Task 1
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) provides a framework of social and environmental matters that organisations may refer to in their voluntary water reporting disclosures (Global Reporting Initiative 2000).
Find the GRI on the Internet. Outline the key GRI indicator protocols that relate to water. From the perspective of a report user, justify, for each protocol, why these aspects relating to water consumption should be reported.
Task 2
The following is a list of eight organisations in the food, beverage and tobacco industry that have high water consumption rates.
• Australian Food and Grocery Council
• Campbell Soup Company
• British American Tobacco Australia Limited
• Coca-Cola Amatil Limited
• Goodman Fielder Limited
• Inghams Enterprises Pty Limited
• Lion Nathan Limited
• Unilever Australasia Pty Limited
• Choose any 3 organisations from the list above.
• Describe, in brief, the company profile of each chosen organisation.
• For each chosen organisation, examine its most current water reporting practices.
• Compare and contrast a) the practices among your chosen organisations and b) these organisation's practices using the GRI protocols.
• For each of your chosen organisations and from the perspective of a report user, evaluate the adequacy of the company's disclosure and speculate on the motivations for their voluntary reporting practices.
Task 3
This task does not relate to water reporting. It relates to corporate social responsibility more generally.
Good Life Farm is owned by Servelan and was started 5 years ago as a hobby. Servelan is a doctor and she does not work on the farm. She employs a manager, Jenna, to operate the farm-stay business. There are 3 other employees. Basically, the farm-stay is an up-market holiday package where guests take time off from their busy work schedules to enjoy a nature holiday.
Servela's motivation for owning a farm and the business was never to make a profit but one of pursuing the good life. The farm is self-sustaining and guests can virtually live off the land in style. Servelan's idea of sustainability and care of the environment has now gone beyond her farm's operations. She is considering engaging in other socially responsible practices in the community through her business operations. She has asked Jenna to investigate the practices which small businesses can take to become more socially responsible in this particular industry. Servelan would like to know how she can develop her business to suit the requirements of a socially responsible small business and how she and her business can be more involved.
• You will take the role of Jenna.
• The farm does not have Internet access. Therefore, you have to write a business letter to Servelan. In the letter, you should select and justify the practices which Good Life
Farm can incorporate, in order to make it more socially responsible, and you should conclude with some of the challenges it might face in doing so. The letter should not be more than 900 words.
Fenwick, A 2010, Learning to practice social responsibility in small business: challenges and conflicts', Journal of Global Responsibility, 2010, vol. 1, no.1, pp. 149-169.
• You do not need to provide bibliographic references in the letter itself, but you should provide a list of your references (for the sources of information that you have used for writing the letter) on a separate piece of paper (following the letter). You should use the Harvard Referencing System to achieve this.