University Report: Comparing Business Sustainability and CSR Practices

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability efforts of two energy companies, Origin Energy and AEP Renewables. It begins with an introduction outlining the report's objectives, which include comparing the companies' CSR approaches and highlighting their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report describes both companies, detailing their operations, employee count, and core business activities within the energy sector. It then delves into the differences in their social reports, focusing on issues such as renewable energy production and customer satisfaction. The analysis covers the companies' commitment to SDGs, particularly affordable and clean energy and sustainable communities, and assesses their sustainability phases. The report reflects on the stated values of both companies and includes insights from group discussions. Finally, it concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of renewable energy in the context of environmental concerns.

Running head: BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND PLANET
Business, Society and Planet
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Description of the two companies...................................................................................................2
Differences in the issues in the social reports..................................................................................3
Description of the Sustainable Development Goals........................................................................5
Sustainability phases of the company..............................................................................................6
Reflections of the stated values.......................................................................................................7
Group discussions on the companies...............................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References List................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The aim of the following report is to describe about the corporate social responsibility
efforts of the two selected companies. The two selected companies in the report are Origin
Energy and AEP Renewables. Some specific issues will be addressed in this paper and the ways
of tackling with these issues will be discussed in the report. The Sustainability Development
Goals of the companies will be highlighted in this paper since the organizations will always look
to improve their sustainability perspectives to ensure a better future for themselves (Nilsson,
Griggs & Visbeck, 2016). The organizations should identify the sustainability phase where they
fit in. This factor will indeed be crucial for them to address their inherent issues and solve them.
This will enable them to take more actions on their improvement. This level of improvement will
be an essential thing for the chosen companies to be considered as growing and going towards a
sustainable future. The social reports of the companies are important to be analyzed by them so
they can present a bright future ahead of the challenges.
Description of the two companies
The first company to be discussed here is the Origin Energy. This is a public company
with its headquarters located at Sydney (Originenergy.com.au. 2019). The social reports of the
companies are crucial for the understanding their achievements and their deficits in the
competitive business environment (Nilsson, Griggs & Visbeck, 2016). Origin Energy is a stock
exchange listed company in Australia that generally operates within the energy sector. The main
work of the company is to provide sufficient supply of energy to all te residents of Australia. The
total number of employees working for the company is around 8000. The CEO of the company is
Frank Calabria (Originenergy.com.au. 2019). The organization was actually founded in the year
2000. Some of the major works being done by the company are exploration and production of

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the natural gas, generation of electricity and retailing energy. They are working very actively and
tirelessly in the arena of renewable energy as well (Brouwer et al., 2014).. Their only target is to
provide better and uninterrupted energy supply to the people of Australia in regular intervals.
The next company to focus upon is the AEP Renewables. The organization is well noted
for the development of the renewable energy (Aep.com. 2019). They strive very hard to provide
the best support to the community of the country. Through their endless efforts, numerous people
have been benefitted largely. They provide their services across several states in the United
States; They offer their services to the different sections of the community like the electric
cooperatives, corporate customers, municipalities and others. As per the records, it has been said
that AEP Renewables owns numerous projects and operates them with around 1080 megawatts
of power (Aep.com. 2019). The company operates with providing the wind and solar energy
assets because these powers will be highly effective in the future. They have a fair amount of
experience in this industry and they are well reputed for their technical and engineering
brilliance.
Differences in the issues in the social reports
Critics have found out through their research work that both these companies have faced
several issues regarding their operations on a regular basis (Ellabban, Abu-Rub & Blaabjerg,
2014). The main worry of both the companies is to make enough production of the renewable
and sustainable energy. This is because they will have to provide the energy resources to their
customers as per their needs. This will require more hard effort from the officials of both the
companies (Nilsson, Griggs & Visbeck, 2016). The main purpose of the organizations is to
provide the renewable energy and power sources to the houses of the customers. This is

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definitely one of the most essential corporate social responsibilities since it will benefit the
customers in a big way (Mwasil et al., 2014).
As per the reports, it has already been found out that Origin Energy has already been
successful in setting up the biggest solar plant in Australia. This will help millions of people
across Australia. The social reports of Origin Energy have revealed the fact that it is working
endlessly to provide the renewable energy sources to the doorsteps of all their customers. Surely,
this is a good step for the society. The establishment of the solar power energies has been done
with the help of the batteries (Mwasil et al., 2014). So, this will not consume the electricity as it
is already becoming very scarce. In the social report of Origin Energy, they have solemnly
promised their customers that their aim is to cut down the rate of emission of greenhouse gases
to half of the present rate (Cabiddu, De Carlo & Piccoli, 2014).
After analyzing the social reports of the AEP Renewables, it can be seen that the
company is trying to implement some different types of renewable power resources for the
betterment of the community (Mwasil et al., 2014). This is acknowledged as their long term goal.
They aim to provide transparent business transactions with their customers so they do not have to
deal with the challenges of regular energy sources. There is a probability that this kind of
business prospects will definitely attract the new customers and they will make business
transactions with them in the future (Owusu & Asumadu-Sarkodie, 2016).
After the analysis of both the companies and comparing them, critics have opined that
both the companies have their aim at providing better quality resources of energy to their
customers. They have offered some products and services to the customers and they are
somewhat similar indeed. The first company is concerned with providing the energy and the

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second one is worried about providing the energy and power to their customers. They follow
different procedures to produce their energy and finally deliver it to their customers (Harmeling
et al., 2017). These social reports are essential for the customers in many ways.
Description of the Sustainable Development Goals
As the social reports have suggested, the main Sustainable Development Goals of the two
companies are a) affordable and clean energy and b) sustainable cities and communities
(Undp.org. 2019). Both the goals can be achieved when the companies will provide sufficient
support to their communities regarding their products and services. They focus on the
satisfaction of the customers in a great deal and they will be able to provide clean energy sources
to the communities through the renewable energy sources (Owusu & Asumadu-Sarkodie, 2016).
They are quite focused on saving the climate of the earth and provide clean energy sources so
that the environment is not damaged (Pansari & Kumar, 2017). AEP Renewables will be very
happy to provide the renewable energy sources to all its customers. The company is also
determined to use various forms of latest technologies so they can make faster improvements in
this scenario (Undp.org. 2019). The use of these latest technologies will indeed be very much
helpful for the customers to get a complete new experience. This will add to the perspectives of
the customer satisfaction as well. Apart from that, AEP Renewables will make proper
interactions with their customers in regular intervals. This will be better for maintain their
reputation as well (Liang, 2016).
Origin Energy will also look to take the proper steps with the well being of their
customers at their central point of focus. They are determined to make sustainable cities and
communities in the areas where they provide their services. This is why they Origin Energy aim

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at supplying the highest amount of renewable energy resources to their customers in the current
business market (Undp.org. 2019). This will surely be beneficial for numerous people within the
customer communities. The saving of power and energy will definitely help the customers in the
future as well. As a part of the CSR reports, both the companies have focused on the saving the
planet through avoiding pollution and use of the renewable sources of energy.
Sustainability phases of the company
Generally, there are four stages of the sustainability for the companies. These four stages
are engaging, accelerating, leading and transforming. All these stages are crucial for the overall
development of the organization (Liang, 2016). As it stands, AEP Renewables can fit into the
phase of leading. They are regarded as one of the pioneering companies to look into this issue
with the biggest focus on the well being of the customers. They focus on the environmental
stewardship and aim at reducing the carbon footprint within the society. Similarly, Origin Energy
is also doing very hard to meet the needs of their customers on a regular basis. Therefore, they
belong to the leading phase in the sustainability as well (Amponsah et al., 2014). This stance of
the company Origin energy will surely help them to overcome all the issues and challenges
within the business environment. Their engagement with the community and putting strength on
better supply chain will definitely yield better results (Jaakkola & Alexander, 2014). The
innovative responses from the company will engage them with the communities even more.
Their purpose is very noble and their efforts will help out both the organizations to flourish in
their own countries.

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Reflections of the stated values
The values of both the companies reflect the fact that they are ready to provide the best
quality renewable energy services and products to their customers. In this era of global pollution,
this step will attract lots of new customers as they are making use of the renewable energy
sources. The values of the company as promised in their mission and vision statements are
aligned with their activities (Amponsah et al., 2014). Therefore, they are trying endlessly to stand
on their promises and make it a successful venture. AEP Renewables Company has already been
successful in building up many solar panels so they can use the solar energy for the coming
future (Hill & Brierley, 2017). This is indeed an admirable thing for the well being of the
customers. It is also very much similar for the origin Energy since they have evidently installed
sources of the renewable energy for taking care of the environment (Jaakkola & Alexander,
2014). This is how these two companies will be able to get their hold in the market in their
respective countries as well. The customers have understood the importance of these renewable
energy sources and this is the best way for them to gain market success.
Group discussions on the companies
The student group had enough discussions on the overall subject of the comparison
between the two companies and their contributions towards the improvement of the environment.
The background of the company and their efforts to become the favorities of the company has
been highlighted in this paper by the student group (Hill & Brierley, 2017). The reasons for
concentration on the renewable energy lies in the fact that conventional energy resources are on
the verge of ending and people need some resources to survive. The safety of the environment
also depends on the renewable energy resources. In this scenario, both the companies Origin
Energy and AEP Renewables have done extremely well and contributed their best efforts here

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indeed (Agnihotri et al., 2016). As a result of the group discussion, it can be said that both the
companies now need to take the help of the social media. Through the use of the social media,
the companies will be able to inform the customers about the positive points of the renewable
energy sources and its usefulness.
Conclusion
On a concluding note, it can be said that the renewable energy resources are considered
as very crucial things for the planet earth. The United nations have already planned for the 17
Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 that must be followed till 2030. The affordable and
clean energy resources are very important for the improvement of the planet earth and the
environment. Both the companies AEP Renewables and Origin Energy have been highly
successful in providing their customers with the services and products based on the renewable
energy. Their dedication to the customers and focus on the well being of the customers is really
very appreciable indeed.

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References List
Aep.com. (2019). AEP Renewables. Retrieved 2 September 2019, from
https://aep.com/about/businesses/aeprenewables
Agnihotri, R., Dingus, R., Hu, M. Y., & Krush, M. T. (2016). Social media: Influencing
customer satisfaction in B2B sales. Industrial Marketing Management, 53, 172-180.
Amponsah, N. Y., Troldborg, M., Kington, B., Aalders, I., & Hough, R. L. (2014). Greenhouse
gas emissions from renewable energy sources: A review of lifecycle
considerations. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 39, 461-475.
Brouwer, A. S., Van Den Broek, M., Seebregts, A., & Faaij, A. (2014). Impacts of large-scale
Intermittent Renewable Energy Sources on electricity systems, and how these can be
modeled. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 33, 443-466.
Cabiddu, F., De Carlo, M., & Piccoli, G. (2014). Social media affordances: Enabling customer
engagement. Annals of Tourism Research, 48, 175-192.
Ellabban, O., Abu-Rub, H., & Blaabjerg, F. (2014). Renewable energy resources: Current status,
future prospects and their enabling technology. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews, 39, 748-764.
Harmeling, C. M., Moffett, J. W., Arnold, M. J., & Carlson, B. D. (2017). Toward a theory of
customer engagement marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(3),
312-335.
Hill, N., & Brierley, J. (2017). How to measure customer satisfaction. Routledge.

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Jaakkola, E., & Alexander, M. (2014). The role of customer engagement behavior in value co-
creation: a service system perspective. Journal of service research, 17(3), 247-261.
Liang, X. (2016). Emerging power quality challenges due to integration of renewable energy
sources. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 53(2), 855-866.
Mwasilu, F., Justo, J. J., Kim, E. K., Do, T. D., & Jung, J. W. (2014). Electric vehicles and smart
grid interaction: A review on vehicle to grid and renewable energy sources
integration. Renewable and sustainable energy reviews, 34, 501-516.
Nilsson, M., Griggs, D., & Visbeck, M. (2016). Policy: map the interactions between Sustainable
Development Goals. Nature News, 534(7607), 320.
Originenergy.com.au. (2019). Electricity providers & gas suppliers. Retrieved 2 September 2019,
from https://www.originenergy.com.au/
Owusu, P. A., & Asumadu-Sarkodie, S. (2016). A review of renewable energy sources,
sustainability issues and climate change mitigation. Cogent Engineering, 3(1), 1167990.
Pansari, A., & Kumar, V. (2017). Customer engagement: the construct, antecedents, and
consequences. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45(3), 294-311.
Undp.org. (2019). Sustainable Development Goals | UNDP. Retrieved 2 September 2019, from
https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html

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