Corporate Social Responsibility of Supermarkets in Australia

This literature review examines the corporate social responsibilities (CSR) of leading supermarkets in Australia, focusing on how these organizations integrate social and environmental concerns into their business operations. It begins by defining CSR and discussing key theories and models, such as Carroll’s CSR Pyramid and Ackerman’s Model, which provide frameworks for understanding and implementing CSR initiatives. The review then critically analyzes the CSR activities of major Australian supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths, evaluating their performance in areas such as ethical sourcing, employee welfare, environmental sustainability, and community engagement. While some supermarkets demonstrate a commitment to local sourcing, safe workplaces, and waste reduction, others face challenges related to labor practices, supply chain transparency, and the measurement of CSR impact. The review concludes by highlighting the importance of CSR for these supermarkets and identifying gaps in current research, providing a comprehensive overview of the topic.

Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW
Literature Review
Corporate Social Responsibilities of Leading Supermarkets in Australia
Name of the Student:
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1LITERATURE REVIEW
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Literature Review Scope........................................................................................................2
1.2 Literature Review Objectives.................................................................................................2
2.0 Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility..............................................................................3
3.0 Theories and Models of Corporate Social Responsibility.........................................................3
3.1 Carroll’s CSR Pyramid..........................................................................................................3
3.2 Ackerman’s Model of CSR....................................................................................................5
4.0 Critical Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibilities of leading supermarkets in Australia. .6
5.0 Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility on Leading Supermarkets of Australia...........9
6.0 Literature Gap..........................................................................................................................10
7.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................11
Reference List................................................................................................................................12

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1.0 Introduction
Literature review is concerned with the collection of information regarding a particular
topic from different types of scholarly papers. This literature review will explore of the corporate
social responsibilities (CSR) of leading Australian Supermarkets. Corporate social
responsibilities are the ranges of corporate initiatives towards the social wellbeing within which
the organizations operate their businesses (Singhapakdi et al. 2015). The literature review will
demonstrate the concepts of CSR in organizational context. Various theories and model of CSR
will also be highlighted in this literature review. The literature review will gather huge
information regarding the CSR activities performed by the leading Australian supermarkets. On
the other hand, the benefits of CSR activities on those supermarkets will also be the concern of
this literature review.
1.1 Literature Review Scope
The scope of the literature review lies on the exploring the corporate social
responsibilities of leading Australian Supermarkets. The literature review can provide huge
authentic secondary information to the subsequent researcher for conducting research on same
types of research topic. The literature review has also the scope of assessing the impact of CSR
activities on the leading Australian supermarkets.
1.2 Literature Review Objectives
 To demonstrate the corporate social responsibilities of the leading Australian
supermarkets
 To recognize the issues of corporate social responsibilities associated with the leading
Australian supermarkets

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 To highlight the impact of corporate social responsibilities on the leading Australian
supermarkets
2.0 Concept of Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is the management concept, where the organizations
integrate environmental and social concern in their business operation for the wellbeing of the
stakeholders as well as society. According to Boulouta and Pitelis (2014), corporate social
responsibility is the corporate initiatives through which the organizations attempt to achieve the
balance of economic, social and environmental imperatives and at the same time meet the
expectations and shareholders and stakeholders. The organizations can express their CSR
initiatives through various forms like reducing wastes and pollution, contributing in social and
educational programs and earning adequate return for the employees and shareholders. On the
other hand, Lee, Kim and Kim (2018) opined that the organizations must need the approaches,
which fit the capacities and needs of the business for promoting effecting CSR activities.
Effective and well managed CSR activities have direct influence on enhancing the corporate
reputation and brand value of the business organizations.
3.0 Theories and Models of Corporate Social Responsibility
3.1 Carroll’s CSR Pyramid
Carroll’s CSR model demonstrates a simple pyramid, which helps the business
organization to perform CSR activities effective by demonstrating right ways of CSR
responsibilities. This model is consisted of four types of responsibilities namely economic
responsibility, social responsibility, legal responsibility and philanthropic responsibility.

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According to Saleh, Ebeid and Abdelhameed (2015), economic responsibility is associated with
the corporate responsibility, where the organizations must have to be profitable enough to for
providing adequate return on investment to the key shareholders. It can help the business
organizations to gain the trust of the shareholders and they can gain adequate investment for
operating the business for longer period. Moreover, economic responsibility is the only way of
long term survival of businesses and providing benefits to the society. On the other hand, Wu
and Wang (2014) opined that Legal responsibility is associated with the corporate responsibility,
where the organizations must have to obey the laws and regulations for avoiding legal risks.
Moreover, the organizations must have to obey all the employment laws, health and safety laws
and competition laws for long term business sustainability.
Ethical responsibility is concerned with responsibility of the business organizations to act
ethically and morally. According to Park and Ghauri (2015), in ethical responsibility, the
business organizations should go beyond the narrow requirements of laws and legislations. Such
responsibility is actually associated with fair treatment of employees and suppliers from the
organizations. Furthermore, Plewa et al. (2015) stated that philanthropic responsibility is
associated with the corporate responsibility, where the organizations give back to the society
within which they operate. Such responsibility is associated with the charitable donations,
educational development of society and staff time on project.

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Figure 1: Carroll’s CSR Pyramid
(Source: Costa, Lages and Hortinha 2015)
3.2 Ackerman’s Model of CSR
As per the liabilities, priorities or even responsibilities, Ackerman proposed the model of
CSR to be intuited by the organizations. The model has laid down three phased to be performed
by the organizations for performing CSR activities in an effective manner. Hence, this model is
more than just CSR model and provides the strategies for effectively implementing the CSR
initiatives. According to Story and Neves (2015), the first phase of CSR activities is concerned
about the top managers in organization recognizing the social problems. The model is highly
focused on developing internal management process, which affects the social responsiveness
through making the organizations more flexible to respond to the organizational changes. On the
other hand, Garcia-Sanchez, Cuadrado-Ballesteros and Frias-Aceituno (2016) opined that the
second phase of Ackerman’s Model is associated with intensive study of the social problem and

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hiring experts for finding solutions to the social problem. In the third phase, the organizations
actually implement the proposed solution of CSR activities to mitigate the social problem.
4.0 Critical Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibilities of leading supermarkets in
Australia
While considering the viewpoint of Costa, Lages and Hortinha (2015), it has been
identified that the Australian supermarket is extremely focused in providing fresh and quality
products to the consumers. This indicates that the sector not only serves to be ethical but also
fulfilling the philanthropic concerns. For example, the retail giant Coles Supermarket has taken
the initiative ‘Australian First Sourcing Policy’ through which it is sourcing the locally grown
food. This helps in uplifting the local farmers and eventually deals with strengthening the
national economy. The local farmers act as the supplier for fresh vegetables, which count for
96% of total grocery and vegetable items available in Coles. On the other hand, the consumers
are able to get fresh products directly from the retail chain. Moreover, since the number of
intermediators is quite less, the products are sold at very low price, which ensures affordability.
On the other hand, Grimmer (2018) argued that the Australian supermarkets are more
inclined in earning profitsthan establishing a reputable image through CSR. For example, retail
chains such as 7- Eleven has been found to create wage-theft by not paying the employees for
multiple months. This had created a huge negative image and the negative publicity resulted in
resigning the Chief Executive Officer and the then Chairman in the year 2015. Such incident
indicates that the ethical pillar of Carroll model has never been fulfilled. Moreover, Rowe et al.
(2014) pointed out that in the year 2011, Coles and Woolworths has been found to impose harsh
conditions on the local growers by announcing that their products won’t be purchased if they do

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not meet the environmental standards. The local farmers being quite poor who failed to meet the
standards were never able to flourish themselves. Therefore, it can be said that in order to create
strong corporate image, the retail giants are exploiting the suppliers rather than supporting them.
Türkel et al. (2016) pointed out that top retail supermarkets in Australia are ensuring safe
workplaces for their employees along with diversity programs. This helps in building healthy
employment status along with competitive talent within the industry. Moreover, such initiative
helps in restoring the balance between gender diversity through inclusive programs. On the other
hand, Pérez (2015) extended the viewpoint by pointing out the example of Wesfarmers, which
has shown $68.4 billion wealth creation and $15.2 billion value creation through community
wealth creation activities. Moreover, it can also be said that through such value creation
activities, Wesfarmers is able to create a strong bod with employees, government, lenders and
shareholders. In this way, the organization has able to strengthen its sustainability, which has
resulted in accompanying more than 18,000 suppliers wityh more than 5,000 supplier and factory
sites (Siddiq and Javed 2014). Such great operation and network has resulted in higher return on
investment, which resulted in attracting more investors and shareholders’ wealth maximization.
On the other hand, while considering the viewpoint of Das and Bhunia (2016), it can be
said that Australian supermarkets have been facing issues related to labor sourcing, international
sourcing andenvironmental sustainability. It has been found that most of the retail chains in
Australia do not disclose their CSR reports in official website and therefore it becomes
questionable whether each of the four activities (supply chain, employees, environment and
community) are addressed. Even though Woolworths has been found to disclose CSR report
however retailers such as Aldi, JB HI-FI, Dick Smith, 7-Eleven has not been found to
significantly comply with community, employee and supply chain activities. While considering

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the viewpoint of Costa, Lages and Hortinha (2015), it can be found that Myer and David Jones
contribute in environmental sustainability issues such as waste management and water use,
which are mostly considered as immaterial. Therefore, it can be said that the organizations which
are the largest supermarket retail chains in Australia are the most likely to fulfill all the CSR
activities and their reports are transparent enough when audited.
According to Lee, Kim and Kim (2018), it has been found that Woolworths Limited and
Wesfarmers group focus on welcoming Indigenous Employment Policies and Employee
Disability Program respectively. This indicates the ethical treatment of communities and
sustainability approach for future. However, Aldi Australia has been found to face supplier
sourcing issues. Moreover, Singhapakdi et al. (2015) pointed out that Myer and David Jones do
not ensure local sourcing and therefore quality of products are not fresh and likable as compared
to Coles or Wesfarmers. Therefore, it can be said that at present the organizations are not able
justify the communities, especially the customers who want fresh products. There might be
ethical dilemma with respect to organizational stakeholders’ expectation, which needs to be
further evaluated.
Saleh, Ebeid and Abdelhameed (2015) pointed out that Woolworths has created the safe
place to work, inclusive and diversity programs, indigenous representation and gender equality.
Similarly, Coles has started following the same employment opportunities for indigenous people
so that community can be uplifted. Moreover, the top retailer supermarkets in Australia such as
Woolworths ensures animal welfare, sustainable fish and seafood, genetically modified foods
and sustainable forestry products.Wesfarmers on the other hand, has been found to focus on
circular economy by reducing the waste through landfills. In this way, the organization is trying
to respond climatic change by reducing the carbon emission.

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The argumentative views from Wu and Wang (2014) highlight that the entire Australian
retail supermarket cannot be considered to be focusing on environmental sustainability. This is
because the CSR activities cannot be measured at all of the instances such as while soft-selling-
advertising, collateral damage and sustainable supply. The retail supermarkets are trying to sell
their products through creating a choice among the consumers through advertisements due to
which the target market ends by buying products beyond their requirement. For example, Coles’
“Baked Today” has been already prepared and packed quite before a couple of months (Saleh,
Ebeid and Abdelhameed 2015). On the other hand, Plewa et al. (2015) pointed out that the
supermarkets are trying to animal through intensive and factory farming practices. These
activities cause animal suffering and environmentally unsustainable practices. It has been found
that due to the compliance of RSPCA standards for chicken meat and home-brand eggs less
attention is being paid to animal welfare.
5.0 Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility on Leading Supermarkets of Australia
Corporate social responsibility helps the business organizations towards enhancing the
corporate image in the society through supporting the non-profits by monetary donations, kind
donations, strong partnership and volunteerism. According to Rowe et al. (2014), effectively
managed CSR activities facilitate the leading supermarkets of Australia to differentiate their
brands over other competitors in the market. While considering the benefits of CSR on
Woolworths, the environmental sustainable initiatives and social development programs have
facilitated it to get unique position in the market. However, Türkel et al. (2016) opined that CSR
activities more often shift the organizational focus from profit making objectives. Hence, such
activities can often reduce the overall profit volume of the organizations. The economic
profitability demonstrated by the business organizations attracts and retain the key investors.

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Hence, such positive impression attracts the investors to invest in the organizations repeatedly,
which enhances the long term financial sustainability of the organizations.
According to Das and Bhunia (2016), the organizations are more likely to attract and
retain the talented, hardworking and engaged employees, while they are dedicated towards
improving the communities though various forms of corporate giving. While considering the
benefits of CSR activities on Wesfarmers of Australia, it can be seen that the organization can
become able to reduce the turnover rate of the employees 25% through effectively implementing
employee volunteering programs. However, Pérez (2015) opined that CSR programs can actually
increase the business expenditure of the organization. Such increased business expenditure is
actually reflected on the overall business expenses of the organizations. Effective social benefit
and fair business programs can also create a positive impact on the minds of the customers.
Hence, such customers become extremely loyal to the business organizations. While considering
the evidence of Aldi, it can be found that there was 30% customer repetition in the last year with
the increased positive image through CSR activities.
6.0 Literature Gap
While considering the viewpoints of the authors, it can be said that a question is raised,
which is whether CSR activities actually help in community and environment engagement or it is
a complete profit-oriented notion for retail organizations in Australia. It has been observed that
only the greatest retail supermarket giants such as Woolworths and Coles are well practicing
CSR activities with enough transparency in their annual reports as highlighted by the authors in
the earlier critical analysis. However, it becomes questionable when it comes to compare with
Aldi, 7 Eleven, Myer or David Jones. There have been several issues with respect to ethics or

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community development. It has been clear that in order to achieve economic pillar of the
Carroll’s CSR pyramid, most of the well-known retail supermarkets in Australia are exploiting
the other three pillars. Therefore, it can be said that there lies a gap in analyzing the actual
quantifiable outcome whether the retail supermarkets are actually transparent enough in
achieving their CSR activities. In order to address this gap deeper analysis has to be done
considering all the CSR activities for such a retail organization that has been under question or
under poor CSR activity issues in the past.
7.0 Conclusion
While concluding the study, it can be said that corporate social responsibility is
concerned with the social, environmental and economic benefits of an organization. Australian
supermarkets are high highly responsible and associated with the CSR activities for the social
wellbeing of their surrounding society. The most reputed Australian supermarkets like
Woolworths, Aldi, Wesfarmers and others has gained high level of corporate image in the
society through performing effective CSR programs.

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Reference List
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responsibility on national competitiveness. Journal of business ethics, 119(3), pp.349-364.
Costa, C., Lages, L.F. and Hortinha, P., 2015. The bright and dark side of CSR in export
markets: Its impact on innovation and performance. International Business Review, 24(5),
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Das, L. and Bhunia, A., 2016. The Impact of CSR on Firms’ Financial Performance–A Literature
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Garcia-Sanchez, I.M., Cuadrado-Ballesteros, B. and Frias-Aceituno, J.V., 2016. Impact of the
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Grimmer, L., 2018. The diminished stakeholder: Examining the relationship between suppliers
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Park, B.I. and Ghauri, P.N., 2015. Determinants influencing CSR practices in small and medium
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Pérez, A., 2015. Corporate reputation and CSR reporting to stakeholders: Gaps in the literature
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European Review, 24(2), pp.111-124.

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Türkel, S., Uzunoğlu, E., Kaplan, M.D. and Vural, B.A., 2016. A strategic approach to CSR
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