Analyzing Westpac's Sustainability Performance in Financial Operations

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Westpac's sustainability performance. As one of Australia’s 'big four' banks, Westpac has embedded economic, social, and environmental dimensions into its business strategy to ensure sustainable growth. The paper highlights the integration of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices within daily operations and decision-making processes aimed at fostering long-term stakeholder relationships and promoting sustainable development. Through strategies like the Squashed Tomato Strategy and initiatives such as the Community Consultative Council (CCC) and Sustainable Supply Chain Management Process (SSCM), Westpac aims to mitigate its environmental footprint and enhance operational efficiency. The implementation of these sustainability practices is driven by objectives including achieving competitive advantage, engaging consumers, fostering long-term supplier relationships, and effective risk management. Stakeholders involved in these initiatives include customers, communities, employees, and suppliers, each playing a crucial role in the bank's sustainable growth. Ultimately, Westpac’s commitment to sustainability not only enhances its performance but also bolsters its global reputation.

Financial Accounting Theory

Introduction
The present paper is developed for presenting an analysis of the sustainability
performance of Westpac, an Australian bank recognized for providing innovative financials
services to meet the personal, business and corporate needs of its customers. The bank is
regarded to be one of the ‘big four bank’ of Australia by carrying out its business in a
sustainable manner. As such, this report illustrates the importance of sustainability in
enhancing the bank performance.
Implementation of Sustainability Performance in Westpac
The Westpac Banking Corporation has integrated the economic, social and
environmental dimensions into its business performance for ensuring its sustainable growth
and development. The banking corporation has implemented the approach to sustainable
business practices into its business strategy for supporting the economic, social and
environmental development. It implemented the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)
practices into its daily operational and decision-making activities. The concept of CSR aims
to integrate social and environmental concerns associated with a business entity into its
operational activities for promoting its sustainable growth. The sustainability approach is
implemented by the banking corporation through regular engagement with the stakeholders.
This helps to develop an in-depth understanding of the needs and expectations of the
stakeholders and thus developing the business strategies for meeting their priorities and
concerns (Westpac Group, 2012).
The banking corporation has also adopted the ‘Squashed Tomato Strategy’ for
analyzing the impact of the bank operations on the internal processes and stakeholder
relations. The strategy is focused on examining the impact of the Westpac’s operations on its
overall stakeholder group and to integrate its sustainability strategies into the organizational
practices. The company has also introduced innovative environmental solutions for resolving
the environmental problems such as introducing the new energy efficiency program and
supporting the growth of clean tech environmental services sector. The banking corporation
has also developed a Community Consultative Council (CCC) that meets annually consisting
of its different stakeholder groups for analyzing the various aspects of its sustainability
strategy. In addition to this, the banking corporation has also developed a Sustainable Supply
Chain Management Process (SSCM) for introducing sustainable business practices into its
supply chain (Westpac’s Squashed Tomato strategy, 2010).

Reasons for Westpac to Apply Sustainability Performance
The four reasons for Westpac implementing sustainability performance can be stated
as follows:
 Competitive Advantage: The Westpac banking corporation has introduced and
implemented sustainable business practices into its daily operational activities for
achieving competitive advantage by achieving product leadership and thus
maximizing operational efficiency. This is possible by integrating the socially
responsible practices into its each business area and thus supporting the development
of environment, society and overall economy in which it operates. The Westpac
sustainability strategy centered on active stakeholder engagement and minimizing the
environmental damage would help it to promote its goodwill in the global
marketplace and thus achieving higher brand recognition globally. This would
provide the Westpac a global competitive image and thus ensuring its long-term
growth and development (Kotler, Burton and Armstrong, 2015).
 Consumer Engagement: The sustainable practices undertaken by Westpac would help
it to develop the trust of the customers through promoting its goodwill in the market.
The sustainable business approach would help in developing a positive user
experience in the mind of the customers. Therefore, the banking corporation can attain
customer satisfaction and therefore increase its customer base thus driving its
performance and growth.
 Developing long-term relations with suppliers: The use of sustainable business
practices would help the banking corporation to develop long-term relationship with
suppliers. The baking corporation has developed a sustainable supply chain
management process that can help the banking corporation to maximize its
operational efficiency through reducing the operational cost.
 Risk Management: The banking corporations are exposed to various types of
operational risk such as financial scandals that can result in negatively impacting their
goodwill in the marketplace. As such, it is very essential for the banking corporations
to incorporate the use of proper risk management strategies for eliminating the
chances of occurrence of various types of risks. The implementation of the sustainable
practices by banking corporations such as Westpac would help in developing a
positive relation with the stakeholders that would help it to meet the various type of
situations involving risks effectively. This is because sustainable practices improve

corporate transparency and therefore developing a good reputation in the mind of all
its stakeholders (Robbins, Bergman and Coulter, 2014).
Four Stakeholders in Westpac Sustainability Performance
The major stakeholders in the Westpac are customers, communities, employees and
suppliers. The customers are the major stakeholder group of the banking corporation as the
bank operates for meeting the needs and demands of the customers. The banking corporation
develops its product and services as per the customer requirements in order to achieve their
loyalty and thus driving the bank growth and development. The communities in which the
bank operates are the next prominent stakeholder group of Westpac. The banking corporation
operates in co-operation with the nearby communities and therefore it is important for
Westpac to ensure the long-term development of its communities (2016 Westpac Group
Sustainability Performance Report, 2016). The employees are also an important stakeholder
group of the Westpac as they plays an important role in driving its growth through meeting
the customer needs and demands. The employees are largely impacted by the decision-
making of the banking corporation as they are responsible for acting in certain ways to
achieve its stated goals and objectives. At last, the suppliers are also an important stakeholder
group of the banking corporation that influences the quality of products and services. The
development of trust with the suppliers is highly important for the Westpac in order to
provide high quality products and services to the customers (Westpac Group, 2012).
Conclusion
Thus, it can be said from the overall discussion held in the paper that Westpac has
integrated sustainable approach and practices into its business strategy effectively. The
sustainability practices of the bank are responsible for improving its performance and
goodwill across the world.

References
2016 Westpac Group Sustainability Performance Report. 2016. [Online]. Available at:
https://2016annualreport.westpacgroup.com.au/assets/Westpac_Sustainability_Report_2016.p
df [Accessed on: 20 November 2017].
Kotler, P., Burton, S. and Armstrong, G. 2015. Marketing. Pearson Higher Education AU.
Robbins, S., Bergman, R. and Coulter, M. 2014. Management. Pearson Australia.
Westpac Group. 2012. Embracing the Corporate Journey into Sustainability. [Online].
Available at: https://www.westpac.com.au/docs/pdf/aw/sustainability-community/2012-
SSCM-CaseStudiesBooklet.pdf [Accessed on: 20 November 2017].
Westpac’s Squashed Tomato strategy. 2010. [Online]. Available at:
https://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership_docs/Westpac_Squashed_Tom
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