Sainsbury's: Sustainable Business Strategies and Corporate Governance

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Sainsbury's approach to sustainable business practices. It begins with an introduction to the concept of sustainability and its importance in the business context, followed by a background on Sainsbury's as a major UK retailer. The report then delves into Sainsbury's specific sustainability concerns, corporate governance strategies, and the application of the triple bottom line framework. It examines corporate social responsibility, business ethics, and the company's code of conduct. Furthermore, the report explores Sainsbury's sustainable business strategies, including its adaptation to the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity) world. The analysis covers various aspects such as the integration of environmental, social, and economic factors, the impact of market changes, and the company's initiatives to address sustainability challenges, concluding with an overview of the company's efforts to ensure long-term value creation while considering ecological, economical, and social impacts. The report highlights Sainsbury's commitment to meeting the needs of future generations and its alignment with UN sustainable development goals.

Dynamic perspectives on
Sustainable Business
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Background......................................................................................................................................3
Sustainability concerns of Sainsbury..........................................................................................4
Corporate Governance................................................................................................................7
Triple Bottom Line .....................................................................................................................8
Corporate social responsibility....................................................................................................9
Business Ethics and code of conduct..........................................................................................9
Sustainable business strategies..................................................................................................10
Strategies in the VUCA world..................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
Sustainability of business is one of the major concern in a company which leads to
effective management of business operations. This helps in sustainability of various processes of
business in a company. It is the process which leads to inclusion of long term perspectives for
sustaining resources such as ecological, environmental, financial and other resources. It helps in
creating long term value with consideration of business operations affecting ecological,
economical and social environment of a company. Sustainability is important in a business for
maintaining and developing value in long term. It is essential to coordinate efforts in business for
achieving sustainability of operations and value creation activities in a country. Also, it helps in
sustaining resources for future generation of a country. In this report it includes key
sustainability concerns and impact of business activities on these concerns. It involves range of
theories and models with appropriate sustainable business strategies.
Background
The chosen organisation for understanding the role of business sustainability in large
organisation is Sainsbury. It is one of the largest supermarket chain in UK operating in retail
industry. It has vast number of product in different categories of consumer goods. This leads to
wide range of product portfolio which helps in serving all the needs of consumer. It has been
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operating business in different countries with supermarket chains and convenience shops.
Company has been working with large versatile and diverse group of people which helps in
enhancing productivity as the business is solely depends on the efficiency of its workers. Retail
industry has been growing through a faster rate with the change in environment of market
structure (Barth, Ulvenblad and Ulvenblad, 2017). These changes affect the growth and
functionality of business majorly such as increase in standard of living, consciousness for health
and consumption, increase in spending of income etc. This leads to increase in growth of retail
sector with increase in rate of consumption and overall change in trends with time. UK has large
number of stake in retail industry which provides increase percent in GDP. This leads to boost in
the economic environment due to increase in retail market. Retail industry is one of the largest
segment in UK which helps in providing increase economic activity leading to be a source for
rise in economy. Sainsbury being the second largest retail chain in UK has been serving
customers in various countries. It has been growing with increase in numbers for turnover and
profit of company (Cosenz and Noto, 2018). Industry has large market to serve in food and
beverage sector and increase demand for consumer goods. It has profitable categories such as
tobacco, alcohol and chilled foods with increase in number of working people in country. Thus,
retail industry is growing at a faster rate in country with increase in demand for food and
beverages sector. Also, company has a big market share in the country however, profits of
company has declined in last three years.
Sustainability concerns of Sainsbury
Business sustainability is the integration and management of various resources such as
environmental, financial and economic factors. This has major concern for ensuring socially
responsible, ethical and enduring success for long term. It is based on three pillars of
sustainability such as social, economical and environmental factors. These are vital for the
growth and success of sustainability of business in a country. This has been considered as triple
bottom line which is modern concept different from traditional concept of bottom line. The
traditional concept is based on evaluation of efforts with their short term effect on profits of
company. They also considered social and environmental concern as an obstacle with financial
goals of company. The aim of sustainability is to increase or optimise resources with utilising
effective alternatives which has positive impact on the long term effect on the profitability of
company (Haseeb and et.al, 2019). These alternatives are sustainable in nature which has
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continuing benefits on the operations and factors of production with least impact on sustainable
factors concerns.
Authors Definition Interpretation and relevance on
company
Brundtland
Commission
Sustainability is the constant
development which helps in
meeting needs of the present
without comprising on the
ability of future generations in
meeting their own needs.
Company has been focusing efforts for
building and sustaining resources for future
generation. It understands importance of
sustainability in the growth of business and
earning trust or customer loyalty.
Amory B.
Lovins
It is the integration of
environmental, social, human
and economic goals in policies
and activities of a company.
Concerning sustainability with integration
of all three pillars is important for
achievement of their long term goals and
objectives of company.
Paul Hawken He states in his book The
Ecology of Commerce that
sustainability is one of the most
certain paths to innovation for
companies seeking for a
competitive edge.
Innovation is must for every business to
sustain in the long term with change in the
business environment. Company has been
focusing on sustainable development
leading to increase in competence and
building of competitive advantage for
company.
Thus, sustainability of business is one of the vital concern for company to sustain
business operations in long term. This leads to increase in profitability and performance of
company with concerning social, environmental and economic concerns. These are also called as
people, planet and profit as important concern for sustainability of business leading to equality
and opportunity for future generation with considering different views of authors.
From the above discussion it has been clear the understanding of business sustainability
from views of different authors. Retail industry has a big share in UK market leading to growth
of economy with considering sustainability of resources and various factors. This leads to
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meeting needs of future generations in the country (Maxim and Dornean, 2018). Company has
been socially active with empowering and encouraging farmers to produce higher yield milk,
improved animal welfare and a price guarantee. This helps farmers in producing better quality in
bigger quantities of tea and dairy products. It has been inculcating sustainable values which help
them in producing innovative ideas leading to better serving of retail customers. It has followed
all the different ideas for sustainability of business given by different authors. Company has
invested on sustainable packaging of goods with utilising renewable material for the production
and consumption of goods. It has aligned itself with UN sustainable development goals which
leads to implementing sustainability goals and values in various operations of business. This
leads to positive impact on the growth and development of community in and among countries.
Thus, from the above analysis it is concluded that Sainsbury has been undertaking all the
concerns of sustainability development in business with ensuring its impact on various factors. It
has invested good amount for the growth and sustainability needs of future generation with
collaborating in government projects for sustainable development. It has formed various groups
for farmers with similar interest to sustain their efforts in producing farm yields with good
quality and increase quantities of farm production. UK has been very active in protecting human
rights and sustainable efforts for future generation.
Industry has been through various changes in past impacting future operations of retail
companies. The key change is the development of technology and sustainable branding of
products due to increase concern of customers for environment and their health. These key
changes or trends resulted in impacting the consumer behaviour and demand for sustainable
products. Sainsbury has been impacted with these changes leading to increase in use of advance
technology products in retailing business. One of the major change is in demand of products due
to change in consumer behaviour with increase in concern for transparency of brands and
sustainable products. With the increase in standard of living of people and reduction in poverty
rates it leads to increase in consumption rates. This has led to increase in demand for consumer
goods with change in expenditure patterns and increased need for transparency of products. This
has resulted with shifts in buying patterns of consumers and usage of technology in selling of
goods (Klassen and Hajmohammad, 2017). Company has been utilising artificial intelligence and
advance technology products for providing better customer services. These changes has resulted
in increase in online purchasing of goods with establishment of e-commerce stores. Furthermore,
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change in trends impacted the manner in which customer experience with demand for
personalised services.
Sainsbury should focus on collaborating with sustainable brands which has high
reputation in the market. It should plan more sustainable practices which leads to increase in
building trust and customer loyalty. Also, it should plan for bringing customised products with
emerging and changing demand for specific products. Consequently, it can plan for new
innovated products with skilled employees trained in delivering personalised services. This help
company in increasing demand for its products with sustained demand and increase in
profitability of company. Retail industry is going through major shifts due to economic crisis
impacting consumer disposable income with increase in demand for necessary goods (Lemke
and Bastini, 2020).
Corporate Governance
Corporate governance strategies are defined as the management and the control system of
the company this includes the interest of the stake holder or the shareholders. This is done
through principal and best practices out there. This model helps Sainsbury to protect the interest
of their shareholder. This model is having four different segments, these segment are as follows:
 Anglo – American model – in this model the right of the share holder are recognised
and governed , and they are also given importance. In this model the role of the director
is rarely independent of the management. This is a share holder oriented model and
when their share holder are not satisfy with them then they sell the shares of
organisation in the market and quit. This give all the share holders equal right and it
will give the big share holder a reason for not participating or taking any active role in
this corporate model
 German model – it Triple bottom line is an ideology that is being followed by
Sainsbury which revolves around three main factors. This methodology makes sure that
Sainsbury focuses on their social and environmental benefits like the way they do on
profit maximization. Brands all over the globe have one bottom line which revolves
around profit maximization. This methodology helps the organisation in focusing on
three factors which are profit, people and planet. This methodology makes sure due to
pressure of completion of their social responsibilities the organisation is not kept from
achievement of their profit margins (Malecki, 2018). This also makes sure that the
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stakeholders associated with the organisation are taken care of. Which revolves around
workforce management and prioritising their health and fulfilment of organisation's
duties against the same. The third fold of this approach focuses on planet which focuses
on establishing policies in a way that the planet is not being harmed from it, in addition
to that the organisation have to put efforts in bettering the environmental quality within
the geographical boundaries where they operate.
 European model- According to this model the organisation believe that the workers are
the main share holders and they also have the right to participate in the management
discussion . For the supervisory board the workers also choose their representative. This
model is also used by Sainsbury's
 Japanese model – this type of model is usually adopted by the Japanese firms who
have in which the banks and other financial institutions are having high stake and with
through this they are having the rights of participating in the management of the
company (Zyznarska-Dworczak, 2018).
 Social control model – this is a type of model in which the stake holders board is given
priority over other stake holder . The stakeholder board is given the right of making
decisions and improving the internal control system.
Triple Bottom Line
Triple bottom line is an ideology that is being followed by Sainsbury which revolves
around three main factors. This methodology makes sure that Sainsbury focuses on their social
and environmental benefits like the way they do on profit maximization. Brands all over the
globe have one bottom line which revolves around profit maximization. This methodology helps
the organisation in focusing on three factors which are profit, people and planet. This
methodology makes sure due to pressure of completion of their social responsibilities the
organisation is not kept from achievement of their profit margins. This also makes sure that the
stakeholders associated with the organisation are taken care of. Which revolves around
workforce management and prioritising their health and fulfilment of organisation's duties
against the same (Barth, Ulvenblad and Ulvenblad, 2017). The third fold of this approach
focuses on planet which focuses on establishing policies in a way that the planet is not being
harmed from it, in addition to that the organisation have to put efforts in bettering the
environmental quality within the geographical boundaries where they operate.
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Corporate social responsibility
CSR activities are socially active programs which leads to focus on giving back to society
and environment. It is responsibility of every corporate in which they integrate social and
environmental concerns in operations of their business. It is a commitment towards community
to run their business in a ethical manner and aiming for socially accountable practices. This
theory has positive impact on the operations of business as well as on community. It leads to
increase in image of company and building of trust among customers. It helps community with
quality products and sustaining standard of living with serving of needs. It is considered as an
effective strategy by Sainsbury which helps in increasing performance and impact positive social
change.
Business Ethics and code of conduct
Business ethics are refer to those best practices which helps in conducting business fairly
and impartially. These are the values which helps in leading and directing right behaviours in a
company or business. It helps in differentiating right and wrong practices in a business resulting
in formation of business policies and implementation of practices. It includes corporate
governance, insider trading, discrimination and corporate social responsibilities (Cosenz and
Noto, 2018). Sainsbury has strong ethics which directs behaviour of employees and top
management of company.
Code of conduct are the set principles and policies for a particular type of business. These
help in guiding and coordinating efforts with following professional practices. It helps businesses
in following or practising similar policies and principles in an industry. Sainsbury has been
following code of conduct in retail industry leading to positive impact and acceptance in society.
It helps company in serving stakeholders effectively leading to uniformity and unbiased
behaviour across the industry.
This part concludes that the corporate governance in the organisation helps stakeholders
in understanding their rights and safeguarding them from exploitations. Organisation runs on the
goals and objectives set by the higher level people but it can only be achieved when people
understand their roles and responsibilities. Code of conduct is very important in the organisation
as it motivates employees to follow the norms and values within organisation. Corporate social
responsibility helps organisation in improving their goodwill in the market and it is explained as
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the contributing the part of the organisation revenue in the social growth to encourage the
economy and social development.
Sustainable business strategies
Sainsbury's is second largest supermarket chain in the UK. In order to gain the top spot
among the competitors Sainsbury's always focuses on formulating and implementing effective
strategies. Organisation gains competitive advantage over their competitors by achieving the
desired goals and objectives (Haseeb and et.al, 2019). Sainsbury's is a supermarket chain which
provides grocery products to the consumers at affordable prices and it helps them in increasing
their market share and retaining their consumers. Sustainable business strategies are explained as
the implementing social, economic and environmental aims into the organisation goals and
objectives, which helps them in creating the value for the long-term and helps in setting the
mission and vision of the organisation. This is further explained as the completing the need of
the firm and it's stakeholders. Internal and external both factors plays vital role in developing the
sustainable business strategies for the organisation. Sainsbury's focuses on executing the
strategies which helps them in boosting their profits and also focuses on maintaining the quality
of their products (Maxim and Dornean, 2018). There are sustainability issues such as inequality,
labour practices and many environmental issues and in order to tackles these issues sustainable
strategy plays a vital role. Sustainable strategies helps Sainsbury's in solving the issues related to
the production efficiency and also gives insights about the new improved and efficiency
strategies. Sainsbury's faces problems which arises due to the external factors and in order to
tackle these issues sustainable strategies comes into play to smooth the functioning of the
organisation. Sustainable strategies helps in maximising the Sainsbury's performance and
productivity. Pricing and valuation system also affects the Sainsbury's functioning due to the
change in market dynamics and it is resolved by the use of sustainable strategies. Enhanced
business functioning depends on the the communities and the system of the communities and it
is very important for the organisation to have healthy community.
Sustainable supply chain
Sainsbury's focuses on the working with the suppliers and focuses on working with
social and environmental standards. It has been researched by the studies that the sustainability
improves financial results. It helps Sainsbury's in proving the importance of green practices and
which increases sales of the organisation and increase the value of the organisation. Supply
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chains helps organisation in ensuring the delivery of output and improves the functioning of the
organisation. Sainsbury's market share is increasing as they have executed the sustainable
strategies which is helping them in attracting new consumers and increasing the profits. Supply
chain more importantly improves the performance of the organisation as as whole which impacts
the resources and it helps in utilising the resources effectively and efficiently (Klassen and
Hajmohammad, 2017).
Sustainable value
The value of sustainable strategies is explained in such way that it integrates the
economic, environmental practices in order to make the organisation productivity and
performance effective. Sainsbury's is focusing on creating the sustainable value to their
organisation and this is only possible when they focuses on the creativity and imagination of
their employees in the organisation as it would help them in understanding the market and
creating new products for the organisation. This includes the understanding in the Sainsbury's in
order to create value by adding the competency in the organisation and promoting innovation in
the organisation. The sustainable value helps Sainsbury's in accessing their current position and
helps in understanding the needs of the organisation and helps in understanding and grabbing the
opportunities of the organisation (Lemke and Bastini, 2020). Sustainable value helps in
enhancing the business performance of the organisation. It helps in increasing the operational as
well as design improvements.
Strategies in the VUCA world
Sustainable business strategies re made in order to create or plan the activities or goal of
the organisation for a long period of time. In the past the Sainsbury's had been not properly
utilizing the business due to which they were also suffering form heavy losses and they were also
not able to realize the full potential of their resources. This was harming the company as well as
the nature, but the main harm was done to the future as the Saisbury was leaving the resources
underutilized and the future generation was about tom use the leftover resources. For this various
companies like Sainsbury's developed different strategies so as to make full utilization of the
resources and cope up with this fast changing world (Malecki, 2018). One of the main strategies
was the VUCA world.
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VUCA world shows the unpredictable nature of the world in context with the business.
VUCA helps Sainsbury to formulate strategies with keeping future in mind. VUCA stands for
Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity.
 Volatility – this means that the business environment is changing very fast. This include
the change in the technology and the change in the trends. In context with Sainsbury's the
sustainable nature is changing with a very fast pace in their environment . They have to
formulate their strategies so that they can cope up with this fast changing world.
 Uncertainty - this means that the future is unpredictable and no one can predict the future
or can see what's going to happen. In case with Sainsbury's they have to make the
sustainable strategies so that in near future if any change occurred in sustainable
environment then they can adapt to it easily.
 Complexity – this means that there are multiple forces working in the sustainable
business environment so the organisation have to formulate strategy to deal with them. In
context with Sainsbury's they have to make strategy so that they can sustain the complex
business environment (Zyznarska-Dworczak, 2018).
 Ambiguity – this means that when the business takes something from nature it will have
the cause and effect relation. In context with Sainsbury's they have to formulate their
sustainable strategies according to it.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that sustainability of business is an important
concern in following good practices. It includes corporate social responsibilities and ethical
practises towards environment, social and economic concerns in a business. It is important to
conduct business sustainably which helps in delivering positive impact socially with long term
benefits.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barth, H., Ulvenblad, P.O. and Ulvenblad, P., 2017. Towards a conceptual framework of
sustainable business model innovation in the agri-food sector: A systematic literature
review. Sustainability. 9(9). p.1620.
Cosenz, F. and Noto, G., 2018. A dynamic business modelling approach to design and
experiment new business venture strategies. Long Range Planning. 51(1). pp.127-140.
Haseeb, M., Hussain, H.I., Kot, S., Androniceanu, A. and Jermsittiparsert, K., 2019. Role of
social and technological challenges in achieving a sustainable competitive advantage
and sustainable business performance. Sustainability. 11(14). p.3811.
Maxim, A. and Dornean, A., 2018. TRENDS, CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES OF
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT. AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS FOR ROMANIA.
Transformations in Business & Economics, 17.
Klassen, R. and Hajmohammad, S., 2017. Multiple temporal perspectives extend sustainable
competitiveness. International Journal of Operations & Production Management.
Lemke, C. and Bastini, K., 2020. Embracing multiple perspectives of sustainable development in
a composite measure: The Multilevel Sustainable Development Index. Journal of
Cleaner Production. 246. p.118884.
Malecki, C., 2018. Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives for Sustainable Corporate
Governance. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Zyznarska-Dworczak, B., 2018. The development perspectives of sustainable management
accounting in central and Eastern European countries. Sustainability. 10(5). p.1445.
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