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Individual Assignment

Ethics and CSR project

Busi- 601

Professor: Sylvain Charbonneau

Name: Sheikh Shadman Amin

ID- 2021083

Section- 13

Submission Date: 19th June, 2021

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Table of Contents

Introduction....................................................................................................................................3

Comapany’s Profile/Product/Scope of Operations..........................................................................5

Ethical/CSR issues and unique challenges that will be Faced by Amin Restaruant........................6

CSR ISSUES..............................................................................................................................7

Amin Restaurant’s stakeholders and their varying interests............................................................8

Communities................................................................................................................................13

Employees................................................................................................................................14

Competitors..............................................................................................................................14

How Amin Restaurant is managing the ethical issues...................................................................15

Amin Restaurant’s CSR strategy, Activities and Stakeholders interest.........................................15

Position statement for the management of Amin Restaurant outlining the overall CSR strategy..16

Potential implications of the CSR strategy...................................................................................17

Conclusion....................................................................................................................................19

Reference......................................................................................................................................20
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Introduction

Corporate Social Responsibility is a growing concern for companies operating around the

world. These companies are encouraged and motivated to do social works by influencing

stakeholders around the business environment. CSR is described as the organization's

contribution to society, which is part of its obligation and responsibility that extends over

manufacturing products and services for profits (Sexty, R. W, 2014). The CSR concept plays a

vital role in increasing the goodwill, reputation and the brand value of the organization. Every

company should practice CSR activities in its organizational environment.

In this project, I would discuss about my Bangladeshi restaurant business in Vancouver,

British Columbia. Moreover, I would briefly explain the items and services provided by "Amin

Restaurant.".I would also discuss the unique ethical issues and challenges which are faced by the

restaurant business. Lastly, I would identify the restaurant's stakeholders and their varying

interests. In the light of our textbooks, I will discuss how to manage those ethical issues, CSR

activities, and stakeholder interest in practice.

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Company's Profile/Product/Scope of Operations

Amin Restaurant is a place where people can enjoy traditional and staple food of

Bangladesh with the same masala(Spices) and ingredients imported from Bangladesh. The plus

point here is that both Canadians and Indians love spicy food, so we cover many customers in

Vancouver. Our restaurant offers various types of curry with rice and vegetables and cuisines

with the flavor of Bangladeshi spices. Our chefs are also from Bangladesh who has experience in

cooking traditional Bengali food for over fifteen years.

Our restaurant offers Biriyani, basmati rice, fried rice, chicken curry, beef curry,

Lambchop, Pitha ( Dry Cake), mixed vegetables, samosas, singara, and different types of local

fish curry. We also offer a full Vegan menu for attending the vegetarian customers. We are

mainly maintaining the Halal food chain in Vancouver to attract the Muslim community. Our

restaurant also makes various festive food items to celebrate festivals in Bangladeshi ways like

Eid, Pahela Baishakh (Bengali New year), and Independence Day with offering multiple

discounts. Our restaurant also provides food for the Canadian people with different discounts on

New year, Christmas, and other public holidays. Mainly for the quality and taste of the food our

company will earn the goodwill among the customers.

The location would be 6011 Fraser Street Vancouver, BC V5W 2Z8, which is closest to

the Bengali community, and they can get easy access to the food they need for their loved ones.

Our restaurant would be a small-scale business where dine-in will be available for 20 people

only, and takeaway available in Uber eats, Skip the Dishes, and Door Dash, where people can

order it online without coming to the restaurant in the time of the pandemic. Moreover, if the

business gets profitable later, I will plan to open branches in Vancouver Downtown and a cart

beside the Fraser River.

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Ethical/CSR issues and unique challenges that Amin Restaurant might face

In every business, problems arise because of ethical issues. It is pretty standard in the

restaurant business also. To tackle those issues, we need CSR measures to maintain the business

model's conduct and integrity. Some of the most common issues described by David Nitkin on

January 15th, 2021 are:

 First of all, vegans don't prefer to eat in a restaurant where animals are

being consumed. The number of vegans is increasing day by day. So our business even

attracts vegan customers too. The vegans raise real issues like harming animals, eating

them.

 Secondly, some of the customers can have issues with public health and

safety because we are operating a restaurant business in the pandemic. Gatherings should

be avoided until the situation goes back to normal.

 Thirdly, involvement with the community, restaurants have to contribute

aligning with the projects or community works for the betterment of society. This

involvement and contribution to the culture and environment will be more rewarding later

for the business.

 Lastly, the behavioral issues and attributes towards the customers of every

employees. Every employee should behave very well with the customers, especially the

waiters who will take orders. Because we need to operate in this theory that the

"Customers are always right."

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CSR ISSUES

Operating as a restaurant, social responsibility is fundamental. There are various issues

and misconceptions involving the activities of a restaurant, even when it does or does not get

involved in a CSR activity. (SECO,n.d).

 Environmentally friendly

The restaurant's environment is clean and tidy because four cleaners are operating

to clean the place because of covid 19. Our restaurant does not harm the environment in

any way because all the ingredients we are using are natural and organic.

 Use of energy

We are using electric stoves for being eco-friendly. Because if we use gas, we are

going to emit smoke. So we are going as environmentally friendly as we can. We use

hydro energy to make the restaurant more attractive and brighter by using lights and

motion views sensors

 Safety of employees and working conditions

Our working conditions are much more safe and sound. We have emergency

exits, and necessary training is given to the employess in case of emergencies. Our

restaurant does not defer anyone by race, religion, gender, ethnicity. We are protecting

the employees' rights by abiding by the labor laws of Canada.

 We operate in a Triple bottom line theory (Karakowsky, L., & Guriel, N,

2015).
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To sustain long-term in the market, we are concerned about the three factors:

environment, economy, and society. We will work accordingly to maintain the three frameworks

which are linked together.

Amin Restaurant's stakeholders and their varying interests

As the CEO of the restaurant, I see many stakeholder influences over the restaurant. They

bring much interest and manipulate other customers regarding the operation, location, food

preparation, and other several activities. Here I would discuss the stakeholder's impact on the

restaurant business with different sectors by following the stakeholder matrix. (Sexty, 2020)

Problematic Antagonistic

Oppose  Employees  Government

 Communities  Competitors

Low Priority Supporter

Support  Supplier
 Customers
 Farmers

Least Important Most

Government

Operating a restaurant business in British Columbia, we have to follow strict rules and

regulations provided by the government, municipalities, environmentalists, provincial laws, and

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many other hygienic laws, health, and labor factors. Even the government plays some vital roles

in the operating restaurant business because of the taxes they are receiving from the restaurants.

The quality of the food is inspected by Canadian Foods Inspection Agency (CFIA). According to

the government of Canada, there are some acts which are needed to be fulfilled, and this is

applicable for all restaurants, hotels, resorts, bars, grocery stores, or any other food and beverage

related industries; they are:

 Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act (S.C.

1995, c. 40)

 Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act (S.C. 1997, c. 6)

 Safe Food for Canadians Act (S.C. 2012, c. 24)

Furthermore, in British Columbia, the taxes are very high for the restaurants compared to

the grocery stores in Vancouver. According to Dan Fumano, the taxes on restaurants are very

high, and people have to pay even the "Vacancy Tax."

 In the fiscal year 2018-2019, the government of British Columbia had

earned over 118 million Canadian dollars from restaurants and households.

 There are taxes in buying and selling of finished products. British

Columbia people have to pay Goods and services tax (GST) 5% and Provincial Sales tax

(PST) 7%, which means all together people have to pay 12% tax.
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Customers

After the regulations of the government then come the priorities of the customers. The

most influential stakeholder is customers in every business. Customers are the only asset that

assures the survivability of the company in the market.

 We want to attract the people of southeast Asia who like spicy food. We

also provide gluten-free food and calorie-mentioned food, which is beneficial for the

customer.

 The restaurant is now over cautious for the concern of the pandemic. The

growing problem of covid-19 made us more careful about the cleanliness issues. We have

provided sanitizers both at the entrance and exit of the restaurant. And also, masks are

mandatory for getting services.

 As I have mentioned, we are operating in a penetration pricing strategy, so

the prices of our foods are much lower than other Indian restaurants. As we are new to

the customers, we are also going to provide them with promotional offers.

 Customers can also use the online ordering apps to order foods from

sitting at home. Customers have access to reviews on google and social media platforms

to know the taste and quality of the food. Also, for the dine-in to maintain the health and

safety of the customers, we would not be accepting orders in cash rather we are going to

take payment in contactless card payments. As I have mentioned before, customers can

order food online in Uber eats, Door Dash, and Skip the dishes.
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Suppliers

As a restaurant, we have to depend on the suppliers of having frozen food as raw

materials in a shallow price range where we would make as much as less profit as we can

at the beginning of the business. That's why we will take the raw materials on a large

scale and preserve the foods in the special fridge. For this reason, suppliers also play a

vital role in the restaurant business

 Health and Hygiene

As we provide food that is the primary necessity of humans, we have to ensure the

best quality. We need to confirm and inspect the qualities of the raw materials which we

are getting from suppliers. If the customers don't like the food, then it's tough to survive

in the restaurant market.

 Profit

When there is profit in the business, the suppliers will be eager to sell us more

raw materials at low cost. The supplier's attention can be grasped by meeting the

demands of the customers.

 Customer flow

With the customers flow and running, the businesses will run and can be familiar

to the community near Fraser street. If we have the consistency in the tastes and meet the

customers' demands, our survivability is ensured.

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Communities

Communities also play an essential role in the survivability of the restaurant. We need to

operate for the potential customers and provide them the best service.

 Environmental factor

Environmental friendly business should be the primary concern of every business.

Likewise, our business also complies with all the rules and regulations provided by the

government and environmentalists. As I have explained earlier, we are dealing with

organic materials only. The wastes of the food are carefully collected and dumbed. We

also have to be careful about the different problems which local peoples might face like

strong odor, noise complaints, operating beyond the business hours, etc.

 Activities

Our activities and operations might also disturb the communities. For that reason,

we have to keep an excellent relationship with our surroundings. As we are providing

halal food, we are not providing or selling any intoxication elements like alcohol or

cigarettes that are harmful to the human body. So as the CEO of the restaurant, we have

to take extra precautions not to offend the restaurant's communities or surroundings.

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Employees

We also know employees take a great interest in the restaurant business as one of the

primary stakeholders. As a CEO of the company, I have to ensure that the employees' rights are

always protected. We have to motivate and encourage employees by providing them with

employee benefits, festival bonuses, recognition of the work, and other various benefits

mentioned by the labor laws of Canada. The success of the business would bring more

enthusiastic employees and also monetary benefits for the company.

Competitors

Competition is one challenge that is faced by most of the restaurant business. Because

nowadays restaurant business is too familiar. Our main competitors are the other Indian, Sri

Lankan and Pakistani restaurants which make similar foods like us. So the restaurant business is

very competitive here. As a restaurant business, we have to overcome competition problems by

knowing the trends and attitudes of customers. We also have to be careful about our internal

operations because if the competitors know the internal information, they could get a competitive

advantage and capture the market shares.

How Amin Restaurant is managing the ethical issues

As a restaurant owner, I would always prefer the ethics of caring because the restaurant

business mainly satisfies the customers with the quality and tastes of the food. Still, the issues

which arise in the restaurant can't always be solved by ethics of caring. A good organizational

culture can solve these issues. Employees need to respect other personal virtues, ethics, norms,
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and behaviors. By maintaining good corporate culture, good decisions can be taken which would

bring fortune to all employees and organization

As a decision-maker, I would handle the conflicts and situations by putting myself in

their shoes and judge according to their point of view. By understanding the positions of both

parties, I will be able to make better decisions that would be beneficial for all the stakeholders.

According to Sexty, 2020, we need to understand the distinction between the code of conduct

and the code of ethics. And by that understanding, we need to work accordingly.

Amin Restaurant's CSR strategy, Activities, and Stakeholders interest

There can be many responsibilities of the business to work for the betterment of society.

As the owner of the restaurant, I would have performed the described activities:

 Providing food to the homeless people

Providing food to the homeless people of the East Hastings Street. By this act our

business can be recognized among peoples. We know people love this type of kind act. This CSR

activity motivates other restaurants too.

 Keeping the environment clean

Our employees and workers will work on the cleanliness of the surrounding areas also.

Because on the roads we can see people have thrown cigarette buds, coffee mugs, and many

things in the street, if we can show people that we are cleaning it every weekend, others would

also be encouraged by our activities.

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 Providing quality food

We need to have the ISO 26000 certificate to maintain the products' standards

(Sexty, R. W, 2014). The waste management is circulated by the management aspects of

3R models, which are Reduce, Recycle and Reuse. Moreover, we are not using plastic

products or packaging. We are fully operating in paper-based packaging.

 Mentioning the Calorie

In all the products of our restaurant the calories would be mentioned, where

customers can choose their diet. Because in our restaurant we will be providing red

meats, for that reason people can choose their meals wisely.

Position statement for the management of Amin Restaurant outlining the overall CSR

strategy

As the restaurant's chief executive officer, to operate and maintain all the CSR activities,

we need another group or department involved in such activities and would get paid to conduct

the above discussed CSR activities.

We can observe that there are many strategies to conduct those activities. But as a

restaurant, we need to be transparent to its stakeholders through this strategy without any

hidden information or work ethics surrounding our restaurant. Management can improve the

employees' work-life balance and provide them with a safe and friendly environment for all

parties. As mentioned, we have to be loyal and truthful to operate as a successful business. The

restaurant has to invest more in the community and the surroundings' well-being. This strategy

explains these methods are very sustainable in developing community investment and the
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environment (Sexty, 2020).

As a CSR executive, I would recommend these responsibilities and duties towards

society:

 Motivate other restaurants to be engaged in CSR activities.

 Understand the needs of the stakeholders.

 Reducing the environmental impacts.

 Quality will always be the first priority

 Identify all the sources that challenge the sustainability issues.

Potential implications of the CSR strategy

As I have selected the emerging sustainability strategy, it would be more popularized

among people, and for the emerging scenario, it would cover all the ethical, environmental, and

economical issues. We already know our activities, from providing homeless people food to

mentioning all the calories. Even though we might have both positive and negative effects for

following the emerging CSR strategy. The advantages are:

1. Stakeholders would be satisfied, and it would create a positive image for

the company.

2. The activities of the restaurant might influence the government. And they

can ease the burdens and barriers of the restaurant. (Tharp & Chadhury, 2008).

3. The extra activities of the employees engaged in CSR activities would be

motivated by compensation and recognition by the management.

4. Always remember that the "Customer is always right."

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The disadvantages are:

1. It takes a lot of time and patience to earn the loyalty of the customers.

2. As we are operating a small-scale restaurant and penetration strategy, the financial

burden might be higher.

3. Sometimes, businesses might face loss for engaging in CSR activities.

4. The restaurant's activities might even go against the CSR activities and even for

the vegans. For example, selling animal meats is not liked by vegetarians.
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Conclusion

We can understand that all industries have some responsibilities towards the society of

the people. There CSR comes as an essential aspect to be performed by the corporations. CSR

activities ultimately enhance and provides a good reputation and image among the people of the

society.

Arguably there are several debates on the genuineness and the success rates of CSR

activities. Still, as an organization, we need to possess some CSR activities due to the

stakeholders' current education level. Almost all of them may require an organization that gives a

property commitment to society. All companies need to follow the moral code of conduct to

satisfy all the stakeholder's concerns. This ethical conduct behavior will offer a friendly approach

and foundation to any company to realize great success within the future.

To conclude, all corporations ought to conduct CSR activities and be a part of their

community. By doing CSR activities, the businesses may get glorious edges out of it; however,

once doing the CSR, obtaining fame and increasing good image must not be the first focus;

rather than the well-being of its stakeholders' needs and maintain the principles.
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References

Karakowsky, L., & Guriel, N. (2015). Triple bottom line . In The context of business:

understanding the Canadian business environment (pp. 409–410). essay, W. Ross

MacDonald School Resource Services Library.

Sexty, R. W. (2014). Canadian business and society: ethics, responsibilities and sustainability. In

Describing Corporate Social Responsibility and ISO 26000 (Fifth , pp. 117–118). essay,

McGraw-Hill Education.

Nitkin, D. N. D. (2021, January 15). Ethical Risk: Restaurant and Food Service Safety. COVID-

19 Ethics Blog. https://ethicscan.ca/blog/2021/01/15/ethical-risk-restaurant-and-food-

service-safety/.

Bundesamt für Informatik und Telekommunikation BIT, S. E. C. O. (n.d.). Bundesamt für

Informatik und Telekommunikation BIT.

https://www.seco.admin.ch/seco/en/home/Aussenwirtschaftspolitik_Wirtschaftliche_Zus

ammenarbeit/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/Gesellschaftliche_Verantwortung_der_Unternehm

en/CSR-Themen.html.

Fumano, D. (2021, April 6). Dan Fumano: 'Vacancy tax' hits airspace over B.C.'s mom-and-pop

businesses this year. vancouversun. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/dan-

fumano-vacancy-tax-hits-airspace-over-b-c-s-mom-and-pop-businesses-this-year.

Tharp, J. & Chadhury, P. D. (2008). Corporate social responsibility: what it means for the

project manager. Paper presented at PMI® Global Congress 2008—North America,

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Denver, CO. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.

ISO 26000 - Social responsibility. ISO. (2020, November 30). https://www.iso.org/iso-26000-

social-responsibility.html.

EDC. (2019, November 15). 7 tips to build your own CSR strategy. EDC.

https://www.edc.ca/en/article/7-tips-build-a-csr-strategy.html#1.

Thompson, D. (2018, December 28). Code of Ethics in Restaurants. Career Trend.

https://careertrend.com/list-6678067-code-ethics-restaurants.html.