Reference no: EM132314707

Assessment Task 1

Part A: Case Study: Tata Steel

Description:

Tata Steel is the second largest steel producer in Europe and has its main steelmaking plants in the UK and Holland. It supplies steel and related services to major industries, such as construction, vehicle production and packaging.

Tata Steel is committed to tackling the challenges of sustainability. This means that it takes its responsibility towards both the environment and its communities seriously, balancing these against the need to make a profit. It has put systems in place to meet international standards for environmental management such as ISO14001.

This case study shows how Tata Steel can tackle the relevant sustainability challenges and in particular satisfy all its relevant stakeholders. Analyse the given case study in your own words and answers the following questions;

1. Explain how Tata Steel’s approaches to CSR and its priorities that help the company make ethical and sustainable decisions

2. Based on this case, explain how sustainable practice can help a business to compete

3. Analyse why LCA is a more accurate type of analysis than just looking at the carbon footprint of the ‘usephase’ of a material

4. Evaluate the contribution of Tata Steel to sustainable and ethical business practices

You may research company’s website and collect more data about the relevant, and updated, sustainability principles, policies and practices of the company.

Part B: Review and Analyse a Sustainability Policy

Description:

A Sustainability Policy is a ‘Statement of Intent’ that can be used to communicate to staff and customers a commitment to improving environmental and social sustainability over time (Tourism Queensland, 2013).

In this assessment task, you will be required to review and analyse a sample sustainability policy. One of the sample policies used is of Fujitsu Australia, a leading service provider of business, information technology and communications solutions; and the third largest ICT Company in the Australian and New Zealand marketplace. Your trainer/assessor may also provide you with other/different policy documents for analysis.

Analyse the given policy based on;

Purpose and scope of the policy

Key stakeholders identified in the policy document

Relevant legislations and standards covered in the policy document

Sustainability goals and expected outcomes

Mechanisms for realising sustainability goals including roles of key stakeholders

Factors that drive company’s sustainability strategy

Note, an analysis is NOT a summary of contents. An analysis typically implies a breakdown of texts/contents into parts or ideas; and examining the details and structure of these texts/contents. Simply summarising the same contents will not be considered an analysis. You will be required to explain the above policy components from your own point of view.

You may also have to research company’s website or review theoretical concepts through online research to gather more information for your analysis and support your viewpoint.

Part C: Develop and Present a Sustainability Policy

Description:

Writing a sustainability policy requires a clear and through understanding of business activities, environmental impact of business activities, requirements of respective laws and standards, and sustainability outcomes of an organisation. Sustainability goals are an integral part of an organisation’s strategic and business plans.

In this assessment task, you will be required to develop (write) and present a Sustainability Policy for an organisation your choice. Organisation can be your past or present organisation. Alternatively, you may use any organisation with a likely/expected environmental footprint. In today’s technology-enhanced business environment, sustainability issues impact almost every organisation.

UTMOST care should be taken to avoid plagiarism – especially in lifting and using policy contents or documents from the internet.

Based on your selected organisational profile, develop;

A brief summary of the organisation and its business activities

Why sustainability is important for the organisation

Specific business area/function where sustainable practices are critical

Key sustainability principles and/or philosophy

Policy goals and objectives

Scope of the policy

Key stakeholders and their roles and responsibilities

Relevant laws and standards, including equal employment opportunity, equity and diversity principles and OHS implications of policy being developed

Industry best practice (e.g. examples of what other similar organisations are doing in this area – at least two such organisations)

Expected outcomes

Methods for implementation (your recommendations)

You may use examples of policy document structures from the sample documents provided. All external sources must be cited using an appropriate referencing system.

Presentation:

When developed, present the policy to the class audience, assuming the class audience as organisational stakeholders. For the purpose of simulation, your trainer/assessor will play the role of your manager/supervisor and also provide feedback on your policy contents from strategic point of view.

Presentation time: 10 minutes

Assessment Task 2: Group Project

Description:

In this team project, your team (maximum 4 members) will be required to develop implementation strategies for the policy document development in Assessment Task3. Essentially, you will focus on implementing the sustainability initiatives (policy) with a view to achieve stated sustainability goals.

Team should be formed at the beginning of the term and delegate project tasks to members based on their assigned role and responsibilities.

Strategies may include (but are not limited to);

Promotional activities

Raising awareness among stakeholders

Training staff in sustainability principles and techniques

Assume that your team has been given the responsibility to implement and promote the Sustainability Policy across the organisation. As your team, will have access of all the policy documents developed by team members in the previous task, only ONE of the policy must be selected for this task.

Develop a comprehensive document the covers;

1. Purpose

2. Strategies for minimising resource use

3. Strategies for reducing toxic material and hazardous chemical use

4. Benefits of employing life cycle management approaches

5. Communication plan for involving all stakeholders in the implementation process

6. Procedures for implementing policy initiatives (a brief procedure for each policy initiative)

7. Measures or benchmark indicators to identify the outcomes achieved (e.g. how will we know if a particular goal has been achieved)

8. Key responsibilities

9. Processes to collect and analyse feedback once the policy has been implemented

10. Plan for continuous improvement using Deming’s PDCA cycle

You team will be expected to undertake the project work during assigned project time in training sessions.

Teams will be expected to delegate roles, responsibilities, and tasks; and maintain team communication throughout.

In additional the above, teams will need to provide a team statement highlighting roles and responsibilities of team members, and a summary of contribution from each member.

The suggested strategies should be enhanced by the use of charts (e.g. likely resource consumption), flowcharts, and graphs as needed.

The final document should be word processed and structured as a formal business document reflecting a reallife approach.