Business Sustainability Report

The Eagle Valley Health Foods carries out its operation on the eastern outskirts of the Perth City. The production is carried out in the two story warehouse where in there is both factory area and company office. Corrugated iron structure became hot in the summer and cold in the winter so electricity bills escalated as it was used for heating and cooling. The use of electricity is likely to create a harmful environment and increases the health risk of people working in that environment. This is the reason why there is a need for the CSR in the actions.  There are six core characteristics of CSR. Firstly, there are voluntary activities that are seen to go beyond the law. There are companies that tend to seek outside that of the legal compliance. Secondly, it is important to manage the externalities as the cost would be then be borne by local communities (Öberseder, Schlegelmilch and Murphy 2013). CSR would help in creating a voluntary approach in managing the externalities. Thirdly, there are ranges of interest included among the stakeholders along with that of the shareholders (Amaladoss and Manohar 2013). Fourthly, the firms derive some economic benefits when it follows the social responsibility in business (Rahim 2015). Fifthly, the practices and strategies that are followed by the company Eagle Valley Health Foods should be dealing with a social issue but there are circumstances when consumers tend to ask for more. Finally, it is seen that ‘real’ CSR is beyond just philanthropy rather it is all about the business function affecting the society (Richards et al. 2015). All these aspects will help in maintaining the main thrust of CSR in the organization.

Findings & Discussions

The company Eagle Valley Health Foods is a small private enterprise operating in Western Australia.  The main venue of CSR includes the business world.  In case of such a small firm, the formalization of CSR for the small firms is informal.  The main actors in CSR for a small private firm like Eagle Valley Health Foods are the employees and the owner managers. The main motive of the company is to build trust, networks and personal relations (Rahim 2015). The general trend that is noticed in the SMEs include that they do not try to communicate about the activities of CSR. The main reason for this is many, there is no formulated structure and there is no need for bureaucracy as there is an advantage of small size and proximity to that of the stakeholders and partners. There is no structured and codified approach followed rather there is informal approach. Eagle Valley Health Foods being a small private firm is not visible or pronounced like that of the large corporations so the major relationship is quite important  between the managers or the owners with that of the  suppliers , employees, customers  or the neighbours. The personal relationship for the small private firm is very important which is typically identified as CSR and that which is targeted to the building of the trust, networks and good personal relations (Galbreath and Shum 2012).  There is no control or ownership right unlike that of the large firms. In such a case, the managers they tend to maximise their return on investment.  There is an autonomy that is enjoyed by the firm and most of the time is devoted in seeking to maximise the profit (Crane, Matten and Spence 2013).There is a serious problem as there is huge consumption of water for the production of the health bars in Eagle Valley Health Foods. As a CSR aspect, there is a need for utilising the water resources in the most judicious manner as water is a non-renewable resource and availability of it is very limited (Bevan and Yung 2015).

Conclusion & Recommendations:

The CSR of the small private firms in the parts of Australasia has a tendency to address the social issues through the collective actions and the policies of the government. In South Africa and Australia, there is higher degree of expectation that is directed towards companies so that rights of the aboriginal and black people are upheld. This will help in getting them with good employment opportunities. In case of the company, Eagle Valley Health Foods as CSR consultant it is recommended to reduce the electricity bill so that it helps in reducing cost. This could possibly be reduced when the company invests more into solar panels as this is a cheaper source of electricity generation. To reach the sustainability in the water consumption the cost can be reduce when dry machining are installed in the process of production. There will be a need for very less amount of water.  In place of the use of corrugated iron in building the factory the factory needs to be renovated through the use of wood in place of iron. There is a need for renovation as the there has been no renovation since 1960s. The use of cross ventilation is another solution there is a need for the air to circulate freely. Wood will be able to tolerate all sorts of temperatures. Since the small private company is located in the outskirt area of Perth, so the cost of transportation needs is high, as the raw material needs to be fetched from far off location. This needs to be reduced by getting local or regional produce as source of raw material. It is recommended that for expanding globally there is an option for the company to acquire, merger or follow the joint venture as a market entry strategy. The CSR related concerns will be going to be address when the company build a relationship with the stakeholder.  The above sustainable approaches will help the Company Eagle Valley Health Foods to get more revenue and help in enhancing the reputation of the company.

Reference:

Zaharia, C. and Zaharia, I., 2013. The Impact Of CSR On Consumers'attitude And Behavior. Economics, Management and Financial Markets, 8(1), p.118.

Amaladoss, M.X. and Manohar, H.L., 2013. Communicating corporate social responsibility–A case of CSR communication in emerging economies.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 20(2), pp.65-80.

Öberseder, M., Schlegelmilch, B. B., and Murphy, P. E. (2013). CSR practices and consumer perceptions. Journal of Business Research, 66(10), 1839-1851.

Rahim, M.M., 2015. Regulating Quality in CSR Reporting in Australia.Rahim, Mia Mahmudur, Vicario, Victor (2015)'Regulating Quality in CSR Reporting in Australia', New Zealand University Law Review.

Richards, Z., Thomas, S.L., Randle, M. and Pettigrew, S., 2015. Corporate Social Responsibility programs of Big Food in Australia: a content analysis of industry documents. Australian and New Zealand journal of public health,39(6), pp.550-556.

Bevan, E.A. and Yung, P., 2015. Implementation of corporate social responsibility in Australian construction SMEs. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 22(3), pp.295-311.

Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L.J., 2013. Corporate social responsibility in a global context. Chapter in: Crane, A., Matten, D., and Spence, LJ,'Corporate Social Responsibility: Readings and Cases in a Global Context, 2, pp.3-26.

Galbreath, J. and Shum, P., 2012. Do customer satisfaction and reputation mediate the CSR–FP link? Evidence from Australia. Australian Journal of Management, 37(2), pp.211-229.

Rahim, M.M., 2015. Regulating Quality in CSR Reporting in Australia.Rahim, Mia Mahmudur, Vicario, Victor (2015)'Regulating Quality in CSR Reporting in Australia', New Zealand