Business, Society and the Planet: Business Values Assessment Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the business values and social responsibility initiatives of two major retail companies: Coles and IKEA. The report begins by highlighting the differences in their approaches, considering factors such as industry and country of operation. It examines the range and depth of issues addressed in their sustainability reports, using the Sustainability Phase Model to contextualize their progress. The report then assesses the quality of their social accounting practices, evaluating how effectively they report on their social and environmental impacts. Furthermore, it explores how these reports reflect the companies' core values and discusses insights gained from group discussions. The report concludes by emphasizing that while both companies demonstrate a commitment to corporate social responsibility, their strategies and priorities are shaped by their unique business contexts and operational environments.

Running head: ASSIGNMENT 2, PART A
ASSIGNMENT 2, PART A

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Table of contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Explanation of the differences that are evident between the two companies in terms of the range
of issues dealt with in the reports and the depth of coverage on specific issues.............................3
Explaining the extent to which these differences be explained by the country or industry
differences........................................................................................................................................6
Assessing the apparent quality of the social accounting approach utilized by each company
according..........................................................................................................................................8
Discussing the extent to which the social reports reflect the values of your selected companies...9
Reflecting on groups’ discussions of these companies....................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Social values and corporate responsibility are evident factors of the firm's operation
which they have to focus on in order to benefit the society and environment from there
operational activities. The current assessment is based on the description of these social, cultural
and environmental values which companies like Coles and Ikea have while operating in a
market.
Coles is a retail supermarket company based in Australia the firm is a supermarket giant
acquiring 30% of the market share within the supermarket industry of Australia it is subsidiary of
Wesfarmers. On the other hand IKEA is a retail firm headquartered in Netherlands it is operating
in 424 locations which makes its globally operating company.
Explanation of the differences that are evident between the two companies in
terms of the range of issues dealt with in the reports and the depth of coverage
on specific issues
As both the companies operate in different industry and vary in organizational size there
is a big difference between the two companies and in the range of issue which both the
companies deal with. The following can be explained by the help of Sustainability phase model.
The figure of sustainability phase model is given below

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Figure 1: Sustainability Phase model
(Source: Crane, Matten & Spence, 2019)
The figure above shows different phase of sustainability that a firm acquires in their process of
evaluation and operation as more prominent company within the market. Currently Looking at
Ikea’s sustainability report it can be said that Ikea is on the proactive phase of sustainability in
which the company is strategic and has focus on supply network and stakeholder management.
On the other hand Coles supermarket is a firm which is on the level of Efficiency as the company
is looking on to systematic HRM, avoidance of risk and increase in efficiency on engagement
with supply chain. This shows that both the companies in the current context are on different
levels of sustainability (Crane, Matten & Spence, 2019).
In accordance to the sustainability report of Wesfarmers Coles is focused on developing effective
relationship with building a strong and collaborative relationship with farmers, producers and

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grower of the country and this will benefit the company’s supply chain. The company’s policy is
to support supply, satisfy customer and reduce environmental impacts of the company's
operations. Below is community contribution of Coles from recent years:
Figure 2: Community contribution of Coles
(Source: Crowther & Seifi, 2018)
The chart above shows that the community contributions of the firm has increased in both direct
and indirect manner this is positive sign for the Coles community contributions which it has done
in the recent years.
Ikea on the other hand is focused on delivering quality product to their customer but also focuses
on reducing waste, usage if non renewable resources and proper use of renewable resources
within the firm operational activities. The company is producing furniture and paper hence it
wasn't t reduce the quantity if wood waste within its operational activities. The figure below

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shows how the company has worked for generation of renewable resources in the recent times:
Figure 3: Renewable energy produced by type
(Source : Grayson & Hodges, 2017)
The productions of renewable resources have increased by the recent time that is a positive sign
for the company’s social activities. This will be beneficial for the company for building its social
image within the industry (Grayson & Hodges, 2017).
Explaining the extent to which these differences be explained by the country
or industry differences
Now as both the companies operate in the different industry the demand for social,
cultural and environmental operations from the firms is also very different. It is to be said that

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Coles is operating in the supermarket industry that sells the groceries and home use products that
are mainly produced by farmers, producers and grower. Hence, it is the social value of the firm
to render higher benefit to these groups of people. Hence, Coles follows this and has an focus on
enhancing the farmer's within the country. On the other hand Ikea is retail company which
renders furniture, paper and other cotton products to there customer hence the social value of the
company is to ensure that environmental damaged or the environmental usage which the
company is doing in its operational activities is mitigated to ensure that there operations are more
efficient socially. For this purpose, the company has looked into the production of renewable
energies and planting of trees which are being cut due to the wood furniture productions of the
firm.
Figure 4: Use of sustainable source for Woods
(Source: Crowther & Seifi, 2018)

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The figure above shows that the company has ensured that they get supply of wood from
sustainable sources which are trusted and genuine for mitigating and planting trees in response to
the woods supplied by them. This shows that Ikea is focused on developing effective
sustainability of resources which it uses in its operational activities.
Now country also plays an important role within the social, cultural and environmental
responsibilities of the company. Coles is supermarket operating in Australia and is limited to
Australian Continent but looking at the operations of IKea it can be said that the firm is more
diversified in terms of operating in different countries. When a firm operates in different
countries the social responsibility of the firm towards each country increases in an prominent
manner. In this way it can be said that the responsibility of Ikea is higher than that of Coles. The
responsibility of Ikea is not limited to one country but is diverse which is why cultural and social
value which are present in different country tends to affect the social activities which the
company carries out within their operational activities. It is to be mentioned that Coles operates
in Australia and is some part of New Zealand hence this shows that in comparison of to Ikea the
social and cultural effect on operating in different countries is lower on the social values and
responsibility of the firm (Crowther & Seifi, 2018).
Assessing the apparent quality of the social accounting approach utilized by
each company according
Accounting for social responsibilities and activities is a prominent way through which the
social activities conducted by the firm in there operational activities is measured. Now by
looking at the sustainability report of Coles or Wesfarmer it can be said that the firm has
disclosed its social activities in accordance to the Global Report Standard which has been
assured by external audit or. The quality of reporting has ensured that very progress that the

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company has made in term of social operation is mentioned within the report. The company has
also disclosed the company’s intention in order serving the communities in which it is working
in. The company has also disclosed various social operation which the company will conduct in
there operational activities. On the other Ikea has also followed the Global Report Standard for
reporting their activities. In this way the company have maintain the accounting for social
activities which the company performed in the recent period of operations (Unit, 2015).
Discussing the extent to which the social reports reflect the values of your
selected companies
It has been very clear from the sustainability report that both the companies reflect
different social values in the cause of doing something for the communities in which they are
operating in. In terms of social values which has been derived from the sustainability report of
Coles it can be said that the firm is looking forward to support there farmers and producers
which will increase the benefit of the farmer which are there in the society. On the other hand
Ikea’s sustainability report shows the peer focus of the company to manage waste and reduce
usage of non renewable energy sources which is needed in the operations of the firm. The report
has also shown that the firm is focused on deriving better production of renewable resources
which the company can produce through its operational activities. Hence it can be said that the
sustainability report of both the firm derive different social value which these companies have in
their respective operations.
Reflecting on groups’ discussions of these companies
Our group was focused on knowing the ways in which both of these companies operate
for there social value and what have they done from serving the community in which they are

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working in. My friend explained that Coles and Ikea has different social values which tend to
affect their social activities which they conduct for the purpose of serving the community. I
pointed out that working in different countries has more responsibility over Ikea than that of
Coles which is geographically less diversified in the global market. My Friends told me that Ikea
has a focus on environmental sustainability of the firm whereas Coles is focused on developing
the social standards of farmers within Australia (Cheng, Ioannou & Serafeim, 2014).
Conclusion
Concluding in the light of above context it can be said that the social value of a firm may
differ from industry and countries in which they are working in. Although every management of
the company should be focused on serving the community in an efficient manner in accordance
to requirement of the community, there also must be proper understanding of the time to execute
plan effectively.

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References
Cheng, B., Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2014). Corporate social responsibility and access to
finance. Strategic management journal, 35(1), 1-23.
Crane, A., Matten, D., & Spence, L. (Eds.). (2019). Corporate social responsibility: Readings
and cases in a global context. Routledge.
Crowther, D., & Seifi, S. (Eds.). (2018). Redefining Corporate Social Responsibility. Emerald
Group Publishing.
Grayson, D., & Hodges, A. (2017). Corporate social opportunity!: Seven steps to make
corporate social responsibility work for your business. Routledge.
Unit, B. (2015). Corporate social responsibility.