This article is going to discuss different ways and situations of analyzing a company’s, profitability, sustainability and its moving forward.
The article is also going to highlight different types of analysis and how they differ from one another in relation to purpose and profitability. The article is going to have a look at Well Fargo’s analysis.
There are different situations, which lead to the company’s analysis. The company might choose to assess various sections that constitute to the whole company for various purposes. One of the main purposes of conducting an analysis on a company is to determine its position in relation to profitability. A company’s profitability is never stagnant; a company is moving either forward or backwards. A company will never be at the same position in relation to profitability.
There are different types of analysis; they differ from one another in regards to purpose and methodology. A research will always have a unique way through which it looks at the details presented in the aim of research. The SWOT system of analysis is one of the most effective methods of analyzing a business organization. The SWOT analysis highlights strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Through this analysis an organization is evaluated into the fine details.
The company’s strengths can be seen in the ranking it has received from world renowned financial analysts. The company is listed as the best small business lender, best agricultural lender, second best debt card issuer, second best prime home-equity lender, third best mutual fund provider among the U.S. Banks.
For instance, the company is the 18th most respected company in the world. This was a ranking established by Barrons. Wells Fargo has been ranked as the 17th most profitable company all over the United States. The organization has received the “Aaa” credit rating from Moody. The company has a good relation with the community, the customers, and the team members.
The company has been ranked as the 41st in relation to revenue in the United States. This ranking was given by the Fortune 500. Another area where the company’s strength is displayed is in relation to organization. The company’s organization structure is set up in a manner that helps various departments and branches to work as a single body. The Wells Fargo Bank has been established as the first bank in the United States as of 2008 (Fradkin, 2002).
The company has two major weaknesses. These weaknesses are presented in bad mortgages and low debit card market share. One of the major areas where other competitors beat this company is in relation to debit cards. Whereas other financial institutions are focused on providing debit cards for their customers, this company has been left behind. For this cause, Wells Fargo has been constantly loosing customers.
The market share that the company continues to lose every other day where debit cards are being used in the market is a loophole through which competitors continue to enjoy other benefits. The other weakness of the company is in relation to bad mortgages. As a lender, there are mortgage problems that the company continues to face every day as the credit market continues to experience problems (Navarro, 2006).
The opportunities the company is presented with, include reduced competition, cross-selling options, consolidating industry, international expansion, and Wachovia. In relation to international expansion, the company is looking to establish a strong presence in the international market as well as increasing the growth and profits.
In the event the company is to venture out into international markets, it would experience improved synergies and the customer base would increase. The opportunities would also improve the company’s financial stability as well as enhancing the individual economies in the countries where it has been established. Innovation will increase the company’s profitability (Ferrell & Hartline, 2010).
The threats that the company faces include mortgage issues, credit market crisis, slow expansion of mortgages, credit cards write offs, housing crisis, and government intervention. The credit market is perceived as a threat mainly because of the effect it has on cost of borrowing. Shareholders fail to benefit mainly because the free cash flow is interrupted.
This also affects margins adversely. The housing crisis has two major effects that qualify it as a threat to the operations of Wells Fargo. The housing crisis is responsible for the decrease in value of equity and company assets as well. This has the effect of making business slow and reducing its profitability.
The pressure also affects the growth of equity and cash flow. Although the government is a big customer for the company, there is always some pressure on the intervention it provides. In the event the company intervenes, the effect is felt on stock. The stock is usually under pressure in the event such intervention is launched. The government involvement in business also comes with its adverse effects.
For instance, the government has been associated with past problems and these have led businesses to experience huge losses. In the event the company ventures into a market where the industry is regulated by the government, there are adverse effects that the company is set to experience. These adverse effects are usually rooted in the manner the government makes its decisions.
In the light of the fact that the government makes decisions, various businesses are set to flourish. Taking into consideration that these decisions are not based on the welfare of the citizens, the businesses will suffer, too. The involvement of government in business is also a risky affair as it brings it political risks. Credit card write offs also decrease the profitability of Wells Fargo (Fradkin, 2002).
References
Ferrell, O.C. and Hartline, M. (2010). Marketing Strategy. Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Fradkin, P.L. (2002). Stagecoach: Wells Fargo and the American West. New York: Simon & Schuster Publishers.
Hume, J.B. and Thacker, J.N. and Wilson, R.M. (2010). Wells, Fargo & Co. stagecoach and train robberies, 1870-1884: the corporate report of 1885 with additional facts about the crimes and their perpetrators. North Carolina: McFarland & Co.
Navarro, P. (2006). The Well-timed Strategy: Managing the Business Cycle for Competitive Advantage. New York: Wharton School Publishing.
Paul, R. & Elder, L. (2006). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your learning and your life (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River: NJ: Prentice Hall.
Business sustainability is a process through which business entities control their finances, opportunities, obligations, environmental and social risks. Generally, the three aspects affect the planet, profit, and customer base of a business. It is also vital to note that business sustainability targets social equity, environmental protection, and economic development. The achievement of all the three aspects enhances sustainable business development.
The most important function of a business is profit maximization. Modern developments in the field of business management have gone a long way in analyzing other aspects of a business.
Sustainability is one of the important aspects of a business that has been identified. This implies that such a business can survive any challenge due to its friendly connection to healthy environmental, social, and economical systems. Apart from the contribution of such businesses to an economy, a healthy ecosystem between the business environment and people is also enhanced.
The World Council of Development (WCED) advocates for development with the aim of meeting the present needs without infringing the rights and privileges of the future generations. If any business entity satisfies this aspect, then it definitely promotes a sustainable business development. This can be achieved by adhering to quite a number of recommended practices.
Engagement by stakeholders is extremely important toward the sustainability of an organization. Information gathered from employees, customers, and the neighboring population assist organizations in coming up with decisions that incorporate stakeholders’ interests.
Another important requirement for sustainability is the incorporation of environmental management system in a company’s management. This provides processes and structures that necessitate environmental-friendly practices. Organizations such as ISO 14001 usually offer such services.
Controls and measurements are also necessary in achieving sustainability. Hence, organizations should be transparent to scrutiny from any external body. This provides a means of reporting the company’s achievements. Moreover, life cycle must also be analyzed. This involves the analysis of social and environmental effects of the products and services offered by a company. The ability of a firm to attract and retain employees is also an integral measure of sustainability.
A company can ensure sustainability in numerous ways. For instance, the use of paperless or timber-less office, use of green energy such as solar energy in running machineries may indeed be instrumental in enhancing sustainability.
CSR, Corporate Objectives, and Strategic Intent
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a self-regulating mechanism that is usually integrated into a business model of an organization. The corporation ensures that appropriate measures are put in place. The latter will ensure total compliance with the ethical standards, existing law, and international standards. Corporate objectives are the primary principles that guide daily running of a business entity.
They offer the much needed guidelines for policy making, development of agenda and secondary objectives. They also enhance the set goals of an organization.
On the other hand, strategic intent is the planning mechanism adopted by an organization on how to achieve its vision. Strategic intent also enables a company to formulate its specific development path according to the desired future. Therefore, strategic intent is destiny-oriented and the winning formula of a company.
For a company to achieve its CSR, the set objectives should be geared toward achieving sustainability. Since the strategic intent defines the future, sustainability implies coming up with a realistic goal that will ensure the strategic intent is achieved. Therefore, CSE of an organization is dependent on the organization’s strategic intent and its objectives.
Approaches to CSR
When analyzing CSR, three approaches are used. These approaches are Neoclassical, Ecocentric, and Ecological modernization of a business. The neoclassical approach views CSR as a requirement of an organization in order to avoid legal actions, fines, license revokes, and loss of customer base. Any aspect outside the aforementioned elements may be enforced by a regulatory measure.
In ecocentric business, a company addresses CSR from an ethical point of view. In this case, sustainability is part of a company’s policy and strategy. Ecological modernization of a business is the balance between the two aspects. It targets development without harming stakeholders. CSR is achieved by ensuring sustainability of all the three aspects of a business.
The best of the three approaches to CSR is the ecological modernization of a business since it takes into account all the necessary requirements of a sustainable business. Profit, people, and the environment are also considered in this approach. The latter approach ensures that all the parts required for a business to function effectively are available in the future.
This approach is also realistic compared to the ecocentric business approach to CSR. it does not care about the survival of a business especially if the environment and social responsibilities are achieved. However, the economical aspect of a business is highly likely to be ignored. This exposes a business to numerous vulnerabilities. Hence, its economic value is not preserved for the future.
The neoclassical business approach to CSR is the simplest one to achieve. It is also realistic in nature. A company will always be on the right side of the law and also be able to remain profitable when this approach is followed since it is the most important aspect of a business. However, a business entity that does not entrench social responsibility in its agenda cannot set goals for the future. Such companies may easily fail to plan for the future sustainability.
Sustainability refers to a form of progress or development that is capable of meeting both the current needs and the demands of the future generation (Blackburn, 2007). Despite being an international hotel company, Assouplir lacks an effective sustainability plan that can help the company to remain operational both at present and in the future.
There is a need for Assouplir to develop a sustainability plan especially at this time when the hospitality industry is experiencing increased competition from other players in the industry.
For instance, Assouplir is likely to face a lot of competition from Bunker Accommodation which is also an international midscale business accommodation brand. The following recommendations would be of much importance to the board of directors and CEO of Assouplir.
As explained by Blackburn (2007), it is important to evaluate both the current and future purchasing practices and policies in all the different products and services offered by the company. The main aim of undertaking this process is that it enhances the experiences of the guests and also drives the value of the company.
Besides, it supports the efforts of the company towards achieving sustainability (Bressers & Rosenbaum, 2003). Secondly, the operational brand of the company should be revised to facilitate the adoption and sharing of both external and internal practices. It is also important to measure and report the progress of the company as it strives towards achieving sustainability.
This process requires the management tool to be extended in all brands of the company. This allows the company to monitor and report the programs, design and commitment processes that identify opportunity areas for driving innovation and efficiency. There is also need to build engagement and educational programs for the different brands such as online learning, web contents and training modules.
There are a number of strategies or measures which can be adopted by the CEO and the board of directors of Assouplir in order to enable Purnima brand to successfully portray an image as a world leader. For instance, it is important for the board of directors to comprehend that the constantly changing behavior of the guest may have a direct effect on what Purnima brand is ready to offer.
It is the responsibility of the board of directors and CEO of Assouplir to ensure that Purnima brand is flexible in terms of its ability to take into consideration the specific expectations from the guests. The management of Assouplir should also understand that guests come from different places and thus the brand should be capable of accommodating them.
This can be easily achieved by integrating different cultures basing on style, dining and space. The management of Assouplir can easily enhance the image of Purnima as a world leader by developing different skills that cover various aspects of hotel development and management such as construction, renovation, design, new technology and sustainable development.
The tools used by the frontline staff of Purnima brand should be easier to work with. The levels of staff training needs to be improved to enable them manage the daily operations of the hotel and also enhance their skills in marketing and distribution (Williams & Buswell, 2003).
In order to improve the level of revenue, Assouplir should provide its brands with powerful management and distribution tools and also come up with fresh job monitors and advanced technology. These are some of the possible recommendations that provide a very good strategy of overcoming increased competition from the newly established brands in the hospitality industry (James, 2005).
The best use of different forms of social media can provide a significant boost to the growth of Purnama. For instance, social media like Facebook can be used to distribute information on package deals and specials offered by the brand. There are other numerous benefits which Purnama is likely to enjoy as a result of using social media.
As such, Purnama should increase the use of social media to enable the brand achieve faster development. Since Purnima brand was built in response to increasing demands for upscale business accommodation and accommodating oversees travelers, social media can enable this brand to benefit from a number of analytics and insights which can allow the brand to fine-tune the content.
Social media also provides an opportunity for Purnima to target its messages to specific customers or audiences and also monitor investment returns (Brown, 2008).
Purnama can easily identify the number of people interested in its advertisement and the potential customers through the social media. There will facilitate faster spread of the content posted on the social media like Facebook. The latter allows the post to be shared immediately to very many people.
Other social media such as Pinterest, Tumblr and Twitter are also very good means of communication mainly because they are built around a culture which involves forwarding of messages. Purnama can make full use of social media by going a step further and identifying other methods of attracting and retaining customers.
These methods should be far beyond what other competitors like Bunker Accommodation have already employed. For example, Purnama can develop communication devices with different formats or technology like bulletin or chart boards (Greasley, 2008).
These will enable customers to share information regarding the products and services offered by Purnama, facilitate sharing of service experiences and also provide ambiance critiques.
The board of directors and the CEO should understand that the use of brand pages as a means of gathering information is an appropriate way of attracting potential clients to join the Facebook pages of the brand. It is also as a way of encouraging the current fans to visit the page frequently (Weinberg, 2009).
According to the arguments posed by Weinberg (2009), social media also make it very easy for the brand to collect valuable information from customers. This information can help Purnama to gain new insights regarding consumer needs, trends and experiences that determine their level of satisfaction.
The success of the marketing activities of the brand can easily determined by using feedback from customers. This can provide an opportunity for Purnama to refine its strategies and eventually enhance its performance.
All these recommendations are likely to reduce the level of competition that Purnama may face from its competitors. Specifically, the use of social media as a marketing tool is likely to increase customers’ awareness regarding the products and services offered by the brand and consequently increase its market share (Salver, 2009).
Moreover, formulation of an effective sustainability plan will also make sure that Purnama is able to cater for the current needs of its customers and the needs of the future generation. However, some significant competition is likely to emanate from Bunker Accommodation.
This is because the services offered by this brand are similar to those provided by Purnama brand. In addition, Bunker Accommodation has received a considerable boost in terms of capital and potential efficiencies provided by Marriott International Inc.
References
Blackburn, W. R. (2007). The sustainability handbook: the complete management guide to achieving social, economic and environmental responsibility. London: Earthscan
Bressers, H. & Rosenbaum, W. A. (2003). Achieving sustainable development. Westport, Conn: Praeger.
Brown, G. (2008). Social media 100 success secrets: Social media, web 2.0 user- generated content and virtual communities; 100 most asked mass collaboration questions. New York: Emereo Pty Ltd.
Greasley, A. (2008). Operations management. Los Angeles: Sage.
James, S. (2005). Hospitality: Australia. Ultimo, N.S.W: Career FAQs.
Salver, J. (2009). Brand Management in the Hotel Industry and its Potential for Achieving Customer Loyalty. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
Weinberg, T. (2009). The new community rules: Marketing on the social web. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.
Williams, C., & Buswell, J. (2003). Service quality in leisure and tourism. Wallingford: CABI P.
Westpac’s sustainability journey was triggered by the financial difficulties of 1980s, which forced the organization to embark on a cost-cutting mission to stay on course of making profits. The cost-cutting involved the discontinuation of some of its corporate social responsibility programs as well as the retrenchment or laying off its staff or the abolishment of some employee benefits leading to poor employee morale.
Service delivery was also affected leading to low customer satisfaction. This forced the organization to think outside the box and find a sustainable way of maintaining a good relationship with its stakeholders, customers, and employees. The organization came with the idea of establishment of Westpac’s Indigenous Working Group.
It also joined hands with other senior leaders in the region to support an Indigenous Enterprise Partnership (IEP), an initiative aimed at empowering the local communities with skills to develop themselves (Black, 2006).
The idea came after a visit to the Cape by the then head of human resources Ann Sherry in 2001. The underlying principle of the IEP was the major shift from a philanthropic mind set to an all-inclusive and participatory relationship with communities with an overall objective of enabling them to brighten their future.
Through the program, the organization was involved in the indirect assistance of the local communities by sending its employees to train them on two major focal areas namely family income management and business facilitation. Through the program, the organization was able to help the communities to help themselves.
The program also enabled the organization to create more job opportunities because it had to send at least 50 employees to the Cape every year (Black, 2006).
The sustainability journey by Westpac has seen over 400 employees work in the Cape, which translates to 50 years of continuous employment. In 2010, the organization announced the expansion of the sustainability program to bring on board other cities such as Redfern and Waterloo (Black, 2006).
The sustainability journey affected Westpac’s stakeholders in a positive way. The communities were able to benefit from the business management skills offered by Westpac employees. The program also created more job opportunities for the youth. It also contributed to the lowering of levels of drug and substance abuse especially among the youth since they were able to engage themselves in business activities.
If I were to become Westpac CEO, I would enhance the sustainability program based on the utilitarian moral philosophy. In business ethics, utilitarianism is about considering several courses of action, considering the costs involved and choosing the course of action which produces maximum good for the maximum number of people, irrespective of the negative effects of the maximization of the good, in this case, profits.
Utilitarianism is an ethical model of reasoning which emphasizes on the maximization of good and happiness and the minimization of the opposites of happiness and good. Its key proponents are John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham, who belong the 19th-century philosophy.
According to them, the principles of human interaction are based on the overall good. In this sense, therefore, good is looked from an objective sense in that what is good is seen as what produces ‘good’ for the maximum number of people.
Utilitarianism can be explained as being based on the principle of ‘the end justifies the means,’ meaning if the end of a process or action is good, then the means of arriving at that end are also good and justifiable. According to the model, therefore, for an action to be considered as ethically or morally correct, it should have an outcome which benefits the maximum number of people.
What this means is that people should focus on the end of a process but not the means of arriving at that end. The reason as to why I would enhance the sustainability program by Westpac is because the program was structured to bring on board as many people as possible thus maximizing good and happiness for all those involved.
Reference list
Black, L. 2006, Westpac Australia and the Cape York Indigenous Partnership. Web.
Emirates NBD proudly describes itself as the leading banking group in its geographical region (Emirates NBD, 2017). This organization was officially created and registered on the financial market of Dubai in 2007. However, the banking activity of the establishments of which Emirates NBD is comprised has been in place for 50 years. The Group appeared out of a merger of two large banks – the National Bank of Dubai and Emirates Bank International.
Using merging, the two banks increased their productivity and were able to become a powerful banking champion in the area. In that way, Emirates NBD was selected for this assessment due to its high level of corporate excellence and the adherence to quality and sustainability standards. The activities of the organization are thoroughly outlined in its recent report thus enabling the assessment and analysis of its current performance in terms of corporate sustainability.
Selected Report Criteria
Vision, Company Structure, and Strategy
The vision that is presented on the official website of Emirates NBD includes one major goal that is making the clients’ lives simpler. According to its vision, the bank’s focus is on the provision of excellent customer experience. This vision makes it obvious that the leaders and personnel of Emirates NBD are fully aware of the most common issues that occur in the customer service of the banking industry.
Most of such issues are related to the lengthy operations and the need for the clients to wait in lines for a long time. In that way, in many banks all around the world, the customers have to face bureaucratic organizational structures that complicate all of the banking operations thus making them exhausting, confusing, and time-consuming. Due to the awareness of the importance of the customers’ time and the tight connection between the length of wait and the level of customer satisfaction, Emirates NBD can secure and maintain its position as the leading banking group in the area.
As for the corporate structure of the organization, it should be noted that the bank is organized by a clear vertical structure that assumes top-down leadership and management utilizing the benefits of this type of structure such as orderliness and clear goal-setting and, at the same time, avoiding its disadvantages such as the bureaucratic approach to operations and reduced cost-efficiency. The organization’s strategy is focused on the elimination and prevention of risks. This strategy is aligned with the corporate structure as both of these aspects are the responsibilities of the single authority – the Board. The strategy of Emirates NBD is directed at the improvement of its services in terms of customer experience, as well as the provision of excellent care to the other stakeholders involved.
Stakeholder Inclusiveness
When it comes to the inclusiveness of the stakeholders, it is mentioned in several different parts of the report under review. In particular, stakeholder inclusiveness and the organization’s attitude toward it are described in the section presenting the message from the Chairman of Emirates NBD – H.H. Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum. In the message, His Highness specified that all the stakeholders are invited to participate in the organization’s attempts to better its corporate sustainability credentials (“Sustainability report 2015-2016,” 2016).
Moreover, in the report under review, there is a separate section that is dedicated to the bank’s focus on the opinions and needs of its stakeholders. At the very beginning of this section, it is stated that the stakeholder engagement is a necessary element needed for the development of a business strategy based on trusting relationships (“Sustainability report 2015-2016,” 2016). In that way, it is obvious that the leaders of Emirates NBD understand that the organization’s constant adaptation to the changing needs of its stakeholders is the key to flexible business practices.
The contents of this section are outlaid very clearly and divided into categories. All the stakeholder groups participating in the business operations of the bank are listed one after another and include employees, the board of directors, customers, investors, local community, suppliers, government, environment, and the media. For each of these groups, the report presents individual engagement methods and also explains what kind of benefits can be achieved via the feedback from these groups of stakeholders alongside the value of this feedback for the organization.
Main Stakeholder Engagement Methodologies
The clarity with which the report under review is written allows researching and analyzing the methods used by Emirates NBD for stakeholder engagement. As it was mentioned in the previous section, there are nine stakeholder groups listed in the report. The organization has specific engagement methods for each of these groups.
Employees
For the engagement of employees, Emirates NBD reports using several different methods. For instance, the bank’s intranet and face-to-face meetings are some of the first engagement methods listed for the employees. Alongside with these methods, the organization leaders use training programs, e-learning courses, social events, group and team projects, and workshops. Also, the employees of Emirates NBD are engaged with the help of recognition and appraisal events that are held twice every year. Finally, the bank also organizes surveys aimed at the collection of data about employee engagement biannually.
Board of Directors
The members of the Board of Directors are engaged using various types of meetings. To be more precise, the Board of Directors meetings are reported to take place six times per year; also, there are EXCO meetings that happen regularly. Additionally, internal department meetings also include the Board of Directors. Moreover, the communication between the members is maintained using software for instant messaging, as well as phone calls and e-mails.
Investors
The engagement of investors is accomplished using such methods as general meetings that take place every year. Also, on the official website of Emirates ND, there exists a specialized section dedicated to the communication with investors that are maintained by the Investors Relations Team. Also, investors are kept informed about the performance and success of the bank with the help of press releases, presentations, and reports.
Customers
Social media channels and customer satisfaction surveys are the primary methods of helping the bank to maintain customer engagement. Also, communication with customers is accomplished using call centers and e-mails. Customers are informed about the news of the bank using promotional information and advertisement. Finally, the organization invests in account relationship management operations that respond to the needs and questions of the bank’s customers.
Suppliers
Tenders and RFPs are the reported methods of the engagement of suppliers. Besides, the Stakeholder Engagement Study of 2015 is mentioned as another way to accomplish this objective.
Local Community
Cultural and social events alongside fieldwork and research studies are reported as the methods used by the bank to engage the local community. Moreover, Emirates NBD uses sponsorships and donations for this purpose. Finally, an additional method of community engagement is the establishment of partnerships with community organizations.
Government
The engagement of the government is mainly maintained using compliance with various standards and directives issued for the regulation of banking activities and businesses. Meetings of the respective nature are reported to be held as needed.
Environment
To maintain environmental sustainability and comply with the needs of the environment as an important stakeholder, Emirates NBD uses several different methods. Firstly, the bank is focused on forming partnerships with both local and global environmental organizations. Secondly, the consumption of resources is monitored and reported using press releases and reports.
Media
To keep the media engaged, the bank issue releases and reports quarterly and annually. Also, the authorities of the organization often participate in interviews for TV and radio. The information about the new and activities of Emirates NBD is published on social media; moreover, the bank professionals provide daily market commentary.
Materiality
The present report also provides detailed information concerning its materiality analysis. For a better visibility, a matrix based on two axes (importance to stakeholders, and importance to business) was used. To evaluate the materiality of the bank, research was conducted aimed at the assessment of the bank’s programs, strategies, and initiatives related to the issues of sustainability.
The activities of the organization were compared to the global standards and requirements published by SASB and GRI. Additionally, a stakeholder survey was organized that targeted the evaluation of 60 potential sustainability issues. All in all, the analysis was able to identify 29 materiality issues that received a score of 3.75 on the scale from 1 to 5. These issues also match 16 GRI topics related to corporate sustainability.
Goals, Targets, and Performance for Each of the 4 Pillars
To the environment, Emirates NBD reports being aiming at the minimization of the used resources. In particular, one of the major goals of the organization is to monitor how much energy is consumed by its activities and operations. For this purpose, regular reviews are carried out so that the leadership of the bank could be aware of its environmental performance. In that way, it can be said that the major target for the bank is to minimize its environmental footprint using saving energy which can be achieved in several ways. Specifically, the current environmental sustainability performance of Emirates NBD is visible in its partnerships with several environmental organizations and adherence to environmental sustainability norms and requirements.
To society, that is the second pillar, Emirates NBD bank is very careful about its performance regarding the local community. The leaders of the organization are dedicated to the creation of a strong image and reputation for the bank. This goal is accomplished using the engagement of the service consumers, and local community organizations. In particular, Emirates NBD targets customer satisfaction as a significant indicator of its success and attitude. In terms of performance, the organization is engaged in various local community partnerships and carries out regular satisfaction surveys.
The third pillar that needs to be discussed is the marketplace. It involves the entire industry, as well as the government since all the banks in the market, need to follow the governmental directives and norms. As a result, the major goal of Emirates NBD is to maintain flawless adherence to the directives and stay a high-quality respectable organization in the marketplace. For the achievement of this goal, the bank targets excellence standards that include corporate sustainability and environmental consciousness. Regarding performance, the bank has been demonstrating successful growth in the marketplace and is the leading banking institution in the region.
Finally, the fourth pillar stands for the workplace. In this area, the organization invests in various projects for the improvement of employee satisfaction. The performance is monitored using communication with the workers. The main targets include talent management, the provision of learning and development opportunities, and the support for inclusion.
How Easy It Was to Read the Report
The report has a very convenient outlay that makes it very easy to navigate and read. Specifically, the contents are presented in a creative way marking the issues included in each chapter and showing page numbers. Additionally, the information in the report is presented in a clear graphic manner using schemes and diagrams that increase the comprehensiveness of the presented data. The information is well-organized and systematized. The presentation is excellent.
Conclusion
No.
Report Criteria
1
2
3
4
1
Vision, Company Structure, and Strategy
X
2
Stakeholder Inclusiveness
X
3
Main Stakeholder Engagement Methodologies
X
4
Materiality
X
5
Goals, Targets, and Performance for each of the 4 pillars
X
6
How easy was to read the report
X
The Criteria and Scored Low on the Report
The first criterion that scored 2 out of 4 points on the report was the first one – vision, company structure, and strategy. It was difficult to decide on an accurate score for this criterion because the vision of the company was clearly outlined and easy to find. However, the company structure was a more challenging element because its discussion is not included in the report as a specific item and was not as easy to assess and evaluate.
The report included the list of the bank’s leaders; however, its corporate structure was not explained clearly. A similar comment could be added to the last element of the criterion – the bank’s strategy. It was possible to find various statements related to the strategy of Emirates NBD, but the report did not include a clear explanation of the strategy as a separate item. In that way, it was unfair that rate this criterion with just one point as it would mean that the information was absent from the report, so the decision was made to assign two points to this criterion.
The second criterion that scored 2 out of 4 points on the report was number 5 – “Goals, Targets, and Performance for each of the 4 pillars”. The low score of this criterion can be explained by the lack of clearly outlined descriptions of the elements.
To be more precise, the contents of the report included information on each of the pillars, but it had to be carefully sought out because no separate sections were mentioning the pillars or the goals, targets, and performance. However, it cannot be said that the information is missing completely. Having read the report, one would become aware of the general performance of Emirates NBD regarding the 4 pillars; but to assess the specific goals and targets, one would need to search for the relevant statements and critically analyze them to make respective conclusions.
Report Criteria That Were Presented Clearly
The first criterion that was presented with perfect clarity and thus received an excellent score of 4 out of 4 points on the report was stakeholder engagement methodology. The information regarding the methodologies was outlaid in the specific chart dedicated to the stakeholder engagement. The chart presented nine individual categories each of which covered the engagement of one stakeholder group and contained a list of methods used for the engagement.
The lists usually contained multiple methods that were fully described. This criterion was given 4 points for the provision of extended information because apart from the stakeholder groups and the lists of methods used for their engagement the chart contained feedback and value represented by the stakeholder groups. In that way, the readers could be informed about the roles of each group for the organization and why its engagement was important.
Another report criterion that was rated highly on the report evaluation was the one dedicated to the issues of materiality. Just like the criterion described previously, materiality had its section in the Emirates NBD report. Moreover, similarly to the stakeholder engagement methodology description, the issues of materiality were presented using a scheme. Two axes were used to show where each of the issues was placed regarding the importance of stakeholders and importance to the business.
In addition to the clarity of the presentation of the materiality issues, the report also contained information concerning how the aforementioned issues were assessed and identified. As a result, based on this aspect, the decision was made to assign 4 out of 4 points for this criterion because the extended information was provided on the topic.
General Evaluation of the Report
The sustainability report that was chosen for the review for this paper was the one published by Emirates NBD – the leading banking establishment in the United Arab Emirates. This organization is highly conscious of its sustainability regarding all the most important aspects of its corporate culture and business performance. The organization appeared as a result of the merger of two influential banks in the region that had been practicing for many decades. Consequently, the combined professionalism, knowledge, and experience of the two groups of experts served as an excellent basis for the new achievement and even stronger performance.
Over the years of its existence, the organization accumulated a substantial body of experience in the practices of sustainability. As a result, the report that is presently under review can be characterized as highly professional and very well-made. A feature that needs to be mentioned as one of the noticeable positive qualities of this report is its clarity and the increased informativity that was achieved with the help of schemes and diagrams used for better visibility of the presented data. However, some of the critical aspects needed for the evaluation (such as the organizational structure and strategy) were not presented. Overall, the research is easy to read and pleasant to assess.
Business sustainability is rapidly gaining widespread recognition in the corporate world. Despite the relative novelty and the existence of barriers to its adoption, sustainable practices offer several advantages for businesses. The following paper provides an overview of the main components of business sustainability, outlines its main impacts for the organizations, and offers an example of sustainability concept adaptation from the UAE.
Business Sustainability
In broad terms, business sustainability is a process of adjusting business operations to synchronize them in several domains to achieve stability and resilience to adverse external impacts. The most commonly recognized domains, also known as pillars of sustainability, represent the environmental, social, and economic aspects of business operations. The environmental pillar represents the attempts to minimize the organizational impact on the environment both directly and indirectly (e.g. carbon emissions, waste, and responsible choice of partners).
The social pillar ensures the fair treatment of the involved stakeholders, such as customers, employees, and members of local communities. Finally, the economic pillar involves maintaining profitability without compromising the goals set by the other two pillars. Simply put, it ensures that the business remains healthy and closely integrated with the interests and values of all the involved parties.
Despite the apparent presence of necessary expenses, the long-term impacts of business sustainability on the organization are generally favorable. First, the recognition of the environmental impacts ensures compliance with numerous environmental regulations and improves the chances of timely adaptation to the ones that may emerge in the future. Second, waste-reduction practices open up the possibility of improving performance through the involvement of innovative technical and technological solutions. Third, both the environmental and social enhancements usually result in the increased productivity and efficiency of the operations, and, in the long run, decrease the amount of the required resources. Fourth, the properly executed and communicated social responsibilities will attract both employees and investors and will increase the engagement and satisfaction of the existing ones, contributing to employee retention. Fifth, sustainability is an appealing concept in the contemporary customers’ consciousness, which means that sustainable businesses will attract more attention, thus improving the corporate image and eventually getting a competitive advantage (Grichan Partnership).
It should be noted that the described benefits are mostly observed in the long run and are sometimes preceded by necessary expenses, which discourages the decision-makers.
Sustainability quickly gains relevance in both the developed and developing economies. In such a setting, the UAE businesses are gradually adopting sustainable practices. A good example of such development is TNT Express UAE, an international courier service. The company has integrated numerous decisions aimed at reducing waste. For instance, the vehicles used by TNT run on the B5 biodiesel engine, a variety capable of using biological fuel.
In the case of TNT express, vehicles run on fuel containing 5 percent of used cooking oil. Such mixture not only alleviates the problem of used oil requiring disposal but also reduces carbon imprint in comparison to conventional diesel (“TNT Express”). The company also constantly monitors its carbon emissions to ensure compliance with the set goals of systematically decreasing the carbon imprint (“TNT Express”). Also, it offers several CO2 services aimed at providing the customers with means of reducing their carbon imprint (TNT). Finally, the company provides employee training that promotes energy-efficient driving, which is an excellent example of synchronizing social and environmental pillars.
Conclusion
Despite being in the early development stage, the concept of sustainability is both relevant and beneficial for the modern corporate domain. Its advantages include resilience, efficiency, stakeholder engagement, and corporate image improvements. Despite possible challenges, it would be reasonable for the organizations to look into its adoption as soon as possible to retain competitive advantage and increase long-term profitability.
Works Cited
Grichan Partnership. “The advantages of a sustainable business.” National Business Awards. 2015. Web.
“TNT Express Powers UAE Vehicles with Used Cooking Oil.” Post&Parcel. 2012. Web.
Considerations in Makin”g Successful Benchmarks in Companies
Various lessons can be learned from the implementation of the sustainability scorecard at Amanco. These lessons relate to the global business climate and the implementations in multi-cultural areas. This paper looks into the case of Amanco and points out some of the lessons that can be learned.
Lack of Involvement of all stakeholders in decision making
Globally operating companies need to involve the stakeholders before they engage in any decisions that will affect them. The formulation of the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ scorecard in Amanco was done at the corporate level, but the stakeholders are not shown to have been involved in any part of the formulation (Kaplan & De Pinho, 2008, p.5). This later leads to a situation where the other managers did not have a sense of tenure in the scorecard leading to its change later. After the introduction of the sustainability scorecard in Amanco, a lot of positive changes were observed in the company. This was due to the involvement of all the stakeholders in decision making from the customers, subordinate workers to the senior management.
Predefined leadership in global companies
Amanco as a company lacked a clear form of leadership in its subsidiaries companies before introducing the sustainability scorecard. This led to a situation where accountability was not easy to be implemented. The company had some regions being led by Human resource managers as owners while others were marketing managers (Kaplan & De Pinho, 2008, p.6). The company would lack a clear way for managers to be answerable which led to some of them even not implementing the stipulated scorecards.
Lack of a structured way for corporate to come up with scorecards
In the modern world, management in companies tends to change from day today. This would lead to companies hiring managers with different opinions. If companies do not have a structured way defined to come up with the scorecards, each manager will end up with a different scorecard which would be costly for the companies. This situation is well portrayed in the case of Amanco limited where Grupo Nueva introduced the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ scorecard but immediately after Pierre Roulet joined the company he introduce the ‘Sustainability Scorecard’ (Kaplan & De Pinho, 2008, p.6). These are some of the scenarios that companies might avoid in having well-laid down procedures of coming up with the scorecards.
Considerations of differences in Business environments
Multinational companies are not supposed to try implementing a similar business strategy in different regions basing it on success in another region. This comes into place due to the difference in the business environment in different regions. In some countries, there might be policies of 100% involvement of the locals in the management of a business while, in others, it might not exist. If a company has been using a strategy of using imported labor, in its markets it might get in trouble if it tries implementing the same strategy in a country whose regulations eliminate such strategies. Companies should also take into consideration the competitiveness of the markets that they are trying to venture into. This comes into play when a company wants to introduce new merchandise in a bazaar with a well-established rival company, and in another market where there is no well-established business offering the same products. In Amanco, when it started to produce the irrigation equipment in Brazil it had to note that its main competitor had a market share of 40% (Kaplan & De Pinho, 2008, p.12). Amanco also noted that Brazil had a different management style and microeconomic structure making it hard to operate like other markets of the company.
The hiring of Linguistics experts to translate business documents
Multinational companies operate in different countries where different languages are used as national languages. These companies would like to operate all their subsidiary companies with the same objectives and visions. This becomes possible if any document written in a certain language is translated into another language perfectly. If care is not taken in translation, the intended message to the managers might be delivered differently. To avoid such a problem, there is a need for the involvement of linguistics experts in the translation of these documents. Amanco had most of its literature in English despite operating in various multilingual countries. This was after coming up with the ‘Triple Bottom Line’ scorecard. There was the emphasis that direct translation of the literature in Portuguese would not deliver the intended meaning. This made it harder for other branches to implement the scorecard in the way that it was intended (Kaplan & De Pinho, 2008, p.5).
Having a reward system for the workers and Managers
Managers and workers feel motivated to work for the company if they are rewarded for working towards achieving the goals of the company. Managers and workers who are under any reward scheme will tend not to act on any information they have which would be necessary for the company. In the Amanco case study, a reward system had to be introduced to reward those managers who drove the business towards its global goals. This led to growth in businesses in most branches (Kaplan & De Pinho, 2008, p.8).
References
Kaplan, R. & De Pinho, R. (2008). Amanco: Developing the Sustainability Scorecard. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School.