SSE Company: CSR Activities and Sustainability Report

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Assignment on SSE Company and CSR Activities and
Sustainability
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Executive Summary
The SSE Company is a UK based electronic distribution and gas Company. The company
distributes electric products, electricity and gas in the UK and Scotland. SSE Company is a
part of the SSE Group. The company is a FTSE 100 company and is popular as the largest
energy distribution network in the UK. The company has more than 20.000 employees
working in 150 locations in the UK. The report attempts to study the external factors that
contribute to the operations of the business of the company. PEST and Porter’s Five Forces
have been studied to find out how the company is affected by external factors. In the second
part Corporate Social Responsibilities and Sustainability has been studied. It also studies how
SSE gets support from the stakeholders for its CSR activities. The CSR initiatives help the
company to serve the community and to create awareness among the customers about the
quality product of it.
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Contents
Assignment on SSE Company and CSR Activities and Sustainability......................................................1
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................2
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................4
Task 1.....................................................................................................................................................4
Analysis of the External factors.............................................................................................................4
1.1. Analysis of PEST.....................................................................................................................4
1.2 Porter’s Analysis..............................................................................................................................5
Task 2.....................................................................................................................................................6
SSE Company and Corporate Social Responsibilities and Sustainability................................................6
2.1. CSR role on SSE Company...............................................................................................................7
2.2..........................................................................................................................................................9
Response of SSE to the CSR activities and sustainability.......................................................................9
2.3 Recommendations for improvements...........................................................................................12
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................13
Bibliography.........................................................................................................................................14
Appendix 1...........................................................................................................................................16
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Introduction
The SSE Company is a UK based electronic distribution and gas Company. The company
distributes electric products, electricity and gas in the UK and Scotland. SSE Company is a
part of the SSE Group. The company is a FTSE 100 company and is popular as the largest
energy distribution network in the UK. The company has more than 20.000 employees
working in 150 locations in the UK (sse.co.uk, 2019). The assignment focuses on studying
the external factors that affect to the business of the organisation.
Task 1
Analysis of the External factors
SSE is a leading electric supplier of the UK and Scotland. The company has dominated the
large energy market. The company is influenced by external factors. In the following the
external factors analysis are made.
1.1. Analysis of PEST
PEST analysis is made by the company to know about the effects of the external factors in
the growth of the company.
Political
SSE is one of the largest power energy industries in the UK. The influence of the government
decision and regulations affect in the operations of the organisation. Trading, tax regulation
and tariffs will affect the system of the business of the company and will also contribute to
the strategies of the company. Fiddler’s Ferry power station in the UK contributes to electric
energy of the country and helps the country to develop electric energy(sse.co.uk, 2019). The
investors prefer to invest in SSE and the government recognises the potential power of the
company in the local market. The government of the UK gets benefitted for the source of
energy that the company contributes to the customers of the country.
Economic
SSE Company contributes to the economy of the country. It develops new power station,
generates new electronic instruments and products for the market of the country. The
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company has more than 20,000 employees and it helps in contributing to the economy of the
country and brings stability in the economy of the UK(sse.com, 2019). The company is
aware of the economy of EU and the economy of western world. The company is aware of
the strict policy of the bank of England, EU bank, and World Bank for sanctioning loans to
the business organisation. The economic standard of the potential customers help the
company to grow its business.
Social
SSE has brand image in the UK. It has huge transactions and it has more than 20,000
employees(sseenterprise.co.uk, 2019). The company has huge customers, suppliers, investors,
employees and partners those who contribute to the growth of the company directly or
indirectly. The company has the responsibility to respect the people of diverse culture and
work for the protection of the culture of the employees. The company is concern about the
providing electricity and electric products so as to beautify the heritage sites of the
country(deloitte.com, 2019). The company rewards the skilled employees who contribute to
the growth of the company. The company has huge employees and it is very sincere in
handling cross cultural communication in the workplace.
Technology
The company focuses on technological development. It focuses on continuous involvement
with the new technology. The company engages itself in supplying gas and electronic
distribution to the UK and Scotland(sse.co.uk, 2019). The company uses technology for
making the process of paying the bills easy for the customers. The technological
implementation makes the company more efficient in the operations. Fiddler’s Ferry power
station in the UK contributes to electric energy of the country and helps the country to
develop electric energy (sse.co.uk, 2019).
1.2 Porter’s Analysis
The Porter’s five forces analysis focuses on examining the power of customers, suppliers,
competitors and threats of the substitutions for the company.
Suppliers
Bargaining power of suppliers is low. The suppliers of raw materials of electric commodities
have influence on the growth of the company. The company is a leading company in the
country. The suppliers will not move to other companies as they tie up with the SSE
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Company. SSE also offers the suppliers logical prices for the supply of the raw materials for
the development of the electric products(see.com, 2018). The company focuses on satisfying
the suppliers so that it will get quality raw materials for the electric products. SSE is the
second largest company in the sector in the UK. The suppliers will prefer to supply as the
company has the brand image in the country.
Buyers
The bargaining power of the customers is medium. SSE is a leading company in the UK and
Scotland. The buyers rely on the electric products of the company. The company supplies
energy of electric and gas for the households and local governments. The customers can
change their choice to other companies if they find better products(sse.com, 2019). But in the
context of SSE Company the bargaining power of the customers is medium. The Utility
Warehouse is a competitor of SSE.E.ON UK is the second competitor of SSE. The company
is in the Multi-Utilities industry. British Gas is the top competitor of SSE. Thus the customers
can divert their attention to the competitors. SSE also promises to make the life of the
customers easier. It always focuses on helping the customers to save their money and to help
the customers in fulfilling their needs. The company is also committed o provide the
customers excellent customer service and to treat them fairly. The company also the policy of
sponsorship in order to make a difference to the customers and the wider communities.
New Entrants
The bargaining power of new entrant is low. The global market encourages the competitors to
enter the new market. But the bargaining power of the new entrant is low in the context of
SSE Company. The company has more than 20,000 employees and it has presence in 150
locations of the country. The company is one of the leading companies in the country. The
new entrants will find it difficult to manage their business(Carroll & Shabana, 2010). The
company also creates new power station in Great Island for meeting the needs of the new
generations.
Threat from substitutions
The threat from substitute is high. The market finds the different approaches for the
customers. Individual energy plan, sun planet, new sources of energy, renewable source of
energy and all other substitute plans are found in the market. It is difficult for the company to
provide all kind of new electric products to the customers(Lee, 2008). Different companies
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will attract the customers with new and energy saving products so that expenditure of the
customers will be low. It will create a huge challenge for the company in the future.
Threat from the competitors
The threat from the competitors will be medium for the organisation. SSE Company is an
established company in the UK and Scotland. Huge competitions and innovations will bring
huge challenges from the competitors. The company has to respond to all these challenges in
order to remain market leader(sse.co.uk, 2019). The innovations of the competitors will force
the company to bring new products in order to compete them in the market. SSE will work to
find out the innovative ways to meet the challenges. The Utility Warehouse is a competitor of
SSE. E.ON UK is the second competitor of SSE. The company is in the Multi-Utilities
industry. British Gas is the top competitor of SSE. Thus the customers can divert their
attention to the competitors.
Task 2
SSE Company and Corporate Social Responsibilities and
Sustainability
The business operations of the company is not ended with delivering the products to the end
users. The company has been given the responsibilities to work for the betterment of the
social community and the stakeholders in and around the areas where it is working. The
company will create a bond with the customers by establishing relationships with the
stakeholders and the communities. The relationship will help the company to get long term
benefits. The community will contribute to the growth of the organisation(Carroll, 2015). The
company will also be able to manage the activities with the help of corporate social
responsibilities activities.
2.1. CSR role on SSE Company
Corporate Social Responsibilities is a management concept that integrate social and
environmental concerns for the functioning of the business and for the interaction with the
stakeholders. CSR helps the company to achieve a balance of social, economic and
environmental imperatives. The expectations of the stakeholders is also addressed. It helps
the company to have correct decision making to get competitive advantage such as access to
the capital and market, growth in the sales and purchase, saving the operational costs,
development in the productivity, HR development, development of brand image,
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development of customer loyalty and for better decision making and risk management. SSE
will get the advantage with the help of CSR activities and with its sustainable approaches.
In 2018, SSE became a signatory to UNGC, United Nations Global Compact which is the
largest corporate sustainable initiative. The support of UNGC is related to help the companies
to take a sustainable approach for business and aligning strategies and operations with ten
unique principles. They are such as human rights, labour and environment and against the
corruption. SSE follows the new EU CSR Directives and makes the disclosure about the non-
profit impacts(see.com, 2018).
In the UK market, SSE Company is considered as the second largest company. The electric
sector is the key area of the business of the organisation. SSE distributes electric products and
distributes electricity and gas in the UK and Scotland. The company has its presence in 150
locations in the country. The vast presence of the company works with large number of
customers, suppliers and other stakeholders who are connected to the growth of the company.
The community plays an important role in the development of the organisation(Spence,
2016).
SSE focuses on providing the customers tailored services in order to meet the needs of
individual client. The company provides energy and related services to the 500,000
customers. The customers are from a diverse range from micro-businesses to large multi-
national corporates.
Role of customers
There is always a bargaining power of the customers. They customers take decision while
making a choice for buying the products of a company. The customers always focus on
quality products. The choice is also made as per the goodwill of the company(Frynas &
Stephenes, 2014). The brand image of the company attracts the customers with quality
products. The quality products attract customers and this has a significant influence on SSE
Company. The SSE Company prepares strategies to bring benefits to the customers. The
image of the company depends on the amount of choice made by the customers.
Role of Employees
The most important internal stakeholder of the company is the employees. The engagement
of the employees contribute to the achievement of the goals of the organisation(Frynas &
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Stephenes, 2014). The quality product is created with the help of the committed workers and
the sales team of the company contribute to distribute the electric and gas products to the
customers. The satisfied employees will contribute to the growth of the organisation.
Role of investors
The CSR activities of a company exhibit the commitment of the company for the growth of
social and cultural values of the community. SSE will be accepted and the investors will
prefer to invest in the company when they will find that SSE is committed to the community
and working for the development of the people of the community. The investors will prefer to
invest when the company expands its activities and communicate its growth to the
community(Lee, 2008). Investors will get attracted. The marketing plan and strategies will
help the company to attract more investors to invest.
Role of Competitors
The role of competitor is major in the growth of the company. The company always prepares
strategies to enhance the productivity so that it can compete with the leading competitors.
The company uses its strategies to attract the customers by taking CSR initiatives(Dahlsrud,
2006). The SSE Company will get advantage when it will attract more customers with its
CSR activities. The customers will accept the company for its connective strategies in
comparison to the competitors.
Innovative Plan
The CSR activities help the company to get connected with the people. The company works
for the common people and works for their better life. It helps the company to know about the
expectations of the customers. It helps the company to make new innovations so that it can be
the market leader(Frynas & Stephenes, 2014). The CSR activities of the company will help
the company to involve in social activities and this will contribute to the growth of the
organisation.
Influence of media
The development of the company also depends on the amount of support it gets from the
media. The company gets the support of media when the products are accepted by the
customers. The image is created by the company by doing well for the society. The company
has gas and electric products(see.com, 2018). The company has customers in the UK and
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Scotland. The CSR activities attract the attention of the media and they promote the business
of the company.
2.2.
Response of SSE to the CSR activities and sustainability
The SSE Company is operated in the UK and Scotland. The company becomes responsible
for taking initiatives for the development of the community life. The duty is to see that the
economic, social and educational development of the communities are taken care by the
company. There are some activities of SSE Company are discussed below.
Community development with the help of charitable work
The company creates healthy relationships with the community of the country by establishing
strong relationships with the community by doing charitable work for the people. Creating
social awareness the company educates the community(Schwartz & Carroll, 2003). The
company gets this process to make the products of the company popular. The campaign is
organised by the company to aware people on different social issues and it becomes a way to
send the message to the community about the effectiveness of the products.
Policy of green industry
Green industry is the important concern of the global companies. The world becomes warm
day by day. The strategies are formulated to make green business. The company focuses on
taking care of industrial wastes so that society and environment will not be affected by it. The
company is sincere about the protection of environment and does not like to waste the brand
image. The company does not want to lose the customers for the lack of waste management.
The company knows that it is an ethical and social responsibility. The company will create
goodwill in the society by focusing more attention on the protection of the environment. SSE
will get the support of the community and the entire employees will also be protected when
the company works to manage the environment(deloitte.com, 2019). The working
environment will also be developed and no workforce will face any health issues.
SSE Business Energy provides 100% renewable energy tariff which is called SSE Green. The
company ensures zero emissions for the customers that purchase electricity. The company
has found that the number of SSE Green Customers rise by 173% (see.com, 2018).
SSE has understood that social activities become important for the company to make
sustainable business. The company knows about the value of the customers and knowledge of
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them. The company pays the employees of it a fair wage and invests on reducing the carbon
footprint. The company follows a responsible approach in order to help the customers to be
more sustainable. This will create a long term value.
Focus on the customers
Customers are the key to success of the company. For the perspective of the business,
company focuses on the customers. Satisfaction of the customers is vital for the company.
SSE has gained award as the best company for satisfying the needs of the
customers(sse.co.uk, 2019). Building good customer relationship is beneficial for the
company. The company attends the queries and grievance of the customers through its CRM
team.
The real Living Wage and the profits of Fair Tax to the customers are promoted by SSE
Business Energy. In the year 2017, the Green customers of SSE were eligible for having cost
of living wage and Fair Tax Mark accreditation (see.com, 2018). This is a support given to its
customers in their work for enhancing the sustainability of their own business in the long run.
Compensations and Recovery Policy
SSE has adopted a policy of providing the customers compensation and recovery when it
finds faults in the product and services. It does not only say sorry to the customers
(sseenterprise.co.uk, 2019). The company follows ethical policy to convince the customers of
the UK and Scotland. The policy of the company is to promote the wellbeing of the
customers. The ethical policy of the company has helped to create brand image and to
become the second largest gas and electric supplier of the UK and Scotland.
Focus on environment
Industrial waste is a major issue for every organisation. The industrial waste is generated
during the process of the product of the company. These activities create a negative impact on
the environment. The areas near the manufacturing plant is affected by the polluted
environment. The company focuses on managing the waste. SSE works with EU to minimise
waste for the protection of the life of community around the business unit (ssen.co.uk, 2019).
The company follows UK climate Change act 2008 that focuses on reducing GHG emissions
by 80% of 1990 levels by the year 2050. The company also follows the Paris Agreement that
focuses to keep the temperature to below 2 degree Celsius (see.com, 2018). The company
has targeted to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emission intensity of carbon by 50% by the year 2030.
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SSE Company also focuses on enhancing transparency in its approach to the management of
water.
Initiative for the employees of the organisation
The company has more than 20,000 employees. Employees are the important stakeholders of
the organisation. The betterment of the employees will contribute to the betterment of the
community. SSE provides the employees training, good working environment,salary, reward
and involves them in decision making process. The community get benefitted out of it as it
works for the people(Schwartz & Carroll, 2003). The good working environment helps the
company to get success in its business.
Committee to serve community
SSE Company has initiative to serve the community by forming committee. JNCC works to
help the community. The focus of the committee is to have continuous communication with
the customers and the community so that they can have direct contact with the company. The
company can easily solve the issues and confusion of the customers will be resolved. The
company clears the doubts, queries and expectations of the customers regarding products,
services and distribution of electric energy and gas. The committee helps to clear the doubts
of the customers and their confusion is eliminated. Continuous communication with the
customers and the communities help the company to implement plan. The CSR activities of
the company helps it to send the awareness to the customers and communities about the
products and services. It helps the company to get long run benefits. The company invests 6.5
million for the communities in the year 2017-18 and 6.9 million in 2016-17 (see.com, 2018).
Educational and sponsorship initiatives
The SSE Company focuses on providing sponsorship to the community children so that they
will be benefitted out of it. Schools of local community are provided facilities for quality
education. SSE initiated a contract and partnership for the beautification of Scotland in the
year 2013. The company worked through its CSR activities for the beautification of Scotland.
SSE also supports women football at every level. It helps the local clubs and sponsors for the
sports. The SSE Women’s FA Cup is sponsored by the company (sse.co.uk, 2019).SSE
Scottish helps players for competing at the highest levels. The company also supports two
major entertainment venues that allow the customers of the company to get priority. The
company is also a partner of the UK’s leading therapy charity. The company supports the
vulnerable children and adults across the country.
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