Supermarket Impact on Communities

This assignment requires an in-depth analysis of academic research papers related to the impact of supermarkets on communities. It involves evaluating various aspects such as supermarket introduction in food deserts, shopping behavior influenced by supermarket choice, promotional competition between chains, self-service checkout theft, and the sustainability practices of major supermarket retailers like Wesfarmers.

Running head: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ETHICS AND CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate Governance, Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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Executive Summary
The study has aimed to find out the different aspects of corporate governance, corporate social
responsibility and ethical behaviour of Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd. This has been
shown with board structure and changes associated to the same. Some of the other aspects of the
company have been further able to discern about the known public scandals faced by the
company. It has been further state about the rationale for these public scandals. The ethics theory
has been seen to be necessary in considering the different types of the public scandals. The third
section of the study has been further able to state on the different type of the aspects of
stakeholder and application of ASX guidelines. The final part of the study has been able, to
discern the various type of the aspect which has been seen to be related to state the Carroll’s
philanthropic model and inclusion of the same. The board structure is seen to be composed of
various hierarchies of management operating at different levels. The managing director of Coles
has been recognised with John Durkan, Rick Allert as a non-executive director and chairman.
The two main public scandals have been identified by promoting misleading freshly baked bread
in Coles store and engagement of child labour. The stakeholders has been classified as social
groups, society, organisations, vendor and the consumers who are involved directly or indirectly
with the business or they are seen to be having stake in the business. The corporate governance
practices have been recognised with high standard thereby nurturing the culture of compliance.
The divisional achiever of Wesfarmers has been further able to bring out the corporate
governance spirit by depicting corporate and personal integrity, responsibility for individuals,
responsibility for the stakeholders and ethical behaviour. The application of Carroll’s
philanthropic model in Coles Department of store has been evident by holding for economic
responsibility in generating profits.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Board Structure................................................................................................................................3
Public Scandals................................................................................................................................5
Stakeholders.....................................................................................................................................6
Application of “Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)”................................................................7
Carroll’s philanthropic model..........................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
Reference List................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Coles Supermarket was founded in 1914 by George Coles, on April 2014, Coles has been
seen to celebrate its 100th Birthday and following the strategy of discount pricing. This has been
often identified as supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. The Supermarket operator has been
seen to be operating in 801 supermarkets throughout Australia. The total number of the
employees has been further seen to be included 100000 employees. The main aspect of the report
has aimed to state on the board structure and depict the changes associated to the same. Some of
the other aspects of the company have been further able to discern about the known public
scandals faced by the company. It has been further state about the rationale for these public
scandals. The ethics theory has been seen to be necessary in considering the different types of the
public scandals. This section of the study has been further seen to be taken into consideration the
example of consequentialism. The third section of the study has been further able to state on the
different type of the aspects of stakeholder and application of ASX guidelines. The final part of
the study has been able, to discern the various type of the aspect which has been seen to be
related to state the Carroll’s philanthropic model and inclusion of the same (Mawass and Kanjo
2013).
Board Structure
Coles is considered as the second largest retailer in Australia. The board structure is seen
to be composed of various hierarchies of management operating at different levels. The
managing director of Coles has been recognised with John Durkan, Rick Allert as a non-
executive director and chairman along with John Fletcher as Chief Executive Officer and
managing director. Based on interpretations of annual report Mr. William Gurry AO has been

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identified as a non-executive director of the company. Some of the other non-executive directors
of Coles have been discerned with Dr. Keith Barton, Ms. Patricia Akopiantz, Mr.Anthony
Hodgson, Ms. Sandra Mcphee, Mr.Michael Wemms and Ms. Belinda Hutchinson. The topmost
position in the board structure has been identified with chairman. Michael Chaney has been
identified as the chairman of the company. The second important person of the member of the
board has been further identified with the position of managing director which has been seen to
be held by Richard Goyder. Some of the other most wanted board structure has been identified
with finance director which has been headed by Terry Bowen and Paul Bassat. The other
members of the board structure have been consisting of representatives of various positions
including group General Counsel of the group. This particular position has been held by Maya
vanden Driesen. Some of the other members of the board structure is seen to be consisting of it
positions such as Chief Executive Officer, chief human resources officer, executive general
manager for corporate affairs, company secretary and Chief Executive Ofc for Department stores
(Knight 2017).
It has been further identified that each of the division is seen to be headed by a steering
committee which includes the managing director and finance director of the group. The board is
further seen to approve various types of partnership focused on areas such as medical research,
indigenous programs, health and education and in areas such as employment generation. The
board of directors access the main body for having control over various types of other groups of
Wesfarmers such as Coles Department of store (Bita 2014).
By analysing the annual report of the company published in 2016, it has been further
discern that there have not been any major changes in the structure of the board.

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Public Scandals
On 10 April 2015, the Federal Court has been ordering Coles supermarket Australia
Private Limited to pay $ 2.5 million as penalty for misleading representations and making false
promises associated to promotion of its par baked products. The following issue had been
brought forward by “Australian Competition and Consumer Commission”. The main issue has
been seen in terms of the products which were promoted as “Baked Today, Sold Today” and
“Freshly Baked In-Store” they are very often only partially baked and was seen to be frozen by
the supplier and the same was transported as finished products within the stores of Coles
supermarket. The contravening penalties have been seen to be substantial and serious in nature.
You further seen to send a strong message to the company’s by stating they should not use broad
phases for deliberately selling of products and misleading the consumers (Dubowitz et al. 2015).
On December 15, 2015 Coles has been seen to be embroiled in a child slavery scandal by
selling seafood from its high company who has accused using child labour. An investigation
carried out by Associated Press has been able to reveal the different types of evidences of forced
labour in the factory outside the Bangkok which has been seen to be owned by seafood supplier
and Thai union. As per the workers who have witnessed child labour have also said that the slave
labour used by the company is under threat of violence. Children are seen to work alongside their
parents in the factory which has been carried over even further by pervasive human trafficking.
The problem has been further fuelled by complicity and corruption by various types of
authorities and police force (Faccio, Gamberi and Persona 2013).
The main ethical theory associated to the aforementioned scandal has been identified with
consequentialism theory which states about the simple ethical factors to be good or bad. Another
theory as the identified with Utilitarianism theory which is associated to the fair choices by

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ensuring least harm to the individuals involved in the business. The various types of ethical
theories rule have been seen with a motive to benefit the individuals through fairness and law. In
addition to this, by acting ethically the consumer along with creating more value to the
shareholder will be able to act in favour of the company. This will also promote health and safety
among people and environment at large (Press 2016).
Stakeholders
The various types of stakeholders of Coles Department has been categorised into six
broad headings. These stakeholders has been classified as social groups, society, organisations,
vendor and the consumers who are involved directly or indirectly with the business or they are
seen to be having stake in the business. It is the duty of the company to recommend the
appropriate products and services to their respective stakeholders. Vendors of the company
should be able to bring the appropriate quality in the marketplace along with supporting the
capital of the company. Some of the important financial perspective of the stakeholders has been
identified with operational efficiency, profitability and revenue.
The various aspects of consumer perspective are seen in terms of attracting the
consumers and retaining consumers. The various types of internal perspectives of the
stakeholders have been further seen with asset management, administration system and employee
management. Some of the most notable learning and growth aspect of the stakeholders has been
identified with human resource input, relationship and technical aspects. Coles has further taken
initiatives by engaging with stakeholder survey to improve communication on issues relating to
sustainability. The various types of respondents identified for the shows based on the area of
interest are addressed in terms of diversity, climate change resilience, and environmental impact

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in the business, supplier relationships, food safety, ethical sourcing and investment in various
types of assets. Wesfarmers is seen to be committed with long-term outcome of the benefits for
both suppliers and stakeholders thereby at the same time recognising the various types of robust
negotiations for acceptable and normal business practices contributing to efficiency, long-term
sustainability, innovation and competitiveness of all the parties (Volpe 2013).
The engagement with the various types of non-governmental organisations has been also
a part of stakeholder engagement program of the company. Media is identified as the most
important avenue for communicating with the stakeholders. Coles has been continuously
identified to communicate internationally, nationally and locally alongside with various media
organisations to contribute to the fair reporting of the activities to the various types of
stakeholders. Coles has been further identified to the work with several local media organizations
for contributing to the transparency of the operations and building the reputation of the
organisation (Sustainability.wesfarmers.com.au. 2017).
Application of “Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)”
The Council for ASX Corporate Governance (CG) was seen to be established in 2003. It
is aimed to bring together the insights about various business, industry group and shareholders to
point out the governance issues with respect to particular stakeholder. The adherence to the main
principles under the CG guidelines by ASX has been noted with satisfactory return to the
shareholders, the determination of materiality associated to specific facts and use of materiality
guideline with accordance with Australian Accounting Standards. The board of Wesfarmers
limited has seen to be committed to provide satisfactory return to the shareholders in terms of
fulfilling the various obligations related to corporate governance. The parent company has been

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further seen to comply with recommendation as per the third edition of CG principles and
recommendations published on 27 March 2014 (Wesfarmers.com.au. 2017).
The key factors relating to the corporate governance has been identified with approving
leadership appointment, overseeing an advanced performance associated to strategy
implementation, overseeing of group’s managing director succession planning and monitoring of
groups operating and cash flow performance. That adherence to the corporate governance has
been further seen with monitoring financial position, credit ratings and key metrics. By leaving
the business operations and developmental plans of the individual divisions the various efforts
under the corporate governance has been able to create a long-term impact and value creation on
the stakeholders of the company (Pechey and Monsivais 2015).
It has been further reviewed that the talent management team which has been developed
in 2017 is compliant with ASX guidelines. The key focus of the corporate governance structure
has been further seen in terms of reporting the processes, leaving policies and improving the
group system of overall corporate governance reporting. Some of the main highlights of
compliance of corporate governance with ASX have been identified with independence of the
chairman and director independence. The independence of the chairman has the scene with the
responsibilities set out in the boat charter. The director of the company is seen with the
commitment properly exercise the powers along with other members of the board committee.
The board has been further able to review the position and various types of relationships of the
directors by considering the activities of non-executive independent directors (Briton 2014).

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Carroll’s philanthropic model
Carrol’s four-part model of corporate social responsibility consists of economic
responsibilities, ethical responsibilities, legal responsibilities and philanthropic responsibilities.
The various types of philanthropic responsibilities is associated to the concepts which shows
contributing nature towards the community and adding to the overall quality of lifestyle. There
are various types of ethical responsibilities which has been designed in terms of obligation to
carry out what is right, fair and just thereby avoiding harm to other individuals. The legal
responsibilities deals with the concept that individuals should play by the rules and law is
society’s codification for deciding what is fair, what is wrong and what is right. The different
type of economic responsibilities acts as a foundation on which others rely (Alias and Ismail
2015).
The application of Carroll’s philanthropic model in Coles Department of store has been
evident by holding for economic responsibility in generating profits. The different types of
economic and legal elements have been seen to be vital for the business. The various types of
economic responsibilities have been further seen to generate profits. Based on the application of
this model Coles has been able to support the community thereby reducing overall carbon
footprint and supporting to the local community along with the Australian farmers. The
application of this philanthropic model is also evident with the minimisation of greenhouse
emission gases and recycling of waste along with overall waste reduction (Baden 2016).
Conclusion
The board structure is designated with several hierarchies of management operating at
different levels. The managing director of Coles has been recognised with John Durkan, Rick

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Allert as a non-executive director and chairman along with John Fletcher as Chief Executive
Officer and managing director. It has been further identified that each of the division is seen to
be headed by a steering committee which includes the managing director and finance director of
the group. The main public scandal has been seen in terms of the products which were promoted
as “Baked Today, Sold Today” and “Freshly Baked In-Store” they are very often only partially
baked and was seen to be frozen by the supplier and the same was transported as finished
products. An investigation carried out by Associated Press has been able to reveal the different
types of evidences of forced labour in the factory outside the Bangkok which has been seen to be
owned by seafood supplier and Thai union. Social groups, organisations, vendor and the
consumers who are involved directly or indirectly with the business or they are seen to be having
stake in the business are considered as the main stakeholders of the company. The engagement
with the various types of non-governmental organisations has been also a part of stakeholder
engagement program of the company. The corporate governance practices have been recognised
with high standard thereby nurturing the culture of compliance. The application of Carroll’s
philanthropic model in Coles Department of store has been evident by holding for economic
responsibility in generating profits.

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Reference List
Alias, S. N. and Ismail, M. (2015) ‘Antecedents of philanthropic behavior of health care
volunteers’, European Journal of Training and Development, 39(4), pp. 277–297. doi:
10.1108/EJTD-01-2014-0005.
Baden, D. (2016) ‘A reconstruction of Carroll’s pyramid of corporate social responsibility for the
21st century’, International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 1(1), p. 8. doi:
10.1186/s40991-016-0008-2.
Bita, N. (2014) ‘Are the supermarket giants simply too big?’, The Australian, p. 16.
Briton, B. (2014) ‘Supermarket monopoly and farm ruin’, Guardian (Sydney), (1662), p. 1.
Dubowitz, T., Ghosh-Dastidar, M., Cohen, D. A., Beckman, R., Steiner, E. D., Hunter, G. P.,
Flórez, K. R., Huang, C., Vaughan, C. A., Sloan, J. C., Zenk, S. N., Cummins, S. and Collins, R.
L. (2015) ‘Diet And Perceptions Change With Supermarket Introduction In A Food Desert, But
Not Because Of Supermarket Use’, Health affairs (Project Hope), 34(11), pp. 1858–1868. doi:
10.1377/hlthaff.2015.0667.
Faccio, M., Gamberi, M. and Persona, A. (2013) ‘Kanban number optimisation in a supermarket
warehouse feeding a mixed-model assembly system’, International Journal of Production
Research, 51(10), pp. 2997–3017. doi: 10.1080/00207543.2012.751516.
Knight, E. (2017) ‘Aldi fires up supermarket pricing war’, The Age, p. 18. Available at:
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N=0&Ntk=Journal_Search&Ntx=matchallpartial&Ntt=The+Age%0Ahttp://sfx.lib.uts.edu.au/
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Pechey, R. and Monsivais, P. (2015) ‘Supermarket Choice, Shopping Behavior, Socioeconomic
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10.1016/j.amepre.2015.04.020.
Press, A. A. (2016) ‘Police join supermarket crackdown on self-service checkout theft’, The
Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/oct/06/police-join-
supermarket-crackdown-on-self-service-checkout-theft.
Sustainability.wesfarmers.com.au. (2017). Media. [online] Available at:
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Volpe, R. J. (2013) ‘Promotional Competition Between Supermarket Chains’, Review of
Industrial Organization, 42(1), pp. 45–61. doi: 10.1007/s11151-012-9352-x.
Wesfarmers.com.au. (2017). Corporate governance . [online] Available at:
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