In the past year we have provided advisory services to organisations including Alcoa of Australia, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, Monash-Citylink-Westgate Southern Link Upgrade Project, Optus Singtel, RACV, Toyota Australia and Transurban.
Browse case studies of our development of Toyota Australia’s 2008 Sustainability Report, our stakeholder perception survey for Alcoa of Australia, our stakeholder research for VicUrban and Transurban Ltd, and our review of Westpac Banking Corporation’s Stakeholder Impact Report.
Developing Toyota Australia’s 2008 and 2009 Sustainability Reports
In April 2008, Toyota Australia commissioned the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility to help develop its second annual Sustainability Report. Following the publication of six yearly Environment and Community Reports, Toyota Australia wished to report more fully against the GRI indicators. The aims of the project were to assist Toyota Australia to define the scope of the report, collect data, write the report and support the verification process.
We worked in-house at Toyota Australia for three months, which enabled us to liaise with Toyota Australia personnel to collect data and helped us to gain a full understanding of the material issues for the company. The report was then published as a printed summary report and a full online version, applying the GRI framework to an A+ level.
The 2008 report resulted in some encouraging achievements for Toyota Australia. It gained a positive independent review in Ethical Investor magazine. The report also won an ACCA 2008 Sustainability Reporting Award for ‘Best report in consumer and business services’. ACCA, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, awards excellence in environmental, social and sustainability reporting.
In January 2009, we continued to work with Toyota Australia to seek feedback on its 2008 Sustainability Report. This enabled Toyota Australia to improve their responsiveness, completeness and materiality in their 2009 Sustainability Report.The project was completed by undertaking a review of the report with key stakeholders including employees, fleet managers, suppliers, government, community and dealers.
Following Toyota’s 2008 Sustainability Report and the stakeholder review, Toyota once again engaged the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility to develop its 2009 Sustainability Report. The result was another GRI level A+ full online report, as well as an online summary report.
Read Toyota Australia’s 2009 Sustainability Report
Read Toyota Australia’s 2008 Sustainability Report
Read a review of the Sustainability Report from Ethical Investor magazine
“ACCSR helped develop a high-quality report on time which displays our commitment to sustainability very well. We are very pleased with the outcome.” Roger Petrucci, Corporate Manager, Strategy and Environment
Toyota Australia
“ACCSR’s recommendations and suggestions enabled report content, structure and layout to be improved. Invaluable advice and support was provided during the graphic design and verification phases of report.”
Daniel Ivanov, Environmental Specialist,
Toyota Australia
2: Alcoa Stakeholder Perception Survey
In October 2007 Alcoa of Australia commissioned the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility to investigate the expectations and perceptions of key local stakeholders had of its business across its operations in WA, Victoria and NSW. The research aimed to capture baseline data on the perceptions Alcoa’s stakeholders had of the company’s social, environmental and financial performance and awareness of the companies community relations and partnerships programs. The purpose was to provide evidence-based identification of opportunities and risks in the development and refinement of Alcoa’s community relations strategies. A key deliverable was the development of key performance indicators and a survey tool that Alcoa can apply independently in future years to track the effectiveness of the company’s community relations strategies. The research was implemented over a six-month period from late November 2007 to early May 2008.
We designed a two-part research process that enabled us to engage all Alcoa’s 1,500 plus stakeholders in a cost-effective manner. In Stage 1 we used the internationally-validated Stakeholder 360® tool to provide empirical evidence of stakeholder perceptions and expectations, and to identify socio-political opportunities and risks relevant to Alcoa. Customised questions measured stakeholder awareness and attitudes regarding Alcoa’s reputation and performance, and specific economic, social and environmental programs. We completed in-depth interviews with 158 key stakeholders at ten Alcoa sites in Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Stage 2 comprised a self-complete survey delivered by either post or email to the other stakeholders. Surveys were returned by 418 stakeholders, for a response rate of 31%. In all, 36 per cent of Alcoa’s Australian stakeholders participated.
The results enabled us to pinpoint opportunities and risks at both corporate and site level. We were able to clearly identify and measure business outcomes such as perceptions of social, environmental and economic performance, and reputation. We also quantified the extent to which high quality stakeholder relationships contribute to these outcomes, developed key performance indicators and provided tactical advice on community engagement and communications for each site. We designed and tested a do-it-yourself survey that Alcoa can use independently in future years to track progress of stakeholder and community relations activities.
Finally, we hosted a one day workshop for Alcoa’s corporate and community relations staff who used the research results to develop innovative and relevant community relations site plans.
One of the great strengths of ACCSR was their ability to provide us with robust data which we could use as baseline information but also present to line managers to build on our local, regional and national community and stakeholder engagement programs and improve our performance.
ACCSR have a rigorous academic approach but deliver practical recommendations. Working with ACCSR was not the usual consulting experience - we all came away feeling that we had learnt a lot more about effective stakeholder engagement!"
Paula Benson, General Manager, Corporate AffairsAlcoa of Australia
3: VicUrban Stakeholder360® Research
In April 2009, the Federal and State Government’s agreed that the Victorian Government’s sustainable development authority, VicUrban, would develop the former 128-hectare Department of Defence site in Maribyrnong, following site remediation by the Commonwealth. The site, rich in history and opportunities to create an exemplar of sustainable development in Melbourne’s inner west, brought together diverse sectors and stakeholders. Stakeholder consultation was identified as a critical success factor to inform project planning and assist in building an agreed community vision for the future of this major urban regeneration project.
VicUrban commissioned the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ACCSR) to conduct research with the Project’s grass-roots stakeholders.
The aims of the project were to:
- demonstrate that VicUrban is committed to engage with, listen, and respond to stakeholders and;
- provide insights that so as to increase the likelihood of achieving strong engagement with relevant stakeholders.
- understand and measure relationships between stakeholders;
- identify and measure relationships between issues that have material implications for development of the Project’s vision and strategy;
To achieve this, ACCSR undertook in-depth interviews with key stakeholders nominated by VicUrban. We worked with VicUrban to apply the internationally validated Stakeholder 360® research and engagement framework. Including both quantitative and qualitative measurement and management processes, Stakeholder 360® provides detailed insight into an organisation’s socio-political risk, uncovers the drivers of an organisation’s social performance and reputation and provides a roadmap to build high quality stakeholder relationships.
This project resulted in some key outcomes for VicUrban. They were able to identify new and emerging stakeholders and strengthen existing relationships to inform the building of a shared vision for the site’s redevelopment.
Dominic Arcaro,
General Manager Urban Revitalisation,
VicUrban
January 2010
4: The Stakeholder 360® at Transurban Ltd
A company’s ability to reduce its environmental impacts and deliver strong social outcomes while driving business improvement depends on the quality of its relationships with a broad range of stakeholders. In 2006, Transurban engaged the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (ACCSR) to conduct stakeholder research with the company’s Australian stakeholders.
The aims of the research were to help Transurban better understand the issues that matter to stakeholders and to inform and support the development of Transurban’s community engagement framework. To achieve these goals, ACCSR implemented the Stakeholder 360®. ACCSR conducted 79 in-depth stakeholder interviews and two external stakeholder meetings.
The results were used to build Transurban’s community engagement strategy and develop its first sustainability report, while the process helped strengthen relationships and shared understanding between Transurban and its stakeholders.
In Transurban’s 2007 sustainability report, the company described how it uses the Stakeholder 360® as its “main tool for formally engaging with its stakeholders.” In 2007 ACCSR conducted a Stakeholder 360® for Transurban to uncover key emerging issues and track changes to the company’s stakeholder relationships and reputation from 2006. ACCSR conducted 53 interviews with people from 38 stakeholder organisations.
The 2007 research showed that stakeholders are becoming increasingly concerned about sustainability issues. Transurban’s 2007 sustainability report said: “As well as extracting key stakeholder issues, the research provides valuable data on ‘social capital’ — the quality of our relationships with stakeholders.”
Read Transurban’s first sustainability report
Mike Roberts,
General Manager,
Corporate Relations & Strategic Marketing
Transurban Limited
5: Review of Westpac Banking Corporation’s 2005 Stakeholder Impact Report
Westpac, a global leader in sustainability reporting, asked us to review their fifth Stakeholder Impact Report in June 2006. Westpac wanted to ensure that its report was addressing the most material issues and that it meets the needs of a range of different stakeholders in the most accessible manner.
We designed a two-part process to achieve Westpac’s objectives. First, we developed a short telephone survey that allowed us to measure and compare in a systematic way the preferences of different stakeholder groups on aspects of the report such as readability, preferred format, narrative quality, data presentation, length, accessibility and language. We also collected data on the issues that matter most to stakeholders. Next, we facilitated stakeholder dialogue about the report through workshops that enabled us to probe issues in more detail that were raised in the survey.
Finally, we synthesised the results of the survey and workshops into a concise report that clearly explained what is working and why, and what can be done to improve what is already a report that other companies look to for benchmarking.
Emma Herd,
Senior Advisor,
Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability
Westpac Banking Corporation
6. Port of Melbourne wins Australian record for ExperienceCSR
A team from Port of Melbourne Corporation has become the first Australian team to join the ExperienceCSR Top 20 list.
Port of Melbourne Corporation ran an ExperienceCSR in-house workshop in 2008. Several teams completed the workshop, but one decided to meet weekly over lunch a few more times and refine their CSR game plan. The result is the highest score ever achieved by an Australian team. The team was presented with certificates acknowledging their Australian World Record Holder status.
(l-r) Cameron Weston, Steven Fleiss, Ken Reither.
The players came from different parts of the company and said they found the game helpful for developing common language and ideas about CSR that they are using now to develop better CSR outcomes for their company.