Corporate Social Responsibility - Boston Pizza Restaurant - Case Study Example

Group Project for MGMT 2603 Project Topic: Corporate Social Responsibility Table of contents Introduction …………………………………………………………………………2 2. Social responsibility and the role it plays in society………………………………..2 3. Boston Pizza Restaurant …………………………………………………………… a. Brief overview of the company …………………………………………….3 b. Current socially responsible activity ……………………………………….4 i. Boston Pizza Foundation……………………………………………4 ii. School Programs ……………………………………………………5 1. School lunch………………………………………………...6 2. Student Awards……………………………………………..6 iii. Fundraising Programs………………………………………………..7 1. School Earnback………………………………………………….7 2. Celebrity Server………………………………………………….7 3. Team Headquarters………………………………………………7 4. New sustainable initiatives …………………………………………………………7 a. Application for smartphones (iPhone and Android) ………………………8. b. Environmentally friendly garden next to the restaurant for children – at Boston Pizza Restaurant in Sydney Nova Scotia …………………………..8 c. Trips from the schools for kids and special offers and discounts ……………9. 5. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………9 Introduction People become more knowledgeable and concerned about the environmental issues, so widely discussed in the mass media sources. This awareness is transferred to the customer’s behavior as people tend to prefer the company whose principles of work are based on the corporate social responsibility pillars. Such an increasing change of customer’s behavior makes businesses to launch various environmentally and/or socially friendly initiatives to be competitive on the market. One of such companies is a family-friendly casual dining restaurant in Canada – Boston Pizza. The purpose of this project is to analyze the company Boston Pizza in terms of its sustainable development activity, and to suggest some new initiatives that will help the company be even more corporate socially responsible organization. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the role it plays in society The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) becomes more and more popular among businesses, especially among large international organizations. Globalisation, global warming, and other environmental and social concerns of citizens make modern organizations to do business in socially, economically and environmentally responsible manner. Namely, these three pillars (social, environmental and business) are the three angles of triple bottom line (DAmato et al. 2009). From the economic perspective, firms should generate profits and achieve financial targets; from the social perspective, firms should do good things for society and communities; from the environmental perspective, firms should do business minimizing its harm to the environment and even implementing specific initiatives related to keeping planet green and clean (Visser 2010). CSR is applicable to the organization of all sizes and type of business activities (Visser 2010). Broader definition of the CSR implies that “it encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and discretionary or philanthropic expectations that society has of organizations at a given point in time (Visser 2010, 107). Companies become responsible for not only their economic activity and quality of product, services and other accompanying issues, but also for the protection and improvement of the society’s welfare (Visser 2010). The Boston Pizza Inc. - Brief overview of the company Boston Pizza is a franchising network of restaurants, and “Canada’s No.1 casual dining brand” (Boston Pizza Company History, n.d.). The Boston Pizza began its life in Edmonton, Alberta in 1964 (Boston Pizza Company History, n.d.). Greek immigrant, Mr. Gus Agiorities opened Boston Pizza planning to grow the business through franchising system. By 1970 there were 17 locations throughout Western Canada, out of which 15 units were franchised. Nowadays, Boston Pizza has more than 325 restaurants across Canada, and more than 50 units are located in the U.S. and one in Mexico (Boston Pizza Company History, n.d.). The company employs more than 16, 000 people across Canada and serves more than 40 million clients annually with offering more 100 different menu items (Boston Pizza – Quick Facts, n.d.). The restaurant is oriented on families, groups of ages, and teams and offers friendly atmosphere to its visitors. The company’s success is believed to be a result of three pillars, on which the company is focusing on: 1. Commitment to franchisee profitability 2. Commitment to building the Boston Pizza brand 3. Commitment to continually improving the customer experience (Boston Pizza – The three pillars, n.d.). While these pillars might sound a bit abstract, it is possible to see that the company is extremely oriented on the customer’s needs and is committed to continually improve the customer experience. These pillars build the personality of the organization, also called the “corporation identity” (Paine 2003 cited by DAmato et al. 2009, 5). Corporate identity helps to understand what the company really is and what principles and values it applies (DAmato et al. 2009). As it has been mention at the beginning, customers are more aware and tend to prefer buying products and services from CSR businesses. The Boston Pizza is also committed to corporate social responsibility and its current activity is discussed below. Current Socially Responsible Activity Boston Pizza Foundation On the official website of the Boston Pizza is stated the following “Boston Pizza Foundation created Future Prospects to focus our efforts and help support youth in our communities and across the country in partnership with organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters, Kids Help Phone, JDRF, Live Different and other programs that mentor kids to reach their full potential” (Boston Pizza, 2014). This statement reflects the company’s strong commitment to the CSR principles better than anything else. In addition to this kind of support, the company has helped to raise funds for the health and well-being of at-risk children (Boston Pizza, 2014). School Programs As it has been mentioned already Boston Pizza is a company focused on corporate social responsibility and believes that it is important to provide support to the schools and families in the communities (Boston Pizza, 2014). The company’s has managed to developed some sustainable programs that allow raising money and increase significantly motivation of students towards their best performance (Boston Pizza, 2014). Some of these programs include: School lunch and Student Awards. School lunch Boston Pizza created a special school lunch for all parties: kids, parents, and teachers. These lunches are not only tasty, but also nutritious and are individual for everybody (food allergies or food sensitivities are also considered). School lunches are designed in accordance with the principles of healthy eating based on the Canada’s Food Guide (Boston Pizza, 2014). From the social perspective such an approach to nutrition perfectly fits to the CSR approach and allows young generation be healthier and more energetic. In addition to this intiative, the company performs environmental function as well by making all of Boston Pizza’s School Lunch packaging recyclable (Boston Pizza, 2014). Moreover, the company has launched Health check program which meets the “special criteria to help its clients make healthier choices” (Boston Pizza- Health Check, 2014). Student Awards Boston Pizza also is focused on performing such social function as motivate and reward students for their efforts and positive contributions. The goal stated on the company’s websites sounds in the flowing way: “Our goal is to inspire students to learn, play and respect their peers” (Boston Pizza 2014, n.p.). In order to achieve its goal, the management team of Boston Pizza initiated three programs, including: Reading Reward Program (aimed at encouraging students to read at home and rewarding them for their efforts); Lionel Awards (aimed at encouraging students do something positive in life, doing good things, etc); Player of the Game Award (aimed at encouraging student to do their best during the games and other sporting events) (Boston Pizza, 2014). Fundraising Programs In addition to various school supporting initiatives, Boston Pizza has fundraising programs. According to the corporate information, the Boston Pizza Foundation has raised and donated more than $ 9 million for different charities in Canada since 1990 (Boston Pizza –Quick Facts, n.d.). Also, the company helps to raise funds for schools and school-related activities, such as athletics, infrastructure, events, supplies, etc. (Boston Pizza, 2014). Some of these programs are the following: School Earnback – certain % of receipts collected from the families who dined at Boston Pizza go in cash to schools; Celebrity Server – percentage of the sales after dining with friends or family goes to schools; Team Headquarters – sports teams raise money by collecting receipts during the course of the season and % of the total goes in cash to the sport teams for travelling, buying equipment, or other entertainment (Boston Pizza, 2014). New Sustainable Initiatives All of the above discussed sustainable initiatives undoubtedly proof that Boston Pizza is the company oriented on the customers’ needs and is focused on corporate social responsibility. However, as the time goes the company should move forward and become more attractive to its clients in order to stay competitive on the market. Based on this logic, there were developed three new initiatives that should make Boston Pizza network even more customer service oriented and corporately socially responsible business. Application for Smart Phones (iPhone and Android OS) Nowadays, our society lives in such accelerated pace that time as a valuable resource is always scarce. On the other hand, IT and computer technology serves greatly to help people save their time, and therefore money. Integration of IT technology into the Boston Pizza service might significantly improve the customer service and save customers’ time. For this purpose there was initiated a project to develop and launch an application for smart phones, for both iPhones and Android operating system. Such application will allow customers to make mobile payments from their phones, speeding up the purchasing process. Also, the customers will be able to make order and ask for delivery. Moreover, while eating inside the restaurant customers will be enabled to use the application instead of calling a waiter. In addition to the above listed opportunities, customers will use mobile application for finding nearby stores, getting virtual rewards and buying menu items during special offers. Mobile application will serve not only the customer’s needs but also will enable Boston Pizza to promote more effectively its products to the clients due to the special program of storing information about customer’s preferences. Possessing by such information, the company will be able to send special offers and discounts for concrete customers in accordance with their eating habits. Boston Pizza application will also allow promotion of its rewards programs, as it is a great instrument for promotion and advertising. Some of the Food Chain giants such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Starbucks, Domino’s, Chipotle, 7-Eleven, and Jimmy John’s have already invested millions to launching such similar applications (Taylor, 2014). By introducing such innovative approach to ordering, paying and promoting its services and menu, Boston Pizza will be able to stay on the cutting edge of restaurant’s mobile app innovation (Taylor, 2014). This project will require considerable investment; however, the benefits of its implementation should bring great effect, add value to the company’s brand and thus, increase customer’s loyalty. While Boston Pizza application is the project that should be applied on the corporate level and cover all locations, there is another project that can be applied locally. Environmentally Friendly Garden The project that can be applied locally at different locations of Boston Pizza relates to building of the environmentally friendly garden for children, located next to the restaurant. For a pilot project location at Sydney Nova Scotia has been chosen, mainly because of its downtown location and high number of visitors. Taking into consideration the fact that Boston Pizza is targeting families and schools, this idea should be worth for implementation. Building of the garden will require usage of environmentally friendly and organic resources, with trees and bushes surrounding the territory. The garden will be designed 100% in accordance with the sustainable principles, ensuring the safety of the place for children. There will be applied earth-friendly methods of gardening and used environmentally friendly garden products. Thus, children will have an opportunity to play and enjoy freshness in the garden while waiting for their orders. It will be as a “green oasis” in the center of the city. Parents will be encouraged to visit this specific location with their children. By launching such an initiative, Boston Pizza at Sydney Nova Scotia will launch special advertisement campaign devoted to keeping a planer green and clean. The idea has not just immediate effect, but also will make children get used to the green places with fresh grass and trees, setting plastic and stone surrounding back. This project also fits perfectly to the company’s strategy of being organization which has corporate social responsibility. Trip from the schools for kids and special offers (discounts) In addition to the above listed initiatives, there was developed an idea to organize trips for children from schools. Aligned with special offers and discounts, parents and teachers at schools will be even more encouraged to allow children go to the Boston Pizza at Sydney Nova Scotia and its new “Green Oasis”. Such trips will also encourage more visits and promote existing fundraising initiatives. Conclusion This paper has provided analysis of the Canadian franchising network of restaurants – the Boston Pizza Inc. in respect to its current sustainable development activity. Currently the company’s has developed two sustainable programs that allow raising money and increase significantly motivation of students towards their best performance: School lunch and Student Awards. Recyclable packages and balanced nutrition help company stay sustainable in terms of both prospects: environmental and social. Another CSR program successfully launched by the Boston Pizza relates to the fundraising programs, including: School Earnback, Celebrity Server, and Team Headquarters. All these programs are oriented on improving the social welfare and the student’s community lives, and also demonstrate company’s commitment to the Corporate Social Responsibility approach. However, in addition to the existing programs there were suggested some new initiatives that also might considerably add value to the business, simultaneously improving life of the clients and having positive impact on society. These initiatives included: development of new multifunctional application for smart phones, building of the environmentally friendly garden for kids next to the restaurant Boston Pizza Sydney Nova Scotia, and organization of trips for children from schools to the restaurants. All these initiatives are viewed as important steps that will add value to the company, and will make customer’s experience more enjoyable and pleasant. The initiatives discussed above require significant amount of investment, particularly the one of developing mobile application, however, it is believed that return on investment will be great and company will be able to generate more revenue, thus performing not only socially and environmentally oriented functions, but also economic or business functions. References: Boston Pizza,. (2014). Boston Pizza | Fundraising Programs. Retrieved 25 May 2014, from https://bostonpizza.com/en/school-programs/fundraising/ Boston Pizza,. (2014). Boston Pizza | BP Foundation. Retrieved 25 May 2014, from https://bostonpizza.com/en/bp-foundation/ Boston Pizza,. (2014). Boston Pizza | Health Check. Retrieved 25 May 2014, from https://bostonpizza.com/en/nutrition/health-check Boston Pizza,. (2014). Boston Pizza | School Lunch. Retrieved 25 May 2014, from https://bostonpizza.com/en/school-programs/lunch/ Boston Pizza, (2014). Boston Pizza | School Programs. Retrieved 25 May 2014, from https://bostonpizza.com/en/school-programs Boston Pizza,. (2014). Boston Pizza | Student Awards. Retrieved 25 May 2014, from https://bostonpizza.com/en/school-programs/awards/ Boston Pizza-Company History. (n.d.) (1st ed., pp. 1-2). Richmond. Available at: https://bostonpizza.com/assets/mediacentre/documents/pdf/Boston_Pizza_-_Company_History.pdf Boston Pizza-The Three pillars of success, (n.d.). (1s ed., p. 1). Available at: https://bostonpizza.com/assets/mediacentre/documents/pdf/Boston_Pizza_-_The_Three_Pillars.pdf Boston Pizza-Quick Facts, (n.d.). (1s ed., p. 1). Available at: https://bostonpizza.com/assets/mediacentre/documents/pdf/Boston_Pizza_Quick_Facts.pdf DAmato, A., Henderson, S., & Florence, S. (2009). Corporate social responsibility and sustainable business [electronic resource] : a guide to leadership tasks and functions / Alessia DAmato, Sybil Henderson, Sue Florence. Greensboro, N.C. : CCL Press, 2009. Taylor, K. (2014). From Chipotle to Starbucks: 6 Chains That Do Mobile Apps Right | Slideshow. Entrepreneur. Retrieved 25 May 2014, from http://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/231261 Visser, W. (2010). The A to Z of corporate social responsibility [electronic resource] / Wayne Visser ... [et al.]. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. : Wiley, 2010. Read More