Business Communication Report: Sustainability, CSR, and Strategies

This report delves into the foundations of business communication, focusing on sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR). It explores sustainable approaches to business strategy, highlighting various examples from companies like Pepsi, Nike, and Unilever, and identifies gaps in implementation. The report offers recommendations for developing effective sustainability strategies, including aligning strategies with sustainability goals, ensuring compliance, and fostering transparency. It further examines CSR approaches by different types of businesses, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and corporate entities, providing real-world examples of how these organizations integrate CSR into their operations. The report emphasizes the importance of CSR in contributing to society and the environment, and it stresses the significance of transparency and open communication in achieving business objectives. The report is a valuable resource for students studying business development, providing insights into sustainable practices and the role of CSR in achieving long-term success.

Foundations of
Business
Communication

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Main body..................................................................................................................................3
Part 1..........................................................................................................................................3
Sustainable approach to business strategy.............................................................................3
Various examples of strategies for sustainability...................................................................4
Recommendation for development of strategy......................................................................5
CSR approaches by different types of businesses......................................................................6
Corporate social responsibility...............................................................................................6
Corporate social responsibility by micro businesses.............................................................6
Corporate social responsibility by SME................................................................................7
Corporate social responsibility by corporate businesses........................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
Part 2........................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................13

Introduction
In order for a business to be successful it is necessary that all the rules of business and
responsibilities which are given to them are successfully managed by them. Sustainability in
business refers to creating a positive image in the market and avoiding all the negative effects
on environment so that the organisation can stay in market for a longer period of time.
Sustainability helps a business successfully in longer period of time in order to develop the
brand image and also earn higher profits (Kaplan and Kinderman, 2020). Corporate social
responsibility refers to voluntary process that the business goes through in order to support
the society and also reduce the harm they are causing to environment. Every business has the
responsibility to serve their society successfully. The following report consists of various
examples which depict how approaches are used by SMEs, micro and corporate organisations
in order to follow social responsibility. Along with this are reflective essay related to
employability skill is also mentioned in the report.
Main body
Part 1
Sustainable approach to business strategy
In present era ait can be seen that there are a number of different approaches which
are used by businesses in order to develop their brand image and also sustain in the market
for a longer period of time. Different strategies are helping businesses are to make sure that
they are competitive in market and they are also achieving profitability for long run. There
are various researches that have concluded that there are 62% of employees within an
organisation which are working in order to develop sustainable strategies. In order to achieve
goodwill in the market as well business need to follow different approaches for sustainability
(Casais and Sousa, 2019). The sustainable approaches that are adopted by any business are
considered to be a combination of economic, environmental and social aims that the business
has created for them. The stakeholders of company are also using these strategies to make
sure that they are achieving all their long term benefits. It is necessary that businesses these
days are focusing upon long term benefits rather than only focusing on the short term

benefits. Long term benefits will help gain competitive advantage and also sustain for a
longer period of time.
Various examples of strategies for sustainability
There are a number of different organisations that are successfully following the concept
of sustainability in order to grow and be successful. Some of such organisation and steps
taken by them are mentioned below:
 Pepsi and Coca-Cola two of the major players which are dealing in beverages. They
are targeting upon voters towards ship in order to make sure that water replenishment
is motivated.
 Nike and Adidas as sports companies which are focusing upon sustainable
development. Nike is successfully reducing the waste along with carbon footprint they
are living in the environment. Adidas is reducing the use of plastic in their products
and also focusing upon a supply chain that is greener.
 Unilever and Nestlé are big players in retail industry. Both of these organisations are
working on reducing their carbon footprint. Nestle is also working on providing
various organic products within the market in order to make sure that they are
providing better services in market. These products are also helping in saving
different resources present in nature.
 There are a number of companies in financial sector as well that are helping
businesses to do good for society. They are helping local communities in order to
enhance their standard of living. They are helping communities to retain the culture
and enhance their business opportunities as well.
 A number of different automobile companies are also working in order to reduce the
pollutants they are releasing in the environment. Toyota and BMW are working on
starting the trend of electronic cars through which they can reduce their carbon
footprint and work towards sustainable development of the business.
The above mentioned companies are successfully showcasing various ways in which
strategies are successfully created in order to deal with different sustainability approaches.
The organisations are creating transparency in order to motivate employees and society
which helps them in generating brand value as well.
When organisations are working on various approaches for developing sustainability
there are different gaps they need to focus upon. These gaps are helpful in development of
these strategies. Some of such gaps are mentioned below:

The complaints competitive advantage gap- A number of companies are working upon
approaches to make sure that they are competitive in the market. It is necessary that every
company understands the importance of sustainability and sustainable approaches for their
long term benefits (Ramesh and et. al., 2019). While following various sustainability
approaches businesses can easily attain competitive advantage that is another way to achieve
long term growth and benefits.
Knowing and doing gap- There are a number of studies that have revealed that 90% of the
executives are one of the important factors within an organisation. It is often seen that
employees are not always included in business when decisions regarding strategies are taken.
There are only 25% of employees who have successfully reported about sustainability within
an organisation. Business is not required to treat sustainability as a concept but they are
required to use it as a way to gain knowledge. It will also help employees to understand its
importance and gain benefits from it.
Recommendation for development of strategy
It is required by businesses to make sure that they are developing different strategies
for sustainability within the market. There are a number of ways in which a business can
develop the strategies so that they can successfully sustain and develop within the market.
Some of such ways are mentioned below:
Alignment of strategies and sustainability: It is necessary that all the strategies that are
undertaken in a business are successfully aligned with sustainable development of
organisation. If there is a difference between strategies and sustainability management within
a business the business cannot developed. Organisations are required to make sure that
various efforts are taken to develop and sustain within the market for a longer period of time.
Unilever is focusing on maximising the resources and making sure that the waste
management of the organisation is effective enough to deal with sustainability.
Compliance with competitive advantage: Gaining competitive advantage is also important
for business that will help them to grow and focus upon the important factors of the business
(Claver‐Cortés and et. al., 2020). Compliance in a business is including different laws such as
labour laws, reducing pollution, waste management and so on. The stakeholders of the
organisation are required to make sure that competitive advantages provided to business by
fulfilling all the required compliance to a business.
Reactive to proactive: In order to be successful organisations are required to make sure that
they are using and focusing upon various sustainability approaches that is available to them.

There are a number of organisations which are facing a number of challenges and making
sure that they are using sustainable approaches to come out of these problems. Example of
Nike can be taken which is involved in abusive labour management in Indonesia. The
organisation have successfully published their labour management policies which is not
transparent to public in order to make sure that they can improve the working conditions in
their factories.
Quantifying business: It is necessary for companies to make sure that they are calculating all
the returns that is available to them in quantifiable terms. This will help the organisation to
earn more profits and also stay competitive in the organisation. The organisation needs to
make sure that they are focusing upon competitive advantage which can be quantified into
sustainability for the organisation.
Transparency in business: for a business to be successful it is required to make sure that
transparency is maintained within the organisation. The employees of the organisation and
society is required to be clearly informed about various steps that organisation is taking and
various approaches it is following to do good for the society (Serra-Cantallops and et. al.,
2018). Open communication will help stakeholders to deliver all the goals and objectives of
the organisation in stipulated time period.
CSR approaches by different types of businesses
Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility refers to management of different concepts through
which business is providing their services to the society and environment in which they are
running their business. The organisation or also taking care of the employees within the
organisation in order to make sure that a good working condition is provided to them. It is
necessary for businesses to focus upon various issues such as environmental conservation,
climatic changes, reducing the wastage and use of resources in environment. Organisations
are also taking help from a number of different NGOs in order to make sure that they can
contribute towards the society they are running their business in. There are a number of
different types of countries which have different corporate social responsibility is as follows:
Corporate social responsibility by micro businesses
Micro businesses refers to all those businesses which have annual revenue as well as
asset value of less than $250,000 per year. Number of employees within this organisation is

only five and the owner is also included within the five employees (Vashchenko, 2017).
There are a number of corporate social responsibility is followed by these businesses as well
in order to make sure that they are achieving their goals and objectives and also staying in the
market for a longer period of time. As any other business these businesses make sure that
they are doing good for the society along with making sure that they are earning profit for
themselves within the market. Example of two brothers Rupert and Anthony Smith can be
taken who are working on Proviz sports. The organisation is successfully providing different
range of cycles and has now opened warehouses throughout United States. They are
delivering goods within America as well as Canada. The organisation was founded in 2008.
At the initial time the organisation only had five different types of cycles and they are
successfully supporting a number of different NGOs in order to make sure that they can
provide benefit to the society. They have partnership with World bicycle relief and they are
providing bicycle to people in different countries through this. The NGO was set up in
Chicago and is now focusing on education as well as economic development of people within
the world. They’re also taking help from various customers and making sure that customers
are denoting some of the amount towards this NGO as well their buying new product from
the organisation. Till date they have donated a number of different cycles free of cost to
needy people throughout the world. In this way the organisation is raising awareness about
corporate social responsibility and also fulfilling their responsibility towards the society.
Corporate social responsibility by SME
SME are those businesses which are small and medium sized enterprises and that
have only a number of limited employees. The turnover for SME in United Kingdom is
supposed to be less than £25 million and the number of employees will be less than 250.
There are a number of different assets provided for the organisation which should not be
more than £12.5 million. Small and medium organisations are also following corporate social
responsibility in order to make sure that they are staying in business (Manuel and Herron,
2020). When taking Basingstoke skip hire and so than waste management limited into context
the organisation is providing various waste management services to domestic as well as
commercial customers in England since 1982. The company is successfully helping to save
the environment from various pollutants of the waste and disposable that is thrown in
environment. The company is also developing different technologies in order to recycle the
waste so that the waste can be used again and less waste is disposed of to landfills. It is
necessary to make sure that a balance between environment and the waste is maintained by

the organisation. The company is successfully working in order to make sure that the
strategies and policies along with services provided by them help in keeping the environment
clean.
Corporate social responsibility by corporate businesses
There a number of huge businesses which are often considered as a separate legal
entity and they are also following corporate social responsibility in order to stay in the
market. There are different board of directors were taking decisions related to the concept of
corporate social responsibility. When taking Virgin Atlantic into context the social
responsibility that are followed by the British airline is benefiting them in long run. The
organisation is continuously checking on the carbon and fuel emission they are leading in the
environment. They need to make sure that they are fulfilling all the standards and protocols of
greenhouse gas protocol corporate standards (Rasche and et. al.,2017). Are also successfully
collaborating with a number of different suppliers in order to make sure that they can
improve the environmental conditions within the areas they are working. Along with this
there also ensuring the welfare of people as well as destination in which they are providing
their services. The company have till now invested one lakh dollar in one of the world’s
finest dolphin’s sanctuary. The company is also providing a good working condition to all the
employees within the organisation so that they can do good for employers as well as society
for a longer period of time. This has helped Virgin Atlantic to develop good brand image in
the market.
These are various ways which are used by different organisations in order to make
sure that they are serving the society along with completing their goals and objectives. There
are different small and micro businesses that are also taking help from non-governmental
organisation bodies in order to fulfil the requirement of corporate social responsibility. It is
necessary for businesses to follow all these approaches so that they can sustain in the market
for a longer period of time and also develop a good brand image. When a business is taking
care of environment and the consumers the brand image of business is enhanced
automatically. Business is considered to be socially responsible and even the employees of
the organisation are working towards the good of the society (Bijlmakers, 2018). It is also
one of the great way that will help the organisation to make sure that employees are staying
within the organisation for a longer period of time and whenever there is any vacancy within
the organisation there are a number of skilled employees available in the market for the
business.

Conclusion
The help of the following report it can be clearly concluded that it is necessary for an
organisation to follow sustainability methods in order to make sure that they are achieving all
their goals and objectives irrespective of their size. Strategies are helping organisation to gain
competitive advantage in business as well. There are a number of gaps that are faced by
business organisations which are filled by sustainable approach. Also various
recommendations are provided in order to form different strategies to manage these
approaches. Different sizes of organisation can fulfil their corporate social responsibility it
respective of their size and also attain benefit by serving the society successfully. It will help
your organisation to create a good brand image in the market along with which they can also
enhance their profitability level.

Part 2
Employability skills refer to all those skills that are required by individual in order to
make sure that they are successfully working at any organisation. These skills are
successfully helping individuals to make sure that their work is more effective and they can
easily achieve all their goals and objectives within the organisation. It is necessary for
individuals to learn about different skills that will successfully help them in the workplace to
stay competitive as compare to other employees. There are a number of skills that person
lacks in while they are working in an organisation. It is required by people to make sure that
they have knowledge about various software such as excel, Microsoft Word, communication,
numeracy, accuracy, problem-solving skills, teamwork and so on. Along with this all other
basic skills such as interpersonal skills are required by individuals. While going through this
report I have successfully analysed that there are a number of skills which I need to work
upon. Along with this I also have some of the strengths which will successfully help me to
stay employed a different organisations. Analytical and statistical skills are some of the
numerical ability that I will require in order to make sure that I am earning profit for the
organisation. Along with this it is also necessary to make sure that my presentation skills are
well developed enough which will help me in showcasing my analyses to people within the
organisation. I have analyse that I need practice for learning the skills as my numerical ability
skill is not that good. There are a number of research projects, budget allocation and other
related activities that require numeracy skills. It is necessary for me to make sure that I am
well trained and developed enough to deal with all these activities. My calculations are also
required in order to make sure that I am successfully working and providing proper response
to any question that is faced by me. Problem-solving skills another major skill required by an
employee in the organisation. I have realised that with experience I can successfully evolve
my problem solving skills. Without facing any problem I cannot generate the skill. While
developing problem-solving skills I have realised that I need to make sure that I understand
the strengths and weaknesses of all the alternatives available. After critical analysis of all the
alternatives available decisions are taken by employee. Along with this communication skill
is one of the most important interpersonal skills that will successfully help me to work in
groups and teams. It was also required to communicate with suppliers and consumers on a
regular period of time while working in an organisation. The communication skill will
involve both verbal and non-verbal skills. The written Communication will also be involved

in communication skills for employability skill. When a person is able to communicate
properly they can easily attain good image in the organisation as well as in the mind of others
within the organisation. I feel that when a person is not able to communicate successfully
they often lack in showing their proper capability within an organisation. I have also realise
that Microsoft Office is a great tool that can help an employee to develop. There are a number
of options available to employees through which they can make their work easy. Apart from
this I have analysed that working in a team is necessary while working in an organisation.
Often organisation is divided into various teams and all the team members are required to
complete a given task successfully. It is necessary for me to make sure that I am able to
cooperate and also coordinate with all other team members so that the goals and objectives of
the team can be successfully fulfilled. It is necessary for an employee to make sure that they
are able to communicate within the team and also understand the qualities and strengths of
each team member in order to make sure that the work division between team is carried out
successfully. It is necessary for individuals to make sure that they are dedicated to words the
team and do not focus upon individual performance. Team member is always focusing upon
in team performance rather than focusing upon individual performance. There are a number
of problems and hurdles that can be faced by a team and it is required to be solved by all the
team members together. Critical understanding is another skill required by employer within
an organisation. It is often seen that there are a number of times when different situations
arise within an organisation and the employees are required to understand the situation. It is
necessary for them to make sure that they are eliminating all the issues and complex situation
within the given time period and improving the productivity of the organisation. This will
successfully help the organisation to earn more profits while the employees can do good for
the organisation. There are a number of management functions such as time management,
team management and so on that are required for an employee. I have analyse that I need to
work upon time management in order to make sure that I am successfully completing all my
task in given time period while working in an organisation. In order to complete the task on
time it is required by me to create a schedule and also provide necessary time required for
each task. You and all these skills will successfully help me to enhance my growth and also
my career objective can be easily achieved by me. It is often seen that working in a reputed
organisation requires a number of skills by employees. An employee is required to work on
their skills continuously in order to make sure that they are bringing profits for the
organisation. When employees bringing profit for the organisation and has all the skills
required they can also attain a number of perquisites from the organisation such as

promotion, benefits, incentives and so on. I have analyse that I need to work upon different
tools and also number of skills in order to make sure that I am dealing with all the problems
in corporate world while I am employed within a good organisation.