Sustainability Assessment: Timberwell Constructions

This report assesses the sustainability factors and impacts of Timberwell Constructions, a building industry that focuses on uptown houses in the Stanwell Council district. The report covers economic, environmental, and social sustainability features, including economic impacts of climate change, incidents of corruption, anti-competitive behavior, energy consumption, impacts on biodiversity, non-compliance with environmental laws, employee turnover, incidents of discrimination, and operations with the local community.

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 1
SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT
By Name
Name of Class
Professor
The Name of University
City and State of University Location
The Date

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 2
SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT
Introduction
Sustainability is the ability of a system to use specific supplies and remain productive
without its depletion. Sustainability assessment on the other hand, has been defined as an
instrument that can be used by strategy makers and resolution makers to create a place of
sustainability for all people (Kuhlman and Farrington, 2010. pp.3436-3448.). Furthermore, the
World Commission describes sustainability development as the capability to sustain the needs of
the current people without wiping out the capability to sustain the wants of the age band to come
(GRI standards, 2016). In this report we shall assess the sustainability factors and impacts of the
organizations Timberwell Constructions.
Timberwell Constructions is a building industry that compacts with the building of
uptown houses in the Stanwell Council district. We are committed to sustainability development
where we are located. As Grigg 2013 states, factors like biodiversity, forests, atmospheres,
waterways, oceans and biogeochemical cycles are vital factors that can make global market
thrive therefore we have found it necessary to have this report on these factors. The report will
look into economic, environmental and social sustainability features. In environmental
sustainability we will deal with disclosure 201-2, 205-3 and 206-1 where we focus on economic
impacts due to weather variations, occurrences of corruptions and anti-competitive, anti-faith and
dominant practices. We also look at environment sustainability where we look at 302-1, 304-2
and 307-1 disclosures where we major on impacts on environment due to energy utilization,
effects on diversity and non-acquiescence with environment laws. Lastly, we look at social
sustainability issues such as employee matters, incidents of discrimination and operations with
the local community.

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 3
Economic withstandability
Disclosure 201-2
Financial implications and other risks and opportunities due to climate change
Weather variations has been shown to affect the financial outcome of an institution or a
company. A paper done by Marsh and McLennan insights on “Climate Change: Managing a
New Financial Risk” shows how various organizations can measure their financial risks in
relation with climatic change (Wyman, 2019). The effect of climate change normally brings a
change on the global economy and this impact will be seen on the balance sheet and banks. The
influence on banks and the balance sheet is either normally a risk or an opportunity. Timberwell
company has been functioning with the Council in Stanwell in order to conform with the
recommended alterations on its Local Environment Plan. The council has projected to alter the
LEP in relation to climate change and bushfire predisposed areas. This means that whatever area
in Stanwell district that is going to be amended to be a bushfire zone close to Timberwell
constructions will impact the company’s balance sheet. Timberwell Construction has a venture in
the area that the Council has zoned it as a bushfire area. This means that the company will incur
more charges because they will be expected to use fire resistant houses within that area. This
money would amount to $4 million but it is conversing with the Council in order to spend $50,
000 which is a better amount for them to comply with the standard set.
Disclosure 205-3

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 4
Confirmed incidents of corruption and action taken
Occurrences of sleaze in companies are sometimes reported and when these instances
come up any good company or person always takes action. The action taken may condone or fail
to condone the particular company that has been involved in corruption. Bribery is one form of
corruption that a company can involve itself with (Jimenez and Pulos, 2012). The acts of bribery
in a company exposes it to many risks. The people involved face fines, imprisonment and their
name may be tainted that they may never be able to get into business again (Tavits, 2010.
pp.1257-1279). There was a reported case of corruption in Timberwell Constructions after an
employee was fired and went to report to the state corruption commission. Two trading
associates and five staffs were found guilty of dishonesty. This is after they offered a bribe to
council officers so that they may be in charge of particular projects. As they awaited their
persecution, they were suspended from the company and without their wages. The company also
terminated its relations with the two business partners.
Corruption when brought to light always brings with it negative impacts like what
happened to the employees and the two partners (Dreyer, Hauschild and Schierbeck, 2010.
Pp .247-259.). Corruption like in the case of the company can lead to stakeholders pulling back
from the company. As the 7 who were charged with corruption were waiting for persecution, the
company was brought into publicity but not from a good side. This paints a bad picture for the
company (Wrage, 2017).
Disclosure 206-1
Legal actions for anti-competitive behavior, anti-trust, and monopoly practices.

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 5
Timberwell Constructions found itself in a series of court proceedings concerning anti-
competitive behaviors that it was involved in. Allegations claimed that the company abused
marketplace power and indulged itself in dealings when it found out that an assembly of resident
constructors were preparing to launch a competitive company similar to Timberwell. To make
sure that these group of builds never picks up, Timberwell Construction executive threatened the
suppliers and contractors in the area of building to associate themselves with the upcoming
company otherwise they would not be allowed to close deals with Timberwell Construction
company. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) where the employee
reported the claims, reported that the company was involved in anti-competition practices in
order to lessen competition for the company. The lawsuit was set to be listened to in the coming
months.
Anti- competitive behaviors within a company in a particular area leads to strained
development in that specific area. Without competition there will be no development in the area.
Monopoly practices within the industry normally leads to catastrophic impacts on the economy
which impacts negatively on sustainability development (Qaqaya and Lipimile, 2008. pp.73-75).
Governments have put into place policies that companies are supposed to oblige to so that anti-
competitive behavior and monopoly practices can reduce. One of the ways it has done that is
preventing mergers of companies that would cause monopoly in the market (International Trade
Centre, 2012). Such allegations would prevent people from trusting Timberwell and therefore
translate to economic lose which would affect economic sustainability.
Environmental withstandability
Disclosure 302-1

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 6
Energy consumption within the organization
Energy affects the environmental state of a particular area. If not taken care of then there
will be disturbing changes to the environment. The industry is an energy competent company
which uses one gigajoule in fuel utilization of resources than cannot be renewed, 0.5 gigajoules
in fuel utilization from resources that can be renewed and 2 gigajoules in electricity utilization.
The calculations instruments used to get the figures were provided for by Australian Department
of Industry and Science. The sum fuel utilization in the company translated to 3.5 gigajoules.
The company looks forward to enhance positive impacts of energy on the environment and has
been working towards the same. The company is committed to getting 50% of its energy from
renewable sources in the coming three years. This would translate to a cleaner environment.
Non-renewable sources of energy are more affordable to acquire but are very harmful to the
environment (Society, 2019). This is why the company uses less of it compared to the other
sources. Burning of non-renewable sources of fuel causes an imbalance in the amount of carbon-
dioxide on the earth surface which is important for the earth (Society, 2019).
Disclosure 304-2
Significant impacts of activities, products and services on biodiversity
The industry was charged $200,000 for dissipating an ecological habitat of plants that
was home to important fauna and flora attributes. These are endangered plant species that were
to be kept safe according to the Department of Environment and Energy. This costed the industry
not less than $440, 000 to realize a restoration plan on the same. This means that the situation
could be reversed.

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 7
An environmental effect evaluation done on one of Timberwell’s project construction
sites in Otford Park showed that 60% of the location was populated with an erratic species of
frog named the wallum sedge frog. In the long run, the evaluation showed that the frogs would
reduce with the development of the building. Thus, the industry has been at work with Stanwell
Council and other environs assemblies in order to conserve the frogs and still continue with the
project.
Being able to maintain a good biodiversity face would give the company business
advantage, appeal to environmentally friendly customers whose numbers has been increasing
daily and will have lowered-risk of non-acquiescence (Huang, 2015).
Disclosure 307-1
Non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations
The industry has been working with the local authority in order to guarantee that
environment is well managed according to the standards of Branch of Energy and Environment.
This department carried out the investigation on the company because of a complaint that was
logged by an ex-employee. It was found that the company was non-compliant with the
environmental regulations and had dissipated coastal grasslands of 0.45 hectares and got a fine of
$2000. To correct this non-compliance, the company was informed to rehabilitate the area using
not less than $440, 000.
The Environmental Protection Act 1997 is one of the laws that safeguards the
environment from pollution and its impacts. A company is expected to comply with such a law
that guards the environment from populace either to the land, air or water (ACT Government,
2019). Failure to adhere to these by corporations’ leads to accountability. As Hon. Justice Brian J

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 8
Preston (2011) reports, executives of a corporation should be held accountable for non-
compliance of a company to environmental laws. This is because they are the ones who lead the
company in different ways.
Social withstandability
Disclosure 401-1
New employee hires and employee turnover
The industry has taken the classical theory approach for management of the employees.
The employees’ wages have been increased and a day off monthly has been created for them.
These new factors motivate the employees to work more harder and retain them in the company
(Alquraini, 2016).
The high rate of employee turnover has sent a signal that the employees are not satisfied.
That is why the company has tried to make the current employees and those that are just joining
to stay by increasing their wages and giving them off days once in a month.
The company had an initial number of 58 male staff. But 17 absconded the industry to
begin something pf theirs or join another company. In connection to this, 12 more employees
were added to the list. All the employees ranged from 30 to 50 years with the one staff who had
resigned having been above 50 years.
Disclosure 406-1
Incidents of discrimination and corrective actions taken

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 9
One case of bigotry was reported. The staff who quit submitted to the Fair Work
Commission a case of inequality against the company. The employee who was above 50 years
resigned due to mockery of his age from his other colleagues. The employee was paid $4, 400 by
the company for the harassment he got from his colleagues. This amount costed the company.
The company had to review its anti-discriminatory strategy and educate its staff on the same. The
company has employed only the male gender and most of them are not young people.
Productivity is easily affected by the rate of number of employees leaving a company.
The company shall continue to conduct frequent exercises of finding out if any other
discriminatory case is taking place and deal with it as required. If discriminatory cases are not
handled well, then the company will be seen as socially irresponsible and therefore may lose a
lot in the process. Due to this people may choose not to be employed in the company which will
affect the sustainability development of the place.
Disclosure 413-1
Operations with local community engagement, impact assessments, and development
programs
The industry has gone into substantial lengths to engage the resident communities,
perform effect evaluations and devise social elaboration programs on all proposed residential
developments. It has carried out environmental assessments, meeting with the local people, and
started resident community progress program founded on the need of good and affordable houses
in the area. Which has proved to be good to the company (Murphy, 2018)
Conclusion

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 10
Timberwell Construction company is committed to a sustainability development. It is
doing all it can to meet all the standards for a sustainable developed area in addition to what it
has already achieved. To do this, the company is looking forward to employ lady staff to
accommodate both gender and are also working towards providing affordable good houses to
people in the area. This report is important to both stake holders and the customers, as Rogers,
Jalal and Boyd, (2012) state sustainability reports are vital to the verdict makers and the strategy
team in order to make the company a better one.

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 11
References
Alquraini, S. (2016). 4 Management Approaches - Wise Life. [online] Wise Life. Available at:
http://wiselifemag.com/blog/4-management-approaches/ [Accessed 6 Jun. 2019].
ACT Government (2019). Legislation, policies and guidelines - Environment, Planning and
Sustainable Development Directorate - Environment. [online] Environment.act.gov.au.
Available at: https://www.environment.act.gov.au/environment/legislation_and_policies
[Accessed 6 Jun. 2019].
Dreyer, L.C., Hauschild, M.Z. and Schierbeck, J., 2010. Characterization of social impacts in
LCA. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 15(3), pp.247-259.
GRI standards (2016). CONSOLIDATED SET OF GRI SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
STANDARDS 2016. [online] www.globalreporting.org. Available at:
http://www.ekvilib.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/GRI-standardi-2016.pdf [Accessed 5
Jun. 2019].
Griggs, D., Stafford-Smith, M., Gaffney, O., Rockström, J., Öhman, M.C., Shyamsundar, P.,
Steffen, W., Glaser, G., Kanie, N. and Noble, I., 2013. Policy: Sustainable development
goals for people and planet. Nature, 495(7441), p.305.

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 12
Huang, M. (2015). Supply Chain and its Environmental Impact. [online] More Than Shipping.
Available at: https://www.morethanshipping.com/supply-chain-and-its-environmental-
impact/ [Accessed 6 Jun. 2019].
International Trade Centre (2012). Combating Anti-Competitive Practices. [eBook] Geneva:
International trade center, pp.3-5. Available at: http://www.intracen.org/combating-
anticompetitive-practice/ [Accessed 5 Jun. 2019].
Jimenez, G. and Pulos, E. (2012). 10. Corruption in International Business. [online]
Milnepublishing.geneseo.edu. Available at: https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/good-
corporation-bad-corporation/chapter/10-corruption-in-international-business/ [Accessed 5
Jun. 2019].
Kuhlman, T. and Farrington, J., 2010. What is sustainability? Sustainability, 2(11), pp.3436-
3448.
Murphy, C. (2018). Why is social responsibility important to a business?. [online] Investopedia.
Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/041015/why-social-
responsibility-important-business.asp [Accessed 6 Jun. 2019].
Preston, H. (2011). Enforcement of environmental and planning laws in New South Wales.
[eBook] Brisbane: the law and sustainability symposium, pp.4-6. Available at:
http://lec.justice.nsw.gov.au [Accessed 6 Jun. 2019].
Qaqaya, H. and Lipimile, G. (2008). The effects of anti-competitive business practices on
developing countries and their development prospects. The United Nations, pp.73-75.

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 13
Rogers, P.P., Jalal, K.F. and Boyd, J.A., 2012. An introduction to sustainable development.
Routledge.
Society, N. (2019). non-renewable energy. [online] National Geographic Society. Available at:
https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/non-renewable-energy/ [Accessed 6
Jun. 2019].
Tavits, M., 2010. Why do people engage in corruption? The case of Estonia. Social
Forces, 88(3), pp.1257-1279.
Wrage, A. (2017). Bribery Is Bad... For Business. [online] Forbes.com. Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexandrawrage/2017/01/25/bribery-is-bad-for-business/
#7fbbd2364a42 [Accessed 5 Jun. 2019].
Wyman, O. (2019). Climate risk and the financial impact. [online] Mmc.com. Available at:
http://www.mmc.com/insights/publications/2019/feb/climate-risk-and-the-financial-
impact.html [Accessed 5 Jun. 2019].

SUSTAINABILITY AND GOVERNANCE ETHICS 14