Zara

Professor Ingram
UWRT 1103
October 11, 2015
Reflection
Throughout this research assignment, I found myself trying to answer one question: why should
corporations that do not have corporate social responsibility have it? I thought about what incentives there
could be for them to want to act more ethically. I pondered if corporate social responsibility would
eventually turn from choice to standard. My target audience was none other than corporations who have
little to no corporate social responsibility. I formed my research question around this particular target
audience. I wanted to conduct a research project that would show companies without corporate social
responsibility that it is becoming increasingly important in todays world. Throughout my genres, I
conveyed my argument that corporate social responsibility will soon go from a competitive advantage
into an expectation and that there are more positives to it that outweigh the negatives.
I was able to find ample information concerning my research topic from several reliable, credible
sources. This included prominent business and financial sites such as Forbes, Bloomberg, and Harvard
Business Review. I also sought out sources that described corporations with exemplary corporate social
responsibility and used these sources to help form my genres and give them an authentic appeal by
providing real-life examples that could easily be explained to a reader with no prior knowledge about this
topic. For instance, one source I used to mention the corporate social responsibility efforts of Starbucks in
my magazine feature highlighted how Starbucks, perhaps the most well-known coffee shop chain, has a
goal to ethically source 100% of its coffee by 2015 (Ritter) and has already achieved 95 percent of its
coffee being ethically sourced in 2013 (Ritter). I also searched for sources that supported the individual
claims that I made in my articles with substantial evidence. Overall, using a number of various sources
aided me in forming my argument and synthesizing the message I wanted to convey to my target
audience.

To appeal to my target audience in a clear yet concise manner, I used the genres of online article
and business magazine feature. I chose these genres as they are easy to read yet engaging, informative and
explain my argument in a brief form. The genres I chose would most likely be available in a popular
business magazine and popular business-oriented website. My audience would easily access my genres by
reading the hard copy of the magazine or finding the magazine feature and the article online. Also, I
assumed that corporations or influential employees of corporations would read such magazines or
websites to keep updated on global and market trends along with the voices of consumers. Large
corporations would like to know the views of their consumers to assess their market and how to keep their
consumer demand. In this case, it would be essential that they know the largest group of consumers,
Millennials, are pushing companies to change the ways of doing business to align with the values of
civic and global responsibility (Nunn).
In my genres, I mostly utilized the modes of linguistic, visual, and spatial to get my main
message across to my target audience. I primarily focused on the linguistic mode as I used a more relaxed
approach in my writing but still aimed to effectively make my argument. In my business magazine feature
genre, I separated the main points I wanted to include and used each section to solely focus on a particular
claim. In my online article genre, I tried to use more of a snowball effect in which I expanded on
information from the last paragraph but tied it into the new material I also wanted to mention to create a
proper introduction and a smooth flow throughout my article. I also focused on the visual mode by using
pictures to demonstrate my examples and choosing colors that would make the readers think of money or
environmental efforts. I also chose a proper layout for my genres that gave them a professional, authentic
appearance. In my business magazine feature, I included the spatial mode by dividing my writing into
columns to also depict that I am breaking my argument into points.
Though I did use ethos, logos, and pathos throughout my genres, I mostly depended on kairos to
appeal to my target audience and readers. My topic is becoming increasingly prevalent nowadays and
continues to gain importance worldwide due to scarcity of resources and detrimental impacts to the

environment and society carried out by corporations daily. It is also on the rise as many prominent
corporations are implementing more responsible initiatives to serve as pioneers, examples, and also a
suggestion to corporations that have not yet implemented any form of corporate social responsibility.
One of the sources I used illustrated this by including how Top managers of companies like American
Airlines, Bell Atlantic, and Coca-Cola have made buying recycled products and investing in green R&D
part of their overall business strategies. (Biddle). If major corporations such as these are displaying their
environmentally-sustaining efforts, they are giving themselves a competitive advantage that other, smaller
companies will have to catch on to in order to appeal to the general public and consumer. Lastly,
corporate social responsibility and its lack of is being commended and criticized respectively by a
growing and concerned population of young adults and adolescents. With that being said, it only
reassured me that my research topic is actually prevalent in societys matters and an ongoing issue around
the globe.
I feel a sense of confidence in my genre pieces that they would make investors, prominent
executives of corporations, and stockholders reconsider a companys social responsibility efforts. By the
effective arguments I have made and the recognizable examples I have provided, I believe that they could
even be swayed in favor of pursuing some form of corporate social responsibility. I also believe that they
will clearly understand that in a few years corporate social responsibility could very well shift from an
option to an expectation from the general public and consumers.

Works Cited
Biddle, David. Recycling for Profit: The New Green Business Frontier. Harvard Business Review.
Harvard Business Review, 1 Nov. 1993. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Gustafsson, Katarina. H&M Wants Your Fashion Discards by Offering Discounts. Bloomberg.
Bloomberg, 20 June 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Nunn, Michelle. Millennials to Business: Social Responsibility Isnt Optional. Washington Post.
Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2011. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Ritter, Dan. 3 Reasons Its Hard to Hate Starbucks. USA Today. USA Today, 6 July 2014. Web. 9 Dec.
2015.
Swinand, Andrew. Corporate Social Responsibility Is Millennials New Religion. Chicago Business.
Chicago Business, 25 Mar. 2014. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Tonello, Matteo. The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility. Harvard Law School. Harvard
Law School, 26 June 2011. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Westervelt, Amy. How Corporate America Might Just Save Recycling. Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 27
April 2012. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.