive
way. Moreover, they also explored that the CSR initiatives adopted by the organization
have positive association with the corporate reputation even in the emerging economies
where it is expected that the CSR practices adopted by the organization will not be
effectively communicated to the external stakeholders because of ineffective
communication channels.
The brief preview of literature suggests that CSR initiatives may have positive influence
on the corporate image. This literature will be further exploded deeply in the proposed
study to evaluate how the previous researchers have theorized the relationship between
corporate image and corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Proposed Model:
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Chapter Three: Methodology

In this particular chapter the methodology has been proposed for the research.
Methodology refers to the overall approach, methods and data collection tools selected
for a research. Moreover, it also outlines the ethical considerations and time line of the
research. In this chapter, the researcher has outlined all methodological considerations
in alignment with the aims and objectives of the proposed study.

The research onion

Saunders et al. (2009) has developed the research onion in which the research
methodological stances have been explored. This research onion will be followed in the
proposed study in an effective way. By using the research onion, the researcher has
proposed the philosophy, research approach, research methods and data collection
methods. Moreover, the researcher has also devised the appropriate sampling
techniques for the proposed stud. The research onion will be followed in the proposed
study to create an alignment in the research methodology.

Saunders et al. (2009)

Research Philosophy
The proposed research will be conducted through positivism methodology by which
research problem has been investigated through facts and figures by using scientific
methods (David, 2004).

The researcher will analyse the perspectives of corporate

social responsibility through scientific methods so that factual evidence can be obtained.
By using positivism philosophical stance, the researcher will use be able to research the
influence of CSR on the corporate image of the Dangote from objective view point
without any assumptions. The positive philosophy provides opportunity to the
researchers to incorporate qualitative and quantitative methods in the research (Bryman
and Bell, 2007). In this regard, the researcher is able to get logical and factual influence
of the CSR on the corporate image of the Dangote. Therefore, the proposed philosophy
is appropriate for the research to achieve its defined aims and objectives.

Research Methods
In order to achieve the aims and objectives of the proposed study, the researcher will
select the qualitative and quantitative research methods.

The qualitative research

methods are exploratory in nature because they aim at explaining the research purpose
in detail without any empirical evidence (Denscombe and Martyn, 2007). By using the
qualitative research methods, the researcher will be able to go deeper in the influence
of CSR on the corporate image of Dangote Plc. In this way, the researcher will be able
to explore the hidden facts and minor details of the influence of CSR on the Dangotes
image. In order to apply the qualitative research methods I the proposed study, the
researcher will have the choices of focus group discussions, interviews, unstructured
observations and bulletin boards methods f data collection (Bostock, 2005). However,
the researcher will not apply all these methods in the proposed study but will prefer to
select any one of these methods which will suit the aims and objectives of the proposed
study.
The researcher will also use the quantitative research methods in the proposed study to
get the empirical evidence of the influence of CSR policies on the corporate image of
Dangote. The purpose of applying these methods in the proposed study will be to
quantify the relationship between CSR and corporate image.

In addition, the

quantitative methods quantify the research problems over a large population. In order to
apply the quantitative research methods, the researcher will have the choices of online,
paper or phone survey, click stream and point of purchase (Bostock, 2005). In the
proposed study, the researcher will select the appropriate data collection methods which
will suit its research aims and objectives.
The application of qualitative and quantitative research methods in the proposed study
will be appropriate for the achievement of all aims and objectives of the proposed study
because both methods will complement the findings of each other. In this way, the
results of the proposed study will be factual and logical. Moreover, the implementation
of quantitative and qualitative research methods in the proposed study will also be
aligned with the positivism philosophy.

Data Collection Tools

The data is categorized into two types. These are primary data and secondary data. The
primary data is which is collected for the first time and has very low biasness (Hussain
and Hussain, 2005). On the other hand, the secondary data is the data which is already
available in the earlier records and databases. This type of data has high bias level
because of its processed nature. In the proposed study, the primary and secondary data
will be applied in an alignment with the mixed methods and positivism philosophy (Luo
& Bhattacharya, 2006).

For the collection of primary and secondary data in the

proposed study, the researcher will select the appropriate data collection tools which are
suitable and convenient to apply in the proposed study.

Primary Data Collection Tools

The primary data will be used in the proposed study for getting empirical and original
perspective of the research aims and objectives. The primary data will be collected
through survey tool in the proposed study. The survey tool refers to the collection of
data through interactive tools from a large population. By using the survey tool, the data
can be collected from large population in short duration by using a flexible data tool. The
survey tool will also be suitable for the proposed study because it will be convenient and
will not involve complications. In the proposed study, the researcher will use the survey

tool for the collection of primary data from customers of the Dangote Plc. In the
proposed study, a close end questionnaire will be used for the collection of data. The
close end questionnaire will generate the quantitative data for the study.

Self

administered questionnaire survey will be used for the collection of data in the study so
that originality can be enhanced.
In addition to the survey tool, the researcher will also apply the interview technique for
the collection of primary data. However, the interview technique will be used for
collection for data from the managers of the Dangote. The purpose of the application of
interview technique in the proposed study is to get the deeper insight of the managers
about the influence of CSR on the Dangotes image. In this way, the researcher will able
to analyze the influence of CSR on corporate image not only from customers
perspective but also from the managers point of view. The researcher will select the
structured interviews for the collection of data from the managers of the Dangote. The
structured interviews will be easy to conduct and apply in the proposed study because it
will not take much time and effort of the researcher. Moreover, the participants will also
be at ease to provide the feedback on questions asked.
The sample questions which would be asked from the management respondents will
include:

How do they perceive corporate social responsibility for the organization?

How the company has incorporated the economical, social and environmental

responsibility in its practices?

How effective are the CSR efforts of the company?

Secondary Data Collection Tools

The secondary data will be collected from the books, articles and companys reports.
The books will be used for studying the CSR perspectives. In addition, the researcher
will also study the research articles and journals to investigate the aims and objectives
of the research. In addition, the researcher will also use the reports of the company to
investigate the CSR perspectives of the Dangote. In addition, the recent journal articles
will also be investigated to evaluate the influence of the CSR perspectives of the
Dangote on the corporate image. It is important to note that the researcher will prefer to

collect the secondary data from the recent journal articles and books to evaluate the
research purpose and aims in the current scenario.

Sampling and Population

For the collection of primary data, the researcher will target the two populations of the
Dangote. One will be the customer population of the company and other will be the
companys managers. The target population of the proposed study will be very large.
Therefore, the researcher will select the small segment of the entire population. In this
stance, the researcher will select the 100 customers and 5 managers of the Dangote by
applying convenience sampling technique. The use of convenience sampling will be
preferred I the proposed study because it will be easy to implement. In short duration,
the researcher will be able to select the sample of the proposed study. It is important to
mention that some researchers argue that convenience sampling may generate
biasness in the sample. In order to resolve the issue, the researcher will select a large
sample to generate diversity and also to reduce the chances of biasness. The selected
diverse sample will be appropriate to explore the influence of the CSR on the Dangotes
image.

Data Analysis Methods

In the proposed study, the data will be analyzed through simple descriptive technique.
The descriptive technique uses the percentage and frequency distribution for the
analysis of data. In this regard, the researcher will only focus at the descriptive to
evaluate the relationship between CSR activities of the Dangote and the corporate
image. To apply the descriptive analysis techniques, the researcher will use the MS
Excel. First of all, questionnaire data will be tabulated on the MS Excel and then
analysis will be made through application of descriptive techniques. In addition, the
researcher will also made discussions on the primary data findings through literature
review. In this way, relationship between primary and secondary data findings will be
established.

Research Ethics
For the conduction of every research, it is highly important to observe ethical and moral
principles. In order to conduct the proposed study, the researcher will follow the
appropriate

ethical

considerations

in

diverse

perspectives.

Following

ethical

considerations will be selected in the proposed study:

Permission will be taken from the companys officials before collection of data
The customer participants will not be pressurized to take their response on the

questionnaire
Fair interpretation of data will be conducted
Fair analysis will be made on the primary data
The sources of data will be clearly mentioned

Research Timeline
Following timeline will be followed in the proposed study to evaluate the influence of the
corporate social responsibility practices on the corporate image:
Weeks
Designing Research
proposal
Approval
of
Research Proposal

1st
Week

2nd
Week

3rd
Week

4th
Week

5th
Week

6th
Week

7th
Week

Literature Review

Designing
questionnaire
for
survey and interview
Collection
of
Primary
data
through survey and
interview
Analysis of Primary
data
Writing
Research
Report
Meeting
with
supervisor
Changes in first

8th
Week

draft of research
Second review by
supervisor
Final Preparation of
Research

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Group,
(2013).

Companys

History.

Available

at:

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