Category: Corporate Culture

Improvement of Corporate Culture by Fast Food Industries: Analytical Essay

How fast food industries improve corporate culture by their stakeholders

Introduction

There is a saying goes “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Based on the need of convenience people need, fast food industries have become more essential in the economy life and filed nowadays. The corporate culture is a critical factor for company performance-enhancing and expansion of the market, on which the engagement of stakeholders could potentially increase the valuation of brand impression and culture. Kokemuller, Neil. (n.d.) indicate that stakeholders have increased influence on business activities in the early 21st century as community citizenship and social responsibility been consistently integrated into business management. With the growing complication of the industry and organization structure, stakeholder has become an influential element to construct corporate culture among fast-food companies. This essay holds the view that the integration of stakeholders and corporation would positively affect corporate culture. At the same time, further analysis based on stakeholders’ influences on a corporate culture with theories and concepts would be illustrated afterward, regarding four aspects, which are the founder, the employee relationship, the competitors, and the customers’ relationship.

Mode of argument

• Integration
• With
• Stakeholders
• Founder
• Influences
• Competitors influences
• Employee relationship
• Customer relationship
• Improvement of corporate culture

Founder influences

The role of founders in the formation of the corporate culture is irrefutably important. According to Nelson T. (2010), he mentioned that the founding of new ventures fuels competition delivers new products and services to the marketplace, and even creates entirely new categories of industry. Schein (1983) also indicated that the founders often start with their own theory of success and develop the culture based on their previous cultural experience and personal traits. The founders usually have their own intuition, philosophy, and presumption of the industries nature to operate their organization. As a primary stakeholder, the founders will prove more amenable to accept the challenge and guarantee the survival of the company. Furthermore, founders are more consisting of manage things which would reflect the corporate values. On the other hand, it may not be the most efficient to short-term viewpoint, which is positive to the maintenance of corporate culture, while several managers are concentrating on the short-term economic circumstance. (O’Reilly III, Caldwell, Chatman, & Doerr, 2014). So founders actually become the willingness to absorb risk and determinant of innovation base on their characteristic. In short-term, founders are trying to stimulate the novelty in new section although it may somehow be hazardous and wouldn’t gain benefit or improvement. The incentive of novelty by founders have a great influence on the employee to build an innovative and bold culture, which signify the attraction of talent recruitment, improvement of competitiveness and the successful reaction of a corporation.

For the case of the link between organizational culture formation in the fast-food sector, Ray Kroc has a meaningful contribution to the formation of McDonald’s organizational culture. Without him, the well-known American fast-food chain might not have become the emblematic global brand nowadays. According to Barbara Farfan (2019), Because of Kroc’s sales and part-time jobs experience, he found out the potential and the cleverness of the fast-food restaurant concept the McDonald’s brothers had created. He first thought about capitalizing on the McDonald’s brothers outstanding restaurant chain concept from the aspect of milkshake machine sales. Instead, Kroc had to be a national franchise agent for the McDonald’s brothers in the end. The life of Ray Kroc had filmed as “The founder”, it disclosed the initial strategy of McDonald’s. With the teamwork of Ray Kroc managing in the Midwest and the McDonald brothers managing their California location, the company gradually began to expand. Kroc had developed a franchise model that allows the company to scale faster, having rapid and high development across the United State. However, just as the McDonalds brothers had worried about controlling the processes and operations to the top standards that create and deliver on the brand promise. Kroc quickly figured out that among franchise owners selling fried chicken and mashed potatoes, while others let their restaurants and parking lots filled with trash. The brand strategy and franchise model was spinning out of control. To solve this difficulty, Kroc tried to move his perspective from selling hamburger franchises to owners who would find their own lot to build on to become a real estate developer who offered a turning point solution to potential franchise owners. The shift in mindset has to do with control (Benjamin Warsinske, 2017).

Employee relationship

Employee relationship is an essential influence of the company’s culture and performance. Roos and Eeden (2008) point out that the employees’ motivation and job satisfaction would determine corporate culture and performance. With an energetic working attitude and positive job satisfaction, employees tend to enhance corporate’s creativity and productivity. For the example of management of employee relations, Huawei, the Chinese communication devices vendor, conducts the employee shareholding system. The system shares both the responsibility and the benefit with the employees, which formed its diligence culture. (De Cremer & Tao, 2015) Ownership increases employees’ recognition and motivation, which create a tight link between employee and company revenue. The system and employee dedication construct a strong culture of contribution and diligence.

Another case of organizational culture related to the employee, Kentucky Fried Chicken, as known as KFC, world-famous fast food restaurant. KFC has more than 20,000 branches in 123 countries. According to Bob Phipps, the chief people officer for KFC SOPAC, he said: “If an employee is not trained, developed or looked after, then they’re not going to provide a great consumer experience.” (Craig Donaldson, 2015). To bolster the managers throughout this process, a manager component was created to expedite the manager to prepare for a goal-centric discussion with the employee. KFC also provides mentoring and coaching competencies, as well as a counselor and help the employee in completing their short and long-term targets (HCA, 2016). The revised culture improved the performance and innovation after several improvements, lead to the well-known global market share.

Customer relationship

As the consumer fast food industry, customer relationship and satisfaction has become influential to the marketing strategies and the quality of the products. Customer relationship has been considered as a highly desirable result of the marketing process. Conrad, Brown, and Harmon (1997) indicate that the customer tends to motivate companies to form the culture that puts the customer in the center of the firm’s thinking about strategy and operations. The customer-centralized culture empowers staff to deliver the brand experience to customers, which leads to better user experience and higher loyalty of customers. (Van Bentum & Stone, 2005) The integration of customer and corporate culture enable the companies of fast food to spread their products to broader users, gain a higher market share, hence express a customer care brand impression in the industry.

Subway, an fast food restaurant franchise that sells salads and submarine sandwiches, it has roughly 45,000 branches over the world and it is also the second biggest fast-food advertiser in America. In the purpose of building customer loyalty and customer relationship, Subway did some questionnaire to know what is their brand exposure. They designed questions such as “Have you ever heard of Subway?”, “How often do you visit Subway within a quarter?” and “How will you rate service quality at Subways”. As the result, 86% of responders recognize Subway, 68% of the responders will visit Subway once to twice within a quarter and about 89% of the customers have a good impression of Subway. According to the analysis, Subway can grasp the information and get close with their consumer. Consequently, create more customer value and build will relationship with customers.

Competitors Influence

Competitor is a challenging factor to fast food corporate performance and organizational culture. With the pervasion of branches worldwide and the development of technology, the environment complexity degree of the fast-food industry has become higher. The competitors had kept emerging with the prosperous development of technology and the transforming trend of the fast-food market, which becomes an influential factor to maintain self-development. The competitors and competition can induce the company to preserve its innovation by conducting secrecy policy.

With intensive competition and innovation bottleneck in the fast-food industry strong secrecy culture, the technology corporation can preserve the innovative technology development and strategy, further maintains the competitiveness in the market. The secrecy policy prevents leak of crucial technology, therefore maintain employees’ loyalty and avoid business spy behaviors. For the case of strong secrecy, each KFC restaurants must pay five cents on each chicken as a franchise fee, in change for Sanders’ “Secret blend of herbs and spices”, using his name and likeness for promotional purposes and the right to feature his recipe on their menus and (Liddle,1996).

Conclusion

After analyzing the influences of the founder, employee relationship, customer, and competitor relationships on the corporate culture, the stakeholder has become part of corporate culture formation among the fast food industry. The company’s value is considerably affected by founders managing philosophy and experience, which would motivate the culture of innovation. Enhancement of employee job satisfaction and enhancing attitude would result in higher productivity and the recognition of the company. By the competition and integration with other vendors among the industry, the company would develop the culture to motivate competitiveness. With the reaction and loyalty from the customer, the fast food companies are more likely to form the customer-centralized culture, further gain the market share and brand goodwill. By and large, the integration of stakeholders and corporation would positively affect the corporate culture.

Reference

1. Barbara Farfan. (2019). The Man Who Built McDonald’s Values and Brand. Retrieved from https://www.thebalancesmb.com/mcdonalds-mission-statement-2891825
2. Benjamin Warsinske. (2017) ‘The Founder’ Reveals Early Brand Strategy Behind McDonalds. Retrieved from https://brandedworld.co/brand-strategy-mcdonalds/
3. Conrad, C. A., Brown, G., and Harmon, H. A. (1997). Customer satisfaction and corporate culture: A profile deviation analysis of a relationship marketing outcome. Psychology & Marketing
4. De Cremer, D., & Tao, T. (2015). Huawei’s culture is the key to its success. Harvard Business Review
5. HCA. (2016, November 15). How KFC is helping managers help employees. Retrieved from https://www.hcamag.com/au/news/general/how-kfc-is-helping-managers-help-employees/147446
6. Kokemuller, Neil. (n.d.). How Do Stakeholders Influence Business Activities? Small Business – Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/stakeholders-influence-business-activities-18754.html
7. Liddle, Alan (October 14, 1996). ‘Leon W. ‘Pete’ Harman: the operational father of KFC has many goals — and retiring isn’t one of them’. Nation’s Restaurant News. Archived from the original on May 8, 2013. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
8. Nelson T. (2010) The Role and Influence of Firm Founders. In: Bournois F., Duval-Hamel J., Roussillon S., Scaringella JL. (eds) Handbook of Top Management Teams. Palgrave Macmillan, London
9. O’Reilly III, C. A., Caldwell, D. F., Chatman, J. A., and Doerr, B. (2014). The promise and problems of organizational culture: CEO personality, culture, and firm performance. Group & Organization Management
10. Schein, E. H. (1983). The role of the founder in creating organizational culture. Organizational dynamics
11. Van Bentum, R., and Stone, M. (2005). Customer relationship management and the impact of corporate culture—A European study. Journal of Database Marketing & Customer Strategy Management
12. Wanda Roos and René Van Eeden. (2008). The relationship between employee motivation, job satisfaction and corporate culture.

Features of Corporate Culture in Hospitality Industry

Over the past few decades, the hospitality industry has changed beyond recognition. Today hotels can satisfy any even the most demanding needs of their customers and in turn, clients have come to expect a very high standard of service from hotel companies. In this regard, hotel employees must focus on solving new problems and take differing approaches to the development and maintenance of the hotel infrastructure in such a competitive environment. Organizational culture has an impact on the hotel’s performance and therefore inherits responsibility for creating an effective business. The profit and success of the hotel is directly related to its corporate culture. (Kotter, 1992, pp.10-12). According to Kotter, it is important that the hotel management and their team of workers share common values. These values are transformed into norms of behavior and ultimately contribute towards improvement in the quality of services provided. Corporate culture leads towards joint efforts in solving any current or long-term problems.

The hotel industry is no different from any other in the way that the corporate culture of a hotel company directly influences its competitive positioning and helps to increase sales. Corporate culture is used as a tool to achieve the future goals of the hotel.

The successful operation of hotels depends on its employees. Kotler in his book ‘Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism’ writes: “The hospitality industry is unique in that employees are part of the product. The employees must be excited about the company that they work for and the products they sell”. For all companies operating in the service sector, the number one priority is to have customer-oriented employees. A friendly and approachable customer service offering twinned with in-depth, professional knowledge of all the hotel’s business processes is the golden standard that needs to be cultivated and encouraged. The current trend in the development of the hospitality industry is a concern for employee wellbeing, for the people who, ultimately, create the foundation of this industry. Therefore, it is especially important that the hospitality industry ensures every employee shares the same values and principles of corporate culture as the enterprise that employs them (Morrison, 2003, pp.287-288).

Another important feature of the corporate culture in hospitality is a focus on standards. The main objective of standards is for all hotel employees who share a similar job position to fulfil their duties equally and in line with the same set of standards. In this respect, corporate culture helps to deliver both the formal and informal value systems of an enterprise to its employees.

The hotel industry’s main focus is on providing higher quality services than their competitors. In order to win the custom of an individual over the competition’s offerings, satisfying and even exceeding guest’s expectations becomes pivotal (Kotler, 1999, pp.320-321).

Hotels with strong corporate cultures ensure their continued success as it helps them to become more competitive and efficient. A companies’ corporate culture, its strategic objectives and the values it offers, should be clear and visible to all its employees and its customers. It should allow companies not only to provide the highest quality service, but also to constantly develop upon their offerings. The success of hotels depends not only on them implementing a customer-oriented strategy, but also on them showing due care to their staff. After all, as Kotler said: “Satisfied employees create satisfied customers”.

Evaluation Essay on Policy and Procedures in the Workplace

NHS Trust – Snow and ice procedure

Introduction:

This policy describes the risks from snow and ice and the actions to be taken by the Trust in relation to them.

Snow and ice may present risks to patients, visitors, staff, and others who access Trust grounds and buildings.

The Trust is required to take reasonably practicable steps in the event of snow and ice conditions and to show that it has plans in place to reduce the risk of harm.

The Trust will be able to demonstrate through this policy that all has been done so far as is reasonably practicable to avoid injury to staff, patients, and visitors, and to comply with current legislation:

General duties of employers and self-employed to persons other than their employees.

It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety. (1)

The extent of the occupier’s ordinary duty

The common duty of care is a duty to take such care as in all the circumstances of the case is reasonable to see that the visitor will be reasonably safe in using the premises for the purposes for which he is invited or permitted by the occupier to be there. (2)

Every floor in a workplace and the surface of every traffic route in a workplace shall be of a construction such that the floor or surface of the traffic route is suitable for the purpose for which it is used.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), the requirements in that paragraph shall include requirements that—

(a)the floor, or surface of the traffic route, shall have no hole or slope, or be uneven or slippery so as, in each case, to expose any person to a risk to his health or safety (3)

“Arrangements should be made to minimize risks from snow and ice. This may involve gritting, snow clearing and closure of some routes, particularly outside stairs, ladders and walkways on roofs.” (4)

Responsibilities:

The Chief Executive of the Trust is ultimately responsible for ensuring that safe access and egress are provided for buildings that are used by staff and visitors and for ensuring that a suitable snow and ice policy is in place. The responsibility for ensuring this policy is implemented is that of senior managers and building controllers. All of these must ensure that all buildings have suitable arrangements in place with regard to managing the effects of snow and ice.

Managers must ensure adequate arrangements are in place to minimize the risks associated with snow and ice, including gritting procedures to provide safe access and egress in all areas.

Managers must ensure that all staff are aware of local gritting procedures and follow a safe system of work, which will form part of the risk assessment.

Managers must ensure that access is available for gritting to take place and any equipment provided, is accessible and suitable for the task.

Communication:

Warning signs are to be put in place to advise of the hazards associated with snow and ice accumulation on-site at all main vehicular and pedestrian entrances.

Strategically placed posters and information leaflets for patients and visitors and awareness for members of staff communicated through team meetings.

Appropriate internal “wet floor” signage will be provided and placed in an obvious position to warn staff, patients, and visitors of slippery surfaces and impending dangers.

Procedure:

Risk assessments will be carried out to determine what action needs to be taken in the event of snow and ice conditions. The risk assessment will determine the site-specific procedures for ice and snow conditions and identify the equipment required to safely carry out any clearance operations. Footpaths and car parks should also be incorporated into the clearance procedure where practicable.

The risk assessment should be done in conjunction with staff required to carry out ice and snow clearance on site and should include:

The sequence in which any areas affected by ice or snow will be attended to.

Priority will be given to the following areas for snow and ice clearance:

• The main entrance to the hospital and disabled access routes
• Pathways to the entrance of buildings
• Patient transport drop off / pick up areas/bus stops
• Zebra crossings and other areas where road markings need to be seen
• Delivery areas
• Car parks

When ice and snow clearance will be implemented – for example, will it be preventative or reactive?

The local Met Office or the BBC Local weather reports online may be used for forecasting ice and snow. If the forecast predicts snow or the temperature to fall to +2 degrees Celsius or below, proactive preventative operations to reduce the effects of ice and snow may be implemented.

How ice and snow clearance work will be carried out, who will do it, and when and what equipment will be used, this should also include a manual handling risk assessment, in accordance with the manual handling operations regulations (5).

• During normal working hours, 08:00 – 18:00 gritting, snow, and ice clearing activities will be performed by the day shift maintenance team.
• Out-of-hours clearing activities between 18:00 – 22:00 and 06:00 – 08:00 will be performed by the night shift maintenance team.

Any health and safety or lone working considerations for staff carrying out the ice and snow clearance.

• Musculoskeletal injury caused by failure to observe correct manual handling techniques
• Spillage of grit contents.
• Slip, trip, and fall due to snow and ice
• Low temperatures – hypothermia

Any PPE Requirements.

• PPE as identified within the risk assessment.

A system for monitoring the weather to ensure preventative gritting is carried out at the right time.

• Thermometers are positioned around the site to give an indication of falling temperatures, or electronic ice warning systems are in place.

A system for monitoring the effectiveness of operations.

• Regular site inspections to check for accumulation of snow and formation of ice along high traffic/footfall routes and implement reactive measures to deal with this.
• Ensure that there are sufficient levels of salt and gritting supplies available at all times.
• The correct storage of this material should also be considered in order for it to remain as effective as possible.
• Stock levels will be reviewed by maintenance staff periodically and the responsibility for ensuring adequate supplies are available rests with the building manager.
• Salt bins should also be positioned around the site for use by any member of staff in circumstances where additional gritting may be necessary.

Provision of suitable absorbent barrier matting in accordance with “The Building Regulations 2010 – Approved Document M” (6), BS 7953:1999 (7) and BS 8300:2009+A1:2010 (8) at all entrances to significantly reduce the amount of moisture transferred to internal floors and thereby reduce the risk of slips occurring.

Training, equipment & safe systems of work:

All employees are to receive specific manual handling training for clearance of snow and ice and gritting procedures.

Employees should be trained to correctly use all tools provided for the purpose of snow and ice clearance.

Employees should be trained to recognize the symptoms of hypothermia and the precautions to take to prevent it.

Periodic inspection:

This procedure should be reviewed at least annually and whenever there is a warning of snow and ice, with a thorough and appropriate site-specific risk assessment and regular audits to review the effectiveness of the policy and associated site procedures.

Other instructions:

It is the responsibility of all staff to immediately report areas of ice or snow that may present a hazard to others and to assist with gritting and snow-clearing operations where practicable in the following areas:

• Main access and egress routes for staff and patients e.g. main entrance
• Areas in close proximity to these e.g. pathways in front of buildings, steps leading to them
• Fire evacuation routes

During adverse weather conditions such as snow and ice, staff should always be mindful of their own health and safety and should wear appropriate clothing and suitable footwear to help reduce the risk of slipping.

References:

1. The Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 – section 3 General duties of employers and self-employed to persons other than their employees
2. The Occupiers Liability Act 1957 – section 2 Extent of Occupier’s ordinary duty
3. Workplace Health, Safety, and Welfare regulations 1992 – regulation 12 Extent of occupier’s ordinary duty and:
4. Approved Code of Practice and Guidance L24 – paragraph 116
5. Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992
6. The Building Regulations 2010 – Approved Document M “Access to and use of buildings” (2015 edition)
7. BS 7953:1999 Entrance flooring systems – Selection, installation, and maintenance
8. BS 8300:2009+A1:2010 Design of buildings and their approaches to meet the needs of disabled people – Code of practice

Corporate Sustainability Essay

Background of the Study

The continued existence of any organization is relatively determined by the interaction with its environment. Hence, their impact on their immediate environment and society is also based on their activities. In essence, as organizations seek to achieve competitive advantages over their competitors, the businesses grow complex and quite industrious, this, in turn, will affect the environment and society. Industrialization is also associated with economic, social and environmental hazards ranging from environmental degradation to air and water pollution which has dramatically increased deforestation and loss of habitats for aquatic and terrestrial animals (Utile, 2016).

Generally, an organization’s main objective is to grow, survive, and maximize value for its owner (shareholders). However, to meet these objectives they must prepare conventional financial reports to investors, potential investors, shareholders, and other stakeholders who show their financial performance but these reports usually do not reflect the effect of the operations of the corporation on the environment. According to Simnet, Vanstraelen & Chua (2009), over the past decade, conventional financial reporting has been criticized for not representing multiple dimensions of a corporation’s value. The criticism of financial reporting coupled with the current global financial predicament has asserted more pressure on accounting to represent and present the multiple dimensions of a firm’s value (Utile, 2016). Furthermore, the increasing need for non-financial disclosures the growth of global ecological awareness, and the movement for sustainable economic growth are bringing to the attention of firms towards making their operations sustainable and ecologically sensitive.

This is the reason behind the sustainability agenda (sustainability reporting) which is linked to earlier ideas like the accounting for human resource and social audits in the 70s triple bottom line reporting and environmental reporting in the ’90s, corporate social responsibility reporting, and various versions of the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) guidelines on reporting (Simnet, Vanstraelen & Chua, 2009). Sustainability reporting has become essential to both developed and developing economies with the increasing concern for the global environment and preservation of the global climate to make it more sustainable.

The situation is not different in Nigeria, as one of the oil-producing countries in the world, the Nigerian situation has always been a major cause for great concern for the effect on the environment. Until recently, Nigeria had no mandatory environmental or social reporting requirement for public companies. Nigeria was classified in the corporate sustainability reporting quadrant tagged ‘starting behind’ (Asaolu et al., 2011).

In response to their sustainable development policies and practices, many companies claim that they recognize their social and environmental responsibilities, in addition to their economic responsibilities, and are seeking to manage and account for these activities in an appropriate manner (Akinlo & Iredale, 2014). Corporate sustainability reporting has become such an important issue that most companies are now embracing this evolving corporate reporting system (Uwuigbe, Olubukunola & Anijesushola, 2011). Statistics from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reflect this trend in Sustainability Reporting. The use of Sustainability Reporting (a term used to describe a company’s reporting on its economic, environmental, and social performance) techniques has been increasing rapidly in recent years (Olayinka & Temitope, 2011).

In light of this, the study will critically look at the nexus between sustainability reporting and the competitive advantage of Nigerian-listed deposit money banks.

Statement of the Problem

Amidst the consistent competitiveness of the industry, the accomplishment of the deposit money banks is hinged on the optimal financial performance of the banks. The optimal financial performance of the banks indicates the genuine interpretation of the plans of the banks and their capabilities to invest property, assets, and equipment and accomplish set goals.

The essence of deposit money banks is to accomplish significant returns from their financial operations and investment activities. Therefore, sustainability ought to be a component of all activities and processes related to the environmental, economic, and social activities of the firm. However, the debate on the relationship between banks’ engagement in sustainability practices and competitive advantage has dominated past literature. This could be a result of most organizations’ activities engendering their immediate environments which are a source of worry to environmental stakeholders.

Nonetheless, despite the empirical evidence spanning several decades across the world and specifically in Nigeria, there seems to be a lack of consensus among the outcomes of these studies. There are various challenges to sustainability practices ranging from difficulties of estimation and projections, materiality, understanding connections among activities and effects, building up robust indicators, verifiability and assurance, and the test of applying the generally rigorous benchmarks of accounting to sustainable and development issues.

In light of this, the present study will determine the impact of sustainability reporting on the competitive advantage of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria by investigating the effects of economic, environmental, and social sustainability dimensions on the financial performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria.

Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this research is to ascertain the impact of Sustainability Reporting on the competitive advantage of Nigerian-listed deposit money banks. However, the specific objectives of this research are to:

Determine the impact of the three dimensions of corporate sustainability on the competitive advantage of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria;

Examine the impact of corporate sustainability reporting on Return on Equity (ROE) of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria;

Highlight the extent to which corporate sustainability reporting affects the Return on Assets (ROA) of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria; and

Examine the effect of corporate sustainability reporting on Earnings Per Share (EPS) of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria.

Research Questions

The research questions for this study are as follows:

• What is the impact of the three dimensions of corporate sustainability on the competitive advantage of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria?
• What is the impact of corporate sustainability reporting on the Return on Equity (ROE) of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria?
• To what extent does corporate sustainability reporting affect the Return on Assets (ROA) of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria?
• What are the effects of corporate sustainability reporting on Earnings Per Share (EPS) of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria?

Hypotheses of the Study

The following are the hypotheses of the study:

• Ho1: There is no significant aggregate effect of the three dimensions of sustainability on the competitive advantage of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria
• Ho2: There is no significant effect of the dimensions of sustainability on the financial performance as measured by ROE in deposit money banks in Nigeria
• Ho3: There is no significant effect of the dimensions of sustainability on the financial performance as measured by ROA in deposit money banks in Nigeria
• Ho4: There is no significant effect of the dimensions of sustainability on the financial performance as measured by EPS in deposit money banks in Nigeria

Operationalization of the Research Variables

The variables for this research will therefore be operationalized here:

Independent Variable: Sustainability Reporting (X)

Dependent Variable: Competitive Advantage of Nigerian Listed Deposit Money Banks (Y)

Y = f (X)

Y = (y1, y2, y3)

X = (x1, x2, x3)

Where,

Y= Competitive Advantage of Nigerian Listed Deposit Money Banks (proxied by financial performance)

y1 = Return on Equity (ROE)

y2 = Earnings Per Share (EPS)

y3 = Return on Assets (ROA)

And

X = Sustainability Reporting

x1 = PRF (measured by Profit Reporting)

x2 = PPL (measured by People Reporting)

x3 = PLT (measured by Reporting on PlanetEnvironmental Impact)

The associated regression models will be developed in chapter three where the methodology of the study will be discussed

Scope of the Study

The study is on the Sustainability Reporting and competitive advantage of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The scope of the study will cover all the listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The period 2009 – 2019 will cover the aspect that deals with data for statistical analysis.

Significance of the Study

The study will be of immense benefit to various stakeholders ranging from banks’ management, regulatory authorities, the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, Local communities and other stakeholders, Companies yet to adopt Sustainability Reporting, Professional accountancy bodies, and future researchers. First, due to the rapid evolution of Sustainability Reporting, different standards and frameworks have emerged. This research will assist organizations’ management in determining which sustainability standards and guidelines to follow.

From a regulatory perspective, there are currently no legislative requirements in Nigeria for companies to prepare and publish sustainability reports. This research will help enhance understanding of the scope of knowledge of regulatory authorities like the Corporate Affairs Commission and the legislative arm of government in putting in place regulations that encourage Sustainability Reporting.

From a standard-setting perspective, there is currently no local standard for companies to prepare and publish sustainability reports. This research will serve as a wake-up call for the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria to put machinery in place for Sustainability Reporting standards or guidelines.

This research will help to educate local communities where these companies operate and other stakeholders like employees and social and environmental non-governmental organizations regarding the adequacy and potential of corporate Sustainability Reporting to meet their information needs and help them hold companies to account.

Also, this research will help companies that are yet to adopt Sustainability Reporting practices to understand the pros and cons of this evolving reporting system and its impact on corporate performance. They will be better placed to decide on whether to adopt this reporting system or not.

In the area of academics, the study will contribute to the enrichment of the literature on Sustainability Reporting. It will throw more light to students, scholars, and academics on the relationship between Sustainability Reporting and the corporate performance of companies. The research will serve as a body of reserved knowledge to be referred to by researchers.

Definition of Terms

Competitive Advantage: This is a superior position achieved by a company as a result of its successful strategy and challenging to imitate.

Corporate sustainability: A business approach that creates long-term stakeholder value by embracing opportunities and managing risks derived from economic, environmental, and social performance.

Deposit money banks: These are resident depository corporations and quasi-corporations that have any liabilities in the form of deposits payable on demand, transferable by cheque, or otherwise usable for making payments.

Economic benefits: These are benefits that can be quantified in terms of money generated, such as net income or money saved when action is taken to reduce costs.

Environmental benefits: These are gains associated with the actual or potential use of natural assets due to economic activities.

Social benefits: This represents an increase in the welfare of a society that is derived from a particular course of action. While some social benefits can be quantified, some such as greater social justice, cannot easily be quantified.

References

1. Akinlo, O.O. & Iredele, O.O. (2014). Corporate environmental disclosures and market value of quoted companies in Nigeria. The Business & Management Review, 5(3).
2. Asaolu, T.O., Agboola, A.A., Ayoola, T.J. & Salawu, M.K. (2011). Sustainability reporting in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. Proceedings of the Environmental Management Conference, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria.
3. GRI (2011). Sustainability reporting guidelines, version 3.1.
4. GRI (2013). The G4 sector-specific disclosures for financial services.
5. Olayinka, M.U. & Temitope, O.F. (2011). CSR and financial performance: The Nigerian experience. Journal of Economic and Sustainability Development, 3(4), 44-54.
6. Simnet, R., Vanstraelen, A. & Chua, W.F. (2009). Assurance on sustainability reports: An international comparison. Accounting Review, 84(3), 937-967.
7. Utile, B.J. (2016). Effect of sustainability reporting on firm’s performance: A review of the literature. International Journal of Business & Management, 4(7), 203-208.
8. Uwuigbe, O.R. (2013). Corporate governance and share price: Evidence from listed firms in Nigeria. An International Multidisciplinary Journal, 7(2), 129-143.
9. Uwuigbe, U., Olubukunola, U. & Anijesushola, O.A. (2011). Corporate social responsibility disclosures by environmentally visible corporations: A study of selected firms in Nigeria. European Journal of Business and Management, 3(9), 9-17.