Position of Brambles in the Sustainability Phase Model - Case Study Example

Brambles Name Institution Brambles Introduction Brambles is an Australian based company that specialises in giving services related to unit loading equipment. It, therefore, outsources equipment such as crates, pallets and containers to interested parties. Walter Bramble founded the company in 1875 (Brambles, 2017). Upon its foundation, its focus was in offering transport and logistics services. It however expanded into the pallet business in the year 1958 through acquiring CHEP. The company has gained more subsidiary companies over the years such as IFCO and BXB Digital (Brambles, 2017). These subsidiary companies have enabled Brambles to expand its operations to other countries. The headquarter offices of the company are located in Sydney, Australia. The number of employees that the company employs are currently more than 14000 while the number of crates, containers and pallets that the company owns are more than 500 million. The annual income of the company as well has increased over the years and currently ranges at approximately US$ 600 million. The management of Brambles have worked hard over the years to ensure that there are high levels of sustainability in the company’s operations. Position of Brambles in the Sustainability Phase Model According to Dunphy’s sustainability phase model, there are six stages of the sustainability practices (Dunphy, et al., 2003). A company’s position in the model is dependent on its focus on practising and maintaining sustainable practices. The companies that resist using sustainable methods in their operations are thereby placed in the first level of the model. However, as the company strives to be as sustainable as possible, its position in the phase model. Companies should work to increase their levels of sustainability since sustainable practices are advantageous. For example, sustainable practices help increase the competitiveness of a company while cutting down on its operational costs. The leadership of Brambles have over the years strategized to ensure that the company keeps improving its ways of conducting business and thereby improve its sustainability performance. Based on the sustainability phase model and the habits practised in Brambles, the company is in the fifth level of the sustainability model. One of the characteristics of the companies in the fifth phase of the sustainability model is the use of sustainable practices to gain competitive advantage (Dunphy, et al., 2003). Brambles uses its sustainability practices to increase its competitive advantage when it collaborates with its stakeholders. Seeking the opinion of the stakeholders on how to improve their operations and thereby serve their customers better helps improve not only the services offered but also the company’s image. The customers feel appreciated since their opinion is considered in decision-making processes, thus, they grow into loyal customers. The practice, therefore, gives the company a competitive advantage over the competitors in the market. Targeting to work with licensed wood suppliers is also a competitive advantage move since it helps the company attract customers that are keen of environmental preservation. Consequently, although all the sustainability strategies used in Brambles help increase the company’s sustainability, they are strategically developed to increase the company’s competitiveness. Companies that are in the fifth phase of the sustainability model are also characterised by their intention to involve their stakeholders in the processes meant to increase the company’s sustainability practices (Dunphy, et al., 2003). This character is evident in Brambles as the leaders of the company strive to involve their customers in the use of sustainable practices. The company is currently trying to involve as many customers as possible in the transportation planning so that they can work together to reduce transportation use as much as possible. The number of customers collaborating with the company is currently 177 customers. The management of the company aims at increasing the rate of customer involvement by the end of financial year 2017 by 7 customers. Working together with the customers is meant to help the customers together with the company to contribute towards reducing environmental pollution through reducing the amount of transport caused pollutants their operations emit to the environment. Therefore, this collaboration will help preserve the environment and make it fit to support the lives of the future generations. The fifth phase of the sustainability model is also characterised by the company advocating for good citizenship habits (Dunphy, et al., 2003). Brambles depicts this character in its intention to increase the number of wood suppliers that are licenced. The current portion of suppliers that the company has that are licensed is 97.3%. The leadership of the company is however aiming at increasing this number to 100% by the end of the financial year 2020. This move is meant to help the company participate in the protection of the environment. Licensed suppliers ensure that they cut down trees responsibly by ensuring that they do not clear the forest but rather they leave behind a good number of trees that will help in air purification and the formation of rain. Thus, their actions do not affect the weather or contribute to the high rates of global warming. This will help further preserve the country for the habitation of future generations. The companies in the fifth phase of the sustainability model also work at ensuring that they increase the rate of employee retention and attraction (Dunphy, et al., 2003). The companies in the fifth level therefore strategize to ensure that they please their employees and that they retain as many of them as possible. In Brambles, the management ensures that the company is an attractive working place by ensuring that it is safe for the employees to work in. Consequently, the number of employees that are injured while working have reduced greatly over the years. The company further makes the working environment attractive by increasing the level of gender equality. One of the sustainability goals that the company has is increasing the number of women working in the management level as well as those in the board (Brambles, 2017). This strategy is meant to encourage women to apply for jobs in the company as well as retain those already working there, as they feel equally important as the male employees. The companies in the fifth phase of the sustainability model are also focused on innovation and thereby incorporate it as part of their strategies (Dunphy, et al., 2003). Innovations and inventions work together to help companies solve the environmental issues that the society faces as well as the issues posed to the organisations. Evidence of Brambles’ commitment to innovation is demonstrated by its commitment to the innovation used in structural modifications. The HR department works to ensure that the employees not only have the skills required to complete various tasks but also get to use their talents in their work. Brambles has also incorporated innovation in its operations by using technological innovations in the completion of various tasks. This helps save resources such as time. These resources are used in the completion of other tasks. Thus, there is a high level of productivity as well as a lower production cost. Innovation used to Drive Sustainability Practices in Brambles Brambles Company uses innovation extensively to increase its level of sustainability and ensure that it reduces negative effects on the environment. One such innovation is evident in the production of upcycled half-plastic pallet (Brambles, 2017). These pallets are manufactured by using waste plastics that are normally used to produce products of lower value and that have a low market demand. By recycling these plastics, Brambles helps reduce the rate of environmental pollution that burning or disposing the plastics would have caused. Thus, the innovation helps curb the factors contributing to the high rates of global warming. The innovation is also effective in protecting the environment because the upcycled half-plastic pallets can be reused for years since they are strong. The pallets also help the customers maintain high hygiene standards since they are easy to wash unlike the wooden pallets. Brambles also ascertains that there is continued innovation in the company through the Human Resource Department. The department seeks to ensure that the employees receive the necessary support to develop innovative ideas that will lead to an increase in the company’s sustainability. This is made possible by an innovation team which trains and educates the employees how to develop feasible ideas (Brambles, 2017). The trained employees can help solve sustainability issues in the company by identifying the root causes of the problem as well as developing viable solutions. The management encourages these employees to develop sustainable ideas by funding the implementation process of the developed ideas. The employees along with the trainees are encouraged by knowing that their ideas will not be dismissed, thus, they strive to develop the best viable ideas. The company further uses innovation to increase the level of collaboration with the customers, which leads to an increase in the effectiveness and sustainability of the supply chain. One example of the company’s use of innovation to increase customers’ collaboration is evident in CHEP Innovation Centre located in Florida. This centre invites customers to examine the new products such as packages, technologies and give the company feedback regarding aspects they wish were different about the tested products (UNE Business School, 2017). This helps ascertain that the products that the company finally avails in the market are environmentally friendly and that they meet the needs of the consumers effectively. The company together with the consumers can thereby use resources that they would have spent on environmental conservation processes on other projects. Thus, productivity in the society is increased since more resources are used in the society development and growth than it would if the company had not sought to reduce environmental pollution. Further innovation in Brambles include the use of Internet of Things to increase sustainability. This is achieved through its BXB digital subsidiary, which seeks to address the supply chain needs (Gutierrez, 2016). One of the intentions of BXB is to increase the level of digital intelligence in the company. For example, BXB is currently working on installing digital sensors in the company’s containers, pallets and crates. These sensors will be used to assess and display factors such as the temperature of goods being transported. This information will help the customers ensure that their goods are in good condition before and during transportation and thereby reduce damage rates. This will increase the profits earned by the consumers, which will motivate them to be loyal Brambles customers. Conclusion and Recommendations The overall sustainability performance of Brambles is excellent. The leadership of the company has set targets for the organisation to achieve in order to ensure continued improvement of its operations. Through working towards the set goals, the company has been able to improve most of its practices over the years. For example, the company improved the level of safety in the company in the year 2016 since the number of injuries in the work place reduced (UNE Business School, 2017). In some cases, the company’s performance exceeded the set target, which was an indication that the company was working aggressively to being 100% sustainable. However, despite these improvements, the company is lacking in some areas and thereby needs to work to improve in these areas too so that it can be completely sustainable. One of the areas that the company needs to work on concerns the number of women in the board. By the end of the financial year 2016, the number of women in the board were 30% (Brambles, 2017). Although this number is high compared to that of other companies, it was a drop from the 33% recorded at the end of the financial year 2015 (Brambles, 2016). It is important for the leadership of the company to find out what contributed to this drop and work to resolve it. The investigation will help the management identify strategies that will prevent a similar situation from happening in the future. The company should also replace the current set up strategies meant to increase the number of women in the board with new strategies since the existing strategies failed in the year 2016. The leadership in Brambles Company should also work to improve the rate of employee retention. The company recorded a high level of employee turnover at the end of the financial year 2016. The rate of employee turnover in the year 2015 had been 29.3%, which increased to 31.6% in the year 2016 (Brambles, 2017). A high employee turnover is expensive to any company (Williams & Hall, 2012). This is because the new employees require the company to invest its resources to train them in order to do their jobs effectively. Therefore, in Bramble the low employee retention leads to the company using resources such as money on employees that later on leave after gaining the knowledge required to do the tasks assigned to them. Resolving this issue will however help the company record high levels of production as well as low operation costs (Finne & Sivonen, 2009). The management of Brambles further needs to work towards the improvement of the rate of employee engagement. At the end of the financial year 2016, the rate of employee engagement did not change from that recorded at the end of the financial year 2015 (Brambles, 2017). The company thereby failed to achieve the set target for employee engagement for that year. It is thereby lagging behind and may consequently fail to achieve its vision 2020. The leadership of the organisation should strategize to resolve this issue as well as come up with strategies that are more effective so that it does not lag behind in this area. Striving to increase the rate of employee engagement will not only help the company achieve its vision 2020, but also lead to an increase in the level of production and motivation in the company (Mone & London, 2014). It is important for the management of Bramble Company to ensure that they implement the proposed recommendations in the company’s operations. Doing so will help increase the company’s sustainability and thereby ensure that it accomplishes 100% sustainability level. Thus, the company will be in the sixth phase of the sustainability model. It will be profitable to not only the stakeholders but also to all members of the society. References Brambles. (2016). 2015 sustainability review. Retrieved on August 11, 2017 from http://www.brambles.com/Content/cms/pdf/legacy/PDF/Sustainability/2015_Sustainability_Review.pdf Brambles. (2017). 2016 sustainability review. Retrieved on August 10, 2017 from http://www.brambles.com/Content/cms/sustainability-2016/BRL179_S31_Sustainability_Report_for_web.pdf Brambles. (2017). About Brambles. Retrieved on August 18, 2017 from http://www.brambles.com/about-brambles Brambles. (2017). Our history. Retrieved on August 18, 2017 from http://www.brambles.com/our-history Brambles. (2017). Sustainability goals. Retrieved on August 18, 2017 from http://www.brambles.com/sustainability-goals Dunphy, D., Griffiths, A. & Benn, S. (2003). Organisational change for corporate sustainability. London: Routledge. Finne, S. & Sivonen, H. (2009). The retail value chain: How to gain competitive advantage through efficient consumer response (ECR) strategies. London: Kogan Page. Gutierrez, P. (2016). Brambles announces IoT innovation team. Retrieved on August 11, 2017 from https://www.iothub.com.au/news/brambles-announces-iot-innovation-team-415487 Mone, E. & London, M. (2014). Employee engagement through effective management: A practical guide for managers. London: Routledge. UNE Business School. (2017). CHEP Australia: Creating business value through sustainability. Williams, C. & Hall, I. (2012). MGMT. Tornto: Nelson Education. Read More