a study on corporating social responsibility (csr) in a multinational companies operating in vietnam a case study on unilever vietnam

1 2 A STUDY ON CORPORATING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) IN A MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES OPERATING IN VIETNAM A CASE STUDY ON UNILEVER VIETNAM BY NGUYEN THI VAN TRANG Graduation Project Submitted to the Department of Business Studies, HELP University College, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Business (Accounting) Hons October 2011 3 Declaration of Originality and Word Count DECLARATION I declare that this graduation project is based on my original work except for quotations and citation which have been duly acknowledged. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently submitted for any other courses/degrees at HELP University College or other institutions. Word Count: 11,638 words. NGUYEN THI VAN TRANG Date 17/10/2011 4 Acknowledgements Many people have helped me to finish this project. I wish to take this opportunity to thank all the people who have helped, tough and guided me all the time.  Firstly, I want to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Le Van Lien from International School at Vietnam National University, Hanoi. He helped me to gather and analyze information, guide and correct me when I'm wrong. I can learn so much from him such as his knowledge, inspiration and attitude of working.  Secondly, I also would like to express my thanks to Ms. Sumathi, Help University College, who initiated the project and give me so much instruction and support.  Lastly, I want to thank to all managers and employees at Unilever Vietnam, who are very friendly and cooperative. 5 Abstract A STUDY ON CORPORATING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) IN A MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES OPERATING IN VIETNAM A CSE STUDY ON UNILEVER VIETNAM BY NGUYEN THI VAN TRANG October 2011 Supervisor: Dr. Le Van Lien Although there are many different interpretations, but more than a decade, the number of companies around the world recognizes the economic benefits of CSR policies are on the rise. CSR commitments beyond the desire to increase profits, and company was fully aware of their responsibility to employees, customers, communities and the environment. The main purpose of this project is to find out the level of awareness and the implementation of CSR of a multinational company operating in Vietnam - Unilever Vietnam. Both primary data and secondary data will be used to collect information in this project. After collecting the information, researcher will analyze the information and from that can give conclusion and recommend some suggestions. 6 TABLE CONTENTS Page Declaration of Originality and Word Count ii Acknowledgement Error! Bookmark not defined. Abstract iv Table of contents vi List of Figures and Tables vii List of Abbreviations viii CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION Error! Bookmark not defined.2 1.1 Research Background 13 1.1.1 CSR in the world 13 1.1.2 CSR in Vietnam 14 1.1.3 CSR in multination company in Vietnam 15 1.2 Problem Statement 16 1.3 Objectives and scope of the research 18 1.3.1 Objectives of the research 18 1.3.2 Scope of the research 19 1.4 Research Methods 19 CHAPTER 2 : LITERATURE REVIEW 20 2.1 Definition of CSR 21 2.2 Caroll’s 1979 - 1991 concept 23 7 2.3 Other concepts related to CSR 25 2.3.1 Triple bottom line 25 2.3.2 Stakeholder theory 26 2.3.3 Business ethics and CSR 27 2.3.4 Sustainable development 28 2.3.5 Social responsible investment 29 2.3.6 CSR reporting 30 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 31 3.1 Research Objectives 32 3.2 Research methodology 32 3.3 Theoretical framework 32 3.3.1 Managers 33 3.3.2 Employees 33 3.4 Data sources 34 3.4.1 Primary data 34 3.4.2 Secondary data 35 3.5 Research method 35 3.6 Research tool 36 3.6.1 Questionnaires 36 3.6.2 Phone interview 36 3.6.3 Annual report 37 3.7 Sampling 37 3.7.1 Sample population 37 8 3.7.2 Sample frame 37 3.7.3 Sample size 37 3.8 Limitations 38 3.9 Hypothesis 38 3.9.1 Manager’s attitude toward CSR 38 3.9.2 Employee’s attitude toward CSR 39 CHAPTER 4 : ANALYSIS 40 4.1 Questionnaires collection and respond 41 4.2 Description of result 41 4.2.1 Age 42 4.2.2 Gender 42 4.3 Managers 43 4.3.1 Level of awareness 43 4.3.2 Implementation 46 4.4 Employees 53 4.4.1 Level of awareness 53 4.4.2 Implementation 56 4.5 Overall evaluation 59 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 61 5.1 Conclusion 62 5.2 Recommendation 63 5.3 Limitation of Sutdy 64 9 5.4 Suggestion for Furture Research 64 REFERENCES ( Harvard referencing system) 65 APPENDICES 70 Appendix A: Questionnaire Sample 70 10 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CSR Corporate Social Responsibility VND Viet Nam Dong TBL Triple Bottom Line MNCs Multinational Companies NGOs Non Government Organizations WCED World Commission and Environment and Development SRI Socially Responsible Investment UVF Unilever Vietnam Foundation CIEM Central Economic Management UVN Unilever Vietnam [...]... implementation of a multinational company operating in Vietnam, specifically is Unilever company The multinational companies are pioneers in the implementation and application of CSR because the activities of multinational companies were conducted in various countries Therefore, in each country, the company has a different CSR strategy that best suit the culture as well as people in the country CSR in Vietnam. .. investing in Vietnam are aware of their social responsibility Only after melamine-tainted milk from China and Vedan discharging waste water into the Thi Vai River, people realized that a violation of business ethics, environmental harm severely of these companies and also realized the importance of CSR After joining WTO, the competition with cheap goods and the quality is not enough in Vietnam, in addition,... businesses Besides, the Government should create policies to support enterprises in implementing CSR 1.1.3 CSR in multinational company in Vietnam Vietnam is a developing country with strong growth in economy so Vietnam has been attracting many companies to invest in Vietnam in which there are many famous multinational companies (MNCs) in many different areas such as Samsung, Sony, Dutch Lady, Unilever, ... Vietnam is still a new concept but there are many multinational companies have done very well at promoting CSR into Vietnam and Unilever is an example The research includes researcher’s analysis about CSR in Unilever Vietnam, opinion conducted from managers, employees and customers of Unilever Vietnam, and finally some recommendation of the researcher 3.2 Research methodology This research includes qualitative... data is data could not handle (also called raw data) or data processing Secondary data can be found easily on the Internet, books, journal… However, in studies, even secondary data sometimes need to be bought from an agency, organization or any company There are also secondary data that have to take a lot of time searching on the Internet, newspapers, data source from CD – DVD by the published organizations... of fat metabolism can cause the coronary artery becomes blocked, causing angina, stroke (Phunuonline) In Vietnam, there is still no rule in managing products related to trans-fat, but some instant noodle manufacturers pioneered the specified information that does not 16 contain trans-fat on their packing products This is seen as a step in the awareness of businesses to protect consumer health Vietnam. .. in many different market areas Therefore, the contents of CSR that multinational companies applied in Vietnam are effective and efficient Some typical examples are: project “I love Vietnam of Honda – Vietnam company, educational programs for personal hygiene of children in the mountainous province of Unilever, computer training program Topic64 of Microsoft, Qualcomm and HP… But not all companies investing... that produce or sell addictive substances (like alcohol, gambling and tobacco) and seeking out companies engaged in environmental sustainability and alternative energy/clean technology efforts Socially responsible investments can be made in individual companies or through a socially conscious mutual fund or exchange-traded fund” Socially responsible investment (SRI) 28 investment is not only the financial... Unilever, and Toyota… Although CSR in Vietnam has not developed strongly as in other countries but the government of Vietnam began to care about CSR and encourages enterprises to do their social responsibility CSR was launched in Vietnam through a major multinational companies investing in Vietnam These companies often develop codes of conduct and business cultural norms which are universal to be applied... in multinational company with specific target is Unilever company - The third objective is to find out what benefits can CSR brings to the company and stakeholders - The last objective is recommending a CSR framework for a multinational company operating in Vietnam 17 1.3.2 Scope of the research The research is carried out in order to find out how Unilever applied CSR in Vietnam Unilever is a multinational . 2 A STUDY ON CORPORATING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) IN A MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES OPERATING IN VIETNAM A CASE STUDY ON UNILEVER VIETNAM . and cooperative. 5 Abstract A STUDY ON CORPORATING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) IN A MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES OPERATING IN