Corporate Social Responsibility Report: ASX Listed Company Analysis

This report analyzes the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting of the Commonwealth Bank (CBA), an ASX-listed company. It begins with an introduction to the ASX and the CBA, highlighting its market capitalization and ranking. The report then explores why ASX-listed corporations voluntarily disclose their social and environmental performance, examining the shift from voluntary to requested data and the influence of stakeholder and legitimacy theories. The second part compares and contrasts the content and major themes in the company's annual reporting pertaining to CSR issues between 2015 and 2017, emphasizing how CSR reporting integrates into companies' strategic risk management. The third part of the report focuses on the differences in content and theme between the CSR reporting on the company's website and its annual report in 2017. The report concludes by suggesting that legitimacy theory is the best fit for the Commonwealth Bank's disclosure of its social and environmental performance. The report references relevant academic journals and online resources, including the Commonwealth Bank's corporate responsibility reports and annual reports.

Australian Securities
Exchange: ASX.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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INTRODUCTION
Australian Securities exchange which is known to as ASX is one of the primary securities
exchange of Australia it was incorporated on 1st April 1987 by Australian Parliament. It is having
the average daily turnover of about AUS $4.685 billion and market capitalisation of $1.6 trillion
this means that this is ranking 15th in world's top exchange groups. Commonwealth Bank of
Australia is the multinational bank of Australia across Asia, New Zealand, UK and USA. This is
the largest listed bank of Australia in ASX so we would be including about CSR policy of
Commonwealth bank.
PART 1
Explaining why ASX listed corporations voluntary disclose about their social and environment
performance.
Corporate social exposures (CSD) are basically wilful in nature and in this manner give a
zone to investigate into motivational parts of divulgence. The primary focal point of earlier
research has been whether corporate social revelations constitute a release of responsibility or are
a piece of a procedure of legitimation. Earlier look into, be that as it may, overlooks the rise of a
substitute style of corporate social exposure, the 'requested' revelation. Progressively
organizations are asked for to give an account of their connections with society in different
structures. Non-government associations (NGOs), administrative organizations, moral or socially
dependable venture support chiefs and different analysts are asking for social data from
enterprises (Chapple, Dunstan and Truong, 2018). This move from deliberate data arrangement
to requested data can be seen as a characteristic outcome of the expanding weights on
partnerships to be 'dependable', especially in light of escalated overall consideration on
exploitative corporate conduct and corporate crumple.
These contemporary variations of social exposure are deserving of investigation while
considering these 'requested' divulgence possibly decrease an enterprise's energy in
characterizing the degree and nature of exposures. Two speculations, which are comparable and
got from the more extensive political economy point of view, are usually offered as clarifications
of inspirations for social revelations. Partner hypothesis offers a clarification of responsibility to
partners. Authenticity hypothesis, on the other hand, recommends intentional revelations are a
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piece of a procedure of legitimation. This paper contends that these hypothetical points of view
may give more noteworthy experiences into administrative inspiration for exposure on the off
chance that they are connected all the more expressly to the idea of corporate social revelation
under examination: intentional or requested.
Research on social and natural exposures has prospered over the previous years with
giving an account of corporate social duty (CSR) data now thought to be an imperative segment,
supplementing money related answering to diminish data asymmetry. A huge assemblage of
proof crosswise over business investigate disciplines looks at inquiries such as which sorts of
firms take part in CSR, and how CSR shapes firm choices and results. There is a variety of exact
research on CSR running from the impact of specific occasions on CSR exposures to the
determinants of CSR exposures. However, as far as anyone is concerned there is no current, wide
audit of hypothetical points of view, which can be utilized to clarify the exposure of CSR data.
Legitimate theory:
This theory would be depending upon the fact that both society and organisation which
are been operating within community is linked to each other which could be defined to as social
contract. So it is seen that organisation or firm are engaging within society through various
factors and taking the permission of society so that they could work into that society. This
process would be defined to as CSR policy.
PART 2
Comparing and contrasting content and major themes in the company annual reporting pertaining
to CSR issue between 2017 and 2015.
Contends that the authenticity hypothesis originates from the possibility that for
partnerships to keep working effectively, it must act inside the limits and standards of what
society distinguishes as socially dependable conduct. That authenticity of a firm is reliant on the
support of equal association with its partners, given that the firm has commitments including
moral commitments to a wide scope of partners in to their investors CSR revealing practices
have turned into a key administration instrument to the developing multifaceted nature to
multinational business administration (Stubbs and Higgins, 2018). They additionally contend that
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CSR revealing coordinates CSR exercises into companies‟ vital hazard administration with the
goal that the effect of CSR exercises can be expanded. Contend that employee‟s recognitions
about how a partnership acknowledges and deals with its obligations are regularly part of the
employee‟s choice about where to work.
The CSR report of 2016 was having the key highlights as group was having the high
ranking which is measuring companies benchmarks like that of social, environment and
governance practice (2016 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT, 2018). In this context
Commonwealth Bank was regarded to as 4th best organisation in terms of following the CSR
policy among the top 100 indices. In the climate disclosure leadership indices company was
included within CDP ASX 200 for consecutive 7 years and then it was in the Dow Jones
sustainability world Index and FTSE4 Good Index.
In the report of CSR of Commonwealth Bank in 2017 portfolio of company was strong as
the bank is playing important role in economic growth of Australia (Corporate Responsibility
Report 2017, 2018). About 75% of the profits of company as returned to all its shareholders they
were paying tax of about $3.9 billion and $2.5 billion was reinvested within company which was
for the betterment of customers and their service.
PART 3
How CSR reporting on website of company is different from CSR reporting on its annual report
in 2017 in content and theme.
In the CSR report of any company there is only mentioned the continuous progress of
company which would be focusing on delivering vision and mission of company. This will be
including the global trends which are there like that of inequality and poverty, future jobs,
urbanisation, financial regulations and climate change as well. The theme and content of this
report is different from that of Annual report of company in which about whole performance of
company like that of about profits, loss, revenue or earning per share of company and other
financial information would be included (Commonwealth Bank 2015 Annual Report, 2018). So
this both would be different in form of CSR reporting on website of company that from CSR
reporting on its annual report in 2017 in content and theme.
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CONCLUSION
At the end it was concluded that legitimate theory would be the best suiting for
Commonwealth Bank in disclosing their social and environment performance. The major themes
and content for the year 2017 in CSR reporting was different from annual report as this would
only be including sustainability of bank. While annual report would be including overall
performance of business and CSR only the sustainability report.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Chapple, L., Dunstan, K. and Truong, T.P., 2018. Corporate governance and management
earnings forecast behaviour: evidence from a low private litigation environment. Pacific
Accounting Review. (just-accepted). pp.00-00.
Stubbs, W. and Higgins, C., 2018. Stakeholders’ perspectives on the role of regulatory reform in
integrated reporting. Journal of Business Ethics. 147(3). pp.489-508.
Online:
2016 CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT. 2018. [Online]. Accessed Through:
<https://www.commbank.com.au/guidance/newsroom/corporate-responsibility-report-2016-
201608.html>.
Commonwealth Bank 2015 Annual Report. 2018. [Online]. Accessed Through:
<http://www.republicast.com/publications/cbaar2015/>.
Corporate Responsibility Report 2017. 2018. [Online]. Accessed Through:
<https://www.commbank.com.au/content/dam/commbank/about-us/shareholders/pdfs/
corporate-responsibility/2017/2017-corporate-responsibility-report.pdf>.
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