The Woolworths Group (woolworthsgroup.com.au) is an Australian conglomerate founded in 1924. The company’s headquarters is in Bella Vista in New South Wales, a southeastern Australian state. Colloquially known as “Woolies”
there, the company has extensive retail interests in the Oceania region, particularly in Australia and New Zealand, but it also has a substantial foothold in India. The Woolworths Group consists of three core businesses (Woolworths Food Group, Endeavour Drinks, and Portfolio Businesses), which altogether employ more than 205,000 people, and have a combined revenue of about $46 billion USD. Woolworths has 13 subsidiaries across the three businesses.
Integrating these 13 subsidiaries into a corporate social responsibility program is a challenge for a company with so many employees and diverse interests. To accomplish its objective, Woolworths Group’s Corporate Responsibility Strategy identifies 20 corporate responsibility and sustainability goals. These goals cover a broad range of Woolworths’
stakeholders (e.g., customers, team members, suppliers, and local communities in which Woolworths operates). In particular, the indirect employees—in various supply chain partners—create a challenge when Woolworths designs and implements CSR initiatives. Woolworths’ Corporate Responsibility Strategy is based on a framework of People, Planet, and Prosperity. Here, we will take a look at these “three P” areas, where Woolworths thinks it can make a difference.
The primary focus on People in Woolworths’ CSR approach is about encouraging diversity: “We value diversity across Woolworths. Our customers should see in Woolworths’ people a reflection of themselves and their communities.
In this strategy we embrace targets that support diversity and, hand in hand with this aim, tolerance and respect.” The target goals include striving for gender equity by targeting at least 40 percent of executive and senior manager positions to be held by women. Woolworths is also setting a goal of no salary wage gap between male and female employees of equivalent positions at all levels of the company. And being rooted in Australian business, the company is embracing diversity by increasing the number of indigenous employees so it is in line with the company’s stated commitments under the Australian Federal Government’s Employment Parity Initiative.
The focus on the Planet in Woolworths’ CSR approach is innovating: “We recognize the environmental impact we have across our value chain and will work with our suppliers, service providers and operations to innovate for a healthy planet. We will move to a circular economy, source environmentally sustainable commodities and respond to climate change.” Woolworths is working toward zero food waste going to landfills. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 20 percent of what goes into municipal landfills is food. Woolworths is also trying to reduce its carbon emissions by 10 percent. Many of our daily activities (e.g., using electricity, driving a car, or disposing of waste) cause greenhouse gas emissions. A carbon footprint is defined as the set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an individual, event, organization, or product, and it is expressed as a carbon dioxide equivalent. Emissions trap heat in the atmosphere, which according to most scientists contributes to disruptive climate change.

The focus on Prosperity in Woolworths’ CSR approach is founded on trusted relationships: “We will focus on positive relationships with suppliers, give back to the communities in which we operate, and rebuild trust with our customers.”1 Woolworths’ targets are to achieve a top quartile ranking in how the business engages fairly and equitably with its suppliers, as measured by independent supplier surveys. Inspiration is also built into prosperity in the form of the company implementing activities to inspire customers to consume all of Woolworths’ products in a healthy, sustainable way. The most transparent Prosperity initiative, though, is to invest the equivalent of 1 percent of total earnings in community partnerships and programs.
Woolworths’ People-Planet-Prosperity strategies drive how the company does business. The strategies outline that Woolworths is committed to hard work and that its integrity is resolute. The foundation is a down-to-earth culture with family friendly values. Every aspect of Woolworths’ business exists for the purpose of making customers’ lives simpler, easier, and better. Underpinning Woolworths’ operations is a working relationship built on mutual trust with suppliers. More than 80 percent of the company’s suppliers have been strategic partners with Woolworths for a decade or longer.

Questions
1. What challenges do you think a company like Woolworths Group is facing when developing and implementing a companywide corporate social responsibility strategy that considers more than 205,000 employees, diverse interests, and stakeholders?
2. As mentioned, the focus on People is about encouraging diversity. The idea is to increase the number of indigenous employees so as to be in line with the company’s stated commitments under the Australian Federal Government’s Employment Parity Initiative. Does such a diversity approach enhance the company’s sustainability strategy, or no? How?
3. Woolworths Group is trying to reduce its carbon emissions or footprint by 10 percent. Based on where we are as a world, is 10 percent enough of a reduction? Perhaps global warming is not real, albeit the vast majority of scientists clearly suggest it is; what do you think? 

4. Woolworths’ targets are to achieve a top quartile ranking in how the business engages fairly and equitably with its suppliers. How do supplier relationships and the fairness in dealing with suppliers relate to sustainability and “doing good” for society (and the company)?

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Woolworths DIE BAKERY