Governance Ethics and Sustainability

This article discusses the importance of corporate governance and ethical policies for sustainability with a case study of an Australian construction company. It covers economic, environmental, and social sustainability guidelines as per the GRI sustainability reporting standards 2016.

Running head: ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Governance Ethics and Sustainability
Name of the student
University name
Author’s note

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Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................2
Economic sustainability..........................................................................................................2
i. Disclosure 201-2:....................................................................................................................2
ii. Disclosure 205-3:...................................................................................................................3
ii. Disclosure 206-1....................................................................................................................3
Environmental sustainability..................................................................................................4
i. Disclosure 302-1:....................................................................................................................4
ii. Disclosure 304-2:...................................................................................................................5
ii. Disclosure 307-1:...................................................................................................................5
Social sustainability................................................................................................................5
i) Disclosure 401-1.....................................................................................................................6
ii. Disclosure 406-1....................................................................................................................6
iii. Disclosure 413-1...................................................................................................................7
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................7
References..............................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The current topics focus on the aspect of maintaining the organizational ethics and
governance standards within a business environment. An organization is part of a macro
environment and is affected by a large number of factors including the political, economic,
social, technological and environmental factors. Therefore, in order to sustain itself within a
corporate environment, an organization needs to balance all these factors. Thus, failure to
comply with one of these factors could result in legal breaches on the part of the organization.
In the current study, an Australia based TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS have been
taken into consideration. The company has been recently sued by one of its veteran
employees who has faced workplace discriminations. The functioning of the company is
evaluated as per the GRI sustainability reporting standards 2016. The GRI standards are used
by an organization to reports about their impact on the economy, environment and the society
(globalreporting.org 2018). They are a set of interrelated modular standards which have been
evaluated in the light of the current organization.

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Economic sustainability
The economic sustainability of the organization is guided by a set of three GRI
standards- disclosure 201-2, disclosure 205-3, and disclosure 206-1.
i. Disclosure 201-2:
As per the disclosure 201-2, drastic climate changes possess risks to the functioning
of an organization, its stakeholders and investors. As commented by Kim and Davis (2016),
the organizations are directly or indirectly responsible for climate changes. In this respect, the
TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS was charged by an employee for clearing up 0.45
hectares of coastal grasslands which harboured critically endangered community. The area
was identified as one containing important flora and fauna. However, in its press release,
TIMBERWELL had maintained that is working closely with the Stanwell council in order to
reduce the disturbances that will be caused to the local flora and fauna of the region due to
construction activities.
ii. Disclosure 205-3:
As per disclosure 205-3, action needs to be taken for confirmed incidents of
corruption. As commented by Jones et al. (2016), corruption includes practices such as –
bribery, facilitation payments, money laundering offer of gifts and awards beyond the
limitations of the organization. In this respect, an allegation was made against
TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS as per which five employees of the TIMBERWELL
CONSTRUCTIONS and two business partners had offered money to the council project
officers. As an effective measure against the report, the TIMBERWELL corporations have
suspended five of its employees without pay. Additionally, the firm ended its partnership
with the accused business partners.

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ii. Disclosure 206-1
The directive 206-1 addresses the topic of anti-competitive behaviour. As per the
regulations the TIMBERWELL constructions were booked for anti-competitive behaviour by
the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). As reported by Denis one
of the old employees of TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS the company had threatened its
group of suppliers and distributors that if they work for any rival from the company is going
to cut all ties with them. This was clearly an anti-competitive behaviour shown on the part of
the company. As commented by Lozano et al. (2016), the business organizations are guided
by their set of corporate guidelines all of which falls under the corporate social
responsibilities. Therefore, the TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS had clearly breached the
important GRI guidelines related to economic stability. In this respect, the TIMBERWELL
CONSTRUCTIONS could use a part of the 0.45 hectares of land for agriculture as an
important CSR activity of the company. It would have helped the company in maintaining
the ecological balance of the land. Additionally, involvement in bribery and anti-competitive
behaviour can result in strict monetary imposition on the company. Here, TIMBERWELL
was instructed by the state planning board to review its vegetation management program at
no less than $ 440,000 which was a huge amount imposed on the company.
Environmental sustainability
The company is responsible for maintaining the ecological balance by virtue of its
activities (globalreporting.org 2018).Some of the environmental sustainability guidelines as
per the GRI regulations are disclosure 302-1, 304-2 and 307-1.

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i. Disclosure 302-1:
Under the directive 302-1, an organization can use energy in various forms such as
fuel, electricity, heating, cooling etc (globalreporting.org 2018). The energy can be self-
generated or used from variable resources. However, excessive consumption of energy from
non-renewable resources is against the CSR policies of the company (Lu et al. 2017).
Therefore, the organization needs to maintain a balance in its power consumption rate. In
one of its press releases by the TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS, it has mentioned that it
is an energy efficient organization. The TIMBERWELL has also mentioned that it has raised
its energy consumptions activities from renewable resources by 50 % in the following three
years.
ii. Disclosure 304-2:
As per the 304- 2 directive, there is significant impact of activities, products and
services of an organization on the surrounding biodiversity. in this respect, the
TIMBERWELL constrictions were to clear 0.45 hectares of agricultural land for its
construction activities for which it was imposed a fine of 200, 000 Australian dollars. This is
because the area was found by the state planning commission to be the one possessing
diverse flora and fauna. However, later the TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS issued in
one of its press releases that the area was predominated by rare Wallace sage frog. However,
they are in talks with the Stanwell council and environmental groups for the proposed
development of the site along with conservation of the rare species.
ii. Disclosure 307-1:
As per the directive 307-1, an organization needs to work in compliance with the
environmental policies and guidelines. However, the TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS

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need to maintain clear and transparent company policies with respect to lowering of the
carbon emissions. This is because excessive generation of atmospheric carbon generation not
only violates the CSR guidelines of the company but also affects the surrounding
environment (Higgins and Coffey 2016). It would have been wise had the TIMBERWELL
CONSTRUCTIONS used a part of the land for their self-energy production by using bio-
wastes degradation technology. It also helps in restoring the natural vegetation cover of the
land by supporting the growth of sufficient flora.
Social sustainability
An organization functions within the jurisdiction of a social environment and is
responsible by way of its actions for maintaining the social sustainability (globalreporting.org
2018). It focuses on the aspect of sustainable development by planning effective conservation
programs. In the current study, the social sustainability has been discussed with reference to
the TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS. The organization had been defamed by one of its
old employees regarding a number of malpractices. The organization was charged by the
department of environment and energy that they have been trying to disturb the ecological
balance of land due to their construction activities. The organization declined the accusations
and discussed in their press release that they have been working in close collaboration with
the Stanwell council and environmental groups in order to make the land fit for the survival
of the rare wallum sedge frog. Some of the directives for maintaining social sustainability as
per the GRI sustainability reporting standards 2016 are - disclosure 401-1, disclosure 406-1
and disclosure 413-1.

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i) Disclosure 401-1
This directive deals with the aspect of new employee hires as well as dealing with
employee turnover. As commented by Quarshie et al. (2016), high rates of employee
turnover reflect at workplace dissatisfaction along with malicious practices at the place of
workplace. As commented by Klettner et al. (2014), workplace inequalities result in high
rates of employee turnover. The high rates of employee turnovers can result in lowering the
productivity of the organization.
ii. Disclosure 406-1
In this respect, Denise McCabe on the of the old employees working for the
TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS had filed a complaint against the company saying that
he had been suffering from workplace harassments. The matter had been further detailed by
him where he has mentioned that he was the only 50 years old to be working there and the
rest of the employees working along with him were within the age group of 30-50. This
further subjected him to mental harassments and he was compelled to file a complaint with
the Fair work commission. The commission ordered the TIMBERWELL constructions to pay
Denise compensatory amount of Operations with local community engagement, impact
assessments, and development programs 4400 Australian dollars as well as training the
existing workforce on practising anti-discriminatory policies.
iii. Disclosure 413-1
One of the most important objectives of working according to disclosure 413-1 is
working in close approximation with the social community for positive development
programs (globalreporting.org 2018). The TIMBERWELL CONSTRUCTIONS in this

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regards have been working with the close settled social community for formulating social
development programs for all proposed residential developments.
Conclusion
The current assignment focuses on the concept of corporate governance and ethical
policies. This has been discussed and evaluated with respect to an Australia based
construction company. The organization had faced a number of issues recently with regards
to some of its unfair practices. Therefore, in order to implement a positive work culture, the
organization needs to follow some of the corporate governance policies as listed under the
GRI sustainability reports. Some of these have been discussed with reference to the
organization and its practices. However, conducting an internal check from time to time as
well as working in accordance with the environment and sustainability act can prevent any
kind of legal breaches on the part of the organization.

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