MGMT-6016 Corporate Sustainability: Strategic Shift for Origin Energy

This assignment provides a comprehensive analysis of corporate sustainability, focusing on Origin Energy, a leading energy provider. It explores the company's background, mission, and vision, emphasizing its commitment to sustainability. The report delves into the concept of the Triple Bottom Line (Planet, People, Profit) and its relevance to modern business strategies. It discusses the principles of sustainability in a global business environment, referencing the UN's ten principles for corporate sustainability. The assignment also evaluates Origin Energy's sustainability strategy, including its annual sustainability report and initiatives to reduce carbon emissions. Furthermore, it identifies future sustainability issues, compares market and regulatory aspects, and critically assesses the increasing demands for mandatory reporting. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of sustainable practices for long-term business success and societal well-being.

Running head: CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY
Corporate Sustainability
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s note

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Executive Summary
The concept of sustainability has got prominence and precedence o the past few years. Corporate
sector all over the world have gradually come to realize and recognize the impact the
organisation have on the environment and the society and significant and has the potential to
bring about changes that are exponential in nature. Assignment discusses about one of the
leading energy providers, Origin. A brief description of the company has been stated to
understand the values and principles that guide the operation of the business. The mission and
vision of the company is discussed in this assignment which is sustainability driven and is for the
betterment of the energy industry. The concept that has been discussed in this assignment is
Triple Bottom Line. Some of the principles and the process or reportage in the aspect of
sustainability has also been discussed in this assignment. A comprehensive part has been
dedicated to sustainable reporting.

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Origin...............................................................................................................................................2
Company background..................................................................................................................2
Mission and vision.......................................................................................................................3
Objective......................................................................................................................................3
Current position...........................................................................................................................3
Concept Triple bottom line..............................................................................................................5
Corporate Sustainability..................................................................................................................6
Principles of sustainability in a global business environment.....................................................7
Sustainability strategy of Origin......................................................................................................8
Issues of future sustainability......................................................................................................9
Identification and comparison of market and regulatory issues regarding sustainability...............9
Critically evaluate the increased requirements for mandatory reporting...................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
According to the traditional business model adopted by companies the focus was mostly
on the growth and development of the company regardless of the consequences the strategies
may have on the society and the environment. With globalization and the changed dynamics of
the business environment all over the world corporate look in to the business model of the
company from a different perspective. The recognition of the responsibility the corporate have
towards the society or the environment has changed the way the business operated in the past.
The growth and development strategies of the corporate houses are now based on the
requirements of the current situation without hampering the capability of the future to meet their
requirement at that point of time. Sustainability has three pillars: environmental economic and
social (Milne & Gray, 2013).
Origin
The company is regarded as the leading power supplier of Australia, New Zealand and
the Pacific. The company is popular among the B2B as well as B2C clientele based on the
efficiency and services. Origin has a rich heritage in the energy industry owing to the time the
company has been serving in the industry, the company engages in energy exploration, retailing,
production and power generation. Operating in a heavy industry enables the company to grown
in the process of changing dynamics of the industry without hindrance (Home page, 2017).
Company background
The company can be deemed as a contemporary organisation as it was formed in the new
millennium. Headquartered in Sydney as well as in New South Wales the company boasts a

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heritage of goodwill and good reputation among the stakeholder of the company as well as in the
industry. Origin is the largest energy retailer in Australia and serves approximately 4.217 million
customers; the consumers of the company are starting from domestic usage to small business
units to large energy consumption units. The company also leads in the sector of supplying low
carbon based products in Australia. Origin also has around 160,000 shareholders (Home page,
2017).
Mission and vision
The mission and vision of the company is to change and re-shape the entire energy
supply chain.
Objective
The objectives of the company are:
 To keep up with the dynamic demand of the energy industry
 To build a sustainable future
 To encourage innovation in order to deal with the changes
 To deal with the changes in the climate and environment with innovation and strategy
(Savitz, 2013).
Current position
Since inception of the company, it has been focused on changing the ways in which the
energy supply chain works, the current position of the company is that it is leading in the energy
supply industry in Australia. The company focuses on two businesses and develops strategies
based on these: emery market leadership, natural gas and LNG production (Home page, 2017).
In order to develop the business and grow in the industry of operation the company is currently

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concentrating on three priorities: Improving returns and growing renewable, Improving
competitiveness and delivering growth in natural gas as well as LNG and management and
funding of the capital (Savitz, 2013).

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Concept Triple bottom line
The concept of triple bottom line was developed by John Elkington in 1994;
according to Elkington companies should not have a single point of focus while strategizing for
the growth and development of the company. He said that companies should keep their resource
concentrated on three aspects rather than one (Glac, 2015). These three aspects are described as
3Ps: Planet, people and price. He says that for an organization environment and society are
equally important. As the operations of the organisation are influenced and revolves around
these aspects. The idea of triple bottom line contemporary and sets a juxtaposing idea with the
traditional business model that companies used to follow previously. The traditional concept just
concentrated on the development of the business from an economic perspective as mentioned
above, environment and societal responsibilities were recognized as a burden on the company
speculated as liability as the company had to invest in these aspects which eroded the profit. The
goal and objectives of the corporate units focused around the economic and financial growth of
the business (Glac, 2015). For example: organizations that operated in the energy sector did not
concentrate innovation and research on developing alternatives as the non-renewable resources
are limited. The process of sustainability begins with the thought of the future generation and
previously that was absent. Corporate houses always tend to calculate the process of investment
on the return that would offer to the growth and development of the company. Sustainable
project are mostly based on intensive research investment as well as the installation process also
requires capital hence the companies are apprehensive of the investment as it does not assure
positive return on investment (Milne & Gray, 2013). This concept urges corporate houses to
take responsibility of the resources they have received from the society and the environment to

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grow and develop their business. When one enjoys liberty and freedom of operation it is also the
duty of the company to comply with the duties and responsibilities that come with the freedom
(Henriques & Richardson, 2013). Companies are supposed to understand the positive or negative
impact they pose to the society and the environment and strategize accordingly to combat in case
of any negative impact. For example: Energy industry has a large impact on the environment as a
lot of drilling and mining causes a number of environmental issues which should be recognized
by the companies in this industry and should work towards combating these problems.
Corporate Sustainability
The concept of corporate sustainability is supported with four pillars, corporate
social responsibility (CSR), stakeholder theory accountability and sustainable development. This
is a contemporary concept in the management system. It is an alternative to the traditional “profit
making” objective of the corporate. This concept recognizes that fact that it is significant for a
company to initiate corporate growth in order to channelize the profit in resources for the future
of the company. At the same time it also recognizes the responsibility the companies have
towards the development in a sustainable manner (Benn, Dunphy & Griffiths, 2014).
Sustainable business is referred the development and creation of conservation and preservation
approach of the environment, development of societal equity, promotion of the well-being of the
people associated with the organization and support fair trade practice. Corporate sustainability
ensures a process of strategic planning and coordination of the business operation with the social
and environmental requirements in order to act responsibly and ethically (Ferrell, Hirt & Ferrell,
2016). Innovation is as a significant approach towards the development of a sustainable business
model. Innovation in terms of technology, policies, and decisions can help the company ensure
that the principles of sustainability are met as per the guidelines that are stated below.

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Organisation must follow an adaptive path of operation in order to embrace and incorporate any
new idea and innovation (Halpern et al. 2013).
Principles of sustainability in a global business environment
Business environment can be internal and external where the company has control over
the internal environment; the dynamic of the external business environment is not under the
control of a company. United Nations has ten principles of corporate sustainability; it states that
sustainability is the direct impact of the values and principles that are followed by an
organisation. There are four areas stated by the UN which has to be considered by a company in
order to follow sustainable development: anti-corruption, human rights, labor and environment.
By including the Principles stated by the UN Global Compact into the strategies, policies and
procedures of the business the company will be establishing a culture of integrity. Corporate
houses will not only uphold their basic responsibilities to the people and environment, but also
prepare the organisation for future prospects (The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact,
2017). The ten principles are:
 Corporate houses should uphold and respect internationally proclaimed human rights and
incorporate the same in the business operation
 Abuse of human rights should be considered as a serious offence and should be dealt with
severity
 The freedom of association and the effective acknowledgment of the right to collective
bargaining should be implemented by the companies
 The companies should not indulge in any kind of forced or compulsory labor
 The company should encourage and work towards abolition of child labor

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 There should be no biased form of employment and occupation development in the
organisation
 Precaution should be maintained by business organizations which deal with the
environment depletion
 The companies should support and promote environmental responsibility
 Investment and research should be encouraged by organizations regarding sustainable
innovation and development
 Extortion and bribery are major forms of corruption which is ethically as well as
financially harmful for any organisation and it should be avoided at every point of
operation (The Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, 2017)
Sustainability strategy of Origin
The company issues the sustainability report on an annual basis on the official website.
Origin focuses on several aspects when it comes to sustainability like: health safety and
environment, people and culture, land access and coexistence, communities, customers, water,
waste, process safety, policy, communities and supply chain. The company is firstly shutting
down the only coal-firing power station as a step towards curbing the carbon emission. This
station is said to be shut down by the early period of 2030. The company is focused on changing
the way the energy sector perceives the carbon emission issue. Carbon emission is regarded as
one of the severe concerns of global climate change. The company engages in materiality
analysis in order to understand the impact of strategies. Some of the aspects that are considered
while assessing are: the level of risk, the level of stakeholder involvement and topicality of the
factors (Origin Sustainability Report 2017, 2017).

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Issues of future sustainability
According to the World Council for Economic Development (WCED),
sustainable development is the procedure incorporated by the organizations which ensures that
the company will collect the requirements and resources based on the current position of
business without negotiating the requirements of future generation. Some of the issues in future
sustainability are:
The position of the economy on a global scale is fragile and coupled with the changing
dynamics can pose a threat to the idea of sustainable development in developed countries as well
Allocating jobs to the labor force that is available is a real challenge and an issue with the
concept of sustainable development
Policies of the government all over the world can also be an issue with imposing the
strategies that are ideated by the organisation
Lack of knowledge of the emerging threats regarding the environment or the society may
pose a threat towards the future of the sustainable development model.
The unanticipated accelerated growth and impact of the issues that were persisting in the
past can pose a threat and can be a major issue in the steps taken by an organisation towards
sustainable development (Miller et al., 2014).
Identification and comparison of market and regulatory issues regarding sustainability
Depending on the scale of operation of the business the sustainability measures are taken
by an organisation. If the organisation is operating on a global platform the scale of policies and

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decisions regarding sustainability will also increase. Hence, finance is the main issue when
sustainability is concerned (Herbohn, Walker & Loo, 2014).
Another major issue apart from finance is the scarcity of other resources in the
organisation. Based on the industry of operation and on the nature of the business the resources
can be allocated.
Shift of focus from environment and climate has been identified in recent observation,
economic and financial crisis gaining precedence (Idowu, Zu & Gupta, 2013).
Organizations on a large scale are yet to consider natural calamities and naturally
occurring environmental depletion as major issues and they have to be dealt with similar
intensity as with man-made issues.
Constantly growing population as well as increased amount of consumption can also be
considered as an issue of a global scale in sustainable development (Lozano, 2015).
Regulatory issues relevant to sustainability at the global and local level
Ethics and principles followed by an organisation is more than just doing what is right
and avoiding what is wrong. Many times the concept of right and wrong become subjective and
this is where a guideline, principle or a regulatory authority becomes significant. Based on the
home country or the country of operation law and principles are set by the government for
organizations to follow in terms of adopting sustainability and ethical growth (Herbohn, Walker
& Loo, 2014).
Globally and Locally