English Composition II (Essay Sample)

English Composition II
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Unit I Assignment
Part I: Topics Inventory
Below are three topics of interest:
Economic reforms and foreign direct investment
Consumer opinion of corporate social responsibility (CSR)
The relationship between organization performance and talent management techniques
Part II: Controlling Idea Statement
Consumers have negative perceptions about what motivates companies to embark on CSR efforts and their knowledge of CSR is low.
Part III: Short Proposal
In stores and through the media, consumers are increasingly being confronted with claims about the social and environmental work in which corporations are involved. The purpose of these claims is to enhance the reputation of the corporation or brand and to boost sales. Nevertheless, small work has been performed to assess consumers’ opinion or to utilize it to help shape corporate efforts. Corporations have responded to society’s increasing emphasis on social and environmental issues by implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Implementing CSR initiatives can be a major undertaking for corporations yet a review of relevant literature reveals a lack of research aimed at enhancing understanding of the level of consumer knowledge and consumer attitudes towards CSR (William & Endacott, 2004). The objective of this research is go gather information from consumers to enable businesses focus more effectively on CSR.
Unit II Research Proposal
CSR is the field of business practice that has acquired great interest within the last few decades. While it was consumer pressure that initially forced businesses to start taking their social responsibilities more seriously, ironically, it has been industry that has driven CSR progress. Nevertheless, an expectation has developed on the part of consumers that corporations will support social causes. Through surveys, consumers have also indicated their willingness to use their purchasing power to reinforce ethical behavior (Landers, 2009; Pelsmacker, Driesen & Rayp, 2005; William & Endacott, 2004). These factors help clarify why, what may have initially been viewed as a fad, has grown to become an integral part of how some corporations do business.
What is truly interesting about CSR is how it has grown so much without any real analysis of consumer opinion. The perception that consumers will reward companies who behave ethically and will punish those that do not seems to have been a major factor motivating corporations to embark on CSR efforts, yet there has been scarcely any effort to find out what consumers actually think of CSR initiatives (William & Endacott, 2004).
Need for Research
Are consumers really aware of the CSR efforts of companies? Do they trust the claims that corporations make in their advertising and on their labels?
Research into consumer opinion in relationship to CSR is surprisingly scarce. There is little information on how knowledgeable consumers are in regards to the CSR efforts of businesses, what CSR practices resonate most with consumers, whether consumers care about a business’ motivation in embracing CSR, and consumer concerns over the reliability of CSR claims. There is an obvious link between the CSR initiatives and consumers’ awareness and perception. Hence, companies do not deliver messages successfully to consumers regarding their efforts on CSR despite the reality that numerous consumers are willing to conduct purchases from companies that are socially responsible.
Importance
Comprehending of these factors is vital towards the establishment of strong CSR practices. There have been instances were companies have faced serious backlash from consumers and advocacy groups because of inconsistencies in their CSR practices. Cause-Related Marketing (CRM), often a large part of CSR strategies, has the potential for developing cynicism among consumers if there is a poor fit between the company and the cause, the company benefits more from it than the cause does, or if companies become involved in propagating unsubstantiated claims.
The issue of misleading advertising has become particularly relevant over the past few years as corporations have increasingly embraced environmental and social causes in their advertising and labeling in order to attract customers. The ability to attract new customers or charge a higher premium may be strong motivation for corporations to embrace CRM and CSR. Corporations are, by their very nature, within money making business hence it is their interest to gain maximum leverage from CSR efforts. However, if corporations only make token efforts in order to raise profits then this could come back to haunt them. Corporations need to be able to make well-informed investments when they embark on CSR efforts and yet critical information on consumer knowledge and opinion is not available to them.
Research Objective
The study objective is to monitor how conversant consumers are concerning CSR and how it affects their attitudes towards corporations. The study gathered information from consumers regarding their knowledge of and attitude towards CSR to enable companies focus more effectively on CSR. The data was collected using an on-line consumer survey which focused on consumer perception of CSR, consumer knowledge of CSR practices, CSR exercise which cater the concerns of consumers about the credibility of CSR claims.
Unit III Annotated Bibliography
Robins, Fred (2008). Popularizing of corporate social responsibility. Corporate Governance, 8(3), 330-341. 
There has been considerably small research on opinions of consumers regarding CSR and this places corporations at a different demerit when dealing with development and promotion of CSR initiatives. As Robins points out, “The CSR literature offers managers virtually no guidance about the mechanics of the CSR decision-making process, or, about their degree of public accountability for CSR decisions” (2008, p. 335).
Bertels, Stephanie, and John Peloza (2008). Running Just to Stand Still? Managing CSR
Reputation in an Era of Ratcheting Expectations.  Corporate Reputation Review:  Corporate Reputation: Managing, 11(1), 56-72. 
Corporate reputation is increasingly based on environmental and social factors. It is emphatic in pointing out that it is essential for companies to develop a reputation for social responsibility since “consumers of all ages are beginning to demand it, to associate brands with either good or bad citizenship, and to shop accordingly”. Yet developing a good reputation is not a simple task as the issues which interest consumers are much varied and it is hard to position a corporation or product as socially responsible across multiple fronts.
Brock, Emma (2005). CSR: altruism or corporate benefit? Consumer Policy Review, 15(2), 58-63. 
The complexity of CSR and potential impacts it can have on corporations mean that CSR efforts need to be taken seriously. CSR initiatives require support from throughout the company, and should be in recital with the corporate values. CSR initiatives can boost corporate reputation but claims that are not properly backed up can become a major public relations problem for companies. Companies need to recognize that they will be held to greater standards by consumers when they make CSR claims.
Wang, Alex (2008). CSR and advertising practice. Globalization & Corporate Reputation, 11(3), 156-168. 
Conscious consumerism involves using the power of the market to make corporations change their practices. Consumers can push social and environmental causes not only through buying products aligned with their interests, but also by boycotting products and corporations that violate values they deem to be important. The importance of conscious consumerism has grown over the last few decades since consumers have become much more socially and environmentally aware and this had created a shift in buying behaviors. However, conscious consumerism seems to be strongly affected by economic conditions, with consumers being much less selective during times of recession.
Pfau, M., Michel M., Jeanetta Sims & Shelley Wigley (2008). Influence of CRS campaigns on corporate reputation and globalization, 11(3), 146-154. 
The lack of consistency in conscious consumerism has been a major factor in establishment of CSR initiatives that do not carefully evaluate consumer opinion. Consumers are generally not very active in educating themselves on corporations’ CSR efforts, nor have they displayed strong loyalty for brands with ethical reputations. Within those conditions, it becomes simpler to understand how some corporations have become involved in CSR efforts that are superficial but which can be utilized to attract the attention of consumers. The sea of pink products that flood stores each October is a clear example of this for in numerous instances purchasing the products does not lead directly to a donation being given to breast cancer research. However, the inherent danger in not truly understanding consumer opinions regarding CSR is that consumers are becoming more socially aware.
Unit IV Research Paper Draft 1
Consumer Perception of CSR
Added CSR awareness and environmental factors have led consumers to pay much closer attention to the practices of corporations and to demand higher standards. Research has shown that consumers generally form positive attitudes towards companies that behave in a manner deemed appropriate by society (Wang, 2009). CSR initiatives have been shown to enhance perceptions of image, reputation, and credibility for Corporations that already have a positive image (Pfau, Haigh, Sims, & Wigley...