STAKEHOLDERS NEEDS 4
Sustainabilityreport: What do Stakeholders Really Want?
Sustainabilityhas become a major issue within the company setup. Many are in thequest to achieve their priorities and meet the needs of the clients,who are the main stakeholders. Sustainability may take theenvironmental, economic, or the social frame. In this paper am goingto focus on the needs of the stakeholders.
of the article
GlobalReporting Initiative (G.R.I) has provided guidelines onsustainability reporting (Bradford, Earp & Williams, 2014).Nevertheless, these guidelines have not addressed the issue ofwhether the suggested activities are in line with the priorities ofthe clients on the ground. The article points out that human rights,risk management, and environmental conservation are the majorpriorities of the client.
Iagree with the authors that most companies are not within their toppriorities. I agree with the article and have elaborated on the threemajor stakeholders priorities in the subsequent paragraphs.
Elaboration
First,clients are much interested on how the company is tackling the issueof equality and human rights at the workplace (Bradford et al.,2014). It is evident that companies put the least priority in thisaspect. Employees in some companies are treated unfavorably inrelation to others within the same workplace. Sometimes,discrimination is selectively basing on the race or the ethniccommunity. In some cases, those with disability and expectant ladiesare discriminated. Discrimination whether in the recruitment andrecruitment should be eliminated within the workplace. Sexualharassment, unequal wages or direct victimization of employees aregenerally against what the stakeholders want to see. In the case ofsuch vices, the stakeholders tend to shun the company services andactivities.
Anotherconcern on the priority list is the risk management and compliance.Risk sources are varied a risk may arise from the market, thecollapse of projects, legal problems, accidents, natural calamitiesor even planned attacks on the premises (Hubbard, 2009). How welldoes the company identify, assess, and prioritize risk occurrences?How prepared are they to deal such situations? Clients will feel athome in premises that comply with risk management aspects.
Further,I believe that environmental conservation is also a customers’need. Changing climatic changes have raised eyebrows of late. Kun min(2014) posits that the adverse climatic conditions have beenattributed to the unethical activities within the industrial setup. Companies that have adopted the go green initiative are likely topick a good reputation from the community. Such activities includethe collection and recycling of products, treating of sewage, and useof eco-friendly forms of energy. The company should also establishand promote products that are environmental friendly. Research,however, points out that such product are likely to be more popularto women than men.
Conclusion
Istrongly believe that there is still need for companies to iron outtheir priorities to address the needs of the stakeholders. Such amove can make the company popular. On the other hand, they shouldalso continue with community development, even if it is unpopularamong the clients.
References
Bradford,M., Earp, J. & Williams, P. (2014). Sustainability Reports: Whatdo Stakeholders want? ManagementAccounting,8,1-7.
Hubbard,D. (2009). TheFailure Risk management.New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Kunmin, P. (2014) Environmentpolicies in China: Evolvement, Features, and Evaluation.Shanghai: University of Shanghai Press.