KPMG and Deloitte: A Comparative Analysis of CSR and Sustainability

This report presents a comparative analysis of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability practices of KPMG and Deloitte, two prominent firms in the professional services industry. The report begins with an executive summary, followed by an introduction that defines CSR and its im...Read More

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

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Executive Summary
This report is the study of CSR and sustainability approach of two different company that
belongs to the same industry. This is a comparison of the sustainability approach of two
reputed professional services company KMPG and Deloitte. Both of the companies are part
of Big four in this industry. Their big names increase their corporate responsibilities. The
report highlights the issues and aspects of their CSR and analyses how successful they are in
their approach to addressing them. Other than the philanthropic part, the companies are also
adopting CSR for their competitive advantages. Therefore, the analysation of the approaches
carries huge importance.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Business activities of KPMG and Deloitte.....................................................................3
Issues dealt with in Sustainability Report......................................................................4
Most relevant Sustainable development Goals..............................................................5
Sustainability Phases......................................................................................................7
The extent of stated value reflection..............................................................................8
Understanding Reflection...............................................................................................9
Conclusion......................................................................................................................9
References....................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The concept of business is no longer confined within the binary of profit and loss. An
entrepreneur has to maintain a number of aspects related to the business to gain brand equity
and competitive advantages. CSR is one of the processes that help the company to connect
with the society or community around them and serve their responsibility against the
environment and society. CSR has become one of the important parts of industry operations.
A strategic CSR and sustainability goal development could not only give the company a
positive reputation, but it is also instrumental in attracting the interest of the investors. The
modern trend of business indicates that the company that has a well-build CSR policy is
considered well prepared for market challenges. The responsibility of a company towards the
society, people and the environment is recorded in the internal policies of the company
named as CSR policies. In this report, the sustainability issues and CSR policies of two
companies- KMPG and Deloitte would be discussed and compared.
Business activities of KPMG and Deloitte
KMPG and Deloitte both are part of the professional services industry. These
companies are also part of the famous Big Four along with Ernst and
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwD).
KMPG operates on a multinational platform in the industry of professional service
networks. It is a Swiss cooperative that has headquarters in Zug, Switzerland and
Amstelveen, Netherlands. The company employs more than 207000 people in its operational
branches. The mother company was founded in 1987. The company is a merger of Peat
Marwick International and Klynveld Main Goerdeler. The company has three service lines-
Audit, tax and advisory. The social performance of this company came into news when it

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launched a campaign to encourage more women to build their career in technology sectors
(home.kpmg, 2019).
Another company of this study is Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited or popularly
known as Deloitte. This multinational services company was established in 1845 by William
Welch Deloitte. Headquarters of this company is in London, UK. The present chairman of the
company is David Cruickshank. This company provides services in audit, management
consulting, taxes, legal and risk advisory. Total employees number of this company is more
than 286000 who are appointed in the operational offices globally (deloitte.com, 2019). The
company is the largest services company in the world with respect to its revenue earnings.
The company has been considered to be the best place to start one's career in the past few
years. This company has worked with a number of renowned companies and maintained its
reputation throughout. Deloitte has a partnership with various social groups and contributes
to community development profoundly.
Issues dealt with in the Sustainability Report
Both companies have worked strategically for presenting their sustainability reports.
The KMPG has published different reports for different countries it is operating. The values
and perspectives of the company regarding the CSR are gracefully narrated in the report. The
company highlights its initiatives for child education and community build up. The strength
of the sustainability report of KMPG is that it is eye-catching and showed their philanthropic
works and contributions quite vigorously. The weakness lies in the fact that it mainly
concentrates on the environmental and community issues, but do not give detailed out view
of the people and workplace ethics (Chung et al. 2015). Some of the issues covered by this
report of KMPG are-

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 The issue of child education is quite intact in the CSR policies of the
company. The issue is linked with the social development and educational
equality (Duarte Alonso & Austin, 2018). The company has rightly marked
and presented it in its report.
 Another issue is the carbon emission that effects the environment. The
company has faced some challenges in maintaining a clear record in this
aspect. The report does mention this issue but not in a detailed quality.
Deloitte' CSR report, on the other hand, is not information loaded. The company has
presented its CSR and sustainability measures in a simple and effective way through. The
strength of this report is that the company has highlighted the ethical and environmental
sustainability measures quite explicitly. The weakness of this report lies in the fact that the
numbers and statistics are not presented effectively. The range of issues covered in this report
is not much impressive. Some of the issues that are covered in the report are-
 This company has faced acquisitions of performing less in public sectors and
community development.
 The environmental issues related to sustainability is another part that brings
the company some bad reputation. It is accused that this company is only
concentrating on internal affairs like company ethics and work environment
(Idowu et al. 2016). They are avoiding the bigger picture in their social
performance. The recent report of the company addresses all the community
services and partnership works they have done.
Most relevant Sustainable development Goals
Wagner, 2017

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Bernal‐Conesa, de Nieves Nieto & Briones‐Peñalver, 2017
Sustainability Phases
According to the sustainability theory of Dunphy, Griffiths and Benn, there is a total
of six stages of sustainability phases. The KMPG is in the efficiency level whereas, Deloitte
is in the compliance stage.
The sustainability report of KMPG has all the elements that could establish it in the
efficiency level. The company has increased its emphasis on report presentations. The
company is known for its well-managed workforce. Therefore, the company now
concentrates on the efficiency of its supply chain (Soderstrom, Soderstrom & Stewart, 2017).
The company has been successful in managing all the risks in their reputation. The company
report concentrates on the positive works that it has dined towards sustainability. The
company has strategically managed all its risks that could affect its reputation. The success of
KMPG foundation has added to its efficiency more. The report is also presented in a way that
is proving the active sustainable goals of the company.
Deloitte is working on its image building as a sustainable company. Though the
company is one of the most reputed organizations in its revenue and productivity, it lacks in
the CSR aspects. As opined by Aksak, Ferguson & Duman (2016), The risks factors are still
influencing the context of the company’s CSR and sustainability. This company also have to
work with its carbon emission as it has increased in 2019. The fact is that the company has
invested in many community development projects, but those are not reflected in their reports
carefully. The company have to work more strategically while developing their CSR report.
The company is hiring professional for the same, and it is expected that it would get
promoted in the efficiency level soon.

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The extent of stated value reflection
Lim & Greenwood (2017),
Understanding Reflection
The CSR reports and their contexts are related to the long term sustainability of a
company. I have evaluated the importance of CSR in company aspects. Both of the
companies that are taken for this report are well-reputed. The role of their sustainability
missions and values are learnt by me through this report building. The companies, in spite of
being from the same industries, have a different sustainability approach. In this report, I have
realized that the CSR approach of KMPG is reflected through its community and
environmental aspects, while Deloitte concentrates more on internal ethics and workplace
diversity maintenance. The approaches of the companies are set according to their missions,
visions and set targets. The issues of the two companies in the same industry could be
different, and that could affect the sustainability aspects. I have come to know that the
primary philanthropic approach also helps the company to achieve economic and reputational
profits. CSR is an important aspect of any industrial development. This work has been done
in a group. Therefore, I have learnt to work with teammates, managing the time and
structuring a report efficiently. The presentation of a report and how it is constructed could
also be learnt from this study.
Conclusion
Corporate social responsibility is the impact of a company on the society, people and
the environment. Deloitte and KMPG are the two reputed company and are part of the
famous Big four. The companies have achieved higher goals in their operations. They have
their sustainability goals that take the impact on community, environment and people as their

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priority. The sustainability report of KMPG has a different approach than that of Deloitte.
The development criteria of the reports depend on the fact what the company is trying to
achieve through it and how it wants to represent it to the outer world. This reports would help
to understand the different approach of the companies towards their corporate social
responsibilities and sustainability.

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References
Aksak, E. O., Ferguson, M. A., & Duman, S. A. (2016). Corporate social responsibility and
CSR fit as predictors of corporate reputation: A global perspective. Public Relations
Review, 42(1), 79-81.
Bernal‐Conesa, J. A., de Nieves Nieto, C., & Briones‐Peñalver, A. J. (2017). CSR strategy in
technology companies: Its influence on performance, competitiveness and
sustainability. Corporate social responsibility and environmental management, 24(2),
96-107.
Chung, K. H., Yu, J. E., Choi, M. G., & Shin, J. I. (2015). The effects of CSR on customer
satisfaction and loyalty in China: the moderating role of corporate image. Journal of
Economics, Business and Management, 3(5), 542-547.
deloitte.com (2019), Corporate Social Responsibility, retrieved from
https://www2.deloitte.com/ie/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/corporate-social-
responsibility-report.html#
Duarte Alonso, A., & Austin, I. P. (2018). Entrepreneurial CSR, managerial role and firm
resources: a case study approach. Competitiveness Review: An International Business
Journal, 28(4), 368-385.
Home.king (2019), Sustainability and CSR, retrieved from
https://home.kpmg/cn/en/home/about/corporate-social-responsibility.html
Idowu, S. O., Dragu, I. M., Tiron-Tudor, A., & Farcas, T. V. (2016). From CSR and
sustainability to integrated reporting. International Journal of Social
Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 4(2), 134-151.

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Lim, J. S., & Greenwood, C. A. (2017). Communicating corporate social responsibility
(CSR): Stakeholder responsiveness and engagement strategy to achieve CSR goals.
Public Relations Review, 43(4), 768-776.
Soderstrom, K. M., Soderstrom, N. S., & Stewart, C. R. (2017). Sustainability/CSR research
in management accounting: A review of the literature. Advances in Management
Accounting (pp. 59-85). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Wagner, M. (2017). Entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability. Routledge.