University Name: MNG81001 Assessment 4 - Target Australia CSR Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Target Australia's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, focusing on its 2018 activities. The report begins with an executive summary and an introduction to Target Australia, outlining its business operations and history. It then evaluates ...Read More

Running head: CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA.
CSR REPORT OF TARGET, AUSTRALIA
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author Note

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
Executive Summary
This report deals with the CSR of Target Australia. The analysis suggests that the company
should aim at developing effective means to plan their future strategies which will help them
become more sustainable in nature and emerge as one of the green marketers. They should
also strategize in order to be more customer friendly and approachable for the stakeholders
which would ensure that they are preferred by the consumers as well as other stakeholders.

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
Table of Contents
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................1
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Evaluation of the website.......................................................................................................4
Corporate Social Responsibility in Action. Which social change activities does the
company engage in? Identify activities from each relevant category...................................5
Analysis of the CSR report....................................................................................................6
Communicating about CSR........................................................................................................9
The lack of dialogue.................................................................................................................10
The danger of empty boasting and CSR..................................................................................10
Empty boasting and reputation.............................................................................................11
Corporate scandal 1..............................................................................................................12
Corporate scandal 2..............................................................................................................12
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................13
Appendix..................................................................................................................................16

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
Introduction
Target Australia is an Australian store chain company which owns and operates 293
stores in all over the country. The product list of the company is diversified and they are
selling several kinds of products like cosmetics products, clothing, home wares, electric
utilities and garments as well as electronics items for consumers. In the Melbourne the
company’s national office for supporting and hosting the operations is located. In the year of
1926, George Lindsay and McKenzie established the primary and first store with some
garments and beddings products. Their next crucial step was taken in the year of 1968 in
Myer Emporium with 16 stores in their chain (Jahdi & Acikdilli 2009). A rename is given by
the company which is Lindsay’s Target with a mission that is the expansion in the business.
Then within three years the company made their expansion with the opening of branches in
South Australia, Queensland, and in New South Wales. The company is following very
effective CSR policies to create their brand awareness in the mind of the people.
Discussion
Evaluation of the company’s CSR activities
The company is striving to achieve sustainability goals as they are developing
effective plans and strategies to implement the measures in order to enhance their success.
They are emphasizing on decreasing the usage of natural resources, so that they can control
the effects which directly or indirectly effect the environment. Their sustainability report of
2018 has focused on sustainability development by inspiring wellness and investing in the
betterment of community (Target.com.au. 2019). They also aim at being more inclusive.
They are focusing on the contributing to the well being on the community by taking into
considerations the internal and external factors which affect the company. They are looking

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
for more enhanced ways which will help them become more sustainable in nature as well as
environment friendly. The company is also intending to enhance their packaging, which will
help them create brand identity and become more sustainable. They also are trying to be more
energy efficient by adding more stars to the energy consumption indicator. The company is
aiming at the certification of ENERGY STAR which is due in 2020. It will help them create
better prospect for the company. They have 153 designs for the packaging of their product
which are basically done by recycling biodegradable ingredients. This has become very
effective to enroll the name of the company in the list of Green Marketers. They are
concerned about the emission of greenhouse gases in their workplace and in their retail
stores. Therefore, to become more environment friendly and contribute as less as possible to
the pollution which is happening around, they have subsequently reduced the emission of
greenhouse gases by 11.5% in per square foot area. The transportation facilities and processes
are also evaluated to achieve efficiency. 36% of the improvement is done by the company in
their air transportation method and 20% development is done in On-Road transportation
system. They are providing best health care facilities to the employees and their families.
They are concerned about the health and safety issues of their employees which help them
gain trust and loyalty from them, in return. In 2015, 59% of the employees and their
respective family members have got the facilities such as screening of breast cancer. They
were enrolled into plan and programs which were directly organized by the company. Double
educational support is given by the company to lesser and under privileged children so that it
can increase their literacy rate as well as help the poor yet bright students.
Evaluation of the website
Table 1: How 'green' is my company?

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
1. Company name: Target Australia
2. Industry type: Chain Store Business
3. Is there a CSR department?  Yes  No
4. What is it called? Target CSR Team
5. Is there a CSR Report for 2018?  Yes  No
6. Is it available on the website?  Yes  No
Corporate Social Responsibility in Action. Which social change activities does the
company engage in? Identify activities from each relevant category.
CSR activity  OR  Activity
a. Environment 
b. Consumer
responsibility

c. Community 
d. Employee
relations

e. Indigenous 

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
f. Diversity 
8. How ‘green’ is the website? Eco friendly packaging, harmless
environmental ingredients are used.
9. How ‘green’ is the company? Effective and systematic CSR activities and
sustainability development.
10. CSR indices/rankings
The company has planned the development for their CSR activities and they have
enrolled for the betterment of the society as well as their employees in their CSR activities.
Health and safety of the employees are cared by the company. Increasing the quality of the
product and the service is another step taken by the company to enhance their services which
are offered in the market. They are focusing on reducing their energy consumptions and
regulation of wastes which are generated by the company. Target is trying to allocate
sustainable materials for their production and trying to source it accordingly to benefit the
company in return (Russell, Russell & Honea 2016). Organizing cooperative team bonding
and influencing organizational behaviour are ensured by the company to enhance the
reliability of the employees on the organization.
Analysis of the CSR report
Table 2: Attributes of the CSR report

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
1. Describe the form and content of the CSR report:
 Safety, security, health and wellbeing of our team members and customers.
 Ensuring the safety and quality of our products.
 Embracing a diverse and inclusive culture, and developing careers.
 Investing in our communities.
 Maximizing our energy efficiency.
 Minimizing the waste generated by the company.
 Ethical sourcing of our products and services.
 Sourcing sustainable materials.
2. Who is the report designed for?
Constituency  OR  Key message
a. Investors 
b. Employee present 
c. Employees future 
d. Academics 
e. Community activities 
f. Public officials 
g. Corporate managers 
h. Other 
3. How thorough and credible is the report?
Report elements  OR 

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
a. Is this a CRS report? 
b. Does the report provide details on CSR practices as well as
policies?

c. Does the CSR report provide systematic data? 
d. Does the company report data in a comparable form? 
e. Does the report present future goals as well as past practices? 
f. Does the report include bad news as well as good news? 
g. Does the report address the company’s greatest CSR challenges? 
h. Does the company integrate CSR reporting with its traditional
business strategy and its financial reporting?

4. Identify the key elements of the report
Sustainability development, health and safety of the employees, minimizing the
wastes, maximizing the energy efficiency and sourcing sustainable materials.
5. Identify two sustainability initiatives for 2018 (or 2109 if details available)
Ensuring the safety and quality of the products and enhancing diversified and
inclusive culture for the development of careers for the employees.

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
The critical analysis is done on the basis of Target Australia and their business prospects
which is a dominant force with significant identity the chain store business. The company has
raised their wage subsequently in the last decade because of their efficient management and
strategic measures. There are several management development programs which were
organized by the company in order to interact and improve communication with their human
resource and stakeholders. The health and safety issues are also taken care by the
organization so that the employees become more loyal with the company and develop a sense
of belongingness. The organization is trying to contribute to control and aid social issue such
as human trafficking by launching pilot program. The company provides best service to their
guests and to the consumers which has proved to be very effective in maintaining proper
communication with the stakeholders. This has helped in enhancing their cooperative
organizational behavior. Nurturing the needs of the community, is also what they cater to.
Their corporate social responsibility is faithful to the society which has helped them in being
recognizable and preferred by the consumers (Alhouti, Johnson & Holloway 2016). The
company is able to offer products in the market which are rich in quality, hence meeting the
expectations of the consumers. This has strengthened their identity as they have maintained
the quality of experiences they provide to their valued consumers. They are concerned with
the utilization of resources which are important in sustainability development. Therefore,
green marketing strategy is followed while giving attention to the ecofriendly packaging
system so that they cause the least effect on the ecosystem.
Communicating about CSR
Communication is very important in developing effective measures to hit the market
and be successful. Proper means of communication should be made certain by the
organizational heads and directors which will help in maintaining balance and integrated

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
relation with all stakeholders and shareholders alike. Participation of employees should be
ensured in taking decisions as it helps in providing opportunity to the employees which is
also very important to develop effective communication system. The company is creating
healthy organizational atmosphere for the betterment of the employees which will help in
strengthening bond among employees. The company is diverse when it comes to their
employees as they come from varying cultures. The company is taking effective measures to
accommodate the differing cultures which will as a result, build better conditions to work.
The administration ensures that there is approachable ways to meet grievances of the
employees which are resolved through discussion and negotiation.
The lack of dialogue
The lack of communication affect companies in many ways. Target should aim at
solving the grievances of the stakeholders in order to correct the processes of the company
which are not at par with the brand image. This will help them in recognizing the weaknesses
which might function as their limitations in the long run. Lack of dialogue and
communication about their products which are made available in the market will also lead to
alienation from the market. As there are other companies who engage in dialogue with their
shareholders which makes them be beneficial in that market as compared to the ones who do
not. If the company makes any promises which are not fulfilled will cause detrimental effects
for their image which might not be changed easily. Therefore, this should be evaluated and
balanced.
The danger of empty boasting and CSR
Empty boasting in the market of business and in the field of CSR is should not be
tolerated by the community and that thing should be banned legally. Companies are bragging
their CSR activities to gain the attentions of the people and to create the brand awareness in

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the mind of the people (Bouten 2011). The company is focusing upon very proper and clear
CSR policy and that is planned and strategically developed for the betterment of their quality
and service. They are following very effective plans and procedure for the betterment of the
employees also. But the false and empty barking of several CSR activities should be
prohibited because it is a cheating done by the corporates. This thing will become as a curse
above the company and the organization can be affected by the false boasting of the
sustainability development (Carroll 1979). If the company makes any attempt at any kind of
exaggeration, will be caught by the public which will directly affect the company’s image
negatively. The brand identity will be reduced (Campbell 2007). Lack of dialogue and false
promises will not be tolerated by the community and this thing will be prosecuted.
Empty boasting and reputation
The corporates have to spend 2% of their earnings for the development of the CSR
activities and they have to make it with the audit and in a systematic process so that it
benefits them in achieving their long term goal. Target Australia is emphasizing on their
sustainability development as they are aware about the norms and policies created by their
directors (Bhattacharya, Korschun & Sen 2012). They have very well implemented the plans
which they had charted out for the health and safety purposes of the employees. They are
emphasizing on the environmental aspects by trying to develop pollution free techniques and
measures. They are also emphasizing on the efficiency of fuel consumption and energy
consumption so that they can achieve energy star certification (Alhouti, Johnson & Holloway
2016). Their educational programs for the bright students have helped them procure positive
criticism and image so that they can contribute to the educational developments of the
community with the assistance of the company’s CSR activities.

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CSR REPORT OF TARGET AUSTRALIA
Corporate scandal 1
Volkswagen is one of the best companies who has failed in their CSR activities and
that has affected their growth as they are facing challenges in their growth and success. They
had planned and promised to develop environmentally friendly cars but they have failed in
the completion of their promise.
Corporate scandal 2
Unilever also failed in the completion of their CSR activities as they failed to create
and maintaining proper organizational behavior in the work place. There have been several
instances of harassment reports which were filed against the company which occurred with
the employees which effected the company very negatively.
Conclusion
The organization should focus on the sustainability, transparency and the accountability
in order to encourage better CSR activities and for the enhancement of the community and
for all stakeholders involved. The organization is focusing on their CSR activities which is
very essential for the growth of the company and should be maintained by the organization to
strike balance with the market and society.

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Appendix