Economic Sustainability
The current business scenario is highly competitive in nature and it is important for the organizations to have the fair considerations of different ethical and sustainable issues in order to align with different business standards. In this case, the GRI sustainability reporting standards are being followed by majority of the business entities to have the overview about their issues and responses from different perspectives. The major three pillars of the GRI sustainability report are the economic, environmental and social. Based on these three sustainability standards, different elements are being stated (Fonseca, McAllister and Fitzpatrick 2014). It is important for the contemporary business organizations to align with these reporting standards and present the overview to the external stakeholders. However, it should be noted that there are number of ethical factors to be followed by the business organizations in order to align with the GRI reporting standards. These ethical factors include the fair consideration of the management issues in the organization (Fernandez-Feijoo, Romero and Ruiz 2014).
This report will discuss about the GRI sustainability reporting of the business operation of Property Millionaires. In doing so, issues being faced by them in terms of different elements will also be presented in this report along with their responses or recommended steps.
This pillar states about the economical considerations of the business operations and related elements with it. All the finance related activities are being involved under this pillar. The following sections will discuss about the financial elements of Property Millionaires.
Disclosure 201-2
As stated in the case study, there are no instances of direct impact of the business operations of Property Millionaires in climate change. This is due to the reason that they are operating in the real estate consultancy sector, which is not having direct relationship with the climatic changes. However, it should be noted that climatic changes may have indirect impact on the financial implications of Property Millionaires (Hahn and Lulfs 2014). For instance, they are operating in the real estate sector, which is highly vulnerable to the climate changes. There are number of legislations being introduced for the real estate sector given their impact on the climate by means of pollution. Moreover, emergence of the extreme weather conditions will also pose threat to the growth of the real estate sector. Thus, reduction in the growth rate of the real estate sector will reduce the investment opportunities for the investors and Property Millionaires will lose the opportunities of consultancy (Boiral 2013). Thus, it can be concluded that according to the disclosure 201-2, Property Millionaires will have indirect financial risks due to the climate change.
Disclosure 205-3
Environmental Sustainability
This disclosure states about the incidents of corruption in the workplace and suitable responses taken accordingly. In the case study, there are no confirmed cases of corruption being identified and thus no evidence of actions being taken by them. However, an incident is being identified, which may cause the emergence of ethical issues in the future or Property Millionaires will face the charge of corruption (del Mar Alonso-Almeida, Llach and Marimon 2014). It is identified that after the initial free consultancy seminar, sales executives push the customers to buy for the next seminar at $10000. However, number of customers complained that they are not receiving the desired services even after subscribing the same. It is also stated by them that consultants seems to lose interest on them and they are also not taking up the calls. Thus, it can be considered as a corruption case due to the reason that paying money for a certain services and not receiving the same will cause corruption charges from the customers. It should also be noted that there are no specific actions being taken by the higher level managers regarding the same. It is recommended that Property Millionaires should have proper communication channel with the external stakeholders, which will ensure that the customers can escalate their issues directly to the top level management (Siew 2015). Moreover, the upper level management should also have tighter control on the business consultants in order to identify any deviations. It is also suggested that performance evaluation of the consultants should be done based on the customer satisfaction and not proving proper services should affect their growth and promotion.
Disclosure 206-1
There are number of anti-trust and monopoly practices being identified in the business management of Property Millionaires but they are all from the perspective of the internal factors of them. This is due to the reason that there not much information being stated about the competitive business scenario of Property Millionaires in their operating market. It is identified that antitrust issues of Property Millionaires include the lack of support from the managers to the consultants (Junior, Best and Cotter 2014). It is identified from the case study that regional managers are accused for leaving the business consultants alone in case of any complex situations. This can be considered as the breaching of trust from the perspective of the consultants. There are no steps being taken by the upper level management as of now. It is suggested that training and development program for the regional managers should be initiated and their skills and expertise should be enhanced to deal with the complex organizational situations. Moreover, Property Millionaires will have stated standards regarding the roles and responsibilities of the regional managers and the potential actions to be taken if not met. This will ensure that the higher level management of Property Millionaires will not face any legal issues in taking steps against the regional managers in case of pre stated standards (Legendre and Coderre 2013).
Social Sustainability
In terms of the monopoly practices, there are number of internal issues being identified for Property Millionaires. One of the major issues is the development of the content of the seminar without the consultation of the others in the organization. It is identified that seminar content is being designed only by the senior management. Thus, the relationship between the content of the seminar and expectations of the clients is different. In this case, the autocratic leadership being possessed by them is the major responsible factor (Hahn and Kuhnen 2013). Moreover, it is also identified that sales target being given to the business consultants is being designed without the involvement of all the internal stakeholders. Thus, it is causing issues for the consultants to achieve the given sales target. These factors can be considered as internal monopoly practices (Boiral and Henri 2017). In this case also, there are no legal actions being specified in the case study. Property Millionaires should legally set standards to be followed in having the involvement of all the internal stakeholders in initiating decision making process.
This pillar states about the environmental related factors in the business operations. The impact to and from the environmental related factors is being identified under this pillar.
Disclosure 302-1
There is not specific information being given regarding the energy consumption patterns by Property Millionaires. However, in terms of environmental sustainability also, there are no information available. Hence, it can be concluded that sustainability is not maintained by Property Millionaires in terms of their energy consumption also. As discussed earlier, they are operating in the consultancy sector and thus the energy involved or required in manufacturing process is not applicable for them (Alazzani and Wan-Hussin 2013). However, with the rapid increase in their business operation of Property Millionaires, lack of sustainable approach of energy consumption will pose huge threat in their profitability. It is recommended that with growth in their business, Property Millionaires should initiate the use of renewable sources of energy and getting their buildings LEED certified.
Disclosure 304-2
The services being offered by Property Millionaires are not having direct impact on the biodiversity due to the reason that they are offering consultancy services. Thus, this disclosure of is not applicable for them. Moreover, as there will be not issues related to their services on the biodiversity, no actions should be designated further.
Disclosure 307-1
As discussed earlier, sustainability is not being maintained by Property Millionaires in their business operation. Thus, it can be concluded that they are non-compatible with the environmental laws and regulations. Moreover, in the case study, there is also no mention of any environmental standards being followed by Property Millionaires. However, it is important for Property Millionaires to comply with the environmental laws and regulations to ensure their business sustainability (Adams, Muir and Hoque 2014). It should be noted that with the rapid introduction of the stringent environmental regulations, non-compliance will pose challenges for Property Millionaires in managing their business in the long term. Property Millionaires will comply with the Australia’s national environment law to regulate their direct and indirect impact on the environment along with increasing the business sustainability in the long term. The entire business management will also be designed in accordance to the environmental standards.
Employee Hires and Turnover
This pillar states about the factors related to the social aspects of the business and thus includes employees and other stakeholders.
Disclosure 401-1
In terms of employee hires and turnover, there are number of issues being identified. One of the major issues identified is the dilution of the criterions and standards being maintained by Property Millionaires in the initial stage by Property Millionaires. It is identified that with the growth in their business, demand for more consultants got increased and this forced them to lower their employment standards (Aktas, Kayalidere and Kargin 2013). It is also identified that there are number of inexperienced employees inducted onboard. Even though it is meeting the need for more employees in short time for Property Millionaires but it is also reducing the loyalty rate among them. This is due to the reason that employees with having low skills and expertise are not getting to deal with the challenges and they tend to leave the company. This is leading to the increase in the employee turnover rate for Property Millionaires. On the other hand, the ineffective mechanism of determining the needs of the employees along with giving them sale target without determining their challenges is also contributing in increasing the rate of employee turnover (James 2013). It is important for Property Millionaires to have the effective system for employee management including the recruitment and selection policies. This will ensure that right employees will be selected for the right job.
Disclosure 406-1
There are no incidents of discrimination being identified for Property Millionaires. However, autocratic approach of managing the employees can be considered as a discriminatory act. This is due to the reason that lower level employees are being given no or less preferences in the decision making process. They are not involved in deciding the sales target and issues with customer management. Thus, the lower level employees are facing the discrimination in the decision making process (Lozano, Nummert and Ceulemans 2016). No corrective actions are initiated and thus it is recommended that engagement and involvement of the employees should be increased in the internal management. This will help to have consensus in the decision making process for Property Millionaires with having the probability of lower number of issues.
Disclosure 413-1
There are no social initiatives being taken by Property Millionaires in their business operation. Thus, there are no mention of community engagement and development programs in the case study. However, it should be noted that they are small scale entity and thus it will be challenging for them to initiate the socially responsible activities (Rahdari and Rostamy 2015). Considering the fact that their business is increasing rapidly, social development programs can be initiated in the future.
Legal Actions for Anti-competitive Behaviour, Anti-trust, and Monopoly Practices
Conclusion
Thus it can be concluded that based on the GRI reporting standards, there are limitations for Property Millionaires being identified in this report. It is seen that being a small scale firm, Property Millionaires is lacking in different areas of the reporting standards. On the other hand, a few corrective measures are also being discussed in this report, which will further help in the adhering to the GRI sustainability standards. This report concludes that Property Millionaires is mainly lacking in terms of their environmental sustainability and they should have improved process or mechanism for developing their environmental sustainability and gain in the long term.
Reference
Adams, C., Muir, S. and Hoque, Z., 2014. Measurement of sustainability performance in the public sector. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 5(1), pp.46-67.
Akta?, R., Kayalidere, K. and Kar?in, M., 2013. Corporate sustainability reporting and analysis of sustainability reports in Turkey. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 5(3), pp.113-125.
Alazzani, A. and Wan-Hussin, W.N., 2013. Global Reporting Initiative’s environmental reporting: A study of oil and gas companies. Ecological indicators, 32, pp.19-24.
Boiral, O. and Henri, J.F., 2017. Is sustainability performance comparable? A study of GRI reports of mining organizations. Business & Society, 56(2), pp.283-317.
Boiral, O., 2013. Sustainability reports as simulacra? A counter-account of A and A+ GRI reports. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 26(7), pp.1036-1071.
del Mar Alonso?Almeida, M., Llach, J. and Marimon, F., 2014. A closer look at the ‘Global Reporting Initiative’sustainability reporting as a tool to implement environmental and social policies: A worldwide sector analysis. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21(6), pp.318-335.
Fernandez-Feijoo, B., Romero, S. and Ruiz, S., 2014. Effect of stakeholders’ pressure on transparency of sustainability reports within the GRI framework. Journal of business ethics, 122(1), pp.53-63.
Fonseca, A., McAllister, M.L. and Fitzpatrick, P., 2014. Sustainability reporting among mining corporations: a constructive critique of the GRI approach. Journal of cleaner production, 84, pp.70-83.
Hahn, R. and Kühnen, M., 2013. Determinants of sustainability reporting: a review of results, trends, theory, and opportunities in an expanding field of research. Journal of cleaner production, 59, pp.5-21.
Hahn, R. and Lülfs, R., 2014. Legitimizing negative aspects in GRI-oriented sustainability reporting: A qualitative analysis of corporate disclosure strategies. Journal of business ethics, 123(3), pp.401-420.
James, M.L., 2013. Sustainability and integrated reporting: Opportunities and strategies for small and midsize companies. The Entrepreneurial Executive, 18, p.17.
Junior, R.M., Best, P.J. and Cotter, J., 2014. Sustainability reporting and assurance: a historical analysis on a world-wide phenomenon. Journal of Business Ethics, 120(1), pp.1-11.
Legendre, S. and Coderre, F., 2013. Determinants of GRI G3 application levels: the case of the fortune global 500. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 20(3), pp.182-192.
Lozano, R., Nummert, B. and Ceulemans, K., 2016. Elucidating the relationship between sustainability reporting and organisational change management for sustainability. Journal of cleaner production, 125, pp.168-188.
Rahdari, A.H. and Rostamy, A.A.A., 2015. Designing a general set of sustainability indicators at the corporate level. Journal of Cleaner Production, 108, pp.757-771.
Siew, R.Y., 2015. A review of corporate sustainability reporting tools (SRTs). Journal of environmental management, 164, pp.180-195.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
