Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics in Barclays Bank Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics in Barclays Bank - Essay Example Because of this novel innovation in CSR, Barclays presents an ideal context in which to explore the broader implications of community citizenship among banks. 1.2 Purpose of the study The study seeks to examine corporate social responsibility policies, including business ethics and its impact on Barclays bank practice and key stakeholders. It shall lay the foundations by describing Barclay’s history and environment, its organizational framework and the philosophy underlying its banking operations. The study shall proceed to detailing the bank’s CSR ethos, the programs by which it is fleshed out, and the manner by which the programs are executed. Finally, the study shall determine the effects of the CSR programs among its stakeholders, particularly its employees and customers. From these findings, the study may conclude whether or not its CSR philosophy and programs attain their objectives and contribute to the strategic goals of the firm. 1.3 Objectives The purpose of t his research will be achieved by targeting the following objectives: (1) To describe Barclays Bank as a business, detailing its history, organizational structure, operational philosophy, and corporate performance; (2) To investigate the CSR philosophy of Barclays and the manner in which this vision is sought to be realized by its programs and practices; (3) To assess the effectiveness of these CSR programs and practices towards the attainment of the CSR objectives and, ultimately, the organization’s overall strategic goals; and (4) To arrive at insights and recommend possible courses of actions that may contribute to the CSR efforts of banks in general. 1.4 Research questions The degree to which this research will be able to... The intention of this study is corporate social responsibility. One definition is that CSR is a matter of reporting the impact of corporate activities on its various stakeholders - i.e. customers, employees, shareholders and creditors, regulators and the government, communities, and society in general. Three schools of thought appear to emerge in CSR academic literature: the neo-liberal school which focuses on industry self-regulation; the state-led school which centers on national and international regulation; and the corporate-centered school which focuses on the role of the organization, depending on whether it is for-profit or not-for-profit. CSR did not develop as a well-defined concept overnight. The experience of National Westminster Bank, then the eighth largest in the world, mirrored that of many similar other banks. Among employees, as talented staff advanced up the hierarchy, in about 40 years they were at a point when too many people were chasing too few jobs. Some people had to be passed over, leaving them disillusioned and disaffected. Almost serendipitously at the time, however, the British National Gallery issued a request to the bank for money and an administrator to spearhead a fund-raising campaign. The bank assigned a then inactive branch manager to handle the project, which ended in success nine months earlier. Not long thereafter, seeing the success of this and subsequent similar projects, the bank’s personal manager and its board decided to establish National Westminster Enterprises, wherein it assigned more than one hundred of its administrators to assist various charities all over England.