Nutrition and Milk Essay

Babies have very specific nutritional needs to be able to develop through the first stages of life healthily. They require milk that is high in protein for the essential amino acids to aid growth. The milk must also have a high fat content to support the quick growth rate of babies. They also require a combination of vitamins and minerals; Iron, for growth and healthy blood Zinc, for enzymes and immune function Calcium, for healthy teeth and bones Vitamin D, for calcium and phosphorous absorption to support healthy teeth and bones Vitamin A, for vision. Vitamin C, for healthy connective tissue, antioxidant protection and iron absorption Fluid is also very important for babies as the kidney and other organs are not developed enough at birth to function fully. The Department of Health recommends that babies are breast fed for the first 6 months before any solid foods are slowly and individually introduced. Breast milk is the best nutrition for babies for several reasons. It carries the mother’s antibodies helping the baby’s immunity from disease and infection. The milk will be tailor made for the babies particular nutritional needs and will change according to the baby’s changing needs. It is easier for a baby to digest than any other type of milk. It will be sterile and at the right temperature. At about six months old, when a baby can sit up and hold its head steady, solid food can be slowly introduced in stages in addition to the baby’s milk. The first stage would be to give very soft food for example, pureed fruit or vegetables, baby rice or porridge or plain dhal. Finger food may also be introduced, such as bread crusts or soft fruit. This is more for the baby to practice the motions of eating and to start using the relevant muscles, than for nutritional value. It is important to introduce foods individually in case the child has an allergic reaction to something. This allergen can be identified more easily if it is a new food. CYPOP2-5. 1 The second stage at about 8 months old starts to expand on the variety of foods and textures. It is important to add foods with soft lumps to encourage the use of muscles in the mouth. This is early preparation for speech. Foods may be introduced such as meat, fish and eggs. Harder finger food such as raw vegetables can help with teething and exercise the jaws and chewing muscles. The third stage of weaning at about 10 months children can start to eat the same sort of foods as the rest of the family. Meals can be chopped or minced and finger foods such as toast and biscuits can be given. It is important that children under one year old still continue to have some form of milk in their diet. They also need plenty of other fluid. Water and some cool herbal teas are preferable to juice and squash as they are high in sugar content. As a practitioner involved in a child’s weaning it is important to do so according to the parent’s wishes. They may have cultural or religious practices to be adhered to or may want their child to fed organically or on a vegetarian diet. Some families prefer to let the baby wean themselves. This is known as ‘Baby led weaning’ and is done by giving the child a choice of finger foods and letting them choose what and how to eat. Food and eating can become a psychological issue and difficulty for many children. Parents can become frustrated and concerned about eating habits and children can use food as a tool for getting what they feel they want. It is important to try to make eating a pleasurable and fun experience for children and to not make meal times stressful for everyone. Ref; SMAnutrition. com CYPOP2-5. 3 Evaluate the benefits of different types of formula that are commonly available. There are different types of formula milk for different stages of babies’ development and different types of diets. Babies require different levels of nutrients as they grow. Some babies find digestion of proteins difficult and some families prefer not to give their babies animal products. Most formula milk is based on cow’s milk that has been changed to resemble breast milk more closely. Vitamins and minerals are supplemented and the levels of carbohydrates and proteins adjusted. This type of formula is suitable for most babies, although the proteins in cow’s milk are the most difficult to break down. This difficulty manifests in many children as eczema. Goat’s milk formula may be used as an alternative as the proteins are less complex. Soya bean based formula may be given to babies but is not recommended for those younger than six months old. Children can have severe allergies to soya and may also have difficulty breaking the proteins down if their digestive system is not yet developed enough. Some babies have allergies and intolerances to certain substances from birth. If breast feeding is not possible, or sometimes in addition to breast milk, they may be prescribed a Hydrolised-protein formula. This formula already has broken down protein and therefore should be easier for the baby to digest. Children that are not gaining weight and developing sufficiently or ‘failing to thrive’, may also be prescribed an extra fatty formula, sometimes in addition to breast milk.

There are many reasons why you could argue the ‘Class Structure’ is changing in the Contemporary UK

Firstly, up until the 1980's wealth was becoming more fairly distributed across the population, however since the 1980's this trend has reversed and the gap between rich and poor has rocketed. Now a days, most wealth remains in the hands of a tiny minority whilst the majority float above the fine line of poverty. New Right sociologists claim that the old ruling class has disintegrated and a share owning expanded middle class has emerged. Peter Saunders now claims minority rule by a minority class has been replaced with a nation of stakeholders. However the continued existence of a ‘power elite' controlling the majority of wealth and power has been well documented by John Scott. Manual work patterns have changed also, i.e. in the primary and secondary industry manual jobs have declined significantly, whilst service sector jobs have increased. The expansion of the Welfare state has caused professional and non manual jobs to increase, results in a bloated middle class. The traditional working class has also changed, with women becoming a more influential and important member of the work force. Part time work has increase too. As a result of a rising global economy a geographical shift in the traditional working class has emerged. In the West there has been a growth in non manual employment with an extension of state services, in particular teachers, nurses, clerks etc There has also been an increase the employment of women and part time low insecure employment. Roberts claims the middle class has expanded but also ‘fragmented' into a number of distinct groups, i.e. professionals, managers, self employed. Roberts call these strata within the middles class ‘class fractions' each with its own culture, norms and values. Professionals tend to employ internally, therefore if your father is a professional you are much more likely to be employed. Savage suggest that professionals have a strong sense of class solidarity as evidence of their willingness to take collective action to protect their values, i.e. Occupational Associations-BMA, law society and lower down the NUT There has been a significant increase in self employed people, especially in the areas of consultancy in the finance, ICT areas. Large numbers of employed managers have their own consultancy business too. It is understood that Henry Ford shaped the traditional working class with his first moving assembly line in the 1914. Work was divided up into much more manageable loads and presented to a much lower skilled work force in return for lower labour costs. Fordism shape both working class and its sense of solidarity. However with manufacturing in decline this class has also begun to decline. Henry Braveman argues that Fordism still impacts working class as workers are constantly de-skilled with the introduction of technology. This introduction of technology has also dented the middle class occupations as white collar clerical/ technical are subject to proletarianisation by the impending application of technology. Marxists suggest that revolutionary class consciousness will be the result of such trends. Daniel Bell suggests that we are now living in a post fordist or post industrial age where work is based intellectual creativity rather than physical effort. Businesses also take more care of their workforce through better conditions, pay and concern for professional development. To support these claims by Bell the primary and secondary industries have declined whilst tertiary have expanded, as a result fewer people in Western Europe now work more with their brains than with their hands. Service sector workers lack the old structures of union and solidarity, thus seemingly becoming more privatised. There has been a growth of highly skilled new technology workers (wired workers) whom work from home, enjoying increased flexibility, challenge and autonomy. However there is strong evidence against Bell's theory, i.e. some sociologists argue that manual work has simply followed market conditions to low labour costing parts of the world. Also some argue the point that most computer workers sit in fact sit front of computers to input simple repetitive data, in poor conditions and for low pay.

The Role of Epigenetic Events in Cancer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Role of Epigenetic Events in Cancer - Essay Example It is worth mentioning that most CpG sites have been lost from mammalian genomes during evolution, but in about 1% of human DNA consists of short areas where CpG sites have escaped depletion. Repetitive sequences of the human genome contain approximately 50% of all CpGs. Similar values are expected for other mammalian genomes. In contrast to CpG islands repetitive elements are thought to be constantly methylated. DNA methylation of most repetitive elements is maintained throughout development and even maintained during germ cell development. Methylated cytosines are more prone to fixate mutations compared with cytosine, C to T transitions occur frequently at methylated CpGs within repetitive elements. In consequence, this leads to an overall depletion of CpGs in repetitive elements and hence the bulk genome and an overall CpG deficit in mammalian genomes. CpG dinucleotide sequences are frequently the target of a chemical modification known as DNA methylation. The covalent modificatio n of the cytosine ring by a family of enzymes called DNA methyltransferases converts cytosines that are located 5 to guanosines to 5-methylcytosine. 5-methylcytosine has a propensity to undergo deamination to become uracil, which in turn becomes a thymidine during the next round of DNA replication if the deaminated base has not been repaired. The resulting C to T transition is mirrored by a corresponding G to A transition on the complementary DNA strand. As a result of methylation and subsequent deamination, CpG dinucleotide sequences have been progressively lost from the human genome over the course of many generations. Thus, the hypermutability of CpG sequences has led to a relative paucity of CpG sites in the human genome. The CpG dinucleotides that are the targets of DNA methyltransferases are distributed asymmetrically throughout the genome. Most regions of the genome have been depleted of CpG sites by spontaneous deamination.

Law of Insurance Contract Disputes Personal Statement

Law of Insurance Contract Disputes - Personal Statement Example For consideration also is the choice-of-law analysis as Travelers Insurance is located in New Jersey while Aetna Casualty and Surety are in Virginia.  Ã‚   The court is correct in siding with Aetna in this case. A failure to exercise the right to respond to an offer for settlement (either by acceptance or rejection) is construed as a waiver on the part of the claimant. Two years is a long enough period of time to make a reasonable response and failure to do so constitute unreasonable delay (Stempel, 1998). The statute is presumed to have started or accrued from the time of the accident (October 1981) and not on the date of the initial offer by Aetna Casualty (November 08, 1982). The claimant, in this case, did not file any case within the two-year limitation of the statute. Civil claims should be filed within two years from the date of the accident in order to avoid the possibility of a dismissal (Schneider April 26, 2004). The offer to settle was initiated instead by the adverse party of the claimant. Further, the record shows claimant's counsel did not contradict the evidence showing customary industry practice is to respond to a settlement offer within a few weeks, not in months or years. Additionally, the claimant did not indicate immediate acceptance but only signified it a year and three months after the initial offer was made – on February 4, 1984, from the offer date of November 08, 1982 (Matthews, 2009).     

Constantine and Christianization Research Paper

Constantine and Christianization - Research Paper Example His mother was a Christian and it is assumed that her influence may have been a factor in his conversion, although this is based on speculation since there is no record relating to the reasons for his faith. He was undoubtedly a man of conviction who changed his spiritual allegiance out of sincere motives, but his individual beliefs do not explain the gradual consolidation of the Christian place which took place during his lifetime. In order to explore this fascinating period of history and explain the rapid process of Christianization in this period it is necessary to look at the political and economic conditions of the time as well as some of the religious and philosophical debates which were carried out in clerical and academic circles. Constantine became emperor of the whole Roman Empire in 324 at a time when most of the Roman authorities were convinced that the stability of the empire depended upon persecuting Christians and promoting the traditional polytheistic religion of Roman antiquity, while admitting some secular and philosophical debate drawn from the widely popular Greek culture of the time. According to Gill (1) Constantine’s conversion to Christianity was one major contribution to Western history but it is matched by his creation of the illustrious city of Constantinople, which became a model for other cities to follow and a rival to the glory of Rome. His massive building plan gave greater credibility to the Christian faith, particularly as he was interested in Church architecture and devoted significant sums of money to Christian projects. Constantine was a remarkably generous patron to the arts and architecture, leaving his mark on the history of European culture in the form of many ambitious buildings which together characterise what came to be known as Byzantine culture. Some important

The Future of airlines Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Future of airlines - Essay Example The security concerns shown by many passengers and increasing surveillance by the security agencies not only mean scheduling delays but airlines are also facing a general increase in the overall discontent of the customers. What will be the future of airline industry and how it will shape itself into future is a big question for strategists as well as futurologists as the fast changing business environment envisages completely new and revolutionary changes into it. However, before discussing what changes may take place in airline industry as well as well as the individual business practices of different airline firms. This paper will present an analysis regarding the future of airline industry and how it shape into future and what course of action industry will take over the different external as well as internal issues which industry is currently facing. It is being argued that the US airline industry is the victim of its own past success. The industry thrived on intense competition to lower the fare to attract as much passenger traffic possible however due to lack of government support in terms of increasing the overall capacity of the airports and runways, the increasing passenger demands were not adequately met due to which industry started to suffer a sharp decline from its previous position. The event of 9/11 aggravated the situation further by adding other dimensions to the overall air travel and that was of safety. There are many issues which are of concerns for most of the industry experts regarding the future of airline industry including the increasing concerns over customer services, safety of the customers which has become an increasingly important concern, changing technology as well as overall economics of doing the business. Further, due to safety concerns, the demand for the private jets especially light jets is increasing. The use of lightweight jets are predicted to be used air taxies to cover short distances at relatively low costs and more accuracy without loss of time. Apart from above factors, globalization, shifting of economic activity to countries such as China, Brazil, Russia etc, current credit crunch in most of the developed countries, ageing population with lesser requirements of air travel, corporate social responsibility as well as ethical consumerism are all the different factors which are said to be contributing towards defining the future shape of airline industry. The above graph1 suggests that the recent activity in airline industry is decreasing with the passage of time. Not only passenger traffic is consistently decreasing but the freight is decreasing too due to high oil prices. It is also because of this reason that most of the airlines have started charging baggage surcharge as well as reduced the amount of meals served in order to remain competitive in the face of reduced passenger and freight traffic. The above scenarios suggest that different factors which have been mentioned above are already taking their toll over the progress and growth of the industry. Corporate and Social Responsibility Corporate social responsibility is not a new concept and its relevance to the airline industry is as long as the concept itself. What is important however is the fact that corporate and social

Privacy and Surveillance in the Digital Age Movie Review

Privacy and Surveillance in the Digital Age - Movie Review Example The story then enters its crucial phase when the system predicts that Anderton will future murderer of Leo Crow; the person whom Anderton did not know. The epic then revolves around the attempts made by Anderton to escape from FBI and his fellow agents. He then successfully approached one of the psychics and is assisted by the program manager; through investigation he realises that the program developer has left a control under him to design and manipulate the future. High-tech surveillance is the real entertainment offered by director Tony Scott in his movie Enemy of State. The movie has focused upon application of the technological gadgets and software to trace and monitor the daily electronic communication of the American citizens to prevent terrorism. A bill titled Telecommunications Security and Privacy Act was sent to legislation for approval, however the bill was ostensibly rejected by Congressman, the legislator was then shot dead by National Security Agency, however the footage of the Congressman murder was recorded by photographer. The photographer is then traced while he was exchanging this information through telephone; he was then traced however he managed to protect the evidence from the National Security Department. The evidence landed in the shopping bag of the lawyer Dean. The epic moves around the attempts by National Security Agency officials to retrieve the evidence from the lawyer Dean; who is equally innovative and cautious about his security and has bugs installed at his place. Referring to the Minority Report, the access to future is acceptable, and carrying out attacks on the individuals based upon their future sins is arguable. The prosecutor was executed and justice is delivered after the crime, however in this epic the justice is delivered prior to the occurrence of the crime. The extent of the involvement of the security agencies in the personal life of the individuals only for the sake of National Security is not encouraging. At the end of the movie, it is concluded that the programming was corrupted by the developer; such loopholes in the system further aggravate the situation, and develop reluctance among the masses to accept the change. (Discussion) I believe that if the criminals are executed based upon the information from future-teller; then it is essential that such system shall be error-proof. I understand that the security of the country is essential but the influence of the technology shall never be to an extent that it restricts and controls the liberty and freedom of the individual citizen. With reference to the movie Enemy of the State; the importance of the intelligence information to prevent and identify the terrorists and criminals from the society cannot be ruled out, but if the same intelligence is being used to monitor and control the people who are opposed to such intelligence monitoring system then this is erroneous. The photographer was traced through the intelligence monitoring system; however the person carried no terrorism-related affiliation. (Discussion) I personally believe that it is inappropriate application of the intelligence system which can harm the society. The intrusion and violation of the privacy is an offence, even if this is being done to prevent terrorism. I firmly believe that the lawmakers and intelligence agencies have to mutually define limits for the

Film History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Film History - Essay Example The year 1944 to 1948 marked its heyday (Walsh 169). The themes that characterized Film Noir are manifested in the â€Å"Sin City,† â€Å"Following,† â€Å"Memento,† â€Å"The Dark Night Strikes,† and the like. The â€Å"Sin City,† a crime thriller released in 2005 featured black and white landscapes, brutality of the narration, and the violent action. This film presented a style, which paid tribute to Noir Film (Mayer and McDonnell 380). Meanwhile, a film of Christopher Nolan entitled, â€Å"Following† also exhibited themes of Noir Film. The movie, which was released in 1998 relied on suspense, shadow, and pervading mode. Christopher Nolan also directed â€Å"Memento,† which is a 2001 thriller featured in a reverse manner. It portrayed themes of Film noir such as suspense, alienation, and irrationality (Schellhardt 319). A movie released in 2002 entitled, â€Å"The Dark Knight Strikes Again† similarly portrayed themes of film noir through its depictions of the Gotham City and it s psychologically damaged hero (Spicer 53). The use of film noir as a style of cinema in the current movies indicated that its theme proved popular beyond the 1940’s to

Evaluation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Evaluation - Research Paper Example Several local agencies working in conjunction with national health organizations have outlined strategies and measurements to prevent obesity in their specific areas. When collated, the data form part of the national statistics which inform the public of the updates on this chronic illness. The numerous local and state agencies within the country give authoritative data, facts, and statistics; as well as goals, projected outcomes, and recommendations to assist the public afflicted with obesity. Likewise, professionals, both in local and state agencies, are ready to assist individuals in ensuring that an effective successful long term weight loss is achieved. The research aims to evaluate the health promotion program on obesity issues through tools and models applied to attain goals identified in the national agenda. The findings revealed that through regular monitoring and surveillance of the target population’s percentages and statistics on obesity issues, strategies and interventions are adapted and adjusted, as required. Community based response and through the assistance of leadership, social marketing and other measures, ultimately hope to minimize or ultimately prevent the incidence of obesity in the future. The issue of addressing obesity has been specifically identified as a national agenda in Healthy People 2010. Its relevance and priority to focus on this chronic illness and to seek ways to address it are possible through epidemiology surveillance systems and tools implemented both in the local and state levels. Several local agencies working in conjunction with national health organizations have outlined strategies and measurements to prevent obesity in their specific areas. In this regard, the research is undertaken with the objective of evaluating the health promotion program on obesity as one of the national issues

Healthy Living Report Essay Example for Free

Healthy Living Report Essay Healthy livingâ€Å" Campaign report 1. Background research to the issue To find the way linked to my group topic and target made us to meet many times and discuss about social issues among students and young people. It made my group to think a lot what topic for campaign would be interesting to us – while working for this, and similarly what would be interesting for other people especially for students in Middlesex University. First of all, everyone in my group pay attention on unhealthy food and ingredients which make daily food able to be fresh for long term and even dangerous. My group decided to start doing campaign â€Å"tricky food† and we all fell into research on dangerous ingredients in popular supermarkets’ food. As we published in our Wiki page â€Å"Unhealthy substitutes used in food production† had to be our campaign stage. (Wiki, ResearchS08G1). From long list of various chemicals and acids which are used in food our group made a decision to focus on Aspartame the most. Aspartame is artificial sweetener which is 200 times sweeter than sugar and commonly used in food industry. In the internet is not difficult to find many articles and discussions about it, some people claim that it is very dangerous to human’s health because of its force to cause cancer, nerve disorders, birth defects and other healthy imbalances. From the other side of view, probably from the business side, some people are ready to prove that aspartame is not so bad, the right amount of it in food is not dangerous and it is cheaper to use in food industry than sugar. However, this sweetener is widely used and found in drinks such as diet coke, energy drinks and even some juice. In the United States aspartame is regulated by FDA – Food and Drug Administration which has set the ADI (acceptable daily intake) for aspartame 50mg/kg and similarly in the European Union – by European Food Safety Authority ADI is 40mg/kg. (American Cancer Society, Learn About Cancer 2011). Well, when the national administration has set the secure quantity of this sweetener it became allowable to use it in food widely. Due to that my group decided that there are no argues with food industry and during our campaign it is hard to change sweeteners usage in nourishment and we made another decision: to change campaign topic and target substantially. Every one of us is surrounded by bright adverts and slogans to be eco-friendly, to eat healthy food, to avoid junk food, to choose food without any preservatives and so on. My group and I also decided to join in those who are providing healthy living style. We started to do another research linked to it, to search what vitamins human need to recover healthy organism after winter and which fruit and vegetables have beneficial vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Also very important issue that UK is on the leading position in regards to obese citizens in Europe (Wiki, ResearchS08G1). Regarding to New York Times (2010, The World is Fat) in almost half of developed countries, one out of every two people is overweight or obese. In the figure is clearly visible that England was and will be second nation after United States which has overweight, till 2020 it can reach 70 per cent limit! These facts made us to take care for obese issue in United Kingdom. As a united group of different countries: two Lithuanians, Polish and two English we see our target to start informing students about this growing problem by providing healthy eating habits and healthy life style including exercises and view of it. 2. Process of campaign planning Firstly, we had chosen to run the campaign about â€Å"tricky food† and especially aspartame but as I mentioned in the first part of report, during the research we found facts that aspartame is legal sweetener and the right amount of it is not dangerous to human’s health. With our campaign we would be having too less force and evidence in order to avoid this sweetener use in food industry. Regarding to this, we left the idea about tricky food and during more than two meetings we were discussing about many topics which could be interesting and worthy to pay attention. It was not easy part of planning our campaign because we all understood that to find the topic with strong target and serious attitude it is difficult. We mentioned points such as how we could include more people to our team, how we could represent information for them and for our university, should we stay only in university or shall we go further: inform people about issue in our living areas, in the social websites, etc. how we could do our event and what to do so as to attract an attention. We were sure that we will have leaflets with useful information, that we will set up facebook page for our campaign and we will do our event in the university. In our meeting we had not have one  person as a chairperson, we all were equivalent and we all were suggesting our ideas. My idea was to look deeper how we are living, what are ours daily diet, daily routine – are we healthy enough or should we change something in our lives. While suggesting the topic Healthy living I also had an idea to raise the charity fund. Even more, to visit children schools or other meeting places and inform them about our campaign and targets. Unfortun ately, I had not got any assent from my team members for this action. However, I sent some emails to charities such as British Red Cross and Save the Children. I informed them about our campaign and targets, mentioned that we would like to do our campaign as a charity. While giving healthy food (fruit or veg) in university my team could collect some donation for one of the charities and later we could collaborate by doing volunteering jobs or events providing healthy living. I have got an answer from British Red Cross, they were interesting in our action and targets. Unfortunately, I had got that answer too late because we were already doing our campaign on ourselves without any outside organizations. 3. Work as a group From my view at this point I am quite happy while working with my group. As in every team work we faced with some advantages and disadvantages but the final result was nice. The best times and really strong team work were when all group members were attending the meetings. Sure, it had happen only few times, however, those meetings were pretty good. We had never have any argues or complaints, our discussions were always polite and with respect to each other. We always listened to each other’s ideas and discussed them together with giving some agreements or reasoned rejections. Usually our meetings were with three attended group members. Nevertheless, we were able to consider what would be the next step, what research we had to do until next meeting and all jobs or duties were apportion between every team member equally. Even more, if we were having enough spare time after meeting, some of us were going to library to do research together or to write down the minutes into the wiki page. For more questions or advice we were chatting online, by sending emails we arranged for the next meeting. On the other hand, this low attendance made some difficulties to organize all team work, it always takes time to text messages to inform other members about further actions. Because everyone has jobs it was difficult to find right times in order to meet all together, some group members were paying more attention for their jobs than to studies and especially for this campaign. Due to these issues our campaign was small and weak, its background were just two people who pay more attention to every organizing step. 4. Your action I value my action in the group as big part of whole campaign. The background and topic of Healthy living was my idea suggested in the group meeting. I came with the wide idea of it and I had some plans how to reach the main aim. As I mentioned above, I offered to do a campaign as a charity: while providing fruit or vegetables for students we can collect donation for a charity, later collaborate with that organization and hope for getting some support. Personally I always like to communicate with organizations such as charities or other help centres, I have previous experience by searching the support for some events that is why I feel free and confident while asking others to promote my plans. This time I had asked some charities but unfortunately I have not got any help from them. First of all, I think I had to call them straight away and reject sending emails and waiting for answers, second , I think I had to let them know more about my action, about our campaign, purpose and all details so as to make them interesting enough to support us. Finally, if I would be able to have enough force to influence others I would have asked other my group members to help me and to pay more attention on our campaign because I felt too weak to take this huge part alone. Anyway, at the end of March and beginning of April I was communicating with Community Fundraiser from British Red Cross. She replay to my email a bit too late than I was expected but it is always nice to let other communities know about my actions and attitude. I can be brave to say that I was that person in my group who was the most enthusiastic about campaign planning and actions. It was not difficult to take care and organize the event during which we were giving free apples, apple shaped stickers and leaflets with interesting information about fruit. In order to get apples each of us asked local shops to support us by giving some apples. I am living Hendon, so here I found many local shops where I am shopping almost every day and I visited them with my special request. First of all, while talking to the manager of the shop I let him know who I am and what I am doing, later I asked him to support our campaign and in the same way I made him sure that he is making big help not only for my group but also for some students who maybe will start thinking more about healthy life style. Some shops rejected my request but I did not give up and went ahead. Finally, I found one shop near to the Hendon Central Station which was very helpful and polite. People who are working there wished me luck and even know they look at me as at friendly shopper. 5. Supporting other campaigns Our group was working alone without any collaborate with other campaigns from our module. As we all got the topic food almost all campaigns were linked to healthy products. Some of them had chosen specifically one product (energy drink, junk food – hamburgers, etc. ) and they run campaigns in order to change people attitude and inform them how dangerous it is. Differently, we had not chosen any products – we looked into whole lifestyle which includes food, exercises and attitude. I really appreciate other people job, how they did their campaigns, how they had represented their ideas and what targets they had. Only one thing what I might to change could be the way how they did their events. Most of all campaigns were too silent, working only on social websites such as Facebook or Twitter, I would rather do it loudly in the centre of our university. References: Wiki, S08G1 â€Å"Healthy Living†, research 2012 [online], http://mcs1000campaigns. middlesex. wikispaces. net/ResearchS08G1 American Cancer Society, Learn about cancer 2011. [online], http://www. cancer. org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/AtHome/aspartame The New York Times, The World is Fat 2012, [online], http://economix. blogs. nytimes. com/2010/09/23/the-world-is-fat/

Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility

Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This dissertation discusses and undertakes an analysis of some data gathered on Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility within organizations in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry. The environmental social responsibility activities to be looked at within the selected companies are their water usage level, emissions, waste produced and total energy used with regard to being aware of environmental concerns. In this chapter, the aim and objectives of the study are outlined and a brief introduction is furnished. 1.1 BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF STUDY In recent times, there has been much debate about whether corporations should be socially responsible or not and also the extent to which they should be responsible. With the global recession at the moment, the future years will show if CSR has been taking on by corporations or if it is, as critics say, merely a marketing stunt designed to make their business attractive (The Independent, 2009). The phrase social responsibility is often hard to pin down because of the fact that there are several schools of thought concerning this notion. Milton Friedman questions if companies are required to take responsibility for social issues (Kok et al., 2001, p. 286). He stressed that the sole social responsibility of any organization is to boost its profits through legal ways and that donating an organizations funds to the society is harmful to the organization as this might reduce the organizations profit or cause an increase in product price or, in exceptional cases, have both effects (Pinkston and Carroll, 1996). Some researchers on the other hand are of the opinion that because of the ever changing competitive environment in which businesses are carried out, it is essential that organizations incorporate some sort of Corporate Social Responsibility standard that will help foster its sustainability in the environment. Boynton (2002) asserts that social responsibility is â€Å"a val ue that specifies that every situation from family to firm- is responsible for its members conduct and can be held accountable for its actions†. This research work supports the notion that organizations should continually engage in corporate social responsibility activities; therefore, as a conscious strategy, corporations must endeavour to incorporate environmental CSR in their diverse functions and operations. Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) also known as Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industries focus on the production of consumable goods which people require from day to day. Fast Moving Consumer Goods can be said to be â€Å"low price items that are used with a single or limited number of consumptions† (Baron et al., 1991). Examples of FMCG or CPG products are food and beverages, footwear, clothing products, tobacco and other general products. The FMCG or CPG industry is an umbrella for wholesale and retail consumer goods producing companies. A number of companies function within this industry: examples are Nestle, Procter and Gamble, Pfizer, Reckitt Benkiser, British American Tobacco, Cadbury and Smithkline just to mention a few. According to Jarvis (2003), business organizations endeavour to maximise profits as much as they can. Fast-moving consumer goods companies cannot therefore be left out in the quest for profit maximisation as the goods they produce are sold to consumers in order to make some sort of gain. FMCG companies provide humans with day to day products they require and as such one of their responsibilities is to ensure that the manufactured products meet the required quality standard. In manufacturing their products, some FMCG companies make use of some natural resources such as water, wood, soil etc., and sophisticated machineries which in some way affect the environment. Making use of the earths natural resources without any provision for replacing the resources leads to depletion, while emissions from machineries pollute the environment. Corporations implement CSR activities because they hope they will give them a competitive advantage over their rivals. Branco and Rodigues (2006) assert that CSR offers internal and external gains. The benefits are referred to as internal if engaging in social responsibility activities helps a corporation build, develop and manage its wealth and abilities, for instance: corporate culture and expertise. External benefits, on the other, are those linked to a corporations status, staff awareness and culture; these are essential indescribable assets which, though hard to easily replace or duplicate, can be developed or trashed depending on whether a corporation is socially responsible or otherwise. Moreover, because companies take from the environment directly or indirectly, it is their responsibility to ensure that the environment and society at large, and not only the stakeholders, benefit from some kind of social responsibility activities set up by the companies (Stoner and Wankel, 19 88). Speaking of the FMCG industry in United Kingdom, Bourlakis and Weightman (2004) assert that the industry, which includes the food and grocery sector, contributes immensely to the countrys economy as it provides employment to over 3.2 million people. This figure accounts for close to 17% of the countrys total workforce. The same authors also mention that the FMCG industry accounts for over  £130 billion of consumer spending yielding, representing over 9% of the GDP. 1.2 THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR The British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, declares that â€Å"†¦for this government manufacturing not only has been, but remains and will always be, critical to the success of the British economy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (BIS, 2008). The United Kingdom is the 6th largest manufacturing country in the world (See appendix 1 for details). It provides the economy with about  £150billion per annum. The countrys productivity has increased by about 50% since 1997. The United Kingdom attracts â€Å"more foreign direct investment than any country apart from the USA† (BIS, 2009). In UK, manufacturing accounts for 13% of the GDP; also, between 1997 and 2004, the average labour productivity grew by 4% over the United States, 5% above France and also 15% over Germany. The figure below shows a graph of the growth in productivity. Sheldons study on ‘social responsibility of management indicates that industries exist with the aim of servicing the society (Sheldon, 1923). The developments which various industries have made lately show that there is a link between the society and the industry. It can therefore be said that the purpose of creating industries is so that the society can benefit from it as well as sustain it. Sen (1999) observes that â€Å"as people who live in a broad sense together, we cannot escape the thought that the terrible occurrences that we see around us are quintessentially our problems. They are our responsibility whether or not they are also anyone elses† (Sen, 1999). The manufacturing sector is very huge and includes a range of industries such as: Aerospace, Biotechnology, Chemical, Food and beverages, Pharmaceuticals etc. The FMCG industry is one of the sub industries within the manufacturing sector. They sometimes face a lot of problems and as such struggle with critic isms from stakeholders on social responsibility matters even though they have functional CSR agendas. From the size of the British manufacturing industry, it is fair to say that it uses a huge amount of energy compared to the rest of the European Union. 1.3 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM From looking at FMCG Companys website and their social responsibility/sustainability reporting materials, it will be seen that they engage in corporate social responsibility at different levels. Looking closely at FMCG companies within the United Kingdom, it will be seen that almost all of them if not all, consider corporate social responsibility and its effect on their business operations particularly as it pertains to their corporate image, competitive advantage and even their finances. Davis (1973) in his work asserts that engaging in corporate social responsibility can improve an organizations finances and image. 1.4 AIM OF PROJECT The aim of the project is to contribute to the body of empirical data in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility by gathering information that will help in the analysis of environmental corporate social responsibility within organizations in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods industry. The findings of this research should provide managers and the academic world some more information in the area of Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility. 1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The main objective of this study on the analysis of data gathered on environmental corporate social responsibility in some organizations in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry is to critically look at the steps the corporations take in being environmentally responsible and also how they measure the progress. Also, this dissertation will be attempt to: To analyse the data from selected FMCG companies relating to their environmental CSR practices to identify the indicator/metrics used by the companies to benchmark their performance on environmental CSR in their organizations; to determine factors that encourage environmental responsibility practices. To draw some conclusions and make some recommendations about the state of environmental CSR in the selected organizations. 1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The FMCG industry is very large and as such it may not be feasible for the researcher to report on all the companies in the industry bearing in mind the limitation of time and adequate resources. Therefore the scope of this study will be limited to environmental corporate social responsibility in selected FMCG companies. The study will take a look at the environmental corporate social activities they have embarked on with respect to water usage reduction, CO2 emission reduction, reduction of waste produced, and total energy usage of each of the companies. Owing to lack of time and resources, the researcher will not be able to conduct a survey of environment corporate social responsibility in all UK-based fast moving consumer goods companies. It is worth noting though that a lot of them carry out environmental corporate social responsibility activities and also report on them using indices to which some of them are benchmarked. 1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION This study is structured into five chapters. Chapter one provides an introduction/background to the research study, together with a brief introduction of the sector and industry. Chapter two contains the literature review; it comprehensively and critically reviews previous work done in this research area. Chapter three highlights the research design and data collection process employed by the researcher. Chapter four contains an analysis of the data gathered together. Some findings and discussions of the research area are also furnished. The final chapter, chapter five, contains some recommendations and conclusions based on the findings in the course of carrying out this dissertation. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Corporate Social Responsibility has progressed from an irrelevant and often discriminated concept to one that is today well-known and established in businesses round the globe (Lee, 2008). Corporate Social Responsibility can be thought of as an umbrella phrase that takes into consideration the various ways and means a corporation embarks on in trying to act ethically and morally. In the last couple of decades, CSR has become widely well-known (Campbell, 2007). According to some researchers, the first book on CSR was written in 1953 by Howard Bowen, with the title: Responsibilities of the Businessman (Carroll, 1979; Kantanen, 2005). Defining Corporate Social Responsibility can prove to be a complex task as it has varied meanings to different people. This is due to the fact that there is no agreed definition and as such organizations that are meticulous in their goals of incorporating CSR activities into their businesses are faced with compound problems. Because of how complex CSR is, it is hard to provide a definition. Stakeholders therefore make use of different definitions that are in line with their business operations, goals and aims. The definitions are often also related to the sizes of the corporations and how they regard their officers who are responsible for CSR activities within their organisations. Thus there is no agreed definition of CSR, because different corporations translate it to suit them depending on their state of affairs (MacLagan, 1999: Campbell, 2007: Garriga Mele, 2004). Bowen (1953) defines corporate social responsibility as â€Å"†¦ the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society†. Manakkalathil and Rudolf (1995) explain CSR as â€Å"the duty of organizations to conduct their business in a manner that respects the rights of individuals and promotes human welfare†. It is quite a weak explanation which makes it somewhat tough to actualize. Aguilera et al. (2007) emphasize that corporations should not border their CSR activities on stipulated legislation regarding such issues but should also make provision for activities not stipulated in any legislation they adhere to. Aguilera et al. (2007) assert that â€Å"corporate social responsibility is a companys considerations of and response to issues beyond the narrow economic, technical and legal requirements of the company to accomplish social and environmental benefits along with traditional economic gains†. Carroll (1991) states that CSR consists of f our aspects: legal, economic, ethical and philanthropic (discretionary) responsibility (See Appendix 1). Carroll (1991) argued that for a corporation striving to be seen as good within the society, all four aspects should be fulfilled. Carroll (1991) cites renowned economists Milton Friedmans assertion in trying to explain the relationship of the four aspects. On Friedmans part, he was only interested in the first three parts of CSR stating that corporations exist â€Å"to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of society, both those embodied in the law and those embodied in ethical custom† (Carroll, 1991) and he totally objected to the philanthropic aspect saying â€Å"the business of business is business†. In saying this, he meant that the usual economic standpoint only acknowledges legal, ethical and economic responsibility as a crucial principle while taking part in altruistic activities do not yield incentives for corporations. Levitt ( 1958) has a different approach to the CSR issue called the functional theory which considers CSR as ethically neutral. Corporations are considered to have particular tasks or organizational codes that communicate their position in the society. Corporations are expected to fulfil their social responsibilities by conforming to existing legal frameworks, as the onus of determining social good is the responsibility of the state and not that of the corporations. The reliability and character of an organization is in its sensitivity to varying conditions and demand. Organizations that react positively to financial and other varying issues will thrive, while those that do not respond adequately will die. Consequently, if the immediate situation requires that corporations be â€Å"socially responsible† then the corporations must endeavour to be so. Davis (1960) implies that social responsibility pertains to corporations â€Å"decisions and actions taken for reasons at least partiall y beyond the firms direct economic or technical interest†. Eells and Walton (1961) debate the meaning of CSR and say that it pertains to the â€Å"problems that arise when corporate enterprise casts its shadow on the social scene, and the ethical principles that ought to govern the relationship between the corporation and society†. Deakin and Hobbs (2007) assert that corporations that go ahead and carry out CSR activities which are over the minimum legal requirements stand to benefit immensely. Margolis and Walsh (2003) in the research they conducted found that most corporations, however, only focus on particular aspects of CSR: mainly the economic aspect and try to shy away from the social and environmental aspects. 2.1.1 STAKEHOLDER THEORY OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The most spoken about theory of corporate social responsibility is the stakeholder theory. Freeman (1984) explains the basic concepts and attributes of stakeholder management in his booked entitled Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. He defines stakeholders to be ‘‘groups and individuals who can affect, or are affected by, the achievement of an organizations mission† (Freeman, 1984) or otherwise regarded as ‘‘those groups who have a stake in or a claim on the firm (Evan and Freeman, 1988). Freeman (2004) regards stakeholders as â€Å"those groups who are vital to the survival and success of the corporation†. Freeman explains that not only the owners of a corporation have genuine concerns about it but also persons and or groups of persons that might be affected or can possibly have an effect on the corporations doings and as such these groups of people have the right to be considered in any decision making process within the corporation. Kaler (2006) on the other hand refers to the stakeholder theory that supports the notion that corporations should be socially responsible. This theory states that â€Å"the shareholders value is boosted through employee commitment, customer loyalty, contractor cooperation and immense support from the community amongst other things. Some researchers are also of the opinion that the performance of organizations can be attributed to their strategies in trade and non-trade environments† (Baron, 2000). Freeman and Evan (1990) assert that corporations that embark on social responsibility activities often times do it because they trust that their managers are capable of boosting the corporations effectiveness in taking action regarding demands from external sources by handling and meeting the requests of the diverse shareholders. Stakeholder theory can be said to be a managerial activity because it expresses and directs how managers function (Freeman et al. 2006). In analyzing stakeholder theory, Donaldson and Preston (1995) proposed ethical guidelines for considering and selecting stakeholders. They made reference to this as being â€Å"instrumental† in the sense that when corporations manage their stakeholder activities accordingly, their performance will improve tremendously in relation to their stability, growth and profitability. According to Freeman (1994), the aim of stakeholder theory is conveyed in two key questions and the first is determining what the function of the firm is. This influences managers to convey the feeling of importance built within the corporation and also display activities that pull together all the major stakeholders. This propels the corporation forward and makes it possible for it to produce outstanding performance, instituted with respect to its function and economic p erformance in the open market. The second question asked by the stakeholder theory deals with the sort of responsibility owed to the stakeholders by the managers. This motivates the managers to convey the means they take in conducting their businesses and particularly the kind of relationship they yearn for and have to build with their stakeholders in order to realize their purpose (Friedman and Miles, 2006). The stakeholder theory concept can be further broken down into: normative stakeholder theory, which hinges on theories of how managers and sometimes stakeholders are supposed to behave, and also how they are supposed to view the beliefs of the corporation as they pertain to its ethical ethos (Friedman and Miles, 2006), and the descriptive stakeholder theory which is about how managers and stakeholders actually act and the perception of their responsibilities and actions. The stakeholder theory that, in fact, relates very well with corporate social responsibility is the instrumental stakeholder theory. This theory is at times associated with a corporations strategic style: where the major concern for the corporation is how its managers perform if they are allowed to put their own interests and/or the interests of the corporation forward as it relates to profit maximization or the maximization of stockholder value (Friedman and Miles, 2006). Orlitzky et al (2003) mention that several authors are of the opinion that corporate social performance might help a corporation towards acquiring new abilities, raw materials and possibilities which are apparent in a corporations culture, expertise, business and workforce. Corporate social performance is closely related to corporate social responsibility and it is sometimes assumed that it will help advance managerial abilities that boost employee contribution, organization and harmonization together with a ground-breaking management approach (Shrivastava, 1995). The reputation perspective theory on the other hand, states that â€Å"superficially, corporate social performance might encourage the development of a positive figure with a corporations customers, its investors, banks and contractors which it can in the long run benefit from through having access to capital and also possibly draw high-quality employees towards it and also enhance the good will of its current employees towards the organization which over time the corporation might benefit from in financial terms† (Orlitzky et al, 2003). In recent times, it will be seen that so many corporations and/or establishments have planned and sustained their businesses in ways that correspond to the concept of the stakeholder theory (Collins and Porras, 1994). For example, corporations like Procter and Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, British American Tobacco, to mention a few, present an excellent example of the value managers place on the fundamentals of stakeholder theory. It is worth noting that these corporations place high importance on their stakeholders and organizational wealth but at the same time do not stress on profitability as the push factor of their business. This is because they are fully aware of the worth and relationship with stakeholders as an important factor if they are to succeed. Friedman (1970) on the other hand is of a contrary opinion. He is of the opinion that when executives take decisions it should only be for the purpose of wealth creation for its stakeholders. It is evident that Friedman does not support the concept of CSR. He holds that the principal duty of directors is towards their staff. In his opinion, a corporate executive may take decisions that directly concern himself but should never take decisions concerning, for example, price mark down of products or pollution due to carbon emission, beyond the obligations imposed on the corporation by law. Friedman states further that by doing these, the corporate executive will be spending the corporations wealth and forcing its stockholders to pay tax while at the same time taking decision on the expenditure of the corporations tax returns. Friedman (1970) asserts that governments demand taxes from corporate entities, ensuring that there are adequate governmental, legal and constitutional measures in place to force compliance. Friedman stresses that executives are selected by stockholders as representatives to protect their interest and this motivation dies gradually if the corporate executive wastes the stockholders wealth on social activities. Friedmans belief is that government instructs corporations to pay a certain amount as tax and if paid, government use the tax appropriately, thereby making it unnecessary for corporations themselves to engage in any CSR projects. In this regard, one assumes that such taxes will be adequate to ensure the effective handling by the government of CSR activities that benefit the environment and the larger society. In Friedmans perception, the corporations that pay their taxes as and when due are responsible. Jensen and Meckling (1976) assert that corporate social responsibility may have an adverse effect on corporations especially if the cost of implementing CSR projects becomes exceptionally high. There are certain contrary views that claim that many ostensibly socially responsible corporations actually benefit far more from their CSR activities than the target societies that were expected to be the main beneficiaries. For example, relying on a report by Corporate Watch (2006), more than â€Å"80% of corporate CSR decision-makers were confident in the ability of good CSR practice to deliver branding and employee benefits. To take the example of corporate philanthropy, when corporations make donations to charity, they are giving away their shareholders money, which they can only do if they see potential profit in it. This may be because they want to improve their image by associating themselves with a cause, to exploit a cheap vehicle for advertising, or to counter the claims of pressure groups, but there is always an underlying financial motive, so the company benefits more than the charity†. Paine (2002) affirms that the choice to neglect corporate social responsibility will in some way indicate the corporations disrespect for its stakeholders who include its workers, suppliers, clientele and the society at large. Quoting CIPD (2009), â€Å"When CSR is done well; it means a precious, though precarious, trust in your business. Successful CSR can bring benefits such as a distinct position in your marketplace, protecting your employer brand, and building credibility and trust with current and potential customers and employees. It can help significantly with recruitment, engagement and retention of employees†. Some academics believe that some corporations embark on corporate social responsibility projects for strategic reasons. Xueming and Bhattacharya (2008) affirm that in recent times, corporate social responsibility matches the strategic plan of many corporations. They mention that although some corporations carry out a range of socially responsible activities such as philanthropic acts, corporate responsibility and sustainability reporting, marketing and stakeholder events to mention a few, they do so not because they feel it is the â€Å"right thing to do† but regard it is a â€Å"smart thing to do†. 2.1.1 GOVERNMENT AS STAKEHOLDERS Porter and Van der Linde (1995) believe that countries impose firm directives on home organizations, and the relationship government has with organizations corporate social responsibility issues positively affects them. It encourages them to create policies pertaining to the environment, cost reduction, sustainability of their products, and also increase the organizations competitive advantage in the international marketplace. This means that the government can control organizations and ensure they adhere to its directives and policies. Even though government has great control on the way organizations operate their businesses through the use of regulatory guidelines and policies, the activities of organizations have also had a growing influence on the government. Thorne et al (2008) assert that â€Å"managing this relationship with government officials while navigating the dynamic world of politics is a major challenge for firms, both large and small†. They explain that because of the varied nature of the environment, there are several competitors and suppliers in the decision making process, and as such raising the economic risks. Being stakeholders, organizations and government are considered mutual stakeholders and as such both sides can cooperate and play a part in the decision making process. In a Questions-and-Answers session with the Chairman and CEO, Charles Holliday, of DuPont a science-based solution company, Holliday was asked on how businesses and the government can effectively collaborate on stan dards-setting and value-creation for their stakeholders. He replied as follows: â€Å"The complexities and opportunities of modern business and industry are too great to assume that regulation alone can get us where we have to go. Regulation, as we have seen historically, is not a precision tool for change. But it can overcome inertia and get things going. The landmark environmental legislation of the 1970s and 1980s set in motion the kind of change that in the U.S. has led to cleaner air and water. No one doubts that†. He further said that in regulating sustainability, â€Å"We can expect that government will identify some pressure points where regulatory instruments can advance the cause. But real progress in sustainability will come from what we build into products and services, in the way we design and operate our plants and distribution networks, in the way we think about the ultimate disposition of the things we make, even and especially in the way we direct our rese arch and development. Its hard to imagine regulatory protocols that can encompass all of that. Industry has to be imaginative and proactive and show that we can accomplish the things our stakeholders expect of us, especially those things that go beyond the letter of the law† (as cited in Freeman et al, 2006). He also mentioned that at DuPont, they have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 72% since 1990 and this is because it was expected of them by their stakeholders to be proactive, and that gave them the push. This further shows how corporations work on their own in accordance with government directives designed towards improving the society. Marcus (2002) and Delmas and Terlaak (2002) are quick to assert that some corporations might be discouraged if government implements regulations they consider stringent and as such corporations should be allowed to make their own decisions as they consider appropriate. 2.2 THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SCHOOLS OF THOUGHTS The issue of whether corporations should be socially responsible or not, the extent to which they should be responsible, to whom they should be responsible and the context in which they should be responsible, has been a major debate amongst researchers. There are two schools of thought which have differing opinions on CSR matters. They are the restrictive and expansionist opinions. The restrictive school of thought upholds the profit maximisation stand while the other school believes that corporations should be socially responsible. 2.2.1 THE EXPANSIONIST SCHOOL OF THOUGHT The expansionists believe that environmental problems are caused by businesses and for that reason they should be liable for their externalities. Stoner and Wankel (1988) maintain that corporations should take into consideration the impact of their environmental activities on the society and for that reason they should act responsibly not only for the benefit of their stakeholders but to the general populous. Davis and Blomstrom (1975) give an account of their opinion of how a model corporation should look. They assert that it should provide an opportunity for investment, a good working condition, be ethically considerate, be a good corporation to do business with, pay their tax contributions and support governments endeavours, be good to the community they work in, contribute to social endeavours and public concerns. Crowther and Rayman- Bacchus (2004) assert that â€Å"the activities of an organization impacts upon the external environment and have suggested that such an organizat ion should therefore be accountable to a wider audience than simply its shareholders†. They also mention that the â€Å"recognition of the rights of all stakeholders and the duty of a business to be accountable in this wider context therefore has been largely a relatively recent phenomenon†. In summary, corporate social responsibility should include responsibility to the owners of the business, Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This dissertation discusses and undertakes an analysis of some data gathered on Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility within organizations in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry. The environmental social responsibility activities to be looked at within the selected companies are their water usage level, emissions, waste produced and total energy used with regard to being aware of environmental concerns. In this chapter, the aim and objectives of the study are outlined and a brief introduction is furnished. 1.1 BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF STUDY In recent times, there has been much debate about whether corporations should be socially responsible or not and also the extent to which they should be responsible. With the global recession at the moment, the future years will show if CSR has been taking on by corporations or if it is, as critics say, merely a marketing stunt designed to make their business attractive (The Independent, 2009). The phrase social responsibility is often hard to pin down because of the fact that there are several schools of thought concerning this notion. Milton Friedman questions if companies are required to take responsibility for social issues (Kok et al., 2001, p. 286). He stressed that the sole social responsibility of any organization is to boost its profits through legal ways and that donating an organizations funds to the society is harmful to the organization as this might reduce the organizations profit or cause an increase in product price or, in exceptional cases, have both effects (Pinkston and Carroll, 1996). Some researchers on the other hand are of the opinion that because of the ever changing competitive environment in which businesses are carried out, it is essential that organizations incorporate some sort of Corporate Social Responsibility standard that will help foster its sustainability in the environment. Boynton (2002) asserts that social responsibility is â€Å"a val ue that specifies that every situation from family to firm- is responsible for its members conduct and can be held accountable for its actions†. This research work supports the notion that organizations should continually engage in corporate social responsibility activities; therefore, as a conscious strategy, corporations must endeavour to incorporate environmental CSR in their diverse functions and operations. Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) also known as Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industries focus on the production of consumable goods which people require from day to day. Fast Moving Consumer Goods can be said to be â€Å"low price items that are used with a single or limited number of consumptions† (Baron et al., 1991). Examples of FMCG or CPG products are food and beverages, footwear, clothing products, tobacco and other general products. The FMCG or CPG industry is an umbrella for wholesale and retail consumer goods producing companies. A number of companies function within this industry: examples are Nestle, Procter and Gamble, Pfizer, Reckitt Benkiser, British American Tobacco, Cadbury and Smithkline just to mention a few. According to Jarvis (2003), business organizations endeavour to maximise profits as much as they can. Fast-moving consumer goods companies cannot therefore be left out in the quest for profit maximisation as the goods they produce are sold to consumers in order to make some sort of gain. FMCG companies provide humans with day to day products they require and as such one of their responsibilities is to ensure that the manufactured products meet the required quality standard. In manufacturing their products, some FMCG companies make use of some natural resources such as water, wood, soil etc., and sophisticated machineries which in some way affect the environment. Making use of the earths natural resources without any provision for replacing the resources leads to depletion, while emissions from machineries pollute the environment. Corporations implement CSR activities because they hope they will give them a competitive advantage over their rivals. Branco and Rodigues (2006) assert that CSR offers internal and external gains. The benefits are referred to as internal if engaging in social responsibility activities helps a corporation build, develop and manage its wealth and abilities, for instance: corporate culture and expertise. External benefits, on the other, are those linked to a corporations status, staff awareness and culture; these are essential indescribable assets which, though hard to easily replace or duplicate, can be developed or trashed depending on whether a corporation is socially responsible or otherwise. Moreover, because companies take from the environment directly or indirectly, it is their responsibility to ensure that the environment and society at large, and not only the stakeholders, benefit from some kind of social responsibility activities set up by the companies (Stoner and Wankel, 19 88). Speaking of the FMCG industry in United Kingdom, Bourlakis and Weightman (2004) assert that the industry, which includes the food and grocery sector, contributes immensely to the countrys economy as it provides employment to over 3.2 million people. This figure accounts for close to 17% of the countrys total workforce. The same authors also mention that the FMCG industry accounts for over  £130 billion of consumer spending yielding, representing over 9% of the GDP. 1.2 THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR The British Prime Minister, Mr. Gordon Brown, declares that â€Å"†¦for this government manufacturing not only has been, but remains and will always be, critical to the success of the British economy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (BIS, 2008). The United Kingdom is the 6th largest manufacturing country in the world (See appendix 1 for details). It provides the economy with about  £150billion per annum. The countrys productivity has increased by about 50% since 1997. The United Kingdom attracts â€Å"more foreign direct investment than any country apart from the USA† (BIS, 2009). In UK, manufacturing accounts for 13% of the GDP; also, between 1997 and 2004, the average labour productivity grew by 4% over the United States, 5% above France and also 15% over Germany. The figure below shows a graph of the growth in productivity. Sheldons study on ‘social responsibility of management indicates that industries exist with the aim of servicing the society (Sheldon, 1923). The developments which various industries have made lately show that there is a link between the society and the industry. It can therefore be said that the purpose of creating industries is so that the society can benefit from it as well as sustain it. Sen (1999) observes that â€Å"as people who live in a broad sense together, we cannot escape the thought that the terrible occurrences that we see around us are quintessentially our problems. They are our responsibility whether or not they are also anyone elses† (Sen, 1999). The manufacturing sector is very huge and includes a range of industries such as: Aerospace, Biotechnology, Chemical, Food and beverages, Pharmaceuticals etc. The FMCG industry is one of the sub industries within the manufacturing sector. They sometimes face a lot of problems and as such struggle with critic isms from stakeholders on social responsibility matters even though they have functional CSR agendas. From the size of the British manufacturing industry, it is fair to say that it uses a huge amount of energy compared to the rest of the European Union. 1.3 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM From looking at FMCG Companys website and their social responsibility/sustainability reporting materials, it will be seen that they engage in corporate social responsibility at different levels. Looking closely at FMCG companies within the United Kingdom, it will be seen that almost all of them if not all, consider corporate social responsibility and its effect on their business operations particularly as it pertains to their corporate image, competitive advantage and even their finances. Davis (1973) in his work asserts that engaging in corporate social responsibility can improve an organizations finances and image. 1.4 AIM OF PROJECT The aim of the project is to contribute to the body of empirical data in the area of Corporate Social Responsibility by gathering information that will help in the analysis of environmental corporate social responsibility within organizations in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods industry. The findings of this research should provide managers and the academic world some more information in the area of Environmental Corporate Social Responsibility. 1.5 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The main objective of this study on the analysis of data gathered on environmental corporate social responsibility in some organizations in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry is to critically look at the steps the corporations take in being environmentally responsible and also how they measure the progress. Also, this dissertation will be attempt to: To analyse the data from selected FMCG companies relating to their environmental CSR practices to identify the indicator/metrics used by the companies to benchmark their performance on environmental CSR in their organizations; to determine factors that encourage environmental responsibility practices. To draw some conclusions and make some recommendations about the state of environmental CSR in the selected organizations. 1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY The FMCG industry is very large and as such it may not be feasible for the researcher to report on all the companies in the industry bearing in mind the limitation of time and adequate resources. Therefore the scope of this study will be limited to environmental corporate social responsibility in selected FMCG companies. The study will take a look at the environmental corporate social activities they have embarked on with respect to water usage reduction, CO2 emission reduction, reduction of waste produced, and total energy usage of each of the companies. Owing to lack of time and resources, the researcher will not be able to conduct a survey of environment corporate social responsibility in all UK-based fast moving consumer goods companies. It is worth noting though that a lot of them carry out environmental corporate social responsibility activities and also report on them using indices to which some of them are benchmarked. 1.7 STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION This study is structured into five chapters. Chapter one provides an introduction/background to the research study, together with a brief introduction of the sector and industry. Chapter two contains the literature review; it comprehensively and critically reviews previous work done in this research area. Chapter three highlights the research design and data collection process employed by the researcher. Chapter four contains an analysis of the data gathered together. Some findings and discussions of the research area are also furnished. The final chapter, chapter five, contains some recommendations and conclusions based on the findings in the course of carrying out this dissertation. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY Corporate Social Responsibility has progressed from an irrelevant and often discriminated concept to one that is today well-known and established in businesses round the globe (Lee, 2008). Corporate Social Responsibility can be thought of as an umbrella phrase that takes into consideration the various ways and means a corporation embarks on in trying to act ethically and morally. In the last couple of decades, CSR has become widely well-known (Campbell, 2007). According to some researchers, the first book on CSR was written in 1953 by Howard Bowen, with the title: Responsibilities of the Businessman (Carroll, 1979; Kantanen, 2005). Defining Corporate Social Responsibility can prove to be a complex task as it has varied meanings to different people. This is due to the fact that there is no agreed definition and as such organizations that are meticulous in their goals of incorporating CSR activities into their businesses are faced with compound problems. Because of how complex CSR is, it is hard to provide a definition. Stakeholders therefore make use of different definitions that are in line with their business operations, goals and aims. The definitions are often also related to the sizes of the corporations and how they regard their officers who are responsible for CSR activities within their organisations. Thus there is no agreed definition of CSR, because different corporations translate it to suit them depending on their state of affairs (MacLagan, 1999: Campbell, 2007: Garriga Mele, 2004). Bowen (1953) defines corporate social responsibility as â€Å"†¦ the obligations of businessmen to pursue those policies, to make those decisions, or to follow those lines of action which are desirable in terms of the objectives and values of our society†. Manakkalathil and Rudolf (1995) explain CSR as â€Å"the duty of organizations to conduct their business in a manner that respects the rights of individuals and promotes human welfare†. It is quite a weak explanation which makes it somewhat tough to actualize. Aguilera et al. (2007) emphasize that corporations should not border their CSR activities on stipulated legislation regarding such issues but should also make provision for activities not stipulated in any legislation they adhere to. Aguilera et al. (2007) assert that â€Å"corporate social responsibility is a companys considerations of and response to issues beyond the narrow economic, technical and legal requirements of the company to accomplish social and environmental benefits along with traditional economic gains†. Carroll (1991) states that CSR consists of f our aspects: legal, economic, ethical and philanthropic (discretionary) responsibility (See Appendix 1). Carroll (1991) argued that for a corporation striving to be seen as good within the society, all four aspects should be fulfilled. Carroll (1991) cites renowned economists Milton Friedmans assertion in trying to explain the relationship of the four aspects. On Friedmans part, he was only interested in the first three parts of CSR stating that corporations exist â€Å"to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of society, both those embodied in the law and those embodied in ethical custom† (Carroll, 1991) and he totally objected to the philanthropic aspect saying â€Å"the business of business is business†. In saying this, he meant that the usual economic standpoint only acknowledges legal, ethical and economic responsibility as a crucial principle while taking part in altruistic activities do not yield incentives for corporations. Levitt ( 1958) has a different approach to the CSR issue called the functional theory which considers CSR as ethically neutral. Corporations are considered to have particular tasks or organizational codes that communicate their position in the society. Corporations are expected to fulfil their social responsibilities by conforming to existing legal frameworks, as the onus of determining social good is the responsibility of the state and not that of the corporations. The reliability and character of an organization is in its sensitivity to varying conditions and demand. Organizations that react positively to financial and other varying issues will thrive, while those that do not respond adequately will die. Consequently, if the immediate situation requires that corporations be â€Å"socially responsible† then the corporations must endeavour to be so. Davis (1960) implies that social responsibility pertains to corporations â€Å"decisions and actions taken for reasons at least partiall y beyond the firms direct economic or technical interest†. Eells and Walton (1961) debate the meaning of CSR and say that it pertains to the â€Å"problems that arise when corporate enterprise casts its shadow on the social scene, and the ethical principles that ought to govern the relationship between the corporation and society†. Deakin and Hobbs (2007) assert that corporations that go ahead and carry out CSR activities which are over the minimum legal requirements stand to benefit immensely. Margolis and Walsh (2003) in the research they conducted found that most corporations, however, only focus on particular aspects of CSR: mainly the economic aspect and try to shy away from the social and environmental aspects. 2.1.1 STAKEHOLDER THEORY OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY The most spoken about theory of corporate social responsibility is the stakeholder theory. Freeman (1984) explains the basic concepts and attributes of stakeholder management in his booked entitled Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. He defines stakeholders to be ‘‘groups and individuals who can affect, or are affected by, the achievement of an organizations mission† (Freeman, 1984) or otherwise regarded as ‘‘those groups who have a stake in or a claim on the firm (Evan and Freeman, 1988). Freeman (2004) regards stakeholders as â€Å"those groups who are vital to the survival and success of the corporation†. Freeman explains that not only the owners of a corporation have genuine concerns about it but also persons and or groups of persons that might be affected or can possibly have an effect on the corporations doings and as such these groups of people have the right to be considered in any decision making process within the corporation. Kaler (2006) on the other hand refers to the stakeholder theory that supports the notion that corporations should be socially responsible. This theory states that â€Å"the shareholders value is boosted through employee commitment, customer loyalty, contractor cooperation and immense support from the community amongst other things. Some researchers are also of the opinion that the performance of organizations can be attributed to their strategies in trade and non-trade environments† (Baron, 2000). Freeman and Evan (1990) assert that corporations that embark on social responsibility activities often times do it because they trust that their managers are capable of boosting the corporations effectiveness in taking action regarding demands from external sources by handling and meeting the requests of the diverse shareholders. Stakeholder theory can be said to be a managerial activity because it expresses and directs how managers function (Freeman et al. 2006). In analyzing stakeholder theory, Donaldson and Preston (1995) proposed ethical guidelines for considering and selecting stakeholders. They made reference to this as being â€Å"instrumental† in the sense that when corporations manage their stakeholder activities accordingly, their performance will improve tremendously in relation to their stability, growth and profitability. According to Freeman (1994), the aim of stakeholder theory is conveyed in two key questions and the first is determining what the function of the firm is. This influences managers to convey the feeling of importance built within the corporation and also display activities that pull together all the major stakeholders. This propels the corporation forward and makes it possible for it to produce outstanding performance, instituted with respect to its function and economic p erformance in the open market. The second question asked by the stakeholder theory deals with the sort of responsibility owed to the stakeholders by the managers. This motivates the managers to convey the means they take in conducting their businesses and particularly the kind of relationship they yearn for and have to build with their stakeholders in order to realize their purpose (Friedman and Miles, 2006). The stakeholder theory concept can be further broken down into: normative stakeholder theory, which hinges on theories of how managers and sometimes stakeholders are supposed to behave, and also how they are supposed to view the beliefs of the corporation as they pertain to its ethical ethos (Friedman and Miles, 2006), and the descriptive stakeholder theory which is about how managers and stakeholders actually act and the perception of their responsibilities and actions. The stakeholder theory that, in fact, relates very well with corporate social responsibility is the instrumental stakeholder theory. This theory is at times associated with a corporations strategic style: where the major concern for the corporation is how its managers perform if they are allowed to put their own interests and/or the interests of the corporation forward as it relates to profit maximization or the maximization of stockholder value (Friedman and Miles, 2006). Orlitzky et al (2003) mention that several authors are of the opinion that corporate social performance might help a corporation towards acquiring new abilities, raw materials and possibilities which are apparent in a corporations culture, expertise, business and workforce. Corporate social performance is closely related to corporate social responsibility and it is sometimes assumed that it will help advance managerial abilities that boost employee contribution, organization and harmonization together with a ground-breaking management approach (Shrivastava, 1995). The reputation perspective theory on the other hand, states that â€Å"superficially, corporate social performance might encourage the development of a positive figure with a corporations customers, its investors, banks and contractors which it can in the long run benefit from through having access to capital and also possibly draw high-quality employees towards it and also enhance the good will of its current employees towards the organization which over time the corporation might benefit from in financial terms† (Orlitzky et al, 2003). In recent times, it will be seen that so many corporations and/or establishments have planned and sustained their businesses in ways that correspond to the concept of the stakeholder theory (Collins and Porras, 1994). For example, corporations like Procter and Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, British American Tobacco, to mention a few, present an excellent example of the value managers place on the fundamentals of stakeholder theory. It is worth noting that these corporations place high importance on their stakeholders and organizational wealth but at the same time do not stress on profitability as the push factor of their business. This is because they are fully aware of the worth and relationship with stakeholders as an important factor if they are to succeed. Friedman (1970) on the other hand is of a contrary opinion. He is of the opinion that when executives take decisions it should only be for the purpose of wealth creation for its stakeholders. It is evident that Friedman does not support the concept of CSR. He holds that the principal duty of directors is towards their staff. In his opinion, a corporate executive may take decisions that directly concern himself but should never take decisions concerning, for example, price mark down of products or pollution due to carbon emission, beyond the obligations imposed on the corporation by law. Friedman states further that by doing these, the corporate executive will be spending the corporations wealth and forcing its stockholders to pay tax while at the same time taking decision on the expenditure of the corporations tax returns. Friedman (1970) asserts that governments demand taxes from corporate entities, ensuring that there are adequate governmental, legal and constitutional measures in place to force compliance. Friedman stresses that executives are selected by stockholders as representatives to protect their interest and this motivation dies gradually if the corporate executive wastes the stockholders wealth on social activities. Friedmans belief is that government instructs corporations to pay a certain amount as tax and if paid, government use the tax appropriately, thereby making it unnecessary for corporations themselves to engage in any CSR projects. In this regard, one assumes that such taxes will be adequate to ensure the effective handling by the government of CSR activities that benefit the environment and the larger society. In Friedmans perception, the corporations that pay their taxes as and when due are responsible. Jensen and Meckling (1976) assert that corporate social responsibility may have an adverse effect on corporations especially if the cost of implementing CSR projects becomes exceptionally high. There are certain contrary views that claim that many ostensibly socially responsible corporations actually benefit far more from their CSR activities than the target societies that were expected to be the main beneficiaries. For example, relying on a report by Corporate Watch (2006), more than â€Å"80% of corporate CSR decision-makers were confident in the ability of good CSR practice to deliver branding and employee benefits. To take the example of corporate philanthropy, when corporations make donations to charity, they are giving away their shareholders money, which they can only do if they see potential profit in it. This may be because they want to improve their image by associating themselves with a cause, to exploit a cheap vehicle for advertising, or to counter the claims of pressure groups, but there is always an underlying financial motive, so the company benefits more than the charity†. Paine (2002) affirms that the choice to neglect corporate social responsibility will in some way indicate the corporations disrespect for its stakeholders who include its workers, suppliers, clientele and the society at large. Quoting CIPD (2009), â€Å"When CSR is done well; it means a precious, though precarious, trust in your business. Successful CSR can bring benefits such as a distinct position in your marketplace, protecting your employer brand, and building credibility and trust with current and potential customers and employees. It can help significantly with recruitment, engagement and retention of employees†. Some academics believe that some corporations embark on corporate social responsibility projects for strategic reasons. Xueming and Bhattacharya (2008) affirm that in recent times, corporate social responsibility matches the strategic plan of many corporations. They mention that although some corporations carry out a range of socially responsible activities such as philanthropic acts, corporate responsibility and sustainability reporting, marketing and stakeholder events to mention a few, they do so not because they feel it is the â€Å"right thing to do† but regard it is a â€Å"smart thing to do†. 2.1.1 GOVERNMENT AS STAKEHOLDERS Porter and Van der Linde (1995) believe that countries impose firm directives on home organizations, and the relationship government has with organizations corporate social responsibility issues positively affects them. It encourages them to create policies pertaining to the environment, cost reduction, sustainability of their products, and also increase the organizations competitive advantage in the international marketplace. This means that the government can control organizations and ensure they adhere to its directives and policies. Even though government has great control on the way organizations operate their businesses through the use of regulatory guidelines and policies, the activities of organizations have also had a growing influence on the government. Thorne et al (2008) assert that â€Å"managing this relationship with government officials while navigating the dynamic world of politics is a major challenge for firms, both large and small†. They explain that because of the varied nature of the environment, there are several competitors and suppliers in the decision making process, and as such raising the economic risks. Being stakeholders, organizations and government are considered mutual stakeholders and as such both sides can cooperate and play a part in the decision making process. In a Questions-and-Answers session with the Chairman and CEO, Charles Holliday, of DuPont a science-based solution company, Holliday was asked on how businesses and the government can effectively collaborate on stan dards-setting and value-creation for their stakeholders. He replied as follows: â€Å"The complexities and opportunities of modern business and industry are too great to assume that regulation alone can get us where we have to go. Regulation, as we have seen historically, is not a precision tool for change. But it can overcome inertia and get things going. The landmark environmental legislation of the 1970s and 1980s set in motion the kind of change that in the U.S. has led to cleaner air and water. No one doubts that†. He further said that in regulating sustainability, â€Å"We can expect that government will identify some pressure points where regulatory instruments can advance the cause. But real progress in sustainability will come from what we build into products and services, in the way we design and operate our plants and distribution networks, in the way we think about the ultimate disposition of the things we make, even and especially in the way we direct our rese arch and development. Its hard to imagine regulatory protocols that can encompass all of that. Industry has to be imaginative and proactive and show that we can accomplish the things our stakeholders expect of us, especially those things that go beyond the letter of the law† (as cited in Freeman et al, 2006). He also mentioned that at DuPont, they have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 72% since 1990 and this is because it was expected of them by their stakeholders to be proactive, and that gave them the push. This further shows how corporations work on their own in accordance with government directives designed towards improving the society. Marcus (2002) and Delmas and Terlaak (2002) are quick to assert that some corporations might be discouraged if government implements regulations they consider stringent and as such corporations should be allowed to make their own decisions as they consider appropriate. 2.2 THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SCHOOLS OF THOUGHTS The issue of whether corporations should be socially responsible or not, the extent to which they should be responsible, to whom they should be responsible and the context in which they should be responsible, has been a major debate amongst researchers. There are two schools of thought which have differing opinions on CSR matters. They are the restrictive and expansionist opinions. The restrictive school of thought upholds the profit maximisation stand while the other school believes that corporations should be socially responsible. 2.2.1 THE EXPANSIONIST SCHOOL OF THOUGHT The expansionists believe that environmental problems are caused by businesses and for that reason they should be liable for their externalities. Stoner and Wankel (1988) maintain that corporations should take into consideration the impact of their environmental activities on the society and for that reason they should act responsibly not only for the benefit of their stakeholders but to the general populous. Davis and Blomstrom (1975) give an account of their opinion of how a model corporation should look. They assert that it should provide an opportunity for investment, a good working condition, be ethically considerate, be a good corporation to do business with, pay their tax contributions and support governments endeavours, be good to the community they work in, contribute to social endeavours and public concerns. Crowther and Rayman- Bacchus (2004) assert that â€Å"the activities of an organization impacts upon the external environment and have suggested that such an organizat ion should therefore be accountable to a wider audience than simply its shareholders†. They also mention that the â€Å"recognition of the rights of all stakeholders and the duty of a business to be accountable in this wider context therefore has been largely a relatively recent phenomenon†. In summary, corporate social responsibility should include responsibility to the owners of the business,