Governance, Ethics and Sustainability

This report explores the concepts of governance, ethics, and sustainability in business and their impact on organizations and stakeholders. It focuses on the case of Timberwell Constructions and evaluates their sustainability practices using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Reporting Standards. The report discusses economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and social sustainability, highlighting the challenges and actions taken by the company in each area. It also addresses issues such as corruption, environmental impact, and workplace harassment. Subject: Business Management

0
Governance, Ethics and Sustainability

1
Introduction
Business sustainability is also referred as corporate sustainability that focuses on coordinating and
managing environmental, financial and social demands and issues to make sure that organisations
conduct their operations responsibly and ethically (Ng and Rezaee, 2015). It plays a significant role in
the modern era because by focusing on these three factors, corporations are able to maintain a
balance between their impacts and they are able to sustain their progress by making sure that they
positively affect a diverse range of stakeholders (Rezaee, 2016). While complying with business
sustainability policies, effective reporting is crucial for companies to make sure that they maintain
transparency in their operations. Organisations can rely on “GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
Reporting Standards” which are referred to international guidelines that direct companies to make
sure that they effectively report their practices and actions taken by the management that effect
their stakeholders (Vigneau, Humphreys and Moon, 2015). This report will use the “GRI Reporting
Standards” to evaluate the case of “Timberwell Constructions” in order to prepare a “sustainability
assessment report” for the company.

2
Economic Sustainability
Economic sustainability is defined as the approach that focuses on achieving long term economic
growth without adversely affecting cultural, social and environmental factors (Bhattacharjee and
Cruz, 2015). This approach ensures the ability of an economy to support a defined level of
production without wasting resources to make sure that they did not go extinct. In case adequate
policies are not implemented for the use of these resources, then it could lead to their extinction,
which could harm the interest of the current and future generations (Fransen, 2017). In this regards,
organisations play a major role by ensuring that they reduce waste of these resources and use them
properly to address major issues such as climate change. Moreover, companies should take actions
to avoid engaging in corrupt practices to make sure that the interest of its stakeholders is not
harmed (Fregonara et al., 2016).
The risks associated with climate change and the financial implications are faced by Timberwell
Constructions as a result of the changes brought by local authorities. A good example is the “Local
Environmental Plan (LEP)” which is implemented by “Stanwell Council” in order to handle the
challenges associated with climate change. These changes are implemented by the local authority to
make sure that companies become protective of bushfire safety. As per the new guidelines,
companies are expected to use materials that are fire-retardant on their construction sites, and they
are also obligated to increase the boundary space between building and land. As per these changes,
it is provided by the local authorities that the development site of Timberwell is a “bushfire prone
area”. The management of the company has taken a step for addressing this issue by working with
the local authority, and the necessary changes will be made in the six weeks. It is also working
alongside an “external town planning company” to make sure that it makes this whole process more
efficient and while reducing the expenses. These changes will costs around four million dollars to the
company and it will also pay fifty thousand as the fee of the company which is hired for this process.
It has been found in a recent investigation that “five employees and two external consultants” of the
company were engaged in corrupt practices since they give bribery to “council project offers”. Since
these charges are proved, these individuals are charged with corruption charges by the local
authorities. The management has also been taken steps to set an example of these employees to

3
avoid similar practices in the future. They are suspended by the organisation, and they will not
receive any pay during this period. The management has also pledged that they will no longer work
with the consultants that were found guilty.
There are a series of complaints which are lodged against the company in the “Australian
Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)” after which investigation was started against the
company. As per the claimed made in these investigations, some executives working for the
company learned about a group of builders who were planning to start their own operations, which
would likely to increase rivalry for the organisation. These executives decided to threaten them in
order to make sure that they did not engage in similar business practices by claiming that they will
not receive any business from Timberwell. Currently, this case is on-going, and the judgement on
this case will be given in the next four months. Since the judgement is still pending, no action is
taken by the management against the executives that are involved in this case.
Environmental Sustainability
Environmental sustainability refers to a framework which assists in ensuring that the natural
resources are used accordingly to fulfil current needs and they are also protected for the future
generations (Sarkis and Zhu, 2018). Since the resources are limited and, proper management is
crucial to make sure that they are not wasted and they are properly utilised by the organisations.
Without adequate management of these resources, it becomes easier for organisations and
individuals to exploit these resources which increase pollution and major threats such as climate
change and global warming (Singh, Srivastava and Shukla, 2016). Organisations also play a major role
in this context by ensuring that their energy consumption is mostly limited to renewable energy
sources which reduce waste of natural resources and ensure that long term sustainability of the
operations of the company can be maintained. The importance of the protection of biodiversity is
also crucial for the protection of natural resources and ensuring their optimum utilisation. This goal
can be achieved when companies comply with the rules and regulations which are implemented by
the authority for governing their actions to avoid exploitation of these resources and ensuring their
optimum use (Alshuwaikhat et al, 2017).

4
Timberwell relies on the tool that is given by the “Australian Department of Industry and Science” to
determine its fuel consumption. The company considered itself as energy efficiency and it has
reported that its fuel consumption is “1.0 Gigajoule from non-renewable sources, 0.5 Gigajoule from
renewable sources and 2.0 from electricity consumption”. The company has also issued a media
release in which it provided that it is increasing the investment in renewable energy sources to
increase their consumption to at least half of its entire fuel consumption and this target is set to
achieve in the next three years.
The company has provided in its media release that it has performed an “Environmental Impact
Assessment” in order to evaluate its impact on the environment. It founded in this assessment that
60 per cent of one of its development sites situated in “Otford Park” is populated with “rare wallum
sedge frogs”. It has found in this research that if the operations of this site will continue, the local
biodiversity will suffer, and these frogs might be extinct. The management has decided to address
this issue, and the company is working with Stanwell Council and “environmental groups” to find
solutions that could solve this problem. The objective of this strategy is to make sure that the
population of frogs can be protected.
A complaint is filed against the company to the “Department of the Environment and Energy”, and it
was found in the investigation that the company has “cleared 0.45 hectares of critically endangered
ecological community coastal grasslands”. It was held that in this area had significant flora and fauna
attributes, which leads to harming the biodiversity of the nearby area. Due to the failure of the
company to comply with the guidelines, it is subject to a fine of two hundred thousand dollars. Along
with the monetary penalties, the company is also ordered to make sure that it “undertaken an
external review of its vegetation management plan”. As per these guidelines, the company is also
expected to make sure that it oversees the actions of its contracts through audit program and it is
also expected to implement a “rehabilitation plan for no less than $440,000”. As per these orders,
the management is taking measures in the organisation to make sure that they are fulfilled.
Social Sustainability
Social sustainability focuses on recognising and managing the impacts of the actions taken by the
companies on their stakeholders such as local communities, employees and customers (Kytta et al.,

5
2016). All these stakeholders are affected by the decisions which are made by the management, and
it is the duty of executives to make sure that they respect and protect their rights. A good example is
an elimination of discrimination in the workplace in terms of age, disability, gender, sexual
orientation, colour, religious beliefs, race or other factors to make sure that employees receive equal
treatment in the workplace (Kobayashi, Eweje and Tappin, 2018). Along with the development of
employees, the companies also have to focus on ensuring that they take corrective actions for
increasing engagement and interactions with local communities. They must implement programs for
ensuring that development of local communities in which they operate to ensure that they have an
overall positive impact on them (Rezaee, 2016).
The company has reported that it has hired 58 employees in order to handle its operations in
different areas, including construction-related trade and professions for managing day-to-day
operations. An additional twelve new apprentices are also appointed by the company to expand its
operations. During this report, 17 employees left the organisation, most of which have joined the
rival organisations of the company, or they have taken steps to establish their own businesses. These
statistics show that the current hiring rate of the company is at 20.6 per cent whereas the rate of
employees who are leaving the company is at 29.3 per cent, which is an important concern. The
management has taken actions to address this issue by providing higher salary packages to the
employees, and a new system of roaster day-off is also implemented by the company to make sure
that the retention rate of employees can be increased.
As per a complaint filed by a former employee of the company to the “Fair Work Commission”, it
was found that workplace harassment is a key issue in the organisation. The former employee
provided that the majority of employees in the company are between the age of 30 and 50 and the
former employee was above the age of 50 years. Due to the age gap, other employees made fun of
the former employee, and they told jokes on his age. The company did not take any actions to
prohibit this behaviour. The Commission found that company guilty, and it ordered to pay $4,400 as
competition to the former employee. Furthermore, it is ordered to the company that should make
changes in its “anti-discrimination policy” to avoid similar practices in the future, and it should also
provide training to its current employees so that they did not engage in these practices in the future.
The management has followed the orders given by the commission accordingly to prohibit
harassment and discrimination from the workplace.

6
In order to increase its interactions with the local communities, the company has started to issue
media releases in which it provides details regarding its actions and how they affect the local
communities. A good example is the actions taken by the company in order to protect the
biodiversity in the area by ensuring that the rare frogs are not extinct. It has conducted an
“Environment Impact Assessment” to give information regarding its actions on the local
communities. However, the company has not taken specific actions for the development of the local
community or increase engagement with them. Particular actions are not taken by the management
to contribute to the development of local communities.

7
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many areas in which the company has made reporting to identify its impact
on a diverse range of stakeholders. In many areas, the company needs improvement such as
discriminatory behaviour with employees, anti-competitive actions, failure to protect biodiversity
and development of local communities. However, the management has taken steps to reduce
carbon emissions of the company and improve the interactions with employees to make sure that
their rights are not violated. In the future, a more positive report will be given by the company to its
stakeholders.

8
References
Alshuwaikhat, H., Abubakar, I., Aina, Y., Adenle, Y. and Umair, M. (2017) The development of a GIS-
based model for campus environmental sustainability assessment. Sustainability, 9(3), p.439.
Bhattacharjee, S. and Cruz, J. (2015) Economic sustainability of closed loop supply chains: A holistic
model for decision and policy analysis. Decision Support Systems, 77, pp.67-86.
Fransen, S. (2017) The socio‐economic sustainability of refugee return: Insights from
Burundi. Population, Space and Place, 23(1), p.e1976.
Fregonara, E., Giordano, R., Rolando, D. and Tulliani, J.M. (2016) Integrating environmental and
economic sustainability in new building construction and retrofits. Journal of Urban
Technology, 23(4), pp.3-28.
Kobayashi, K., Eweje, G. and Tappin, D. (2018) Employee wellbeing and human sustainability:
Perspectives of managers in large Japanese corporations. Business Strategy and the
Environment, 27(7), pp.801-810.
Kytta, M., Broberg, A., Haybatollahi, M. and Schmidt-Thomé, K. (2016) Urban happiness: context-
sensitive study of the social sustainability of urban settings. Environment and Planning B: Planning
and Design, 43(1), pp.34-57.
Ng, A.C. and Rezaee, Z. (2015) Business sustainability performance and cost of equity capital. Journal
of Corporate Finance, 34, pp.128-149.
Rezaee, Z. (2016) Business sustainability research: A theoretical and integrated perspective. Journal
of Accounting Literature, 36, pp.48-64.
Sarkis, J. and Zhu, Q. (2018) Environmental sustainability and production: Taking the road less
travelled. International Journal of Production Research, 56(1-2), pp.743-759.
Singh, R., Srivastava, M. and Shukla, A. (2016) Environmental sustainability of bioethanol production
from rice straw in India: a review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 54, pp.202-216.
Vigneau, L., Humphreys, M. and Moon, J. (2015) How do firms comply with international
sustainability standards? Processes and consequences of adopting the global reporting
initiative. Journal of Business Ethics, 131(2), pp.469-486.