Management - CSR Policies and Sustainable Strategies of Woolworth

Fundamentals of
management
9/25/2019

Fundamentals of management 1
CSR policies and sustainable strategies of Woolworth
Sustainability is considered as an approach to the management of the company that aims for
maximizing and creating long-term social, environmental, and economic value. Corporate social
responsibility is taken as a model that helps the company to be socially accountable to its
stakeholders and the public for their actions and adverse impact on society (Orlitzky et al. 2011).
Through CSR activities business can make a positive impact on the society and environment
while boosting own image in the market (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2014). The report aim is to
understand the concept of CSR activities and sustainable approaches and policies used by the
companies that positively affect the society and environment. To achieve an aim a company is
chosen that is Woolworths, this helps in knowing the benefits that society, shareholders and
economy are getting because of appropriate sustainable practices and CSR activities of the
company.
Woolworths Group is one of the leading players in Australia and founded in 1924. The leading
group support many other brands that are Big W, Countdown, and Dan Murphy's. The company
aims to create better experiences for their communities, their customers, and people by working
together. “People are at the heart of everything they do”. Woolworths believe in empathy,
harmony, and compassion amongst their employees. The company aim to develop a "strong
sense of belongingness towards its employees and strives to attain its organizational goals
through continuous teamwork" (Woolworths, 2019).
Every company have their own CSR policies and sustainable strategies of the Woolworths
Company and their influence on working of the business. An organization use resources of the
society to grow better and bigger, to maintain the balance and to seek sustainable development

Fundamentals of management 2
companies use CSR model (Montiel, 2008). CSR activities help the companies to be accountable
for their operations and actions on social grounds (Malovica et al. 2008). As per the
sustainability report, the CSR activities and sustainable policies of Woolworth are given below:
a) The CSR activities of the company revolve around "listening to the concern of customers
by taking a step to reduce the amount of plastic bags used in packaging in the
supermarket”.
b) The company use more sustainable products in its product range to reduce the adverse
impact on society.
c) The company promote cultural diversity by creating teams by providing a workplace that
allows the diversified culture for the overall betterment of the organization
d) The company is ensuring and taking initiatives to reduce food waste and for that launched
“responsible sourcing program”.
e) The company is also promoting gender equality by creating a culture that provides access
to the same opportunities and resources to each member working in the organization.
f) The company promoted the recruitment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander to reduce
the factor of inequality.
g) The company makes efforts for a program of the Zero Hunger for that they provide relief
to those who need with the help of the Foodbank.
h) Woolworths take steps for sustainable development in the field of seafood and animal
welfare and for that, the company believes that their role is not limited to avoid negative
impacts of activities but to promote activities that benefit society.
i) The main initiative that the company takes includes sourcing environment sustainable
commodities from making sustainable supply chains.

Fundamentals of management 3
Woolworths implemented various strategies that are formulated in the field of accelerating
transformation, to enhance the environmental focus, addressing climate change, and providing
innovative services and products to the customer (Devin & Richards, 2018). Woolworths framed
strategies to focus on the lighting, temperature, refrigeration and to reduce the amount of energy
consumption. Briefly, the company is making a positive impact on the economy, society, and
environment through its different sustainable policies and initiatives. CSR activities have
negative as well as a positive impact on the company as CSR helps in reducing the gap between
customers and corporations and create a bond of trust with society (Baumgartner, 2014). Further,
CSR policies help the company to enhance employee’s productivity and aim to satisfy the
individual as well as corporate needs and elaborate the self-image. On other side, CSR activities
also negatively impact the company by reducing the productivity and efficiency of employees as
more investment by the company in CSR activities reduce the morale of employees and divert
their efforts towards the development of society. The negative impact of CSR can be also seen
on the investors as because of CSR activities the company is not able to maximize the profit or
invested lot of amount in sustainable practices and policies this will directly influence the
earning of shareholders (Shaw & Shaw, 2019).
Every CSR practice involves some strength and weakness that leads to the success and failure of
the sustainable policies. Some of these strength and weakness in relation to the Woolworths
company has been discussed. CSR activities of Woolworths prove to be beneficial for the
company as it has a great impact on the environment, the initiatives that company take to ensure
energy management, reduce plastic use and to promote equality, and diversity in the
organizational culture. This improves the image of the company in the market and helps them to
take an edge over its competitors. Further CSR activities help Woolworths to retain potential