Corporate Social Responsibility Impact Report: ACCT20071

This report, prepared for an accounting course, investigates the multifaceted impacts of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on local communities. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the voluntary nature of CSR and its potential to enhance both societal well-being and corporate goodwill, while also acknowledging its potential negative consequences. The report then delves into a detailed discussion of CSR, exploring its positive effects such as community development, data collection, and fostering relationships between corporations and communities, along with its negative impacts, including the potential for companies to prioritize profit over social good and the challenges of implementing CSR initiatives effectively. The report also evaluates the community-based information disclosed by Woolworths Group and Coles Group Limited, comparing their approaches to CSR reporting and their impact on community perception. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and implications of CSR practices, offering valuable insights into the role of businesses in addressing social issues and contributing to community welfare.

Running head: FOUNDATIONS IN ACCOUNTING
Foundations in Accounting
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Executive Summary
Corporate Social Responsibility is a type of responsibility which is voluntarily taken by the
companies to help the society to eliminate a few social issues and to make the community a
better place to live. This contribution adds value to the society as well as to the company as
the goodwill of the company. CSR can impact society in both positive and negative way. In
this report, both the impacts are discussed in detail and evaluation was also done between
Woolworths Group and Coles to find out about which company has displayed their
community-based information in a better way to the audience.

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Table of Contents
1.1Introduction...........................................................................................................................3
1.2 Discussion............................................................................................................................3
1.2.1 Positive and negative impact of CSR on local communities all over the World..........3
Positive Impacts.................................................................................................................3
Negative Impacts................................................................................................................5
1.2.2 Evaluation of the community-based information of Woolworths Group with
Wesfarmers Limited in Australia...........................................................................................6
Woolworths Group.............................................................................................................6
Wesfarmers Limited...........................................................................................................7
The evaluation....................................................................................................................8
1.3 Conclusion............................................................................................................................9

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1.1 Introduction
Corporate Social Responsibility has become very popular worldwide as it helps the
corporate to be socially accountable to the stakeholders and be responsible for the social
activities they do for to betterment of the society. Few portions of the company profit are
invested in the social work to bring in a massive change in society. However, CSR activities
by the companies can positively as well as negatively impact society. CSR activity is not only
limited to their community only, the companies now can contribute to the communities
outside their country as well to create value in society. Displaying and promoting the CSR
contribution in society has become a worldwide trend to hold a better position in the market
and to enhance the company goodwill. Here the report has detailed discussion regarding the
positive and negative impact of the CSR activities over the society.
1.2 Discussion
1.2.1 Positive and negative impact of CSR on local communities all over the
World
Positive Impacts
CSR is referred to as one of the essential strategies applied by the business
organizations to contribute to the environment by taking responsibility of the society to
impact their activities on the local community. The local community that is the consumers,
employees, communities, stakeholders and communities in the near vicinity are the ones who
get directly affected by the CSR activities of any business organization (Klettner, Clarke &
Boersma, 2014).

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CSR is used for community development. Community development concerns to the
initiatives adopted by the community in partnership with the external organizations to provide
the group of people with specific skills they need to effect the changes into own community.
The business organizations work for community development to eliminate the disadvantages
which are experienced by the community by enabling them to recognize their needs and their
rights. Some positive roles which are adopted by business organizations all around the globe
for Community Development are the following:
1. Helpful for data collection from different areas for the public organization: in the
US, two major ICT firms like Intel and IBM have helped the police departments of
that country to get the information of different highly crime-prone area as security and
hidden cameras were installed into those areas. By this way, both the technology
companies have serves their business objective as well as served for the community
development.
2. Helping the most backward society of the community: in Malaysia,Faiza, who is a
local entrepreneur, has helped the poor of that community in collaboration with a
local TV channel named as Bersamamu of TV3. This TV channel broadcasted the
lifestyle of the poor and their struggle for living daily. This incident has got many
publicity and audience support which triggered other organizations to come forward
for that noble act and increase their involvement in this CSR activity (Idowu, Zu &
Gupta, 2013).
3. Dependency factor between any corporation and community: maintain a close
relation by the corporation with the community, then it will benefit the corporation
within a long-term basis. This long-term relationship will prove to be sustainable
development for the corporation.

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4. CSR will help the environment remain protected from the community: the
companies can smartly process their financial as well as environmental performance
so that both the performances can equally be involved in the CSR activities. This will
improve the growth and social reputation of the company. In Malaysia many MNCs
have come together to contribute for the interest “go green”. Green peace has been
conducted by on a global campaign where many different organizations globally
havehelped there to improve their environment (Wang et al., 2015).
5. Helping the business organization get recognition: the business organization which
already consists of good CSR reputation in the society uses their reputation for
earning the right amount of profit. The employees of that organization show more
trust upon them because of the excellent reputation of CSR and the contribution
towards the betterment of the society and environment. The excellent reputation also
helps the organization to retain talents into their company.
6. Negative consequences can result in positive results: sometimes, the adverse
effects can result in a positive impact. For example: In the UK, when the government
increased the road tax in the UK for more emission from vehicles. This considerably
reduced the number of small cars on the road. It helped the community to eliminate
the tax burden and also the money could be invested for many other productive works
(Janssen, Sen & Bhattacharya, 2015).
Negative Impacts
The central act of CSR on community development has positive as well as a negative
impact. Apart from all the above positive effects of the CSR activities by the business
organization, there are few negative impacts also on the community (Jeremie et al., 2014).
The corporate organization’s primary motive is to earn profits and not to solve the
community problems and satisfy the stakeholders of that organization by showing them the

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CSR reputation. This puts a false pressure upon the business organization to work for the
society even without their willingness. To solve the community problems should be an
obligation for the government and not the corporates. Many corporate bodies are forced to do
CSR activities even without being prepared to do so by society to maintain their reputation.
It has also been noticed that the companies which contribute to CSR activities always
misses the chance to hold the competitive position as they have to add to the social work
from their profit. But the other firms which do not contribute to the CSR activities gain a
competitive advantage on a global basis (Den Hond et al., 2014).
It is noted that many companies are facing loss while they contribute to the CSR of
their society. Many companies are not even equipped well with the technologies which are
needed to contribute to the community. Moreover, it is not the job of corporates to solve the
societal issues and then work on their production (Ali, Frynas & Mahmood,2017).
1.2.2 Evaluation of the community-based information of Woolworths Group with
Coles Group Limited in Australia
Community-based information is the information regarding the contribution of the
organization towards the betterment of their community. The awards and recognitions which
the company has received are displayed in different reports so that the reputation of that
company increases and retains that reputation in the society. The sustainable development of
the business organization increases. Woolworths Group and Coles, both the companies are
well-known for their contribution towards CSR activities and they have contributed their few
portions of profit for the development of the society (Kim, Song & Lee, 2016).
Woolworths Group
The information regarding the community-based information has been gathered from
the web page of the organization (Parkinson, 2018). Woolworths Group has displayed what

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kind of support and contribution they have done for their community and environment. The
organization has distributed free fruits for the poor kids, they have initiated for Earn and
Learn, S.T.A.N.D. activities, etc in collaboration with their food rescue partners like
OzHarvest and the Foodbank. This organization also helps its customers to contribute to the
charitable organizations directly. Many other countries like New Zealand and Australian
communities consist of the Woolworths business there which allows the company to engage
with their customers and suppliers very well so and maintain a good relation with them.
The Group has set their target for 2020 as well to promote their social activities which
have led to a positive impact on the environmental health, economic development and
emergency relief. Their official webpage also shows that they receive many requests form the
society for their help (Rexhepi, Kurtishi & Bexheti, 2013).
However, they also have stated that it is not possible to support and address every
request they get. There are many organizations which are not allowed to register for getting
their help like the unregistered organizations and charities. All the registered organizations
must have an Australian Business Number (ABN), and the registered charities must have
Deductible Gift Receipt (DGR) status along with authorized licensed and permitted or
allowed for charitable fundraising activities in the States/Territories where the charities are
operated. The Group also does not fund the political campaigns and their businesses. The
year-end deficits are also not entertained here. The Group also does not sponsor any of their
staffs or individuals. Any project which does not add value to the society is also not funded
by the Group. Even the conferences, exhibitions and awards which are related to the business
are also not sponsored by the Woolworths Group (Harjoto, Laksmana & Lee, 2015).

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Coles Group Limited
Coles is one of the major ASX Company who deals with retailing and whose CSR
activities are also famous in society, and the people have trusted over them. Their reputation
speaks a lot about their contribution to the society. Their official webpage also has a section
which is related to their objective for making their community healthy and all their past
performance which has gained a lot of attention worldwide (Colesgroup.com.au., 2020).
They have worked to create value to the society with their contribution and their
suppliers also have a considerable contribution towards their Corporate Social Responsibility.
Coles are currently in partnership with National Community and does charity by helping
them financially, raising funds for them, donating foods and also relieving people from
disasters. Coles is also in partner with the Local community where they support the local
schools, groups, charities and clubs by raising funds for them, raffles and other helping
activities. They are also supporting the health community for the wellbeing of the society in
which they operate through their stores and partnerships (Coles.com.au., 2020).
Coles has set their objective for the year to contribute to a healthy community. Coles has set
their objective for fulfilling the work environment with safe areas and workable conditions.
Coles are willingly taking part in the programs related to supporting the community. Their
past performance regarding the CSR activities is summarized into one page where anyone
can access (Story& Neves, 2015).
The evaluation
The community-based information of Woolworths includes a lot more information
about their contribution towards the community than the information displayed by Coles
Group Limited. The impact of Woolworths on the community can be measured by the
amount of trust the stakeholders are still showing for them as there market capital is much

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high however the Coles Group Limited has lesser market capital currently which shows that
their impact on the community is much less in compared to Woolworths. The positive impact
of both the companies on the community is that the health of the community is improving as
the responsibility for them towards the society is increasing. Whereas the negative impact of
them on the community was also found when the customers complained about the
degradation of the quality of their product and services due their more involvement in the
CSR activities.
1.3 Conclusion
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that companies have to contribute to
the CSR activities so that it positively impacts society. CSR activities by the companies help
the society to deal with some issues and to retain the relationship with the community people,
stakeholders and suppliers of the company. CSR is a very popular activity which is initiated
by every company globally to get a good reputation and enhance its goodwill in the market.
Contributing a small portion of the profit by the companies can solve many problems of the
society. However, it has been noted that few of the companies are forced to contribute even
when they are not capable of providing due to the pressure of society and the market forces.
There are positive as well as negative of the CSR activities over the society. When considered
the displayed community-based information of Woolworths with Coles Group Limited, it was
evaluated that both the companies have contributed more or less equally to the community
and their awards and recognitions are displayed. However, Woolworth entered the retail
market way before Coles entered the retailing market which makes it a benefit for
Woolworths to earn trust form the society by initiating their CSR activities first. The positive
and negative impact of both the companies on community is also stated.

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