A CSR Analysis on the Eco—Park Project of Haomai Ltd.

Bing WANG

【Abstract】Haomai Ltd is a grand local group company in Luoyang with six subsidiaries dealing in real estate， tourism， construction， education， industry and three-star hotel concerning foreign affairs respectively.

【Key words】A CSR Analysis； Haomai Ltd.

It also ranked the top 50 non-public sectors of the economy in Luoyang. The Huaxia Eco-Park project in Lingbao is a new market developed by it which is located at Fu Moutain and Hu mountain with a total area of 2.5 square kilometer or so and an altitude between 970m and 1140m. Its only 17km away from the center of Lingbao equaling an approximate 20min-drive.

Situated near the common boundary of Henan， Shanxi， and Shaanxi province， Lingbao is a country-level city with a total area of 3011 square kilometer composed of 49.2% mountainous region， 40.1% hills and 10.7% farmland. Moreover， the legend of three emperors and five sovereigns and the culture of surname originated from here. It is easy to summarize that Lingbao is blessed with particularly favorable natural and cultural conditions for a surname culture theme eco-park.

Because of the uniqueness of the eco-tourism industry and the status and great renown of the company in both Luoyang and Lingbao along with the concern for local environment and economy， special attentions are paid to the companys performance of corporate social responsibility and practical suggestions are desired. Most importantly， the project is still under construction （Only 25% of the construction has been completed.） leaving the company time to apply advice into practice before completion.

Introduction

This article mainly addresses the performance of the Huaxia Eco-Park Project of Haomai Ltd regarding corporate social responsibility， in order to fill the blank of CSR research of local medium-sized companies and help to enhance its performance. Haomai Ltd is a grand local group company in Luoyang with six subsidiaries dealing in real estate， tourism， construction， education， industry and three-star hotel concerning foreign affairs respectively. Analyzing the current CSR performance and proposing constructive suggestions for a great local company like this will set a typical example for other local companies in second-tier and third-tier cities.

Proceedings

First， in order to get a clear and comprehensive understanding of corporate social responsibility， we created a data bank by gathering information through books， internet， students， teachers and staff from Haomai Ltd. Second， with the help and instructions from our teacher， we gained eco-park-relevant knowledge ranging from architecture， biology， agriculture， etc to finance， administration and business management by cramming books in the library and searching online. Then， with the information and knowledge acquired， a thorough research and data collection on the spot and an interview of chairman of the board， Mr.Xu were conducted. Last， using the pyramid theory of Archie.B.Carroll and stakeholder theory of R. Edward. Freeman as yard sticks to analyze the current performance of the project， we concluded the merits and demerits then proposed suggestions and recommendations accordingly.

Findings&Analysis

Traditionally， stakeholders are viewed as owners of a company whose needs are always put first because of the firms binding fiduciary duty. However， R. Edward. Freeman pointed out in Stakeholder theory that there are other party involved including： government bodies， political associations， trade unions， communities， financiers， suppliers， consumers and employees，etc.

According to the D.Woods view in Corporate Social Performance revised， “ corporate social responsibility （CSR） is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model. CSR policy functions as a built-in， self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance within the spirit of the law， ethical standards， and international norms. CSR is a process with the aim to embrace responsibility for the company's actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment， consumers， employees， communities， stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere who may also be considered as stakeholders. ”

So an aspect-by-aspect finding illustration and analysis are presented as followings：

Government

Thanks to the policy of attracting investment and striving to develop tourism of municipal government of Lingbao， the eco-park project of Haomai gained permission and support from the government to the citizens.

However， for some industries， the various and unstable policy is a threat not only to the development of individually-run enterprises， but also to their ability of performing social responsibility.

Consumers

During the on-the-spot research， we found that there was a police office just beside the gate of eco-park， which shows the great emphasis put on security. However， as we proceeded along the walking trials， we noticed that there was no specialized trials and other facilities for the disabled. As we climbed towards the mountain top， the cell phone signals got weaker and weaker. By the time we reached the mountain top， there was no signal at all. It is a serious latent danger. If emergencies occur， the consequence is beyond redemption.

There are Chinese signs every where in the eco-park. Nevertheless， only one language seems not enough to fulfill the needs of tourists from different places and background.

From the blueprint and working drawing of the eco-park provided by the headquarter， it is clear to see that the constructor has no plan to build clinic or hospital inside the park. Lacking of regular check and repair pan of equipment and infrastructure， there is also no safety regulations nor emergency-response plan for natural disaster like landslide.

Employees

The construction safety management measures are explicitly stated in the relevant document. But in fact， many workers in the filed were working without masks， which is highly harmful with the strong wind raising dust. Besides， according to the statistics， the ratio of male and female employees in the headquarters is 6：1， of young， middle aged and senior employees is 1：2：4. And the positions of female employees are comparatively lower than the female.

Environment

The company has drawn up a comprehensive environmental protection plan and adopted new techniques to save energy and resources， such as drip irrigation， efficient light-bulb， late-model sewage disposal system which transfers sewage into manure， baking-free bricks， electronic sightseeing vehicles and self-pump fountains， to name a few. Plus， all the garbage produced during the construction will be moved to the garbage disposal plant following the instructions of the municipal government and all the buildings are constructed according to different physical conditions. As for water supply， the company is building an artificial reservoir named Baihutan channeling water from Duanmi River， which is conducive to the company and citizens. But a blemish in an otherwise perfect thing is that though the green area within the eco-park is considerably high， outside the park the vegetation coverage are shockingly low.

Communities&Neighborhood

A. Improving Infrastructure

Lingbao is known as “Home of apple and Chinese-date” holding a population of 738，000， out of which 119，000 are non-agricultural. SuTsun Village is a remote mountainous village where more than 30，000 farmers live under extremely backward conditions. The rugged mountain road prevents them from frequent contact with the outside world. Not to mention other infrastructure.

The local electricity system， telecom system and new road will be constructed by the company in order to reverse the situation. It is conducive to the construction of eco-park. But the largest beneficiaries are those villagers. All these promises could be referred to the Feasibility Report of the Eco-Park project

The newly-widened X026 county road and the other newly repaired mountain road connect the farmers and the outside. Now， with the improved transportation， SuTsun Village became the nominated vegetable supplier for the local McDonald. These changes facilitated infrastructure construction and pulled the local economy up onto a new stage.

B. Promoting the local economy

According to the calculations and extrapolation， the operation revenue of the Eco-Park will be 165 million RMB in 2015， that number is expected to reach 572 million in 2020. Combined with the increasing land value caused by the development of the tourism related industries， the Eco-park project will bring sky-rocketing boost to the local economy.

C. Providing Jobs

Tourism is a Labor-intensive industry， from the report published by the World Tourism Organization， one out of five people works in tourism related industry. As we found from the Eco-Parks Feasibility Report and our field research， in 2013-2015， the project has offered the local residents 200 direct jobs and 1000 jobs related to it， the number will increase to 300 and 1500 in 2016， which will substantially release the local employment pressure. Along with that， a teenager education center supported by the company is also in progress.

D. Charities

Enthusiastic about public goods， Haomai actively takes part in poverty alleviation， natural disaster-stricken area reconstruction and other charities， especially education donation， since Haomai starts its business from education. For the past decade， the total donation made by the company amounts to 5.13 million RMB. And the company had been awarded “Guancai Program” prize as a reward for its contribution to poverty alleviation.

Suggestions&Recommendations

Government

We have a heartfelt suggestion to make for the government： that is to make discreet policies， improve regulations and complete our legal system.

Consumers

First， We strongly suggest that specialized facilities for the disabled should be built along the walking trials. A company with humanitarianism never comes short in the smallest details. Second， it would be better if the signs are in Pinyin， Chinese and English.Third， signal towers must be built in the poor and non-signal area to ensure communication. Fourth， according to the Tourism Safety Regulations set by Ministry of Health， a health service station should be arranged in every two-kilometer scope of service. Last， safety regulations and emergency-response plan should be made and regular infrastructure repairs and maintenance should be performed.

Employees

In order to revise the aging of management and unbalanced ratio of male and female employees， it is necessary to take on more female and young employees. For the sake of sustainable development and the health of workers， it is compelling for the company to equip every worker with a dust mask.

Environment

Although about the aspect of environment protection， the company almost did a good job， it still has room for progress. Firstly， it would be better-off for the project and the environment， if the company could increase the vegetation coverage outside the park. Now 22% of Chinese nature reserves has been shockingly damaged due to mal-management of eco-tourism. We sincerely hope that the company could make an evaluation of tourists capacity of the eco-park and set an upper limit of everyday passenger flow. It is also necessary to establish natural preservation areas to maintain biodiversity of local environment.

Furthermore， with a year-round sunshine time of 2253 hours and precipitation of 606.5mm， we highly recommend that solar panels should be applied to generate electricity for some of the infrastructure like illumination system or heating device.

Communities&Neighborhood

Through research， we found that Lingbao apple and Chinese-date are famous for their high-quality and sweet taste. However， due to the lack of marketing， seldom do people know this. We hope the company could co-operate with the local farmer to build a brand and combine the culture of family name with apple. If various family names are “printed” on the apply by the sunshine， the value of apple will drastically increase..

Apart from that， as college students， we sincerely recommend the company set a permanent volunteer service station inside the eco-park so that more students could know about the culture of family name and use their knowledge to help tourists， also it is a great chance for the company to look for potential future employees.

And we hope that Haomai couldoffer free cultural activities to villagers， such as a free visit to family name square. It will be a big push to promote the populaces cultivation.

References：

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[2]D.Wood：Corporate Social Performance revised 1991.

[3]R.Edward.Freeman：Strategic Management：A Stakeholder Approach 1984.

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[7]R.Wei，Prevent and respond to crises five corporation awareness tool，J.Organizational Culture，2004，（3）：67- 68.