Brambles Sustainability Analysis - Case Study Example

Brambles Sustainability Analysis Student’s Name Institution Course Name & Number Date of Submission Brambles Sustainability Analysis Introduction Sustainability has become an important concept in the business world. Today, most businesses see sustainability not just as a way of promoting sustainable development both economically, socially and environmentally, but also as a source of competitive advantage (Blowfield, 2013). This is attributed to the fact that consumers of company products and services across the globe are increasingly becoming socially and environmentally conscious to the extent that they want to associate with firms that are socially responsible. As such, companies are increasingly making social responsibility not just part of company value, but also part of business model (Laszlo & Zhexembayeva, 2011). Although some companies have done well in promoting sustainability, some have remained behind in this regard. Brambles is one of the Australian supply chain solution providers that is known for sustainability. Founded in 1875, Brambles has grown to become a global brand operating in more than 60 countries across the globe (Brambles, 2017). The company specializes in pulling of out-load equipment and related services. Using sustainability phase model and checklist, this case study evaluates Brambles’ current dominant commitment to sustainability. The case study begins by explaining sustainability phase model and checklist then proceeds to analyze the company using the sustainability model. The case study will then expression opinion on the performance of the company on sustainability and make appropriate recommendations for the company on areas that requires improvements. The Phase Model of Sustainability Sustainability has become an area of increased interest in the modern day business environment. Sustainability involves the use of resources in a manner that fulfill current needs, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs (Jackson et al., 2011). Although sustainability and social responsibility have been marred by controversial in literates, most companies are increasingly embracing sustainability and are investing in it as a business strategy. Friedman in his stakeholder theory argued that the only responsibility of a company is to ensure the maximization of shareholder wealth by focusing on profit maximization (Wells, 2013). Freeman, on the other hand, proposed that a company has a responsibility to not only maximize shareholder wealth, but also to promote social and environmental well-being (Freeman, 1998). Dunphy et al. (2003) proposed a Sustainability Phase Model that highlights the different phases and stages that a company goes through during change with regards to sustainability programs. The stages are rejection, non-responsiveness, compliance, efficiency, strategic pro-activity and the sustaining corporations. Rejection stage is associated with companies that see employees not as invaluable assets, but as a resource to be exploited (Dunphy et al., 2003). Such organizations also keep training costs at the lowest level possible and does not bother about the health or welfare of their workers. Additionally, companies at the rejection phase do not oppose government or sustainable programs nor do they engage the community and other stakeholders. The non-responsive/compliance is associated with companies that more ignorant of sustainability and green initiatives. These non-compliance companies see environmental resources as a free good. To these firms, focus is given more to technological and financial factors while community involvement is also ignored. The third phase of sustainability is the compliance phase. Companies that have reached this stage emphasize more on minimizing the risks of sanctions for not meeting the minimum community and legal standards (Thiele, 2013). At the compliance stage, there is also little integration between human resource and environmental functions. Additionally, firms in this stage seeks to address the community concerns as a way of protecting their public image and bottom line. The fourth stage is the efficiency/compliance plus stage which is a stage where a company attempts to integrate its human resources to enhance efficiency (Dunphy et al., 2003). The companies that are at this stage also focus on environmental management as a way of avoiding cost for a company. The fifth phase of sustainability is for companies that focus on innovation, engage stakeholders to innovate safe and environmentally friendly process and products. Such companies also advocate good citizenship to reduce profits and improve worker attraction and retention. Additionally, companies in this stage contributes to the betterment and well-being of the community (Thiele, 2013). The last phase is sustaining corporations, which are companies that are fully committed to promoting sustainability by acceptance responsibility for creating and improving their human capital and the community. These companies also provide work-life balance for employees. Additionally, firms that have reached this stage of sustainability seek to promote general human welfare and are committed to engaging stakeholders (Dunphy et al., 2003). Moreover, organizations at this stage are committed to promoting change for the betterment of the society through society partnerships. Figure: The Phase Model of Sustainability Source: Dunphy et al. (2003) Analysis of Brambles' Current Dominant Commitment to Sustainability Analysis of Brambles' 2016 sustainability report indicates that the company has reached the Sustaining Corporation phase of the Phase Model of Sustainability. The report shows that Brambles' has demonstrated strong commitment to promoting both social and environmental sustainability in all aspects of its business throughout the more than 130 countries, where it operates (Brambles, 2017). The company current dominance to sustainability is particularly in the area of environmental sustainability. The company has adopted an environmental sustainability that is based the model sharing and reusing. According to the company’s sustainability report 2016, the sharing and reusing model aims at minimizing the demand on natural resources and making the company’s supply chains more sustainable in what it calls Sustainable Value (Brambles, 2017). As part of the company’s commitment to promoting environmental sustainability, Brambles indicates that 97.3% of its woods are sources from certified sources (MMH, 2016). To ensure that this is achieved Brambles works closely with its suppliers to ensure that they supply the company with ethically grown woods. The company also understands that to promote environmental sustainability, it has to ensure that not so much waste ends up in the landfills. Accordingly, as part of Brambles ‘commitment to this, the company has ensured that most of its byproducts are recycled in line with its sustainability philosophy of sharing and reusing. According to Brambles' sustainability report 2016, up to 30% of the company’s RPCs and containers had recycled contents (Brambles, 2017). As part of Brambles' commitment to minimizing the amount of wastes that end up in the landfill, the company repairs and reuse its pallets a practice that saved more than 1.4 million cubic meters of wood. The company also works closely with customers to minimize carbon dioxide emission from its supply chain as a way of promoting environmental sustainability. According to the Phase Model of sustainability, companies that have reached this stage of sustainability of more concerned about promoting the general human welfare (Dunphy et al., 2003). This is demonstrated in Brambles' 2016 sustainability report where it emerges that the company is not just commitment to generating profits for its shareholders, but also promotes human welfare by giving back to the society. According to the company’s sustainability report, it emerges that Brambles uses its in-kind equipment donations to help people in need of food. For instance, in 2016, the company donated over 170,000 tones of rescued food to feed more than 320 million people in need of food. This was part of the company’s commitment to promoting human welfare (Brambles, 2017). As part of the company’s commitment to promoting human welfare, Brambles has come up with a program called Better Workplace 2020 Sustainability goal that is focused on ensuring worker safety, inclusion, diversity, and learning of its employees (Brambles, 2017). Making these kinds of commitments shows that Brambles is committed to promoting the well-being of its employees. The sustainability report particularly states that the company is committed to creating an injury free workplace not just for its employees, but also to customers and the community that the company serves, as well as the environment upon which Brambles depends. According to the Phase Model of sustainability, at the sustaining organization phase, companies redefine their relationships and contexts and focus more on partnerships and collaborations in an effort to promote sustainability (Dunphy et al., 2003). The company has shown strong commitment to collaborating with other firms to create a sustainable supply chain system. In Belgium, Brambles has partnered with a number of companies, such as Coca-Cola, Van Dievel and Colruyt to create an efficient supply chain. The collaborations that Brambles has made with these partners has ensured that the distance covered by trucks are reduced significantly and these helps save customers money and reduce emission of carbon dioxide by 30% (MMH, 2016). Other organizations and companies that Brambles has partnered with to promote sustainability in its areas of business include Unilever, the World Bank, Kroger and Robecosam among others. The Use of Innovation to Drive its Sustainability Practices Innovation is key to sustainability in the modern world. It has also been demonstrated by the Phase Model of Sustainability that companies that have reached the sustaining corporation phase usually have strong commitment to innovation as a means of promoting green initiatives and social wellbeing of the people and the environment (Dunphy et al., 2003). Brambles being a company that is in the sustaining organization phase of sustaining has shown strong commitment to using innovative ways to drive sustainability. On way through which the company use innovation to drive sustainability is by adopting the so-called upcycling of its plastic pallets. Upcycling refers to a process in which wastes materials are transformed into new products of higher value (CHEP, 2017). Plastic was a serious environmental problem globally. Many countries are struggling with how to eliminate plastic wastes that not only make the environment dirty, but also post health risks to people, animals and aquatic life (Wells, 2013). However, as part of Brambles commitment to sustainability, the company has introduced an innovative way of eliminating plastic wastes that would ordinarily end up in the landfill. The Upcyclining process ensures that all plastic pallets once used by the customers, they are recollected and recycled. In this case, used plastic pallets are either burnt to produce energy or are recycled by being transformed into a product or lower value without a strong demand from the end markets. This way, Brambles has ensured that no plastic wastes end up in the landfill (CHEP, 2017). This innovative way of recycling plastic pallets has also been good to the environment as it help minimize carbon emission into the environment, which drive sustainability of the environment. Brambles’ 2016 sustainability report also indicates that the company has adopted the BXB Digital technology to drive sustainability in its supply chain. Based in Mountain View, California, the BXB Digital uses the Internet technology to enhance digital intelligence to the company’s global assets and promoting the innovations that Brambles already has in the market (Brambles, 2017). The technology is intended to help Brambles harness its network advantage throughout the company’s supply chain network. In this respect, the BXB Digital is used to circulate the company’s physical assets through the firm’s supply chain network and this help achieve greater efficiency in the supply chain, cut cost and more importantly provide sustainable solutions to customers. The BXB Digital is intended for use in many areas of the company’s supply chain, including asset management, quality monitoring and goods visibility in the entire supply chain. Analysis of Overall Organization’s Performance and Recommendations for Areas for Improvement The analysis of Brambles’ sustainability practices as spelt out in its sustainability report of 2016 indicates that the Australian supply chain giant has demonstrated strong commitment to drive sustainability. The company has also been partnering with a number of organizations throughout the world in an effort to promote sustainability for the wellbeing being of the organization, its people, the society and the environment (CHEP, 2017). As indicated in analysis, Brambles’ sustainability practices shows that the company has strategic pro-activity to sustaining corporate stage of the Phase Model of Sustainability as it is clear that the company has reached a stage where it has a strong commitment to creating sustainable society. The company has done extremely well in promoting both social and environmental sustainability by creating. For instance, the company has done so well in eliminating waste that could have ended up in the landfills, creating a sustainable supply chain that is driven by ethical sourcing of products and minimizing emissions from its operations (MMH, 2016). Additionally, company has done well in promoting social sustainability by helping the needy through the provision of free food to the destitute. Despite its strong commitment to sustainability, there are certain areas that need improvement to make its business practices more sustainable. First, it is important that Brambles introduce a clean energy policy that appears to be lacking in its sustainability report. Although the company adopts different initiatives that aim to reduce carbon emission from Brambles’ supply chain, such partnering to reduce the distance covered by its trucks, the company needs to change its energy policy by going ‘green.’ In this respect, Brambles should ensure that it adopts renewable sources of energy for powering its operations. One way of doing this is using solar energy to power all its stores across the globe. Substituting fossil power with green sources of energy throughout its supply chain will help cut the amount of carbon emitted by the company (Wells, 2013). Accordingly, this will not only help protect the environment from degradation, but also make Brambles more appealing to customers, the majority of whom now want to associate with sustainable companies. Going green by adopting renewable sources of energy will also be good for the company as it will make the company appealing to governments in different countries, thus ensuing ease of winning contracts. Second, Brambles needs to improve its sustainability commitment in the area of social sustainability. In particular, the company needs to focus more on promoting the health and education of people in the communities where it operates. Currently, there are millions of children in developing countries who are out of school because their parents are too poor to afford tuition fees. Therefore, considering that the company lacks an elaborate plan in this regard, it is suggested that the company become more philanthropic and extend a hand beyond just giving food to the poor by promoting education of the poor in the communities where it operates as this would help produce people who are well-educated, thus minimizing poverty and sufferings in the society (Laszlo & Zhexembayeva, 2011). Additionally, cancer, obesity, heart diseases and diabetes are becoming a threat to the current and future generations. Therefore, Brambles should promote sustainability in the area of health by establishing health foundations that are dedicated to providing the necessary support to the patients, with these chronic health conditions so as to ensure the wellbeing of the current and future generations. Conclusions Sustainability has become popular concept in the business world. Because of the increased environmental degradation and high social ills, companies have recognized that the only way to remain competitive is to promote the wellbeing of the current and future generations by adopting sustainable business practices. Australian supply chain giant Brambles is an example of a company that has shown strong commitment to sustainability by promoting both social and environmental sustainability. The company has also been introducing innovative practices, such as upcycling and BXB Digital to drive sustainability within its supply chain. However, going forward, the company needs to start using green sources of energy, such as solar power, and focus more of its sustainability practices on the area of education and health promotions to ensure the wellbeing of the current and future generations. References Blowfield, M. (2013). Business and sustainability. OUP Oxford, Oxford. Brambles. (2017). Retrieved from http://www.brambles.com/ CHEP. (2017). Brambles commits to 2020 Sustainability Goals adopting closer alignment with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Retrieved from https://solutions.chep.com/media/brambles-commits-2020-sustainability-goals-adopting-closer-alignment-united-nations%E2%80%99 Dunphy, D. , Griffiths, A., & Benn, S. (2003). Organisational change for corporate sustainability. London and New York: Routledge. Freeman, M. M. R. (1998). Inuit, whaling, and sustainability. Atlanta: Rowman Altamira. Jackson, A., Boswell, K., & Davis, D. (2011). Sustainability and triple bottom line reporting –What is it all about? International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology, 1(3), 55-59. Laszlo, C., & Zhexembayeva, N. (2011). Embedded sustainability: The next big competitive advantage. Greenleaf Publishing, New York. MMH. (2016). Brambles commits to 2020 Sustainability Goals. Retrieved from http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/brambles_commits_to_2020_sustainability_goals Thiele, L. P. (2013). Sustainability. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ. Wells, G. (2013). Sustainable business: Theory and practice of business under sustainability principles. Edward Elgar Publishing, Cambridge. Brambles. Retrieved from https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/ce100/directory/brambles Read More