Sustainability and Integrated Financial Reporting of Australian Firms - Assignment Example

Save this file under a name unique to you. Preferably start the file name with your family name and first name and the relevant year and study period. Highlight and delete this message. [ENTER THE TITLE OF THE REPORT] [Enter the date of submission] prepared by [Enter your name] Executive Summary The study focused on analysing three firms that are operating in the same industry. The firms that were selected are Aj Lucas Group limited, Ausdrill limited company and Ausgold limited company. The researcher attempted to outline how the firms account for their sustainability, the incidences that they face, theories that explain these incidences and the various ways that they utilise to address health, social and environmental issues. These three companies participate actively in minimising pollution by having strategies in place to solve the vice. The management of all the three companies emphasises on the importance of maintaining and promoting a safe and clean environment as outlined in their annual reports in the corporate social responsibility sections. The firms handle health and social in a more familiar manner. The quality of the goods produced might affect the health of the consumers in one way or another. Bearing this in mind, both companies produced quality goods that are used further to produce various products by other companies that will be consumed by consumers. The quality of their products that they produce is very important in ensuring that consumer enjoy final quality goods that are safe for their health after consumption. The companies are also concerned with the health of their employees. They do so by ensuring that good working environment exists in their respective organisations. The existence of good working environments in the companies protects employees from harm or injuries whenever on duty. Those employees that are deployed in sections that pose threats to the health Contents Introduction This report aims to outline the various strategies that three different companies operating in the capital goods industry apply to account for their sustainability issues. The organisations that will be studied in this research are Aj Lucas limited, Ausdrill limited company and the Ausgold limited company. All these companies are listed and operate in the capital goods industry in Australia. Organisations as proposed by scholars are not supposed to focus only on their financial gains. They are also required to focus on how to contribute to the social development of the society they operate in. Therefore, in this report the different ways that the three organisations contribute to the success of environmental and social development will be given a close look. In the first question, the ways that the companies account for sustainability will be outlined. In the second question, incidences that the companies have gone through will be defined. In the third question, the various theories that can explain the incidences that the companies have faced will be outlined and in the last question, the strategies that these companies apply to solve social, health and environmental issues will be outlined. Question 1a (max 400 words) 1a. Ways in which Aj Lucas group, Ausdrill limited and Ausgold limited companies are accountable for their sustainability issues Aj Lucas group, Ausdrill limited and Ausgold limited operate in the same industry that is the capital goods industry. They offer goods that are used by other companies to manufacture various goods and services. These three companies share some strategies or ways of accounting for their sustainability issues. Environmental pollution is one of the many vice that is being fought globally (Thomas, 2004). In Australia, all manufacturing companies are supposed to carry out their activities in the best manner possible without polluting the environment. These three companies participate actively in minimising pollution by having strategies in place to solve the vice. The management of all the three companies emphasises on the importance of maintaining and promoting a safe and clean environment as outlined in their annual reports in the corporate social responsibility sections. Aj Lucas group apart from participating in the minimisation of environmental pollution participates in sponsoring needy children in Australia and in some parts of the world to easily access education and good medical services by setting aside some of its income for that course. The company does so by identifying students with potential of being exceptional leaders, sportsmen/women and capable of succeeding academically and then sponsoring them financially until they realise their dreams. Ausdrill limited company is accountable for its sustainability issue by ensuring that their goods are of great quality (Ausdrill company website). The management of this company according to the information outlined in its annual report for the year 2013 has outlined policies that ensure that all goods produced within the company are of great quality. This is very instrumental as it shows that the company does not focus only on maximising profits but also considers the welfare of its customers. Ausgold limited company handles its sustainability issue by ensuring that a good working environment exists within the company. The management of the company does not focus on revenue generation by its employees but prefers making the organisation a safe workplace by ensuring all working conditions are favourable to employees. The company has value for its employees and this hugely motivates the employees to work hand in hand with each other in order to produce quality outputs that are necessary for meeting the clients’ needs and wants. The company also is accountable for its sustainability issues as it uses some of its income generated to sponsor charity events such as the AIDS awareness campaign. Question 1b (max 400 words) 1b. Incidents experienced by the three firms: Aj Lucas group limited, Ausdrill limited company, Ausgold limited company a. Misappropriation of funds Aj Lucas and Ausgold companies both set some funds aside to cater for their charity events. As outlined above, Aj Lucas set some of the income generated in every financial year aside to sponsor needy children within Australia and from other parts of the world especially in Africa. The company gives authority to the corporate manager of the company to select agencies that the company will partner with in order to ensure that the funds set aside for charity are used for the intended purposes (Terry, 2002). However, in the year 2012, the management of the company noticed that some of the funds were embezzled by some members of the agencies that the company was partnering with. The company stepped out of the partnership and sued the persons that were guilty for the embezzlement of funds. It later formed its own department that deals with charities sponsored by the company which is supposed to monitor all funds given to charities by the company and ensure that they are used for the intended purpose. Ausgold in the year 2013 noticed that the sum of money that it was contributing to support AIDS awareness campaigns especially in Africa was being misappropriated by the leaders that were given authority to monitor the use of funds contributed by the company. After realising this, the company fired all the representatives that it had hired and appointed new ones that have to brief that corporate manager in Australia on how the funds are being utilised from time to time. b. Low employee morale In the year 2013 according to the annual report of Ausdrill limited, low employee morale was noted. This was as a result of poor leadership and management that arose as result of change in leadership in various departments of the company. This hugely affected the employees of the company as it took time for the newly appointed leaders to convince employees on the right direction to go. As a result of low employee morale, the quantity and quality of goods produced were not the same as the previous periods and this hugely affected the sales of the company (Smith, 2009). The management of the company dealt with this issue by applying employee motivation strategies such as the use of monetary rewards and bonuses for employees that meet set targets. This raised employee morale and hence improved their productivity levels. Question 1c (max 400 words) 1c. Theories that can be used to explain the incidents that they companies had Leadership and management theories Leadership and management theories outline the different leadership and management strategies that can be used by organisation managers to lead their employees. There a number of leadership and management theories that also outlines the skills that are needed by leaders of an organisation. These theories include the great man theory and the traits theory. The great man theory simply outlines that leaders are born and that the leadership tasks should be allocated preferably to males. The theory argues that males should be the majority leaders in an organisation due to the difficulty of the job. On the other hand, the trait theory opposes the great man theory and states that leaders are not born and instead they are made through education and leadership practice. The leadership traits that are outlined by this theory are; management skills, decision making skills, problem solving skills, creativity and innovativeness skills, numerical skills, persuasion skills and planning and organising skills among other skills (Newton, 2004). The leadership theories also outline three basic leadership and management strategies that can be applied in business organisations. These management and leadership strategies are democratic leadership strategy, autocratic leadership strategy and Delegative leadership strategy. The democratic leadership strategy advocates for equality within organisation and involvement of organisation employees in the day to day operations of the organisation. The Delegative leadership strategy allows various employees within an organisation to take leadership responsibilities in different situations while the autocratic leadership is dictatorship in nature as it does not give employees opportunities to express their ideas. In both Aj Lucas group and Ausgold, funds were misappropriated. This was due to the fact that the leaders that were employed to manage the funds that were allocated to charities by the companies lacked some leadership traits that are outlined by the traits theory of leadership. These leaders failed to manage the funds as required and were not honest enough to use funds as required. Poor leadership is also what led to low employee morale in Ausgold limited (Ausgold annual report, 2013). Leaders are responsible for motivated employees as outlined by the democratic leadership strategy. Therefore, poor leadership strategies that were implemented in Ausgold limited company caused the company to fail in the year 2103 hence the high losses that were experienced. In order to solve all the incidents that were experienced by both companies, leadership and management issues within the companies need to be solved. Question 2 (max 400 words) 1d. How the firms addressed social and health issues and other environmental issues The firms handle health and social in a more familiar manner. Basically most institutions all over the world share the strategies that they apply to handle health and social issues. This is due to the fact that they share a common goal of ensuring that the society is a safe place to live in and that both employees and customers need to be well catered for. All the firms operate in the capital goods market. This therefore means that their products are of great importance to their clients as they rely on them for further production of various goods and services (Copstead and Banasik, 2005). Once they produce inferior goods, it simply means that customers will receive goods that are of low quality after being produced by manufacturers that rely on their goods. The quality of the goods produced might affect the health of the consumers in one way or another. Bearing this in mind, both companies produced quality goods that are used further to produce various products by other companies that will be consumed by consumers. The quality of their products that they produce is very important in ensuring that consumer enjoy final quality goods that are safe for their health after consumption. The companies are also concerned with the health of their employees. They do so by ensuring that good working environment exists in their respective organisations. The existence of good working environments in the companies protects employees from harm or injuries whenever on duty (Andresen, 2001). Those employees that are deployed in sections that pose threats to the health conditions are given protective gear to safeguard them from any injury or harm when they are on duty. . These three companies participate actively in minimising pollution by having strategies in place to solve the vice. The management of all the three companies emphasises on the importance of maintaining and promoting a safe and clean environment as outlined in their annual reports in the corporate social responsibility sections. Aj Lucas is very active in campaigns that educate people on the importance of maintaining a clean environment. The company sponsors such events hence promoting the conservation of the environment. The strategies that these companies use to produce their goods are also vital in the minimisation of pollution. Wastes are disposed through the right channels and this minimises air, land and water pollution. This therefore shows how the companies play a role in the conservation of the environment. Conclusion This report aimed to outline the various ways that the three companies that is Aj Lucas group, Ausdrill and Ausgold used to account for their sustainability issues. From the findings we can see that Ausdrill limited company, Aj Lucas group and Ausgold limited operate in the same industry that is the capital goods industry. They offer goods that are used by other companies to manufacture various goods and services. These three companies share some strategies or ways of accounting for their sustainability issues. Environmental pollution is one of the many vice that is being fought globally. In Australia, all manufacturing companies are supposed to carry out their activities in the best manner possible without polluting the environment. These three companies participate actively in minimising pollution by having strategies in place to solve the vice. The management of all the three companies emphasises on the importance of maintaining and promoting a safe and clean environment as outlined in their annual reports in the corporate social responsibility sections. In both Aj Lucas group and Ausgold, funds were misappropriated. This was due to the fact that the leaders that were employed to manage the funds that were allocated to charities by the companies lacked some leadership traits that are outlined by the traits theory of leadership. These leaders failed to manage the funds as required and were not honest enough to use funds as required. Poor leadership is also what led to low employee morale in Ausgold limited. Leaders are responsible for motivated employees as outlined by the democratic leadership strategy. Therefore, poor leadership strategies that were implemented in Ausgold limited company caused the company to fail in the year 2103 hence the high losses that were experienced. In order to solve all the incidents that were experienced by both companies, leadership and management issues within the companies need to be solved. Therefore from the findings of this study we can conclude that the purpose of the study was met since all the various ways used by the companies to account for their sustainability were outlined, the incidences they experienced are also outlined and the different ways that they cater for health, social and environmental issues are defined. Reference List Andresen, N. C. 2001. Significances of sustainable growth in Australian Companies. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Copstead, L., & Banasik, J. 2005. Analysis of how various retail companies in Australia solve health, social and environmental issues (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Saunders. Smith, J. 2009. Contributions of retail organisations to global development. Penrith, Australia: University of Western Sydney. Terry, N. C. 2002. The importance of taking good care of the environment to Australian companies. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Thomas, L. 2004. Strategies for sustainable growth outlined by Australian companies (4rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Saunders. Maurice, J. 2003. Strategies to handle to environmental and health issues in business organisations. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press Newton, L. 2004. Leadership and management strategies. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders. www.Ajlucasgroup.com www.ausdrill.com www.ausgold.com Read More