Corporate Social Responsibility of the Burnley Football Club - Case Study Example

Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has emerged as a key part of the strategic management of organizations across the world which they use as a medium of creating goodwill for the organizations while incurring profits for the organization as well. The corporate social activities are not only done by private companies and multinationals but different types of organizations like schools and colleges, sports clubs, non-profit organizations etc. indulge in different socially responsible activities in order to create good will and positive reputation in the minds of their stakeholders and to enhance the image of tea organizations to ensure sustainability and long term viability of the organizations. Like other sports clubs and similar organizations, the Burnley Football Club has also started a number of corporate social responsibility activities to give back to the local communities and enhance the existing relationship of the football club with the stakeholders of the business (Burnley Football Club corporate website 6). The Burnley Football Club is one of the most famous football clubs in the United Kingdom. The Burnley Football club is located in the Burnley, Lancashire region of the United Kingdom and is one of the most advanced companies in the sports segment of the region with respect to the Corporate Social Activities done by the organizations in this industry. Identification of the stakeholders and analysis of the stakeholder relationships The stakeholders of the Burnley Football Club include the supporters of the football club and the promoters of the club. Other important stakeholders of the Burnley Football Club are the community and the society in which the football club operates. Burnley Football Club has been efficient in its corporate social responsibility activities. The club is especially dedicated towards improving the lives of the local community and strives to establish different programs in order to influence the community in a positive manner. The club is located in Burnley area of the United Kingdom and is one of the leading and advanced clubs in the sports segment of Burley in terms of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. However, in June 2013, the company has reported a loss of GBP 6.7 million in their financial reports for the year ending June 2013. This has created a buzz among the stakeholders of the club including the promoters and the supporters of the club. The accounts have shown a reversed trend from the financial records of 2012 in which the club showed a profit of GBP 3.16 million (The Burnley Football and Athletic Company Limited 10). The sales of the club and the claret trust accounted for the major part of the profit. Also, the record sale of Jay Rodriguez to Southampton was another main reason which drove the high profitability for the club in 2012. The latest financial figures have resulted in turmoil in the stakeholder relationships within the company. But the Burnley Football Club focuses extensively on maintaining smooth and favorable relationships with all their stakeholders. Due to this, the joint chairmen of Burnley Football Club, John Banaskiewicz and Mike Garlick immediately tried to address the problem so as to rebuild the dwindling trust of the supporters and promoters of the club (Burnley Football Club corporate website 8). Both the chairmen addressed the stakeholders through a joint statement provided officially for reinstating the trust of the stakeholders on the football club. According to the chairmen, running and operating a football club business is a challenging process in which the Burnley football club has operated efficiently thereby displaying a steep learning curve and the club has always tried to maintain an open communication and dialogue system to ensure transparency and clarity in the communication with all the stakeholders of the club (Burnley Football Club corporate website 4). Thus, the Burnley football Club concentrates on maintaining clarity and transparency in the stakeholder relationships and tries to manage the stakeholder relationships efficiently for the successful operations and sustainability of the club. Actions that the club should take to improve the stakeholder relationships The Burnley Football Club is involved in few key corporate social responsibility activities that have helped the club to improve the relationships with their stakeholders. However, the club can take effective steps to further enhance the quality of stakeholder relationships. The most important stakeholders for a football club are the supporters of the club. Therefore, the Burnley Football Club continues to invest in recruitment and scouting activities in order to focus on youth academy and foster the growth and development of the home growth local players. The football club focuses on boosting the development of the local players of the Burnley region which would improve the society of Burnley and also ensure the long term success of the football club. The Burnley club should try to continue maintaining the robust relationships that it has established with its stakeholders. The club should try to communicate clearly with the stakeholders and provide them with suitable information relevant to the financial and operational processes and results of the club. Also, they should talk about their upcoming projects aimed at corporate social activities and also inform the stakeholders about any changes in the structure of the club, inclusion of players in the club as well as any changes in the management and business processes that may be of interest to the promoters and supporters of the football club. This will help to maintain robust relationships with the stakeholders and also create clarity, transparency and mutual trust between the club and its stakeholders. The present stage of Burnley football Club in CSR learning Burnley Football club is one of the leaders in the industry with respect to environmentally sustainable practices. The football club has an impressive score of 99 out of 100 in sustainable environmental practices and activities implemented by the club. The Burnley Football Club is much more efficient in terms of emission control and carbon footprints with other football clubs operating in the same industry and location like Aquaterra Leisure and Sheffield Wednesday. The Burnley football and Athletic Company Limited has an enviable score for environmental sustainability which indicates that the organization is highly efficient in managing the emissions as compared to the industry peers of same size and capacity like Sheffield Wednesday and Aquaterra Leisure. The size and functions of the Burnley football Club and the above mentioned two clubs are similar but Burnley Football Club is much more efficient in its corporate activities with respect to environmental management. All these data indicate that the company is definitely more advanced in terms of environment management and sustainable practices as compared to the other players in the industry. However, with respect to the industry standards it can be identified that Burnley football Club is in the compliant stage of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities according to which the club is doing as much as needed for it to be compliant to the standards of corporate social responsibility activities. The company is definitely not positioned in the defensive phase of corporate social responsibility activities because it has not been denying its responsibility towards the community and the society. Instead it has effectively managed the corporate responsibility activities to make the club compliant with the prevailing needs of socially responsible activities in the sports segment (Burnley Football Club corporate website 7). The Burnley Football Club is also an active member of other corporate social responsibility activities like the establishment of pop-up farms. Pop up farms are aimed at creating sustainable living by infusing sustainability education in various mediums of education like schools and other parts of the community with the aim of turning a local challenge into a global perspective (Lancashire Telegraph 4). Burnley Football Club participates in the pop-up firm activities in order to combine the actions and thinking in the patterns of sustainability issues and sustainable knowledge (Burnley Football Club corporate website 5). The bass elements focused on by this type of corporate social responsibility activities are the basic elements of food, water, energy, waste, health and wellbeing, buildings and growing of the people of the surrounding committee. These elements are used by the participators of the pop-up farms to demonstrate the various manners in which people can alter their living ways in order to create mutual benefits for the society, communities and the planet as a whole. The Claret Trust is one of the most important mediums for the corporate social responsibility activities of Burnley football Club. The Claret Trust has been known to actively work towards improving the living standards of the local people in the Burnley and Lancashire area. The Claret Trust has helped in making the Turf Moor an important asset of high community value for the Burnley region by approaching the Burnley Borough Community. This is an action taken by the club to enhance the community value in the region of Burnley. CSR Vision Statement for the Burnley Football Club As discussed above, The Burnley Football Club is in the compliant stage of the corporate social responsibility activities i.e. Burnley club focuses on doing the part that is necessary for creating a positive image for the club with respect to corporate social responsibility activities. However, it is critical that Burney football club focuses on moving up the ladder with respect to the corporate social activities done by the company. The claret Trust is one of the main mediums in which Burnley can try to establish a stronger image for the club through effective and efficient corporate social responsibility activities. The club should aspire to move into the managerial position and the strategic position of the corporate social responsibility activities in order to become more efficient in terms of serving for the betterment of the society and the community. After moving into the managerial phase in which the socially responsible activity objectives are successfully integrated into then managerial aspects of the company, the company should try to aspire to reach the strategic position of corporate social activities in which it can successfully embed their corporate social responsibility activities and objectives into the strategies of the company. Therefore, the vision of the Burnley football club for their corporate social responsibility activities should be based on the improvement of stakeholder relationships and on clear communication with the stakeholders which will enable the club and its stakeholders to have complete trust and transparency and through which they can participate actively in the socially responsible activities in order to create benefits for the society and the community as a whole. CSR Policies for the Burnley football Club The corporate social responsibility policies of the Burnley football Club should be aimed at improving the relationships of the club with all its stakeholders and in creating value for the society and community of Burnley, Lancashire. The company has already created much restructuring in the club in order to increase the profitability as well as the image of the club in the minds of the stakeholders and other entities of the community in which the club operates. The Burnley club has also successfully bought back the Gawthorpe training field and the Turf Moor. This has added to the brand image of the football club with respect to their aim of giving back to the community in which they exist. The buyback of the Gawthorpe training field and the Turf Moor has been an innovative and impressive scheme followed by the club which has helped it to raise adequate finances from the directors, promoters and the fans of the football club. These schemes have also been regarded as successful strategies through which the football club has ensured that the major assets are returned to their control and these schemes are also expected to save money for the club in the long term. The action of the club in bringing back these core assets was acclaimed by the supporters and other stakeholders of the club. Thus, the Burnley Football Club should try to implement the corporate social responsibility activities in their managerial and strategic capabilities in order to create a positive brand image on the minds of the supporters, promoter as well as the existing community around the club. This would help to improve the goodwill of the club as well as enhance the overall brand value of the football club in the minds of the stakeholders in and around the club. Works cited Burnley Football Club corporate website. Clarets trust. 2013. Web. . Burnley Football Club corporate website. Community. 2013. Web. . Burnley Football Club corporate website. Fans consultative committee. 2013. Web. . Burnley Football Club corporate website. Supporters Liaison. 2013. Web. . Lancashire Telegraph. Burnley. 2013. Web. . The Burnley Football and Athletic Company limited. Director’s report and financial statements 2012. 2012. Web. Read More