Assessment of Brambles' Current Dominant Commitment to Sustainability - Case Study Example

Brambles Limited Sustainability Assessment By (Name) Unit Professor’s name University (Name) Course Date Assessment of Brambles' current dominant commitment to sustainability Brambles Limited is a leading company in the field of logistics and supply chain management with operations in approximately 60 countries worldwide. The company’s leading operations are in Western Europe and North America while Sydney, Australia houses its headquarters and her primary brands include IFCO and CHEP. Brambles boasts of enhanced performance by providing transportation services for goods through the supply chains of customers in a manner that is efficient, sustainable, and safe. By providing reusable unit-load equipments including containers, crates, and pallets for use by multiple agents along the supply chain, Brambles, effectively contributes to its sustainable business model. The main goods transported via Brambles supply system include grocery, food, medical supplies, as well as personal care products. According to the 2016 sustainability report, Brambles had 14,500 employees, 550 million crates, pallets, as well as containers, and a network of 850 service delivery centers (Brambles Limited, 2017.). Sustainability of organizations occurs when the organization undertakes activities that have the capacity to extend their socially useful lives. Moreover, such activities should also enhance the ability of the planet in maintaining, and renewing the biosphere’s viability while protecting life. In addition, the organizations should build the capacity of the society to sustain herself, and solve her major challenges. Finally, organizations must decently maintain the welfare of both future and present generations (Benn, Dunphy, & Griffiths, 2014). According to Benn, Dunphy and Griffiths phase model of sustainability, organizations go through six phases before achieving sustainability. These include rejection, non-responsiveness, compliance, efficiency, strategic proactivity, and sustaining the corporation. An assessment of Bramble Limited using the sustaining corporate checklist confirms the company’s realignment of its business model to enhance sustainability. Over the past years, this enabled the company to realize tremendous growth with enhanced performance evidenced by the annual reports on the company’s website. Brambles operations majorly rely on reusable equipment that contribute to preservation of raw materials thus enhancing sustainability (Brambles Limited, 2017). The company operates under three segments that enhance sustainability namely pallets that serve customers with fast-moving consumer goods, beverages, and fresh produce. The second segment relies on Reusable Plastic Crates (RPCs) used in the transportation of fresh produce while the third segment comprises of containers that serve automotive and other raw materials for general manufacturing industries. The prompt provision of reusable containers, crates, and pallets through its pooling system, Brambles eliminates the need for customers to purchase these items and avails them on a need basis thereby extensively contributing to sustainability (Brambles Limited, 2017; Carroll & Buchholtz, 2014). By executing a sharing and reusing model whereby several parties within the supply chain reuse the same assets, Brambles stands out in enhancing efficiency of the supply chains through the reduction of the operating costs as well as the demand for natural resources. The company works closely with its customers to strengthen sustainability, safety, and efficacy of the supply chains. The actions of the company are consistent with those of transforming futurists whereby as evidenced by the company’s strategic areas. In the first place, Brambles invests in harnessing network advantage by ensuring a stronger customer base, personnel, service centers, as well as its management capacity. The company implements a wide range of strategies to maintain its network including customer collaboration as well as innovation. Secondly, Brambles implements activities that drive the efficiency of its operations and organization by increasing investments in initiatives that add value to her customers. Finally, the company judiciously allocates capital resources to realize long-term growth by financing organic business opportunities and pursuing acquisition in situations where the company believes such a move would increase value to both customers as well as shareholders (Brambles Limited, 2017; Choi & Yu, 2014). Brambles recorded significant performance geared towards sustainability with remarkable savings on water and wood, reduction in wastes produced, as well as reduced need on tree products. The company also has an enhanced collaboration strategy that enables it to reach and meet the needs of customers across an expansive jurisdiction. The company has increased its employee base and currently stands at 14996 employees working in the different service locations with a great wealth of expertise reflecting an 11% increase from the previous year. In addition, the management of Brambles Limited invested in creating an environment that includes all employees while promoting their growth to full potential (Brambles Limited, 2017; Epstein & Buhovac, 2014). The company conducts an engagement survey that measures the enablement or engagement of its employees with a record 94% participating during the 2016 financial year. The company also recorded a 25% reduction in the frequency rates of work-related injuries. Women constitute at least 30% of the company’s board and management and the company boasts of the adhering to global best practices in engagement of employees. Brambles actively engages on formulation and execution of public policies with notable initiatives in curbing climate change, reducing deforestation, minimizing carbon emissions, and reducing production of wastes (Barnea & Rubin, 2010; Brambles Limited, 2017). The company engages external auditors such as KPMG to audit its systems and procedures thus promoting adherence to global best practices. Moreover, the company conducts its operations in over 60 countries globally thus an active participant of the international agreements governing the supply chains and logistics business environment. The decision by the company to publish its annual and sustainability reports demonstrates the management’s commitment to harness a constructive practice that promotes participation, innovation, debate, and openness (Brambles Limited, 2017). Brambles’ sustainability report of 2016 establishes a strong linkage with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) enacted in 2015. The organization is committed to improving the efficiency of the supply chain business across the globe, scaling up investments in its people as well as communities while ensuring conservation of natural resources that drive the business. In his introductory note as the Chief Executive Officer of Brambles, Tom Gorman boasts of successfully linking the company’s strategy of a sustainable business to the global priorities outlined under the sustainable development goals (Alshehry & Belloumi, 2015). Consequently, the company has the opportunity to effectively collaborate with other stakeholders in confronting challenges threatening sustainability such as climate change, deforestation, food insecurity, and depletion of natural resources. Based on Brambles performance to advance its sustainable business model, the company has featured on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for three years in a row whereby Brambles Currently holds the second position in its category of industries (Brambles Limited, 2017; Samy, Odemilin, & Bampton, 2010). Brambles use of innovation to drive its sustainability practices The sustainability reports confirms the company’s extensive use of innovation to drive its sustainability. Notable is the upcycling of waste plastic bottles into new pallets thus reducing the amount of waste produced to unimaginable levels. The design of the 100% recyclable CHEP pallets has biomimicry elements integrated in the honeycomb surface thus improving its strength as well as traction. The company uses the CHEP pallet design to meet the needs of customers requiring high standards of hygiene. Moreover, Brambles has integrated technology through BXB digital business thus making it possible to harness digital intelligence (Brambles Limited, 2017; De Medeiros, Ribeiro, & Cortimiglia, 2014). There is no doubt that such an approach further harnesses Brambles’ network advantage and its ability to efficiently manage its operations. Consequently, the company can easily supply its physical assets using digital capability thus markedly reducing the operational costs while availing sustainable solutions for its customers. The integration of technology will further improve Brambles management of assets, ensuring quality along its supply chain, and monitoring the visibility of goods. Brambles’ use of technology is no doubt strategic and vital in promoting sustainability. The innovativeness demonstrated through the recyclable CHEP pallets is maverick and ensures self-sustainability of the business, environmental conservation, and reduction in waste production (Brambles Limited, 2017). Overall impression of the organization’s performance Organizational culture comprises of the values, principles, and beliefs held by the members of an organization and result from the latter’s history, strategies, products, markets, technology, management styles, employees as well as national culture. Brambles has a set of shared values as articulated via the company’s code of conduct revealing its customer orientation, passion for success, commitment to teamwork, people, diversity, and safety, belief in innovation, as well as actions pegged on integrity, respect for communities, and environmental conservation. Throughout the sixty countries where Brambles conducts business operations, the company has a diverse and multi-skilled workforce that drives its activities (De Medeiros et al., 2014). The review of the available resources revealed no gross violations of ethical principles governing the supply chain and logistics management business conducted by Brambles Limited. Generally, the company has a clean bill of health in regards to ethical conduct of its business operations. An established department deals with ethical issues as well as corporate social responsibility (CSR). The operations of the company widely contribute to environmental conservation and protection with sustainability being the hallmark of its operations. The company has an established code of conduct that also captures its corporate values that are in tandem with the sustainable development goals. All employees contracted by Brambles undergo an induction program that enables them to familiarize with the established code of conduct. In turn, this contributes to the company’s overall adherence to the ethical standards governing operations in the supply chain and logistics industry as well as international trade. Brambles also works towards guaranteeing the safety of its employees by ensuring adherence to all the occupational health and safety standards. This measures no doubt portray Brambles Limited as an ethically managed logistics company (Chen, Podolski, & Veeraraghavan, 2014). Brambles Limited has a wide range of internal controls that contribute to its performance on the global markets. These include policies and guidelines governing the operations undertaken by on a day-to-day basis to realize the set objectives. The company has a clear management structure headed by the chief executive officer who answers to the board of directors. Moreover, there are several departments within the company’s structures with clearly defined functions thus contributing to the business’ overall performance of the business. Each employee has well defined job descriptions that create a synergy across the entire company structure. The company also judicious allocates its resources to activities promoting its sustainability by developing annual budgets and implementing them. Budgetary controls include establishing the amounts of resources to be spent on a particular item or activity, the authority to incur such expenditure, monitoring the usage of allocated resources, as well as the accountability processes. The company also executes quality controls to maintain a high level of quality across the entire supply chain. In its latest innovation, the company has an integrated digital system for monitoring quality along the entire supply chain and manages physical assets. Moreover, Brambles Limited has antifraud and risk management controls to protect its customers from fraudulent operations (Fadun, 2014) Brambles Limited operates under a board of directors that oversees management as well as control of the company on behalf of the shareholders. The board also supervises the top management in its conduct of activities within a stipulated framework that ensures effective and prudent risk management. Furthermore, the board conducts its operations through three committees namely remuneration committee, nominations committee, and audit committee. Every committee has a charter that governs the conduct of its operations while exercising the authority delegated from the board of directors (Brambles Limited, 2017). The standing committees provide regular reports to the board. Brambles also has an executive team of leaders who constitute the management committee and provide technical support to the board of directors. The executive leadership oversees the daily running of activities in the company and supervise the employees working in different departments. In my view, the hierarchical structure adopted by Brambles Limited is effective since there is a clear definition of the roles of each individual and establishes a clear chain of command (Brambles Limited, 2017). Decisions relating to Brambles’ sustainability and innovation follow a structured process with a focus on three key areas namely Better Business, Planet, and Communities. The company’s decision framework was bolstered following the release of its 2020 sustainability goals. In line with the sustainable development goals, Brambles’ sustainability goals pay attention to innovative strategies that strengthen preservation, value addition, environmental conservation, and promoting healthier communities. The decision process that arrived at the company’s sustainability framework followed sessions of internal consultations coupled with inputs from sustainability practitioners, industry players, suppliers, as well as customers (De Medeiros et al., 2014). This followed the decision by the company’s management to establish a committee for sustainability risk whose mandate entailed identifying, assessing, monitoring, and reporting on the Brambles’ exposure level to sustainability risk and the potential impact of such exposure. This distinct decision making framework regarding sustainability goals ensures consistency in management’s direction as evidenced by the company’s outstanding performance that contributed to its featuring on the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for three years in a row (Epstein & Buhovac, 2014). Recommendations for areas for improvement Despite the tremendous achievements realized by Brambles Limited, there remains great potential for improvement and better performance. The company recorded a high turnover of employees during the 2016 financial year translating to approximately 31%. Such a high turnover translates to high recruitment coats as well as settlement of terminal claims contributing to high operational costs. The company needs to undertake a comprehensive analysis of its human resource needs and prioritize the filling of positions with qualified employees. Moreover, the company needs to improve on its terms and conditions. As a leading company in logistics and supply chain management globally, Brambles should work towards contributing to policies that contribute to sustainable corporations. There is paucity of information from the provided resources to ascertain whether the company participates in activities leading to formulation of public policies. Moreover, the company needs to put emphasis on international agreements considering it has operations in approximately sixty countries in Australia, Europe, and North America. References Alshehry, A. S., & Belloumi, M. (2015). Energy consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth: The case of Saudi Arabia. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 41, 237–247. Barnea, A., & Rubin, A. (2010). Corporate social responsibility as a conflict between shareholders. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(1), 71–86. Benn, S., Dunphy, D., & Griffiths, A. (2014). Organizational change for corporate sustainability. Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=WW-LAwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=sustainability+phase+model+dunphy&ots=JHq8SaQ0_s&sig=TQBeORgJfYcA4o5lbicIMcBN3po Brambles Limited. (2017). About Brambles. Retrieved August 19, 2017, from http://www.brambles.com/about-brambles Carroll, A., & Buchholtz, A. (2014). Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Nelson Education. Chen, Y., Podolski, E. J., & Veeraraghavan, M. (2014). National Culture and Corporate Innovation. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2480320 Choi, Y., & Yu, Y. (2014). The influence of perceived corporate sustainability practices on employees and organizational performance. Sustainability, 6(1), 348–364. De Medeiros, J. F., Ribeiro, J. L. D., & Cortimiglia, M. N. (2014). Success factors for environmentally sustainable product innovation: a systematic literature review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 65, 76–86. Epstein, M. J., & Buhovac, A. R. (2014). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=RfvxAAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=corporate+social+responsibility+and+business+success+2014&ots=ICzrazfB4E&sig=Cbt-yuqK8q6xkldCbuk_CLdB1Gk Fadun, S. O. (2014). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and stakeholders expectations: the Nigerian perspectives. Research in Business and Management, 1(2), 13–31. Samy, M., Odemilin, G., & Bampton, R. (2010). Corporate social responsibility: a strategy for sustainable business success. An analysis of 20 selected British companies. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 10(2), 203–217.  Read More