Corporate Social Responsibility and Commitment to Sustainability in UK Banking System

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY1

Introduction1

Philosophical Framework or Paradigm2

Research Question3

Methodology5

Researcher Bias5

Sample5

Data Collection and Processing Procedures6

Data Analysis Procedures8

Quantitative Method9

Data Security: Participant Anonymity and Document Retention10

Summary10

CHAPTER IV: DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS12

Interview Analysis12

Questionnaire Analysis14

A Review of the Professional and Academic Literature19

Banking Industry20

Stakeholders' Pressure21

Economic Health22

Regulations22

Threats23

Lloyd Bank23

Addressing Customers'Complaints25

Barclays Bank28

Capital29

Returns29

Top-line growth30

Citizenship30

Citi Bank31

Summary of Findings33

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION36

Triple Bottom Line36

Implications for Practice of Sustainable Development37

Implications for Organization Development38

Hypothesis39

Recommendations40

Future Research41

CSR Education43

Summary44

Conclusion44

REFERENCES47

APPENDICES56

Questionnaire56

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

“We're filled with our own rightness, our own autobiography. We want to be understood. Our conversations become collective monologues and we never really understand what's going on inside another human being” (Covey, 1989, p. 240).

Introduction

In order to find practices and policies that drive desirable behaviour, it is necessary to understand the common experiences of those that have experienced a phenomenon and the assumptions that they hold (Cresswell, 2007, p. 60). This qualitative phenomenological study was performed to describe how incorporation of corporate social responsibility can add to the sustainability of the company and how it is manifested by the stakeholders of the organisation.

Results from this study could aid in enhancement of the corporate social responsibility practices between the sustainability of the organisation and their stakeholders as well as deepening awareness and association to corporate social responsibility.

Webster's Dictionary defined methodology as “a branch of philosophy dealing with the science of method or procedure” (p. 628). A phenomenological approach was used to vitalize the lived experience of the people associated with the banking sector of United Kingdom and the stakeholders. The study employed a social constructivist perspective in guiding the inquiry. Among this chapter, these frameworks are explored in further detail. This chapter also described the detailed procedures related to how the investigation would be performed and who would participate. Further, research method standards and ethical considerations are discussed to make sure that the planned research study conforms to acceptable quality standards and does not endanger the well-being of study participants.

Philosophical Framework or Paradigm

Groenewald (2004) defined the philosophical framework or paradigm as “the patterning of the thinking of a person; it is a principal example among example, an exemplar or model to follow according to which design actions are taken” (p. 6). The philosophical framework provided the researcher with the basic methods and rules that were proven to be relevant to the studies of other researchers but the primary purpose of the framework is to “make sense of the data, to provide some coherent explanation for why people are doing or saying what they are doing or saying” (Anfara & Mertz, 2006, p. 68). Flood (2010) summarized these affirmations and stated that “a theoretical perspective supports the philosophical stance underpinning a methodology and provides a context for the process involved and a basis for its logic and criteria” (p. 8).

Understanding the basic assumptions and perspectives taken by the researcher is central to evaluating the planned research methodology as well as the subsequent findings and recommendations resulting from the study (Cresswell, 2007, p. 16). Cresswell (2007) presented an adaptation of Guba ...