Corporate Sustainability: Issues and Strategies for Ally Fashion

This report explores the sustainability issues faced by Ally Fashion, a renowned fashion retailer in Australia, and proposes strategies to improve its sustainability position. It examines the triple bottom line approach and highlights issues related to employees, customers, suppliers, and the community. The report also discusses the current sustainability position of Ally Fashion and suggests a sustainability plan to mitigate the identified issues.

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1CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY
Executive summary
Ally Fashion is one of the renowned fashion retailer companies in Australia. The company has
more than 140 stores across the country. It proves that the organisation is highly settled in
Australia. However, recently the organisation is facing severe problem in terms of its
sustainability position. In this regard, the report tries to figure out the sustainability issues in the
light of triple bottom line approach. Based on the issues, some strategic advantages are also
incorporated into the research that can foster better approach to Ally Fashion.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Current sustainability position.........................................................................................................5
Employees....................................................................................................................................5
Customers....................................................................................................................................5
Suppliers......................................................................................................................................5
Community..................................................................................................................................6
Current issues in sustainability........................................................................................................6
People..........................................................................................................................................6
Planet...........................................................................................................................................8
Profit..........................................................................................................................................10
Design sustainability strategy........................................................................................................10
Products.....................................................................................................................................11
Organisational system................................................................................................................12
Organisational image.................................................................................................................12
Sustainability in people..............................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
Reference.......................................................................................................................................15
Appendices....................................................................................................................................19
Appendix 1.................................................................................................................................19
Appendix 2.................................................................................................................................20
Appendix 3.................................................................................................................................21
Appendix 4.................................................................................................................................22
Appendix 5.................................................................................................................................23
Appendix 6.................................................................................................................................24
Appendix 7.................................................................................................................................25

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Introduction
Corporate sustainability is considered to be one of the major aspect for getting strategic
advantage in highly competitive market. As per the research of Ioannou and Serafeim (2017) the
corporate suitability is associated with the paradigm of corporate management where the
traditional growth and profit maximisation of the organisation are depended on the sustainability
framework (Hahn et al., 2015). From that point of view, it can be stated that the de facto purpose
of the corporate sustainability is to enhance the growth and sustainability of the organisation.
Therefore, the sustainability measures will help the business organisation to follow the triple
bottom line aspect in terms of people, planet and profit. The people means social goals, planet
identifies the environment and the profit connotes the economics of the organisation. Based on
this understanding, the suitability report reflects the basic characteristics of the sustainability
measures of the organisation.
Henceforth, this report emphasizes on Ally Fashion which is the first Australian
women’s fashion retailer. The organisation commenced its operation in 2001 and gradually
expanded its market over 141 stores across Australia. However, there are huge sustainability
issues that the organisation is facing in order to procure business successfully. This report aims
to point out those corporate sustainability issues based on the triple bottom line approach and
intends to design a sustainability plan for mitigating the sustainability issues effectively.

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Current sustainability position
Employees
As far as the sustainability measures for the employees are concerned, it can be stated
that Ally Fashion tries to create a better approach in order to bring efficient code of conduct and
responsible practices around the organisation. The code of conduct of the company is greatly
inspired by the moral ethics and intends to create motivation for the employees so that it will
bring efficacy into the organisational proficiency (Knaus, 2018). Moreover, respecting the
human and labour rights are also considered to be an important aspect for the organisation. It will
help Ally Fashion to establish a fair and decent treatment for the employees.
Customers
Ally Fashion is entitled to put focus on the customers entirely. The organisation is highly
responsive to the customer demands. Most of the customers are women as the organisation is
specifically provide women fashion products. Therefore, the organisation carefully segregated its
customers on the basis of the frequency of the purchase and evaluate their behaviour effectively.
Trendy and fashionable products are considered to be the most important aspect for the
organisation to put focus on and offering free service delivery to customers (Allyfashion.com,
2019). In this regard, one of the major aspect is related to the protection of the data and
information of the customers. Ally Fashion is highly focused on this.
Suppliers
Ensuring compliance with a proper code of conduct is one of the best feature in
relationship between Ally Fashion and its suppliers. It is important for the organisation to deal
with the practice of making good relationship with the suppliers. In this regard, the company

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follows the international standards of supply chain and tries to make a transparency into the
payment structure. As a matter of fact, the promotion and protection of the human rights and the
fundamental labour rights are also incorporated into the organisational structure that the
organisation has to follow. However, in reality the process is yet to be implemented (Knaus,
2018).
Community
For the community, Ally Fashion puts focus on the basic approach of maximum reach
and high impact on the community through the program developed. Apart from that limited
prevalence of the social and economic aid and the low contribution to the global welfare can also
be seen in case of the organisation. The major purpose of Ally Fashion is to create a strong base
of customers who will help the organisation to maximise its profitability (Allyfashion.com,
2019).
Current issues in sustainability
People
Ally Fashion has several issues regarding the people and the society. At first, it can be
stated that the code of conduct of the organisation is not so good that can create better
opportunity for the employees. Here, the term ‘people’ connotes the employees and the suppliers
of the organisation (Hussain, Rigoni & Orij, 2018). It is associated with the international code of
fundamental principles and the government regulation on the rights to work. In case of Ally
Fashion, most of the employees and suppliers have argued that the organisation has no
transparent policy related to its workplace practice. Therefore, it becomes a serious allegation for
the organisation to deal with the social sustainability framework. Furthermore, the workplace

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health and safety measures were also missed in the organisational spectrum of Ally Fashion.
From the research of Alhaddi (2015) it can be stated that in the triple bottom line sustainability
framework, the notion of people does not only confirm the customers. However, the suppliers
and employers are also identified as an important part of the sustainability measures. As a result
of that it becomes important to put a great deal of focus on the sustainability of the suppliers. In
case of Ally Fashion the relationship with the suppliers is very poor that the report of
Tearfund.org.nz. (2018) listed Ally Fashion as one of the worst companies in Australia for lack
of better relationship with the suppliers.
In addition to this, the sustainability issue is also violated in terms of the workers
empowerment and the organisational policies regarding the employees. In this context, it can be
stated that discrimination and unethical practices are still existed within the organisation. From
the report of Bhattacharyya (2016) it can be argued that many famous busies organisations in
Australia are still follow the discrimination in terms of race and gender. Obviously, the practices
were highly unofficial but entertained intensely. In case of the Ally Fashion the organisation
primarily alleged with the racial discriminatory practices. Racism is one of the biggest issue in
Australia and lack of government initiatives against the powerful white people created a culture
of unethical practices that can be seen in case of Ally Fashion as well (Islam, Haque & Roberts,
2017). In addition to this, the policy framework of the organisation was not so good. As number
of complaints had been received alleging that the employees in Ally Fashion did not get salary in
time. It was a strong blame against the organisation. On the other hand, Tearfund.org.nz. (2018)
identified that use of illegal substances for the business operatives in Ally Fashion was also
contributed to the ethical organisational practices effectively. In this context, lack of

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administrative interference and policy making practices was started damaging the organisational
ethical business environment.
Approach to the customers is also a matter of further government investigation. Many of
the customers were complained that the customer relationship management in Ally Fashion
pushed the customers to buy a product. Sometimes the efforts went beyond the limits. On the
contrary, the product return policy and the casual attitude of the customer service agents further
perturbed the sustainable situation for the organisation in order to shape a better and effective
business practice for long term business practices (Dimovski et al., 2016). It left a great deal of
impact on the organisational activities where the employees were not feel safe and free to do job.
The satisfaction level was so poor. From the perspective of the customers also Ally Fashion was
not the best brand for the women as it was initiated long ago. This deterioration in the
organisational public relation measure was resulted in curbing down the profitability and stability
of the organisation to a rapid pace (Christ, Rao & Burritt, 2019).
Planet
From the perspective of the environmental consideration, it can be stated that there were
not so much issues that the organisation due to the environmental degradation. Nevertheless,
some activities of Ally Fashion were clearly identified as the violation of the environmental
sustainability. Wong and Zhou (2015) argued that the environmental sustainability was
considered to be the major principle on which every corporate organisations have to keep focus
on. In this context, it can be stated that almost half of the world’s environmental balance was
hampered due to the indiscriminate use of energy by the business organisations. As a result in the
beginning of the 21st century it became a challenge for the business organisations to reduce the
CO2 emission an started formulating an effective environment out of the responsibility to shape a

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better world for the use of the next generation. From the research of Gholami et al., (2016) it can
be found that most of the business organisations are started using the environmental
sustainability as one of the unique measure to develop better organisational strategy. It became
an important aspect for the business organisation to establish the market capitalisation by
focusing on the environment friendly approach (Epstein, 2018). It would help the corporate
farms to get enough appreciation from different customers in return.
In the context of the sustainable development in Ally Fashion had been stalled due to the
lack of infrastructural development. The organisation did not have adequate green technologies
to create a sustainable measure. As per the research of Pedersen, Gwozdz and Hvass (2018) it
can be stated that the sustainable tools can be identified as the energy saving lights, proper waste
management techniques and using eco-friendly colours inside the stores. Most of the
organisations were started following this trend in order to sustainable development. The Ally
Fashion management is keener to increase the profitability. Therefore, most of the investment is
vested on the design and quality of the product rather than focusing on the entire production
related aspects. In addition to this, conducting environmental campaigns to create awareness
among the people and the local community is also identified as an important measure for the
business organisations to get adequate development in environmental development (Rauter,
Jonker & Baumgartner, 2017). Nevertheless, the Ally Fashion management was reluctant to put
focus on those efforts. As a result of that the organisation failed to maximise its customers
(Battaglia et al., 2015). In this context, it can be stated that the role and responsibility of Ally
Fashion was highly questionable and under further scrutiny in order to create scope to safeguard
the environment positively.

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Profit
The profitability of Ally Fashion is also limited not only due to focus only the women
wardrobe but lack of understanding the efficacy of sustainable practice within the organisation
also an adverse impact on the organisation to solidify the position in the market. Therefore, the
negative impact can be seen in case of the organisational profitability. The profit of the
organisation is related to the suppliers in a direct manner. From the research of Hahn et al.,
(2015) a huge number of supply of the organisation is coming from South India and Cambodia
due to cheap labour costs. In this regard, the investigation of Zappettini and Unerman (2016)
articulated that in those region use of child labour is a frequent and normal manner. However, the
Australian government highly condemns those kind of practices. Despite of knowing the
unethical practices of the suppliers, Ally Fashion still continues business with those suppliers for
getting products in cheap price and sell in the market with high price. This kind of mentality of
the Ally Fashion management created negative impact on the organisational development and
damage the goodwill of the organisation in the international market. It was a deliberate and
intentional approach that the organisational management was intended to perform and never care
to change even for the sake of the organisation.
Design sustainability strategy
Sustainability can be harnessed through the organisational policy to establish a good
image among the customers. According to Langwell and Heaton (2016) image or brand value of
an organisation is considered to be important for the business organisations in order to maximise
the customers effectively. In this context, the sustainability condition of Ally Fashion is highly
affected by the mal-administrative policies. The organisation has to conduct an overall

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Sustainability in business
Products
Organizational system
system Sustainability in people
Organizational image
Green production Eco-friendly
products
Environmental
awareness
Organic colors
Eco-friendly tools
Energy saving
interiors
Using light color
Eco-friendly
aesthetic choice
Social campaign
Local community Joint venture
Non-profitable groups
Salary
structure
Employee
motivation
Communication
Reward and
recognition
sustainability in order to refurbish its business practices effectively in the Australian market.
Therefore, the organisation is going to focus on the manufacturing, internal infrastructure,
organisational image and the employees and suppliers effectively.
Figure 1: Sustainability strategy design
(Created by the author)

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Products
As far as the products are concerned, it can be stated that changing in the manufacturing
process can procure more effectiveness into the process of making effective business practices
into the market. Most of the business organisations like H&M and Zara have followed eco-
friendly production mechanism. The concept of green production is identified as one of the
effective step for Ally Fashion to revamp its business. There are hazardous and toxic chemicals
used in case of the fashion products and the customers also buy products without knowing the
hazardous impact on body. Therefore, it is important for Ally Fashion to put focus on the
products that it stored in its listed fashion items. Using more eco-friendly products will create a
better opportunity for the organisation to deal with the sustainability issues effectively.
According to the research of Painter-Morland et al., (2016) due to the increase in environmental
awareness among the customers most of the fashion brand started thinking about changing the
nature of their fashion products and put some effort to make products based on sustainable
approach. It can be seen in case of the global fashion brands too. Using high quality and
environmental friendly materials like organic colours in dresses and clothing and eliminating the
use of chemical dying was defined as a major step towards environmental sustainability. Based
on this process, it became important for Ally Fashion to create better marketing approach by
storing environmentally good products so that the customers will also get attracted by this
benevolent practice.
Organisational system
From the research of Jones, Comfort and Hillier (2016) it can be stated that sustainability
can be achieved through implementing effective use of eco-friendly infrastructures and tools in
the organisational business orientation. As a result of that it will clearly points out the efforts of

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the organisation to create sustainable practice within the organisational establishment. In this
regard, a new concept has been emerged as the sustainable interior design. Those products are
mainly recycled and reusable. For instance, using light colour to capture natural ay light and
reflect heat and using low energy lighting systems are considered to be effective for the
organisations to follow sustainable and eco-friendly strategy. Higgins, Stubbs and Milne (2018)
opined that the use of energy saving interiors are really helpful for the business organisation to
set an example in order to get adequate footage of sustainable development. Those practice can
also be implemented in the retail stores of Ally Fashion in order to bring effective measure of
installing eco-friendly measures. Moreover, the aesthetics of the organisation is also identified as
an important aspect because the customers and the visitor are often inspired by the aesthetics of
the outlets. It helps the organisation to grab customers effectively. For Ally Fashion also the
aesthetic choice has to be intertwined with the choice of using sustainable interior design in order
to get adequate measure to restore an eco-friendly effort.
Organisational image
Setting a good image through sustainable measures is also a pertinent and strategic aspect
for the business organisations in order to develop the organisational image effectively. For Ally
Fashion the sustainable image development can be initiated through conducting social
campaigns. Lion et al., (2016) articulated that the social campaigns have a great deal of impact
on the local societies because it helps the organisation to engage the local communities into the
business. The local customer base is always considered to be the best option for the business
organisations. Therefore, engaging the local community and developing an effective base will
contribute to the organisation to generate environmental awareness among the local
communities. Most of the big retail organisations are using this technique to set an example of

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their sustainability measures through the use of unique and creative practices. For Ally Fashion
also it is essential to get a clear perception regarding the importance of sustainable social
campaigns. In fact, venturing with some social groups will help the organisation to build up ban
effective means of sustainable image development. There is a great number of social
organisations in Australia that are professionally working on the sustainable development
practices. In this regard, it is important for Ally Fashion to make a joint venture of some social
non-profitable groups. The purpose of the campaign will be foster an eco-friendly awareness to
the local people. This practice will help the organisation to bolster its customer base. In fact,
attracting new customers will also be possible by using this strategy.
Sustainability in people
All those efforts can be possible by the direct help of the employees. From the research of
Sarkis and Zhu (2018) it can be derived that the role of the employees is to foster a strategic
advantage to the organisation by using their skills and ability to increase the organisational
proficiency. In this context, the relationship between the organisation and the employees is
highly crucial and brings high profitability for the organisational development. From the end of
the organisation, it has to be ensured that the basic requirements and benefits of the employees is
being maintained and the organisation must set an effective policy so that it will satisfy the
employees. The HR department is mainly responsible to deal with the employee related issues. In
case of Ally Fashion the HR department will create a transparent policy and satisfy the
employee demands to some extent. It is associated with establishing a good workplace behaviour
and prepare the employees to enhance the proficiency of the organisation effectively. As a matter
of fact, putting emphasis on the reward and recognition strategy can increase the employee

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motivation strategically. Therefore, it is an intricate part of the organisational development that
lead the company towards pacing with the corporate sustainability.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be argued that Ally Fashion has a long way to go in
order to prepare a better sustainability approach. It is associated with the sustainability issues that
the organisation is faced in every aspects of its corporate sustainability measures. In this context,
the report tries to develop sustainability strategies that will help the organisation to sustain in the
market effectively. In other words, it can be stated that the sustainability measures are highly
important for Ally Fashion to create effective framework and ensure the retention of the business
strategically. From this point of view, the report rightly points out the important factors of
sustainability in Ally Fashion.

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Appendices
Appendix 1
Figure 1: Overall sustainability of Ally Fashion
(Tearfund.org.nz, 2018)

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Appendix 2
Figure 2: Brand index for sustainability
(Tearfund.org.nz, 2018)

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Appendix 3
Figure 3: Brand ranking
(Tearfund.org.nz, 2018)

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Appendix 4
Figure 4: Policy implication
(Tearfund.org.nz, 2018)

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Appendix 5
Figure 5: Traceability and transparency
(Tearfund.org.nz, 2018)

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Appendix 6
Figure 6: Relationship with the suppliers
(Tearfund.org.nz, 2018)

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Appendix 7
Figure 7: Workers’ empowerment
(Tearfund.org.nz, 2018)