Comprehensive Analysis: McDonald's Sustainability Reporting and Impact

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This report delves into McDonald's sustainability reporting practices, examining how the company integrates environmental, social, and economic considerations into its operations. The analysis explores McDonald's use of integrated reporting, its commitment to green initiatives, and its engagement with stakeholders. The report highlights the company's efforts in addressing environmental concerns, employee health and safety, and community involvement. It investigates the impact of these practices on brand value, consumer loyalty, and overall business performance. The report also discusses the company's use of the Global Reporting Initiative system and its commitment to transparency through both financial and non-financial reporting. The findings indicate a positive correlation between integrated reporting and employee involvement, as well as an enhanced brand image. The report concludes that McDonald's has successfully implemented sustainability reporting to achieve its goals of sustainable development, improved environmental performance, and strengthened stakeholder relationships.
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MCDONALD’S SUSTAINABILITY
REPORTING1
McDonald’s Sustainability Reporting
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MCDONALD’S SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
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MCDONALD’S SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
Abstract
Sustainability reporting in the McDonald’s Company will help examine how the
company is able to achieve sustainable development. The purpose of analyzing is to establish
the manner in which the company uses its available resources as well as time in the report.
Additionally, it allows us to find out how sustainability reporting influences the performance
of McDonald’s company. Reviewing of literature has helped in the analysis sustainability
reporting of the company in the essence of determining the state of affairs in McDonald’s
sustainability reporting.
Introduction
McDonald's is a fast-food company in America which guarantees sustainability
reporting since they need growth and development even for the generations to come. The
company uses a management administration for sustainability to ensure the environment,
society and economy exist together in peace. The main aim of the company is a creation of
greener future which in their view could be achieved through the fast-food industry
establishments. In addition, the company has innovated new developments which are
environment-friendly. The paper, therefore, researchers deep into the ‘sustainability
reporting' in McDonald's on the basis of the yearly reports made. The report is detailed more
on the performance of the sustainable developments and several other activities. Besides, it
includes the impact it has had on its partners. Therefore, some of the critical issues addressed
in the annual report include the green development systems, consumer loyalty exercises and
the ecological management techniques (Gualandris, Klassen, Vachon and Kalchschmidt
2015).
Scrutiny
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Sustainability reporting in the company was made possible by employees who
integrated the company’s goals to the sustainability levels required. When addressing specific
strategies, evaluation of the strategies was done to identify the risks and uncertainties
involved that could, in turn, affect the performance of the environment, the economy as well
as the society. Thereafter, precautions were taken against the risks while as opportunities
were identified (Kareiva, McNally, McCormick, Miller and Ruckelshaus 2015).
In McDonald' company, it is clear that it has used some of its reporting to reflect the
social, environmental and economic performances in the market. One of the very common
reporting the company has used is the sustainability levels on the environment, health and
safety of the country. In their report, they have shown the issues concerning the health of
employees. Additionally, in another report pertaining the corporate social responsibility
(CSR), it included the training and educational programs for the employees, ethics in the
workplace and the workplace diversities (Lodhia and Hess 2014).
The company makes use of the Global Reporting Initiative system to make their
sustainability report. The system is important when it comes to analyzing issues facing the
stakeholders where they then focus on addressing those issues. The main strategy used by the
company is the integration of reports in the sustainability reporting they conduct in a financial
and non-financial manner (Lyons, Bartlett and McDonald 2016). With this kind of the
sustainability reporting, the company includes information regarding the social, economic
and environmental performance of the company.
It involves assurance providers who are professional, stakeholders' panels as well as
other people to ensure proper assurance of the sustainability reporting they make.
Furthermore, in their reporting, they include the comments made by the people involved in
the discussion to validate the information. McDonald's ensure that the sustainability report
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has shown their accountability by following the internationally set standards of assurance
engagements.
Findings
The analysis of the sustainability reports of the company has identified a positive
correlation between the integrated reporting and involvement of employees. Employees
showed their capability in evaluating and assessing the company's' risks and at the same time
coming up with remedies to the risks. Consequently, the consumers' value was added due to
the services they consumed which ensured the developments made were sustainable. This has
played a great role in making sure that the objectives and goals of the company were
achieved. The company has shown its commitment to solving the environmental, social
concern and purposes to make sure that their employees and society are in a position to meet
their needs at all times. One of the objectives of the company is to promote transparency
through the integration of both financial and non- financial information in their sustainability
reporting. Ease access to the information in the reports to the stakeholders could create
efficiency to creating new solutions to the social, environmental and economic issues which
are still a problem for the company.
Moreover, the relationship between the company and other individuals around the
company is positive. The relation has been proven by the sustainability reports made because
of the existing transparency between them. The community has full knowledge of the
activities carried out by the company hence they feel as part of the company (Johnson 2015).
Therefore, the community can be used as the assurance partners in recognizing the efforts to
ensure sustainable development by the company. The working environment is also conducive
to the company as the community will allow it to continue with activities without
interruptions as harmony was established form the start. Therefore, McDonald's company has
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MCDONALD’S SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING
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grown in its shareholders hence increased brand value over the years (O'Neill, McDonald and
Deegan 2015).
Sustainability reporting ensures good brand image to the potential investors or
shareholders which McDonald’s has been able to achieve. It is for this reason that consumers
and the community trust that the company is the best source which never fails them. The
brand image created by the company plays the role of the excellent relationship between them
and the clients they have. Nonetheless, the company's' ability to provide quality services to
the clients has further boosted trust. Thus, they reap their profits from the loyalty of their
customers.
Consumers of product and services from any company will always trust and believe
that company is in production for the best interest of the consumer. Therefore, the desire and
willingness of a company to ensure safety in the environment and health of the society will
increase the loyalty of the consumer to such a company. McDonald’s company ensures that at
all times it causes no pollution to the environment form their operation and more so those
included in their supply chain. It is also a concern to the clients or consumers in the company
on the treatment of their employees. The company works very hard to ensure that the working
conditions of the employees are conducive and suitable to enable propel the company
towards achieving sustainable developments (Crowther 2016).
Some of the activities in McDonald's company causes the emission of greenhouses
gases. The company has taken the responsibility to account for the emissions of data in the
sustainability reporting. It is in their projects to find a way through which they reduce such
emissions especially because they are hazardous to the community and the environments as a
whole. The company has therefore been able to succeed in identifying these ways so as to
ensure that the environment remains safe and avoid any climatical changes due to pollution.
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This makes sure that developments made in the country are sustainable even for the future
generations.
Lastly, and more importantly we found out that the company is capable of attaining
sustainable developments when they identify risks and take precautions against them which
was possible through integrated reporting (Crane and Matten 2016). It was encouraging the
McDonald's company has come up with management techniques that evaluate and assess
risks which are likely to happen in the future. The management of this department in the
company are professionals who are aware of the possible actions which could be taken to
prevent the occurrences of such risks. This one of the areas where the company has been very
effective in ensuring that the performance of the company is improved. Thus they are
sustainable reporting and accounting for the company.
Conclusion
Growth and development in the McDonald's company have been the experience over
the past few years. This has been the case due to the management of the sustainable
development by the company. Furthermore, they have been an important role played by the
sustainability reporting by the company ever since 2005. A good and positive relationship has
been maintained by the company and its stakeholders as well as the community thus an
increased value of the company's brand. The investment level has increased due to increased
shareholders which is profitable for the company and the shareholders at the same time.
Increased investments involve increased employment and increased production in the country
and hence increased economic growth.
The company has attained its goal of sustainable development by making sure that the
gas emission does not negatively affect the environment. It has therefore not caused any
climatical changes thus increasing the environmental performances. Such working conditions
will ultimately maximize the output abilities of the employees. Moreover, there has been a
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notable improvement in the social performance. This is evident from the positive
relationships between the groups involved directly and indirectly in the company's
production. Therefore, McDonald's company has highly influenced the positive effects in
meeting the sustainable development levels of the country.
References
Craig, R. and Rodrigues, L.L., 2016. Using a Dialectic Approach to Understand
Stakeholders’ Conflicts with Corporate Social Responsibility Activities. In A
Stakeholder Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (pp. 339-356). Routledge.
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Crowther, D., 2016. A social critique of corporate reporting: Semiotics and web-based
integrated reporting. Routledge.
Gualandris, J., Klassen, R.D., Vachon, S. and Kalchschmidt, M., 2015. Sustainable
evaluation and verification in supply chains: Aligning and leveraging accountability
to stakeholders. Journal of Operations Management, 38, pp.1-13.
Johnson, M.P., 2015. Sustainability management and small and medium‐sized enterprises:
Managers' awareness and implementation of innovative tools. Corporate Social
Responsibility and Environmental Management, 22(5), pp.271-285.
Kareiva, P.M., McNally, B.W., McCormick, S., Miller, T. and Ruckelshaus, M., 2015.
Improving global environmental management with standard corporate
reporting. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(24), pp.7375-7382.
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Lodhia, S. and Hess, N., 2014. Sustainability accounting and reporting in the mining
industry: Current literature and directions for future research. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 84, pp.43-50.
Lyons, M., Bartlett, J. and McDonald, P., 2016. Corporate social responsibility in junior and
mid-tier resources companies operating in developing nations–beyond the public
relations offensive. Resources Policy, 50, pp.204-213.
O'Neill, S., McDonald, G. and Deegan, C.M., 2015. Lost in translation: Institutionalised logic
and the problematisation of accounting for injury. Accounting, auditing &
accountability journal, 28(2), pp.180-209.
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