Sustainability Performance of Woolworths and Wal-Mart

BUSINESS LAW

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Description of the companies and their social performances......................................................3
Core business activities and country of operation.......................................................................3
Issues in social reporting.............................................................................................................5
Sustainable development goals....................................................................................................7
Sustainability phase.....................................................................................................................9
Extent to which social report reflect values...............................................................................11
Reflection on discussions..........................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: CSR Model of Woolworths..............................................................................................4
Figure 2: Sustainability Figures by Wal-Mart.................................................................................5
Figure 3: Social Reporting Style of Woolworths............................................................................6
Figure 4: Social Reporting of Wal-Mart..........................................................................................7
Figure 5: UN Sustainability goals compliance by Woolworths......................................................8
Figure 6: Most sustainable retailer survey.......................................................................................9
Figure 7: Sustainability phase model.............................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Sustainability reporting has now become a intricate part of the reporting in any organisation
where the law makes it compulsory to detail the relevant facts related to the sustainability
performance of the company (Schroeder, Anggraeni and Weber, 2019). The following report will
analyse the sustainability performance of two major retail sector companies i.e. Woolworths and
Wal-Mart both of which are operating in different countries. The report will segregate the
different aspects such as social values, UN sustainability development goals compliance etc and
then identify which company is fulfilling its sustainable objectives in a more better manner.
MAIN BODY
Description of the companies and their social performances
Woolworths is the Australian origin retail sector company that is the top retailer in
Australia and deals with the retail goods that cater to the multiple needs of the people such as the
household products the health and beauty care products etc. The consumer loyalty towards
Woolworths by the people of Australia is very high where they tend to shop regularly from this
Australian retail giant only (2019 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT, 2020). The company has always
been extremely respectful towards the environment in which they are operating and also towards
the society. They aim to give back at least a part of what they have taken by the nature by
engaging in the social and CSR activities regularly.
Wal-Mart on the other hand is a USA based retail giant that has now expanded in multiple
countries and is one of the top retail brands in the entire world (Dabija, Pop and Postelnicu,
2016). The company mainly deals in the similar products that any retail company offers i.e.
consumer electronics, the household goods, the jewellery etc. The social and CSR work done by
the Wal-Mart company has also been commendable but as it operates in multiple countries the
scale at which these activities are done is much higher than that of the Woolworths company.
Core business activities and country of operation
For Woolworths the core values with which the company works towards giving services
the customers can be summarised in one line i.e. “Better for Everyone” (2019 SUSTAINABILITY
REPORT, 2020). The company has always strived towards the compliance of multiple numbers
of ethical partnerships that promote greenery, cultural well- being, safeguarding the people and
even generating local employment thus contributing in their welfare activities.
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Figure 1: CSR Model of Woolworths
As the figure one clearly represents the ore social values of the company have been
categorised like this in the similar manner where they aim to segregates their ways of working
from those of others (Masharu and Nasir, 2018). The strategy of the Woolworths to procure their
resources and goods which they sell further from the local people in whichever are the area they
are working is the key value of sustainability and mutual growth that they have adopted.
In Wal-Mart consequently, the scale and the approach that they have developed is
multifaceted i.e. environmental, social and governance aspects are the three aspects through
which they engage in social work and sustainability aspect. The company has always aimed or
strengthen the local community but however, they do so by providing funds and contribution to
the social work rather than by employment generation or by local resourcing aspect (2018
GLOBAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT, 2019). Contrary to Woolworths who contributes
immensely by doing maximum extraction of products from the local sellers, the Wal- Mart
Company often tends to either import its products from their home country or they have
developed certain spots from which they collect supplies. The company donates rather than
creates which is an entirely different approach to CSR activities that they comply with
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