Sustainability Initiatives of Vodafone and DB Breweries in New Zealand

OPERATIONS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
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Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Literature Review............................................................................................................................3
Discussion......................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

Executive Summary
Environmental sustainability is considered as a vital issue for all organizations as the purchase
decision of the customers of the company are influenced by the approaches regarding
sustainability which are adopted by the companies. In order to become sustainable in nature, it is
very necessary for business organizations for adopting sustainable operations in their day to day
business activities. The sustainability initiatives of an organization help in addressing
environmental concerns, decreases economic well-being and helps in improving social well-
being of the society in which the organization belong. The approach regarding sustainability of
DB Breweries is guided by HEINEKEN’s Brewing a Better World framework and it has six
focus areas namely advocating regarding responsible consumption, promoting the health, safety
and well-being of the stakeholders of the company, reduction of carbon dioxide emission,
protection of water resources, sourcing in a sustainable manner and growing with the
communities. It is observed that the sustainability award winning organizations such as
Vodafone and DB Breweries have adopted various sustainability strategies in various core areas
of the organizations and at all levels of the organization which has ensured the accomplishments
of the goals and objectives of the company in terms of sustainability.
Introduction
Sustainable operations are defined as the operations of an organization which are sustainable in
nature. As stated by Bumblauskas (2015) sustainable operations are those operations of the
organizations which do not create a negative impact on the environment, economy and the
society. Sustainable operations enables an organization to achieve sustainability in their business
which helps in reducing environmental impacts, helps in improving the economic condition of
the community to which the company belong and by improving the society and the community
to which the organization belongs. The current report focuses on analysing the initiatives which
are being adopted by various award winning companies in New Zealand which helps in
promoting sustainability.

Literature Review
Vodafone
Vodafone New-Zealand had received the sustainability 60 award in the category of workplace
for creating a great workplace through positive initiatives. Vodafone’s winning of the
community award helps in reflecting the ways the employees of the organization are encouraged
for heling the communities and to recognize and respect each other. The approach which is
followed in the company is the World of Business Unit challenge, where the various teams of the
organization are matched with charities and the employees of the company compete with each
other for fundraising as much as they can. The various initiatives which have been initiated by
the company in order to promote environmental sustainability are as follows:
Trade in of old mobiles- One of the main initiatives which has been undertaken by Vodafone
New Zealand allows trade in of old mobiles for new ones. As stated by Piercy & Rich (2015) this
sustainability initiative of the company is green in nature as all the traded mobiles are recycled or
disposed of in an environment friendly manner. If the mobile of the customer is in a working
manner, then the company provides a trade-off amount to the customers and if the mobile is not
in working condition, then the company ensures that they are disposed of in the most
environment friendly manner.
Mobile Recycling- Vodafone New-Zealand is a part of government accredited scheme named,
RE:MOBILE, an sector-wide recycling program for mobile phones, which accepts any model of
mobile phones not-withstanding their condition as well as accessories such as chargers and
batteries. As opined by Shokri, Oglethorpe & Nabhani (2014) through the RE:MOBILE
initiative, the cell phones which are in working mode are overhauled and exported to places such
as China, Hong Kong and Eastern Europe. The mobile phones which are broken down or cannot
be repaired and the components are recycled with recovery rate more than 95%. A portion of the
profits which is generated by the RE:MOBILE initiative is donated to sustainable coastlines,
which is a multiple-award winning charity of New-Zealand who work hard to look after the
waterways and coastlines of New Zealand.