Siu, Cham Man
(2012)
Should CSR be adopted for Sustainable Value Creation?
- A CSR-integrated Strategy Formulation Exercise for a Small Hong Kong Travel Business.
[Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]
(Unpublished)
Abstract
Abstract
Being perceived as the world’s largest industry by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), tourism, on the one hand, brings with it tangible economic benefits to destination markets, while, on the other hand, creating sustainability challenges that exert unsustainable pressures on the collective human race’s well-being, as well as its social systems. According to (Goodwin 2011), the phrase “tragedy of the commons” frequently appears in tourism literature and refers to the overuse, or misuse, of the world’s natural resources by inconsiderate individuals or corporations.
Since Villa-H.K have been operating in such an industry for a decade and the Maldives has long been their major destination market, they are invariably the focal point for scrutiny and ever-increasing stakeholders’ expectations. In addition, the rapid growth of the Chinese economy and low entry-barrier means that the outbound travel marketplace will inevitably become more competitive in future - meaning that a holistic strategy that enables the travel business in question to leverage on their resources and capabilities to create and sustain their competitive advantage (CA) is highly desirable for long-term success.
This management dissertation takes readers through from the big picture of global issues to stakeholder engagement and from firm-level analysis to corporate-level strategy formulation. As such, readers will be more able to get a better understanding of the sustainability challenge facing the travel industry, as well as both the risks and opportunities presented to small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Hong Kong travel industry. Most importantly, through a real-world case study readers are illuminated as to some of the problems facing today’s outbound travel agencies and provided a theoretical framework informing how a travel business can be transformed from “traditional SME” to “future-focused” sustainable business. A new value system will consequently be introduced in the hope to increase stakeholder value and maximise wealth creation.
Moreover, this research also highlights that doing business in a socially-responsible way is a must nowadays; however, the author believes the degree in which “doing good by doing well” largely subjects to availability of resources and capabilities. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Based on Villa-H.K’s humble resources, some corporate social opportunities (CSOs) are identified and proposed in the CSR-integrated strategy formulation process after stakeholders are gathered. Last but not least, a well-defined CSR-integrated strategy must also come along with contingency measures that serve to mitigate risk and diversify investment, particularly for a travel business.
Key words: SME, CSR, Corporate Social Opportunities (CSOs), Stakeholder Engagement, Sustainable Strategic Management (SSM), SD (SD), triple-bottom-line (TBL)
Actions (Archive Staff Only)
 |
Edit View |
Tools
Tools
