Corporate Accounting: A Comparison of Sustainability Reports of ANZ Bank and Commonwealth Bank
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This study evaluates the sustainability reports of ANZ Bank and Commonwealth Bank, analyzing their sustainability practices, targets, and activities. It also discusses the concept of corporate social responsibility and its value to organizations.
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Running head: CORPORATE ACCOUNTING Corporate Accounting Name of the Student Name of the University Author Note
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1CORPORATE ACCOUNTING Executive Summary The purpose of the study is to illustrate the value of corporate sustainability report to organisatons with the concept of corporate sustainability. The report required the comparison of sustainability reports of two real companies from the same industry. The companies chosen for this topic include Commonwealth bank and ANZ bank , which belong to the banking sector. Both of these companies are listed in the ASX 200.through this comparison the report required to address various questions regarding validity of the information provided, its impact on stakeholders, its future targets among others.
2CORPORATE ACCOUNTING Table of Contents Introduction......................................................................................................................................3 Discussions......................................................................................................................................3 ANZ Bank....................................................................................................................................3 Commonwealth Bank..................................................................................................................6 Comparison of the sustainable reports.........................................................................................9 Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10 Reference.......................................................................................................................................11
3CORPORATE ACCOUNTING Introduction A corporate sustainable report refers to a report that includes all environmental, social and economic impacts that is caused by an organization in its everyday activities. It is a report that mainly focuses on the environmental, social and governance issues. These issues influence the stakeholders including investors, customers and host governments. The idea of CSR has made a widespread impact throughout the business world. It is a business approach that contributes insustainable developmentthat enables ineconomic, social and environmental benefits that accrues to all stakeholders(Schwartz 2017, p.1). It is a broad concept that addresses may issues like human rights, corporate governance , health and safety among others. The purpose of CSR is to develop sustainability. With widespread changes in global business practicesand changingtradesin socialresponsibilityit has becomewidely prevalentin society(Carroll 2015, p.90). It has become an integral part of tradition and a determinant of culture . Here the CSR practices of commonwealth bank and ANZ banking group have been compared with a view to assess their effectiveness. Discussions ANZ Bank The ANZ bank is one of the major banks in Australia . It offers a variety of banking and financial products and services toover eight million customers operating in more than 30 markets. The corporate sustainability report of the ANZ bank highlights the many ways in which the bank has contributed to the communities in which they have operated. This report illustrates howtheydobusinesswhichincludestheirpurpose,valuesandcorporatesustainability framework. This company has been using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework for
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4CORPORATE ACCOUNTING the process of sustainable reporting for more than 10 years.Theframework for corporate sustainability framework has three main focus impacts : Fair and Responsible Banking- the company wants to earn the trust of the public. It knows that the besr way to do that is fulfilling the various prospects of the stakeholders. This can happen by preserving a high standard of conduct and contemplatingthe environmental and social impacts of the decisions of the business. SocialandEnvironmentalParticipation-Thisfocusesonfosteringsustainablecustomer participation and connecting with the communities., thereby fostering a support for varied and comprehensive society in which everybody will feel welcome(Sabharwal 2014,p.200) Sustainable growth-Generating opportunities for allcustomers and enablling the sustaining growth for all types of businesses. On 1stJanuary, 2016 the sustainable goals of the United Nations(SDGs) first came into place .These goals and targets were aimed to solve the world’s most persistentchallenges for sustainable development which includes eradicating global poverty, shielding the community and making sure that our human rights are protected. The company became patners with a Singapore based investment exchange ( IIX) . It also advanced a new Women’s Livelihood Bond (WLB), the first sustainability bond of the world that was listed on a stock exchange. The bond incomes enable the bank to provide loans to microfinance institutions across all over South east Asia ( Anz.com 2018). These activities in turn help women in some of the world’s most susceptible regions. The WLB enables these borrowers to expand their business with the help of these loans and contributes more than 350,000 women in countries like Cambodia , Vietnam and Philippines. This is basically donethrough better access to capital, credit and affordable goods
5CORPORATE ACCOUNTING and services. The company haslately started initiating a work programmewith a quantity of large Australian businesses. This is donein a bid to promote more SDG’s among other listed companies.Theyarealsocombiningforceswiththevariousstakeholdersincluding government and NGOs( Anz.com 2018,). Thecompanyhasengagedwithbothshareholdersandstakeholderlikeindustry associations, non-government agencies, employees in order to address their requirements. It is very important to have an effective arrangement with all their stakeholders if they are to comprehend and reply to their prospects. It makes a significant investment in an all inclusiveand diversifiedworkforce.Thiswillhelpthecommunitybygeneratingopportunitiesfor employment for under represented groups ( Anz.com 2018,). It is committed to achieving a diversifiedworkforce that reflects the inclusion of all communities in which the business operate. The company targets a representation increase of women managers by 3 percent from 2015 to 2018. Some of their 2018 sustainable targets include: Generate the best experience as possible for customers. This can be done by improving the Net Promoter Score that is relevant to retail, corporate and institutional customers Increase the responsibility of senior management by modelling the bank’s values by 25 to 74% in 2018. Extend the education for cyber securityand its awareness in 2018. This can be done by installing key cyber security information to key businesses( Anz.com 2018,) Improving the employee engagement by 6% to 80 % by 2020 Reducing the direct impact ofthe business activities. This can be doneby reducing paper consumption in Australia and New Zealand by 40 percent by 2020 . Another
6CORPORATE ACCOUNTING prospect that the company has is that it canincreasetherenewable energy use in Australian actions by 13 percent by 2020. Figure 1-A snapshot of the sustainability of ANZ bank Source-( Anz.com 2018,). Commonwealth Bank Thecommonwealthbankprovidesfinancialservicesforpeople,businessesand communities all over Australia. Itis presently one of the leading financial institutions . This
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7CORPORATE ACCOUNTING bank provides institutional banking and wealth management services to 11 countries around the world. They are focused on the following material issues that address the following Customer experience- Customers are the primary focus of their organization Diversity and inclusion- It is an essential part of their culture and values. This enables the company to chalk out a framework on howthey do their business(Sabharwal2014,p. 210). Financial stability and performance- It is vital to the long term sustainability of the bank. Workforce well being, conduct and culture- Maintaining high professional standards is paramount in order to earn the trust of the stakeholders.( Markley,Lyons and Macke 2015 ,p. 574) Responsible lending, investing and procuring- the company needs to make sure that their policies and processes allow the company to lend and invest in a responsible and fair manner. The company also understands the necessity of maintaining an open dialogue and transparent stakeholder engagement policies in order to maintain effective relationship with that of the stakeholders(Grawitch,BallardandErb2017,p.249).Thesustainabilityreportofthe organization provides a complete view offinancial and non financialperformance(Epstein 2018, p.101). It is a participant to the United Nations global Comapct. Itis dedicated to interactive progress on combining these principles . These principles cover human rights, labour and anti corruption (Commbank.com.au2018, p.1). In the future, the company plans to review
8CORPORATE ACCOUNTING their strategy and programs of work in light of the SDG’s. According To the CSR policy of the Commonwealth Bank, the bank has its sights on the following SDG’s Teaching children the value of money- this is aimed at promoting the financial well being and money management skills of the Australian children (Howell 2016, p.77 ). It launcheda free financialeducation program called Start Smartwhich provides appealing workshops. These workshops are run by expert facilitators that promote education. It is the largest literacy program in the world . In this programmemore than 2.5 million Australian children since the program was inaugurated in 2007. In the last one year, the program has enrolled more than 500,000 students (Commbank.com.au 2018). Help prepare the workforce of the future- they are committed to improving the education system of the country by investing in more than $ 16 million in educationalone in 2017. They have a fund set up as The learning impact fund . It is a fund thatprovides grants to developers of educationin partnership with Australian research institutions .The fund has invested in $163 million in trials that are running in 215 schools with more than 11000 students. It also dispersed $571000 across three research trials (Commbank.com.au 2018, p.40). Enabling diversity and inclusion- The company needs to create an inclusive workplace that views the communities in where they operate. In 2015, the diversity and inclusion control recognized a three year diversity and inclusion strategy . The primary goal of the companyis building an inclusive culture (Rauschmayer, Bauler and Schäpke 2015,p. 220).The company has also set a new gender diversity leadership target . The target is 40 percent women in executive manager and above positions by 2020 . last year, he companyhad achievedtheir gender diversity target.
9CORPORATE ACCOUNTING Contributing to communities-, The company has contributed to their communities through community investment, disaster relief and as a taxpayer. The people employed in the bank are vigorously involved in the community and donate by volunteering and fundraising. The company has encouraged a culture of volunteering in order to provide much needed benefits to the company. The volunteering program enables the community to have access to volunteers with skills and know-how that isvitalto their sustainability. The staff fund raising has made an investment of more than $ 1 million. This investment has been made to back cancer research in the last financial year through the annual CAN4CANCER ride and walk in partnership with tour de cure (Commbank.com.au 2018,). Figure 2-A snapshot of the sustainability practices of Commonwealth bank Source-(Commbank.com.au 2018, ).
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10CORPORATE ACCOUNTING Comparison of the sustainable reports By reviewing the sustainable reports of both the companies, it is pretty evident that these companies have made significant commitments in order to improve the wellbeing of the communitiesthey operatein. They have undertaken a varietyof measuresthatpromote education, community development and a sustainable approach towards fair and responsible business practices(Farleyet al.,2015,p. 74). These reports are not merely an exercise in public relation exercises. These reports are prepared with a view to encourage stakeholder engagement and promoting fair and responsible fair business practices(Waas,et al., 2014, p.5530) While the sustainability report of the ANZ bank has its performance standards set against the UNGC standards as the benchmark , the company Commonwealth bank has no such benchmark. In reference to the plans set in the future, both companies have a great trackrecord in fulfilling their targets. The sustainability reports of both companies lay out targets that the companies will have to try and achieve. Both companies will strive to try and achieve their targets fully(Ioannou and Serafeim 2017, p.243). These reports are prepared with a view to engage with stakeholder and not only shareholders . it is aimed to providea comprehensive overview of its socially responsible activities(Zhong, Wang and Yang 2017, p.423).Both the companies are trusted organization and a very high degree of trust and reputation among the general public.These two companies can be trusted fully to serve the needs of the public .
11CORPORATE ACCOUNTING Conclusion The study evaluated the sustainability reports of the ANZ bank and commonwealth bank. It analyzed the various sustainability practices ofboth the companies . It made a list of their targets and the various activities the companies took in reference to community development, promote gender diversity in the workforce etc. It also necessitated some programs that both the companies took in order to promote sustainability. A comparison has been done to assess the validity of the information provided in the corporate sustainable report .It also illustrated the concept of corporate social responsibility and its value to organisations.
12CORPORATE ACCOUNTING Reference: Anz.com(2018).Sustainabilityreporting|ANZ.[online]Anz.com.Availableat: http://www.anz.com/about-us/corporate-sustainability/reporting-performance/sustainability- reporting [Accessed 2 Sep. 2018]. Carroll, A.B., 2015. Corporate social responsibility.Organizational dynamics,44(2), pp.87-96. Commbank.com.au(2018).[online]Commbank.com.au.Availableat: https://www.commbank.com.au/content/dam/commbank/about-us/shareholders/pdfs/corporate- responsibility/2017/2017-corporate-responsibility-report.pdf [Accessed 2 Sep. 2018]. Epstein, M.J., 2018.Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge. Farley, J., Costanza, R., Flomenhoft, G. and Kirk, D., 2015. The Vermont Common Assets Trust: An institution for sustainable, just and efficient resource allocation.Ecological Economics,109, pp.71-79. Grawitch, M.J., Ballard, D.W. and Erb, K.R., 2017. Work and wellbeing.The Routledge Companion to Wellbeing at Work, p.249. Howell, N.J., 2016. Small amount credit contracts and payday loans: The complementarity of price regulation and responsible lending regulation.Alternative Law Journal,41(3), pp.174-178. Ioannou, I. and Serafeim, G., 2017. The consequences of mandatory corporate sustainability reporting.
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