Sustainability in Reliance Industries Ltd. and Tata Motors

This report discusses the sustainability initiatives, CSR practices, and values of Reliance Industries Ltd. and Tata Motors. It explores their contributions towards sustainable development goals and highlights their focus on environmental protection and social change.

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Business Society and Planet
Student’s Name
9/6/2019

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Question 1: Introduction of the two companies
Corporate social responsibility is developed as one of the standard business practices
that allows the companies to boost the morale of the employees and enhance its corporate
image. It will help the companies to increase their profit margins by attracting large number
of customers (Lozano & Von Haartman, 2018). The further paragraphs of the report will
reflect upon the two companies from the different industries but operates in same country. It
will cover the vision, mission, business activities and the CSR initiatives of Reliance
Industries Ltd. and Tata Motors.
Reliance Industries Ltd. is considered as the most profitable private sector company
that has evolved from textile and polyester company to combined player across energy,
materials, retail, entertainment, and digital services. The mission of the company is to provide
best value-added advice to its clients and investors. The company holds 31.4% shareholder
value and has the vision of developing long-term trustful relationships with clients. The
company focuses on conducting the business with full integrity and aims to maximize the
value for the customers. The company is highly committed towards sustainability and makes
continuous efforts to improve triple bottom line and make positive contribution towards
society (Reliance Industries Limited, 2019).
Tata Motors is considered as the foremost worldwide automobile manufacturing
corporation that diversifies its portfolio by providing wide range of cars, sports utility
vehicles, trucks, buses and defence vehicles. The vision of company is to become the most
inspirational Indian auto brand and provides innovative mobility solutions to enhance the
quality of life. Tata Motors has taken various CSR initiatives that allow refining the quality of
life of deprived community. It develops the strategies and policies that effectively contribute

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to sustainability. The values of the company include conducting ethical activities, customer
focus and ensuring teamwork at workplace (Tata Motors, 2019).
Question 2: Nature of the sustainability report
It is analyzed that Reliance Industries Ltd and Tata Motors effectively contribute
towards sustainability and focuses on enlightening the value of life of the deprived
community. Both the companies have been ranked as topmost company towards sustainable
contribution. The similarities between the CSR initiatives include the contribution towards
environment protection and social contribution by improving the lifestyles of underprivileged
community (Reliance Industries Limited, 2018).
The difference in the CSR initiatives of both companies is reflected through the area
of focus developed in the year 2018. It is analyzed from the sustainability report that Reliance
Industries Ltd. focuses on the issues of rural transformation by providing the opportunity of
education and improving the health of the underprivileged community. It concentrates on
environment sustainability and becomes responsive to disasters. The company initiates
towards protecting the rich culture and heritage (Reliance Industries Limited, 2018). On the
flip side, the sustainability policy of Tata Motors focuses more on improving the quality life
of the community. The sustainability initiatives are divided into three sections which include
social, economic and environmental.
The report of Reliance Industries Ltd is grounded on national practices while the
sustainability report of Tata Motors emphasise more on the issues. It concentrates on energy
management, environmental responsibility, product stewardship, occupational health and
safety, and social institution building. On the other hand the sustainability initiatives of Tata

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Motors majorly concentrate on environment consciousness and wellbeing of the society (Tata
Motors, 2018).
The sustainability reports of both companies concentrate on the business activities of
the companies and do not cover the sustainability practices from area wise. It is also analyzed
that the sustainability report of Reliance Industries makes the contribution of all the different
industries in which the company deals and makes the internal comparisons easier while the
internal comparison in Tata Motors sustainability report is a complex task. In a conclusive
way, this would not be wrongful to state that the sustainability report of Reliance Industries is
stated in more detail in comparison to the sustainability report of Tata Motors (Tata Motors,
2018).
Question 3: Sustainable development goals
It was analyzed that Reliance Industries Ltd is considered as Conglomerate Company that
majorly affects the society in which it operates. The company mainly addresses the twelve
sustainability goals that allow it to improve its workplace practices and leave a progressive
influence on society. The company operates at large scale and has a huge responsibility
towards the environment (Assembly, 2015). The most relevant sustainability goals that are
addressed by Reliance Industries include:
 SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
 SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation
 SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
 SDG 9: Industry, innovation, and infrastructure
 SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production
 SDG 13: Climate action

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 SDG 14: Life below water
 SDG 15: Life on Land
 SDG 3: Good health and Wellbeing
 SDG 5: Gender Equality
 SDG 17: Partnership for goals
 SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
It is analyzed that the company has addressed all the above goals in its sustainability
report and has reflected goal 11 by effectively contributing towards community. The
company actively responds towards SDG 7, 6 and 13 by being responsive towards the
environment and protecting the natural resources (Reliance Industries Limited, 2018).
Moving to the sustainability of Tata Motors, the company major focuses on civilizing the
quality of life of the deprived community. It focuses on protecting the environment,
employability, health, and education of the community (Biermann, Kanie & Kim, 2017). It
addresses seven sustainability goals which include:
 SDG 2: Zero Hunger
 SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation
 SDG 4: Quality education
 SDG 1: No poverty
 SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
 SDG 13: Climate action
 SDG 3: Good health and Wellbeing
 SDG 17: Partnership for goals
 SDG 7: Reduced inequalities

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By addressing the sustainable development goals the company has been able to bring the
social change and has touched the lives of 644000. It has designed sustainability mobility
solutions that conserve energy and fuel. It has preserved the electricity from 20.76% by using
renewable energy. The report describes the implicit and explicit efforts conducted by Tata
Motors in support of sustainable development goals (Tata Motors, 2018).
Question 4: Sustainability phase
The Dunphy, Griffiths, and Benn six-stage organizational sustainability model
consists of six stages namely rejection, non-responsive, compliance, efficiency, proactivity
and sustaining the organization. In accordance with the sustainability report 2018, Reliance
Industries Ltd is on proactivity phase because the company has the vision of adding value
through its innovative capacity and focus on active engagement of the stakeholders. It has the
capacity of structural redesign to allow flexibility at the workplace and sustain its competitive
advantage. The company has become the global leader and does not depend upon the
international suppliers. It considers the interest of all the stakeholders and delivers maximum
satisfaction. The company also focuses on developing high interpersonal skills among the
workforce through effective training and development programs that allow the company to
remain competitive and attract customers (Stace, 2017).
On the other side, Tata Motors is considered on the sustainability stage because the
company effectively contributes towards the community and has brought social change. It has
touched the lives of 644000 people in the year 2018. The company effectively contributes
towards protecting the environment by conserving the natural resources and linking the
sustainable development goals with the business practices. It was analyzed from the
sustainability report that the company empowers the underprivileged community and has
developed various programs that aid in upgrading the quality of life of the underprivileged

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section of the community. The company focuses on maintaining Biodiversity and contributes
to the economy (Yadava & Sinha, 2016).
Question 5: Reflection of the stated values
From the sustainability reports, it was analyzed that both the companies constitute
values which are reflected from their code of conduct. Reliance Industries Limited focuses on
ethical conduct which is associated with the values and the associated behaviour. The
fundamental values of Reliance include ownership mindset, respect, excellence, one team,
and integrity and customer value. The company understands customer value and focuses on
enlightening customers (Porter & Kramer, 2019). It actively listens to customer needs and
fulfils their expectations. It is analyzed that the company maintains higher levels of integrity
by being transparent with the stakeholders and respects all the stakeholders. It fosters an
inclusive and diverse culture where all the employees are respected and treated equally. It
provides satisfactory result to the shareholders considering the human and the community
factors.
(Source: Reliance Industries Limited, 2018)

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It is analyzed that Reliance Industries Limited has designed its process in such a
manner that minimizes waste generation. It becomes responsible towards environment and
conducts its business responsibly (Reliance Industries Limited, 2018).
On the other side, the core value of Tata Motors includes excellence, accountability,
teamwork, integrity, speed, and customer focus. Its values and principles are encapsulated in
its code of conduct. It guides all the stakeholders to maintain integrity and encompasses
aspects such as corruption, human rights, and equal opportunities. The company strikes the
balance between the expectations of the stakeholders and reports the violation of the conduct.
It actively responds to environmental practices and social change. It adopts whistleblowing
policy and provides equal opportunity to speak (Tata Motors, 2018).
The core values of the company are reflected in the social change implemented by the
company. It has transformed the lives of the underprivileged community and has empowered
them to make them stronger. It is highly dedicated towards the community benefits and
maintains sustainability by contributing towards the environment and developing sustainable
mobility solutions. The company gives the preference to the local area and improves the
quality of life of the community (Tata Motors, 2018).

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(Source: Tata Motors, 2018)
From the above data, it was analyzed that Tata Motors has saved 20.76% of the
electricity through the use of renewable energy and has recycled 10.49% of total water used
by the company. It is highly dedicated to conserving of natural resources (Tata Motors,
2018).
Question 6: Reflection of group discussion
In order to summarise the findings of the above two companies, we were involved in
group discussion and two of the members raised the sensitive issue of the ethical conduct in
the procurement of the raw material. In response to the concern, we analyzed the
sustainability report of Reliance Industries Limited and analyzed that the company conducts
its business activities in responsible manner and does not exploit the natural resources. It
conserves the resources though developing of waste management hierarchy. Another member
raised the issue of data safety and analyzed that Reliance majorly emphasizes protecting its

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data and is able to sustain its competitive advantage. It ensures ethical conduct of the business
and actively responds to the sustainability goals
In contrast to the above, the members also discussed the authenticity of Tata Motors
and raised the issue of employee safety at Tata Motors. In response to above issue it was
recorded that page 14 of the sustainability report 2018 reflects the designing of the policies
that favor employee safety and reflects the favourable working environment. The company
ensures the safety of its employees and maximizes their incentive to derive maximum
employee satisfaction. The members also recorded that the company actively responds
towards social change (Khari & Sinha, 2016).
In order to reach to a conclusion, the group discussion was ended by analyzing that
both the companies reflect their values in their actions and behaviours and conducts the
business ethically. In response to address the sensitive issues of sustainability both the
companies are required to contribute more towards environment protection.

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References
Assembly, G. (2015). Sustainable Development goals. SDGs), Transforming our world:
the, 2030.
Biermann, F., Kanie, N., & Kim, R. E. (2017). Global governance by goal-setting: the novel
approach of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Current Opinion in
Environmental Sustainability, 26, 26-31.
Khari, C., & Sinha, S. (2016). Facilitating workplace spirituality: A study of organizational
values and practices. In Flexible Work Organizations (pp. 89-102). Springer, New
Delhi.
Lozano, R., & von Haartman, R. (2018). Reinforcing the holistic perspective of
sustainability: analysis of the importance of sustainability drivers in
organizations. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management, 25(4), 508-522.
Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2019). Creating shared value. In Managing sustainable
business (pp. 323-346). Springer, Dordrecht.
Reliance Industries Limited. (2018). Making Life Better For Everyone. Retrieved from:
https://www.ril.com/DownloadFiles/SustainiabilityReports/RILs%20Sustainability
%20Report%202017-18.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1QMjt-TXwE4V5A886LH_0ne--ejykg-
jCRzIeS0wVjKUqQW3tUnv-ofvw
Reliance Industries Limited. (2019). Our values and behaviour. Retrieved from:
http://www.riil.in/pdf/code-of-conduct-and-ethics-of-employee.pdf

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Reliance Industries Limited. (2019).About Us. Retrieved from:
https://www.ril.com/OurCompany/About.aspx
Stace, D., (2017). Dexter Dunphy: Pushing the Boundaries of Change. The Palgrave
Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers, pp.1-20.
Tata Motors. (2018). Annual CSR 2017-2018. Retrieved from:
https://www.tatamotors.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/30092038/annual-csr-
report-2018-19.pdf
Tata Motors. (2018). Sustainability report 2017-2018. Retrieved from:
https://www.tatamotors.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/05090438/sustainability-
report-2017-18.pdf
Tata Motors. (2019). About us. Retrieved from: https://www.tatamotors.com/about-us/
Yadava, R. N., & Sinha, B. (2016). Scoring sustainability reports using GRI 2011 guidelines
for assessing environmental, economic, and social dimensions of leading public and
private Indian companies. Journal of business ethics, 138(3), 549-558.