REASONS FOR MAKING SUSTAINABILITY REPORTS

First of all, the reason to make such reports is to provide evidence of how company is going for its stakeholders. The key of success of every company lies in support of its stakeholders. An increasing support "can be useful in creating ambassadors for sustainability within and outside your company". Flynn (2009) notes that if a company chose to make sustainability report it can prove that it provides environmental and social responsibility which can be a good advertisement for a company.

Although there is a growing popularity in making sustainability reports, not all companies provide them. So stakeholders would chose company which cares about sustainability rather than a company which does not. The next thing is that providing such reports can become first steps for companies to do things in a sustainable way. For example, company Fuxi Xerox Australia opened Eco-Manufacturing Centre to remanufacture parts and sub-assemblies removed from equipment. This centre has provided as business as environmental outcome (Parker,2010, p. 37).

KEY FEATURES

5.1 BASIC REQUIREMENTS

According to Pounder (2011,p. 22) every sustainability report should content four trends. The first one is escalation. It means that both the quality and quantity of information about sustainability given by the company should increase. The second is integration. It has two dimensions. Information which has been reported in separate parts should be present in an integrated manned, and the second thing is that sustainability reporting affects managerial decision making. The third trend is standardization. The opinion of stakeholders should be mainly taken into account. The last one is globalization. Sustainability reports should not be limited to organizations in one country.

5.2 MAIN PRINCIPLES

GRI sustainability guidelines include the main principles for making a good content. First principle is materiality. It means that information given in the report should provide evidence about economic, environmental and social impacts of organization. Next thing is stakeholder’s inclusiveness. Report should identify company's stakeholders and explain the response to their

expectations. The third concept is completeness. All the information should be clearly provided so that stakeholders can understand how a company impacts

social and environmental spheres (WBCSD 2011). Every sustainability report is graded. A company can get A,B or C. Also, for external assurance a company can get a plus to existing grade. In order to ensure report quality GRI has established such principles as balance, comparability, timeliness, accuracy, clarity and reliability.

5.3 SPECIFIC INFORMATION REQUIRED BY GRI

There are 3 standard disclosures: profile, performance indicators and management approach. Profile should illustrate data about strategy and analysis e.g. opinions of senior decision makers about the relevance of sustainability to the company, key events and achievements, impacts on sustainability. Organizational profile includes name of a company, primary brands and products, countries where it operates and so on. Next point from profile is governance, commitments and engagement. This point covers "governance structure of the organization, including committees under the highest governance body responsible for specific tasks”, linkage between shareholders and senior decision makers, engagement of stakeholders during the reporting period.

As for performance indicators, they show the main impacts of the company on economics, environment and society. To disclosure environmental performance a company should mention information which can prove that a company tries to use resources in the efficient way and to reduce quantity of emissions, effluents and wastes .To show an impact on society it is necessary to illustrate relationships between organization and local community, to show public policy positions, to mention how company deals with incidents of corruption if they happen. As for economics, a company should provide materials about economic value generated and distributed, financial implications, financial assistance from government and indirect economic impacts. To show management approach a company should include information relating the ways organization manages the sustainability topics associated with risk and opportunities .Company should disclose such things as their goals and performance, policy ,company responsibility, training and monitoring (GRI Guidelines,2001).

COMPANY EVALUATION

From the sustainability report provided by Orica Ltd it is clear that a company wants to deliver evidence for its stakeholders."For Orica, sustainability means the capacity to deliver value of stakeholders in the following areas" : governance, safety health and environment, people and community, engagement and communication. (Orica Ltd 2011,pp. 19-20) there are information about its political contributions and activities. Also, it is mentioned that a company cares a lot about risk management. Report provides information about leadership at Orica (Orica Ltd 2011, pp. 21-23). Company has managed some governance challenges such as the risk of having a breakdown in internal controls and the risk of the influence of natural disasters on chain supply and facilities (Orica Ltd 2011,p. 16).Next thing is safety, health and environment. It is obvious that company has as strong management system covering these issues. Personal safety is very important for Orica. Company works on processes reflecting different evolving regulations. Moreover, it cares a lot about environment. According to Orica Ltd (2011,pp. 70-84) company tries to decrease a number of wastes and do not harm environment. How Orica impacts society is provided in the point under the name people and community. Company spend its efforts on making required infrastructure for employees to support growth. Orica creates good working conditions for employees and cares about their rights (Orica Ltd 2011,pp. 106-109). One of the major aims of Orica is to built strong relationships between employees and community stakeholders because ineffective communication can lead to The last point, engagement and communication, provides information about the ways company is trying to build the trust and support of their customers, investors, employees, shareholders and the communities in which company operates. Orica's sustainability report has been made according to GRI Guidelines .As a result, company has got Application Level B. Orica do not have 3rd party assurance.

CONCLUSION

To summarize all, organizations are coming to realize that today a company can get a lot of benefits making sustainability report. During last 15 years sustainability has become a key issue for everyone. It influences all areas of life. So it is important for people to understand its necessity. Sustainability is a way to create future without needs for the next generations. Sustainable development leads to the harmony between society, economics and environment. Everything people need to keep it going is to use resources prudently, protect nature and recognize needs of everyone.

REFERENCES

Jones, A III. & Jonas. 2011, "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: The Growing Need for Input from the Accounting Profession", The CPA Journal, February, pp. 65-71.

Verschoor, C. 2011,"Should Sustainability Reporting Be Integrated?”, Strategic Finance, December, vol. 93, Issue 6, pp. 13-15.

Flynn,M. 2009, "Defining Sustainability", Paperboard Packaging, August, vol. 94,issue 3, pp. 14-18.

Parker,L. 2010, "The Whole Story", In The Black, November, vol. 80,issue 11,pp. 34-37.

GRI 2001, GRI Sustainability Reporting Guidelines G3.1-Reference Sheet, GRI.

World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) 2008, Sustainability Consumption Facts and Trends, viewed 16 November 2012, <http://www/wbcsd.org/Pages/EDocument/EdocumentDetails.aspx?ID=142&NoSearchContextKey=true>.

Orica Ltd 2011,Sustainability Report, viewed 16 November 2012,< http://www.orica.com.au/sustainability>.

Pounder,B. 2011, "Trends in Sustainability Reporting", Strategic Finance, December, vol. 93,issue 6,pp. 21-23.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 554