Evaluation Of Social Reports Of Blackmores And Bhp Billiton

Question: Discuss Evaluation Of Social Reports Of Blackmores And Bhp Billiton? Answer: Methodology The methodology pertaining to the current study comprises of assimilation of data regarding the two companies selected, BHP Billiton and Blackmores. The data pertaining to the current research is gathered through sustainability reports of the organisations. In terms of analysis, the insights regarding socially responsible activities showcased by the organisation have been derived from the sustainability report in case of BHP Billiton and through the official website in case of Blackmores. Limitation The primary limitation of the current study arises out of the fact that Blackmores does not publish social sustainability report annually and the information provided by the company online are fairly brief as compared to BHP Billiton. Moreover, the quantum of contribution by the two companies towards social causes has not been quantified in the report resulting towards the analysis in the current study being largely descriptive. Assumption In terms of current study, the primary assumption tends to arise out of the fact that the company shall be contributing towards socially sustainable activities. This is due to the fact that both of the companies are multinationals. Analysis Identification and background of two companies: BHP Billiton is a multinational company that is engaged in mining and metallurgical industry. In addition to that, the company also deals in petroleum products. The company has been founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. The company is headed by CEO Andrew Mackenzie and Chairman Jaques Nasser. BHP has generated revenues to the tune of A$ 30.92 billion in the financial year ending 2016 (BHP Billiton | A leading global resources company. 2017). The company has dual listings in the London Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange. The company is engaged in the extraction and marketing of fossil fuels. Thereby, it can be observed that the company is a contributor of greenhouse gases onto the atmosphere. The company has been publishing its corporate social responsibility report since the year 1996 (BHP Billiton | A leading global resources company. 2017). Blackmores Limited is an Australian multinational company with engagement in pharmaceutical business. The company started its initial operations in the 1930s with Maurice Blackmores founding the company with a vision of providing healthcare based upon naturopathy (Blackmores Limited. 2017). The vision of the founder in terms of natural healthcare and preventative medicines is being reflected in the operations of the company. The company has made a number of business acquisitions, latest amongst them being the acquisition of Global Therapeutics which dealt in Chinese naturopathic medicines. The company has a substantial presence in Australia along with participation in pharmaceutical industry abroad in markets such as Thailand, Malaysia, China, Indonesia amongst others. The companies has over 7% market share in the consumer health market in Australia coupled with the fact that the company has over 48.7% share in terms of Australias vitamin and dietary supplements market (About Blackmo res. 2017). In terms of BHP Billiton, the company primarily operates in Australia and UK along with operations in a large number of Asian and European countries primary amongst them being Malaysia, Indonesia and China amongst others. Moreover, in the case of Blackmores, the company is a market leader in Australian health and vitamin supplements market but has global presence primary amongst them being Asian nations such as China, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia amongst others. The difference in terms of the range of issues dealt with by the company in their social reports: In terms of BHP Billiton, the company communicates in their report that they have initiated a sustainability approach towards their business operations. The company has a charter that entails the core values of the organisation, commitment towards the community as well as enumerating the standard and procedures that are required to be applied throughout the organisation (BHP Billiton | A leading global resources company. 2017). In their sustainability report, BHP Billiton showcases the different set of initiatives undertaken by the company in terms of social, infrastructure, health and innovation amongst others. In the case of BHP Billiton, it can be observed that the company focuses primarily towards the resettlement of communities. This is due to the reason that the company is engaged in mining and petroleum extraction and thereby has to focus towards the resettlement of communities that are based near the operation sites. In the case of Blackmores, the social responsibility report put emphasis upon initiating measures that are environmentally sustainable. The report primarily focuses on providing an overview relating to the environmentally sustainable measures without getting into thorough details pertaining to the social activities. Blackmores focuses upon activities such as treatment of general and organic food waste, sustainable green electricity along with landfill activities (Blackmores Limited. 2017). Moreover, Blackmoress social report tends to include strategies pertaining to the conservation of water, energy, effluent and waste along with emissions. Blackmores provides the data pertaining to its commitment towards social responsibility by detailing the contribution towards social causes and communities. Such actions include a contribution towards Cancer Council, Heart Ali, Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and WWF amongst others (Blackmores Limited. 2017). Moreover, the company also sponsors sport ing events such as Sydney marathon and Australian Open amongst other events. In the case of BHP Billiton, the presentations pertaining to sustainability report are more thorough and detailed than in the case of Blackmores. Moreover, BHP Billiton focuses upon factors such as water reporting, community resettlement as well as well-being of the community. On the other hand, the social reporting of Blackmores are not detailed properly in their reports. Moreover, BHP Billiton releases corporate sustainability report on an annual basis, whereas on the other hand Blackmores does not release sustainability reports annually but provides sustainability strategies and achievements. Explanation of difference in reporting: The different in terms of reporting by the two companies arises due to the nature of industries that the companies belong to. In the case of BHP Billiton, the company is engaged towards mining activities coupled with extraction and marketing of petroleum (BHP Billiton | A leading global resources company. 2017). Thereby, the business operations pertaining to the company entails a large number of social costs. This is owing to the reason that the products that the company deals with contributing towards the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Moreover, the mining activities tend to degrade the environment owing to its inherent nature. Thereby, the company has to produce a thoroughly detailed sustainability report on an annual basis in order to facilitate the enumeration of corporate social responsibility activities undertaken by the company. Moreover, since mining activities and petroleum extraction entails a large number of resettlement, thereby, in the case of BHP Billi ton the company requires addressing issues regarding the resettlement of communities away from its mining sites. Thereby, since the emphasis upon initiating socially responsible activities are more in the case of BHP Billiton than in the case of Blackmores, thereby a difference in reporting of sustainability activities are observed in terms of the two companies. On the other hand, in the case of Blackmores, the company's operation does not entail environmentally degradable activities as can be observed in the case of BHP Billiton. Nicholas Sacco (2016) mentioned in the context of corporate social responsibility that industries that are engaged in environmentally deplorable activities require to contribute more towards the community as compared to industries whose activities are less deplorable. Thereby, it can be construed that in the case of Blackmores, since the activities and business operation pertaining to the company is less deplorable than that of the mining industry, thereby the company does not require to initiate as much socially responsible activities as BHP Billiton does. Assessment of quality of the social accounting approach as per Zadek et al.s criteria: This section evaluates the quality of the social accounting approach that has been initiated in the case of BHP Billiton and Blackmores according to the eight criteria that have been conceived by Zadek et al. (1997). The eight criteria comprise of inclusivity, comparability, completeness, evolution, management policy and systems, external verification and continuous improvement (Chambers Humble, 2017). In the case of BHP Billiton, it can be observed that the social reports tend to focus upon inclusiveness. This can be observed in the case of BHP that the communities that tend to get affected by the company's business operations have been thoroughly engaged by the company through a different set of initiatives. Since the sustainability report of BHP Billiton is published annually, thereby the degree of comparability pertaining to the social report is satisfactory. Moreover, in the case of completeness it can be inferred that the social report pertaining to BHP Billiton is thoroughly detailed, however, the performance metrics in terms of number and charts pertaining to the sustainability targets is missing in the case of BHP. In terms of evolution, management policy and systems, it can be inferred that the sustainability report of BHP Billiton is satisfactory. The reports pertaining to BHP showcases the influence of its socially responsible activities towards the communities as well as upon the environment. Moreover, the company also provides an overview relating to the social goals and objectives relating to the future periods. Thereby, in terms of criteria pertaining to continuous improvement, it can be ascertained that the reporting by BHP Billiton is highly satisfactory. In the case of Blackmores, the company does not release annual sustainability reports but puts up data pertaining to socially and environmentally sustainable goals. It can be inferred that in terms of inclusivity the social report of Blackmores is less inclusive than that of BHP Billiton. Moreover, the company does not provide adequate amounts of data pertaining to previous financial years goals regarding sustainability. Further, the reports are not prepared in a thorough manner providing detailed information. Thereby, it can be inferred that in the case of Blackmores, the company fares poorly upon comparability, completeness as well as evolution. Moreover, due to lack of initiatives on the part of the company towards providing a detail information pertaining to socially responsible activities it is ascertained that the companys social report fares in other criterions of Zadek et al. (1997). Extent to which social report of the company reflects their stated values BHP Billiton has included in their social report the emphasis upon mitigating risks arising out of climate change through a different set of measures aimed towards reducing carbon emissions. However, it is worth noting that the primary activities of BHP Billiton comprise of large quantum of greenhouse gas emissions. Thereby, there seems to be non-alignment between the social goals and business activities of the company. Moreover, a large quantum of the company's activities is focused towards resettlement which is the primary task of the company and thus forms part of its operational activities rather than being a part of social activities. However, there is visible alignment between the stated values and the social reports. This arises out of the fact that the company has contributed towards the betterment of communities along with emphasising upon facilitating issues regarding respecting human rights. Moreover, the company also evaluates the effects of its business operations and te nds to address the health issues that arises out of its operations and strives towards minimising hazardous effects upon the communities. In the case of Blackmores, the social report pertaining to the company focuses on sustainable business practices as well as initiation of programs focusing on the protection of the environment. Blackmores fulfils its stated value through giving back to the community. It can be observed through the contribution towards organisations such as Bilgola Surf Life Saving Club, Cancer Council, Exodus Foundation, Heart Ali, Heart Research Institute and WWF amongst others the company showcases the alignment between the social report and the shared value Reflection pertaining to the companies Both the companies, BHP Billiton and Blackmores have initiated measures pertaining to the socially responsible activities. By its nature, it can be inferred that BHP Billitons operations tend to incur more social costs than that of Blackmores. It arises from the fact that mining activities, as well as dealings in petroleum, affects the environment considerably. Moreover, the resettlement of communities out of drilling and mining sites tends to entail considerable quantum of social costs. It is, therefore, necessary on the part of BHP Billiton to release annual sustainability reports showcasing the different set of activities aimed towards betterment of society, community as well as environment. Moreover, since the company has global operation owing to its presence in a large number of companies, thereby the onus upon the company to initiate socially responsible and environmentally sustainable activities is considerable. Activities relating to inclusion, diversity along with the evalu ation of potential health impact arising out of BHP Billitons activities have been dealt with the company as can be showcased through its annual sustainability reports. Moreover, BHP Billiton engages with indigenous communities and undertakes business operations after ensuring that issues pertaining to human rights are dealt thoroughly. In terms of Blackmores, it can be ascertained that the sustainable practices of the company comprise of contributing towards a different set of communities. Moreover, the company tends to facilitate the sponsorship of sporting events thereby showcasing the fact that the company has been engaged in a large number of socially responsible activities References: About Blackmores. (2017).Blackmores.com.au. Retrieved 4 May 2017, from https://www.blackmores.com.au/about-us/company-information/about-blackmores BHP Billiton | A leading global resources company. (2017).BHP Billiton. Retrieved 4 May 2017, from https://www.bhpbilliton.com/ Blackmores Limited. (2017).Blackmores Limited. Retrieved 4 May 2017, from https://hwasungyou.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/blackmores-equity-research.pdf Chambers, I., Humble, J. (2017).Developing a Plan for the Planet: A Business Plan for Sustainable Living. Routledge. Nicholas, A. J., Sacco, S. (2016). 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