Sustainability Report: Public Perception vs. Reality - Essay Sample

Introduction

Through recent years, sustainability reports have been a critical discussion in public. The increase of ecological, social, and financial disclosure to the public has increased due to the public's awareness of these factors. As the company's try to project responsible imagery to the social environment, through the report, its primary principle has been abandoned. These reports are much produced today to win the public's acceptance even though their daily activities do not match those present on the reports. This essay, therefore, using two UK companies of Vodafone and Everything everywhere Limited (EEL), compares their sustainability report to produce an understanding of the sustainability report. It also discusses why these reports are nowadays not only a source of financial data but also a company's social and environmental data source. A developed approach to what can maintain a sustainable business makes sure that the work always creates and delivers important progress to social society. A commitment to ensuring that businesses' visions and achievements that create societal benefits are related to possible sustainability measures. One must always struggle to ensure that responsible acts matter through integrity at all costs. The investments that provide a substantial return to society is most considered in the development of a sustainable business report. This report offers a general view of what the form is envisioning to achieve under sustainable business plans and incentives.

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Sustainability Report

A sustainability report is an institutional report that illustrates information on the economic, social, and management performances. It contains not only data generated but also methods to improve an organization committed to sustainable development in a form that shows both internal and external stakeholder.

Performance Measurement System

Performance Measurement System (PMS) is the set of variables used to grade both the efficacy and success of activities (Crowther, 2018). The variables help a company to manage, control, plan, and perform the activities in an organization. The systems used to measure these performances mostly have financial, social, and environmental approaches.

Financial

This system primarily focuses on the final returns of a company. It contains details as to why business is making a loss or profit and what aspects lead to them. It also studies the general cost of production to that of output and tries to suggest possible solutions for a problem or potential lift ups of the company's finances.

Social

The approach in the social system studies the organization's interests towards society. Contains the company's investment of beyond the legislation ones towards the customers, employees stand the community. The data helps to provide the company with their interaction with the local community and how it affects the general running of the company in its activities to archive their goal

Environmental

The sustainability of an organization should include its ecological factors. The study has shown that an organization's environment has a big say on its decision making and growth. This system contains details of compliance, improvement track, and also the environmental position in the decision-making of the company.

Approaches to Providing Accountability

Measurement of performance needs an organization to have the accountable data. Accountability, therefore, demands several factors that range from social environmental and financial that results in the production of accurate data.

Financial Approach

There will be need of an organization to involve its employees on a financial decision. The budgetary discussion to enable them to air their opinions since they are the main engine that runs the company. With their view heard it would be easy to have a fluent activity run hence accurate data when performance is measured.

Social

There has to be trust between employees and the organization to enable the acquisition of accountable information. The data will help to obtain accurate and dependable data from employees regarding the performance of the organization.

Environmental

The organization's both internal and external influence the accountability of the company's position. Their information is vital and is used to make decisions that numerously aid the decision-making process (Baker & schaltegger, 2015, 263-294). These factors may include, customer's needs and demands together with the interaction of the company's policy and its customers.

The two UK companies of Vodafone and Everything Everywhere Limited has an almost same structure of their performance report writing. Each of the companies tries to portray a greener position over the other. They emphasize social and environmental matters to try to move the customers on their side. The strategy used by these two companies to acquire data is the same. The content of their performance reports highly suggest why accounting today is both a technical and social practiced factor in an organization (Crowther, 2018)

Measuring the Performance Of An Organization

Performance measurement is the continuous data collection and analysis from various functional areas of the company. It concerns the running, reporting of standard administration progress towards achieving its goals. The primary function of performance measurement is to assist in decision making. It also helps to understand the development of making a strategic plan and action plan (Balakrishnan, 2019). The baseline data should be present for a good decision to be made. A baseline is the initial data collected. With it comparison is made with the current data collected; hence, its result is the company's performance. Some of the areas of data collections and analysis are;

Financial Statements

The financial statements indicate how much money the business is generating. There are three forms of reports that enable a study of business performance. These are; income statement-it measures the cost-effectiveness of a business in a specific duration. Secondly, the balance sheet indicates the currents business financial health of what you have a loan from and own, and lastly, the cash flow report shows the liquid cash flow of the business.

Vodafone

Vodafone documented incomes of PS35,478 million; this is about $71,224.9 million in the monetary year that ended on March 2018. That was an upsurge of 14.1% when compared to that of 2017. Their operating profit was PS10,047 million that approximates to $20,170.2 million as related an effective loss of PS1,564 million, almost $3139.9 million in the previous year. Its remaining revenue was PS6,660 million as related to a net cost of PS5,426 million in 2017 (Ozturk, 2018)

Vodafone has trained staff at in their vents to guarantee right product match with consumer needs. The Internal and external consumer contentment dependent on each other for exact merchandise purchaser match and purchase experience that reflects on Vodafone trademark symbol. The essential values of Vodafone include prizing, worker participation, and growth of the company. Thus inspires positive thinking that leads to team reward, advancement, and preservation.

EE Limited

Has an increase in the revenue rate of over $ 37 million in their previous year, making a 16.2% increment in their net profit. EE has advanced to enable its customers to choose what type of services suits them personally, and with that decision, EE has had a good customer relation. Their productivity has increased, causing its expansions; hence, employees enjoy promotion and salary increment while customers enjoy fast networking speed at low rates.

Customer Satisfaction

It is done through various methods, for example, surveys, reviews, and even by asking. This data is measured quantitatively to determine the performance of the organization. By knowing what the customer needs helps the company come up with various ways to satisfy them hence increasing the company's performance.

Employees' Performance

Employee performance relies majorly on the happiness of the employees concerning their task completion rate. It should be done regularly to give an oversight of where they need to improve and also know their workload.

Market Rate

There is a need to stay in current with the market to understand how the business is doing. This information can be accessed with an analysis of how other companies are doing. A low profit at certain times does not mean that the business is stagnating and vice versa. All these can only be understood when one studies the market

These factors, together with other more factors, both quantitative and qualitative, gives a company a current performance position and with-it major decision, are made towards the increment of the organization's performance.

Approaches to Providing Accountability

Accountability is a major binding component between an organization and its employees. Accessibility, therefore, provides grounds for the social structure by identifying individuals as agents of their actions, hence demanding their evaluation. There are different forms of enabling an organization to achieve accountability, these are;

Budgetary Participation

A budget is a plan of input that matches the planned output with objectives that illustrate the authority of spending. It helps to enable a follow up of resources delegated and allows its accountability to monitoring. Participation of employees towards the budget formation reduces ambiguity and increases job performance among employees. It, therefore, helps to motivate employees to work in the aim of achieving their goals rather than working to reach other people's intentions.

Performance Measures

Enables SMEs to measure their activities. Results from it will is used when making plans to improve performance and accountability. Performances data can be analyzed and used for monitoring, strategic decision making, and legitimization.

Employee Accountability

Accountability is a significant object that instills trust in an organization. It involves workers justifying their action through the provision of accurate information. The information given by a worker is therefore useful since it provides a directive on what decision to take the course. Other approaches that increase accountability in an organization includes commitment and management accounting process.

The reporting method used by these two companies did in a past evaluation of their previous financial year in comparison to the other years. They include both economic, social, and environmental factors with information on their role in each specific goal. These reports are done to establish the position of the company. It also acts as a marketing strategy to promote their brand in the competitive market. Conclusively Vodafone is one of the world's largest operators serving approximately five hundred and fifteen million customers in the whole world.

Bibliography

Crowther, D., 2018. A Social Critique of Corporate Reporting: A Semiotic Analysis of Corporate Financial and Environmental Reporting: A Semiotic Analysis of Corporate Financial and Environmental Reporting. Routledge.

Balakrishnan, R., Drymiotes, G., and Sivaramakrishnan, K., 2019. The Effects of Biasing Performance Measurement Systems on Incentives and Retention Decisions. Contemporary Accounting Research, 36(2), pp.1098-1121.

Denning, S., 2018. Succeeding in an increasingly Agile world. Strategy & Leadership, 46(3), pp.3-9.

Ozturk, C., and Marsap, B., 2018. Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in Telecommunication Industry: The Case of the US, UK, and Turkey. Muhasebe ve Finansman Dergisi, (78).

Patelli, L., 2018. Properties of Performance Measurement and Management Systems Used Dialogically between Parent Compa...