Business Sustainability Reporting: Telstra and Coca-Cola Comparison

This report provides a comparative analysis of the business sustainability reporting practices of Telstra and Coca-Cola. The report begins with an overview of the core business operations of both companies, highlighting their strategic positioning in the market. It then delves into a detailed comparison ...Read More

BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING

Table of Contents
1.0 Core business operations of Telstra and Coca Cola..................................................................3
2.0 Differences between the two companies in terms of issues......................................................5
3.0 Relevant sustainable goals of the chosen companies................................................................7
4.0 Sustainable phase in which companies fit.................................................................................8
5.0 Justifications of stated values....................................................................................................9
6.0 Reflections...............................................................................................................................10
References:....................................................................................................................................11
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1.0 Core business operations of Telstra and Coca Cola
Managing society as part of the corporate social reasonability (CSR) may be considered to be
one of the most critical success parameters for an organization as the process of such managing
may take into considerations number of factors that are not only external but also internal to the
business. A business may achieve sustainability in the market if the operation is in line with the
broader societal need and demand framework and the corporate objective is synced with the
environmental perspectives as well. The instant piece of reach paper delves into the discussion of
such initiatives towards the society undertaken by Tesla and Coca Cola. The researcher in the
paper has aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of those initiatives.
At the very outset of the study, the researcher provides a brief introduction to the theme of the
paper followed by the concise overview about the core business operations of Telstra and Coca
Cola. In this context, it may be noted that such discussion entail the comparison between the two
company’s basic strategic positioning in the market as well. In the subsequent sections of the
paper, the researcher has evaluated the relevant sustainable goals of the chosen companies and
also the sustainable phase in which companies fit. The discussion is been supported by the
justification for the right fit and finally the researcher has wrapped up the discussion by way of
providing a concluding note where eth reflections has been provided summarizing the essence of
the paper.
Telstra is Australian leading telecommunications and technological brand providing a complete
range of present communication service line. It has been identified that the brand manages to
offer 18 million retail mobile service lines, 3.7 million fixed bundles and 1.7 million stand-alone
service lines (Telstra., 2019). Further information highlights that Telstra has managed to
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transform its culture from that of typical government own monopoly to a commercial owned
organization.
The market in which the company operates has undergone immense liberalization. Australia at
the present time has shifted towards open competition and it has been subjected to competition in
both national and international telecommunications service markets.
It has also been identified that Telstra has managed to two fixed its telecommunication next
network across the Australian market by carrying over 90% of calls and virtual communication
services including household networks, business networks etc. (Telstra, 2019).
On the other hand, Coca-Cola is one of the leading beverage manufacturing companies in the
Global Context. The organization is specifically famous for its non-carbonated and concentrated
beverages. It has a Global Business change that operates on boat International and Domestic
scale. According to Banerjee, Gupta & McIver (2019), Coca-Cola has been able to develop its
Global reach with a local focus on collaborating with 250 bottling partners across the world
(Coca-Cola, 2016). These bottling partners’ producers, package merchandise and distribute the
final adduced beverage to its vending partners who then sell the non-carbonated beverages to the
final customers. Just like other markets, Coca-Cola has also made a strong grip in the Australian
food and beverage sector.
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2.0 Differences between the two companies in terms of issues
It has been recognised that in the present time Telstra is struggling with the increasing pace of
competition. The management has claimed in an interview that he is optimistic about Telstra
future operations, but is concerned regarding else short-term performances (Jacobs, 2018).
Additional information gathered from a similar source highlights that Tesla is struggling severely
to protect its market share by competing on price margin. However, the competitors are coming
up with several advanced facilities in telecommunication service lines, which are prohibiting
Telstra from retaining its leading position. It can be stated that the company needs to be more
aggressive in terms of its cost-cutting facilities and could also refer to more drastic actions like
tower sharing agreements, asset sales and also by offering competitors axis two primary
infrastructure for boosting wholesale revenues. Hence it can be stated that surviving the
emerging rate of competition in the Australian market has been the main challenge faced by
Telstra in the telecommunication sector.
On the other hand, Coca-Cola has also faced severe challenges in the Australian beverage sector.
The major problem Coca-Cola is facing in the recent time is the increasing rate of obesity among
all age groups. With the legal authorities’ concerns across the globe and increasing pressure of
media publicizing on obesity concerns, the sugar content used on the non-carbonated drinks by
brands have undergone serious scrutiny (Writer, 2017). Moreover, the customers are getting
concerned regarding their health and are making relative attempt to eliminate the food items
causing high obesity. This is where Coca-Cola is facing the major dispute, which enforced the
company to introduce Diet Coke in the market. However, it has been also been identified that the
Australian beverage market is highly saturated with a number of players and Coca-Cola is
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receiving tough competition from PepsiCo and other domestic players as well. To retain its
leading positions, the management of the brand needs to be persistent in terms of introducing
healthy, soft drinks in the market to meet the consumers’ expectations. Although the popularity
of carbonated drinks has increased with the passage of time yet, the public pressure of reducing
sugar content over the drinks would remain high.
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3.0 Relevant sustainable goals of the chosen companies
Telstra is one of the largest telecommunication brands in Australia. It plays a major role in
helping its customer and community to adapt the technological changes and the opportunities it
has brought over time. The brand makes stable attempt in terms of helping every member of the
community to make full utilisation of digital technologies and the benefits it brings. Through its
Telstra Foundation, the brand has enabled to provide young people to improve their technical
skills and to navigate the Global safety. Moreover, Telstra has also launched a refreshed
environment strategy this year to leverage environmental condition through technology and
innovation adoptions. The brand has also made a firm attempt in managing carbon emissions. It
has invested in energy efficiency support in the Australian market. Telstra also installed effective
technology to lower the carbon footprint and climatic resonance in the environment (Telstra.,
2019). The initiatives taken by the brand towards maintaining a sustainable environment have
been the most relevant practices. Since, Telstra is operating with telecommunication service lines
that create degradable actions on the ecology. Hence the practices like, lowering carbon
emissions, carbon footprint and climate change resilience has been found more relevant in the
research context.
In respect to Coca-Cola, the brand has undergone cross-sector collaboration to address the
Global Challenges. It maintained a strong focus in the areas like clean water, sanitation, gender
equity, economic growth and responsible power consumption. Additional information shows that
the brand’s water stewardship portfolio considerately supports SDG 6 (Coca-Cola., 2019). The
management of the brand is also integrated new initiative called the world without waste in
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which, it enabled to reshape the company's approach towards packaging and recycling its waste
materials.
4.0 Sustainable phase in which companies fit
Inference can be drawn from the previous analysis that Telstra’s CSR practices fall under the
fifth sustainable stage. As the company has paid a considerable attention towards intellectual and
social capital and used it effectively to develop a strategic advantage by leveraging the aspect of
innovation. In this method, the management of the brand has made a smart attempt in
introducing the right products that can help the community to gain advanced knowledge
regarding digital platforms and its benefits without causing any harm to the environment. It also
used the right measures to limit carbon footprints, climatic change resilience, etc. Hence it shows
that Telstra has been a responsible firm in the Australian market by making a useful attempt in
retaining the ecological balance of the environment.
On an additional note, Coca-Cola falls under the sixth category of sustainability phase. The
product lines of the brand are assumed to create harmful effects on the human health. Therefore,
the brand needs to ensure that ingredients used in its product lines cause less harm to the
consumers. To ensure the criteria, the management is persistent in taking useful attempt both
internally and externally to enhance healthy living in the community (Benn, Edwards &
Williams, 2014). It gives equal attention towards human welfare as well as environmental
sustainability practices. Coca-Cola has introduced a number of products that maintain healthy
diet ingredients, keeping in mind the health of its consumers. Simultaneously has also
incorporated numerous useful methods to recycle its waste products and improving its packaging
system to maintain a perfect ecological balance in the community.
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5.0 Justifications of stated values
The social value of Telstra is to create a community where every member can leverage their
lifestyle by making the right use of technologies and advanced digital access. As per the
discussions it can be stated that Telstra has definitely been able to justify its social value through
its sustainable practices. The brand has ensured continuity in the digital advancement by
implementing the right telecommunication Technologies that cause minimum harm to the
community.
On the other side, Coca-Cola social value contributes in shaping a better future. Like Telstra,
Coca-Cola has also been efficient in justifying its social value. The brand is making a firm
attempt in product innovation and using the right ingredients that enable to retain the preferred
taste and also the health of its consumers. Moreover, with the support office partners, Coca-Cola
has been able to uplift the environmental condition of the society. It introduced the right methods
to reshape its packaging system and also implemented and effective waste management method
to recycle all with used products
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6.0 Reflections
An inference is drawn from the previous discussion that the attempts made by both the brands
are relevant in terms of meeting their stated social values. The group discussion has helped me to
understand the sustainable actions required being taken by brands operating in both
telecommunication and beverage sector. The project has also so help me to place my individual
opinion in terms of the collected data. My opinions in terms of the companies’ position in the
sustainable phase had contradicted with my fellow group members. Few of the members believe
that Coca-Cola falls under the category of the second stage and few perceived it to fall under the
third stage. However, my research work helped me to justify my viewpoint regarding the brand's
practices and also supported my justifications by authentic data to convince my team members to
categories Coca-Cola under 6th sustainable phase. Based on the discussion and analysis
performed in the preceding sections of the paper, I would finally like to conclude that a well-
designed corporate strategy sets towards the society supported by the strong corporate
governance and effective leadership will significantly contribute towards the attainment of
corporate goal of sustainability in the industry in the long-run in most cost and time efficient
manner.
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References:
Banerjee, R., Gupta, K., & McIver, R. (2019). What matters most to firm-level environmentally
sustainable practices: Firm–specific or country–level factors?. Journal of Cleaner
Production, 218, 225-240.
Benn, S., Edwards, M., & Williams, T. (2014). Organizational change for corporate
sustainability. Routledge
Coca-Cola (2017). Five Strategic Actions. Retrieved from
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/five-strategic-actions
Coca-Cola. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.coca-colacompany.com/stories/coca-cola-and-
the-sustainable-development-goals-the-greatest-cha
Jacobs, S. (2018). Telstra is facing a huge challenge in its core business. Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/telstra-challenges-share-price-falling-2018-5
Telstra. (2019). Environmental solutions | Telstra Exchange. Retrieved from
https://exchange.telstra.com.au/environmental-solutions-2018/
Telstra. (2019). Retrieved from
https://www.telstra.com.au/content/dam/tcom/about-us/investors/pdf%20A/t1-the-
company.pdf
Writer, S. (2017). Four big challenges for Coca-Cola | Food & Beverage. Retrieved from
https://www.foodmag.com.au/four-big-challenges-for-coca-cola/
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