WOOLWORTH SOUTH AFRICA :WOOLWORTH SOUTH AFRICA :MAKING SUSTAINABILITY MAKING SUSTAINABILITY

SUSTAINABLESUSTAINABLE

Woolworths was founded in 1931 by Max Sonnenberg.

by2009.,it had 408 retail stores ,making it one of the

largest retail chain in South Africe .

Main product are food ,clothing, and home goods.

targeted people in upper-middle to high income

range .

the company's core values were quality and style,

value for money, service, innovation, integrity Energy

and sustainability

Woolworths' Good business journey program was

launched in April 2007 as a formalization of the existing

Woolworths sustainability initiatives.

The GBJ consisted of a comprehensive five-year plan

(from 2007 to 2012) aimed at improving the company

sustainability performance ,changing the way to do

business, and incorporating a series of challenging

targets and commitments, impact as it continues to grow

and meet the increasing needs of South African

consumers

.

It is centered on four keys priorities :

Transformation of the business according to

employment equity and black economic

empowerment (BEE) requirement .

Driving social development .

Enhancing environmental focus .

Addressing climate change.

Large south Africa corporation were legally obliged to

comply with BEE requirements .

Transformation including: equity ownership,

employment equity, skills development, preferential

procurement, enterprise development and socio-

economic development.

Transformation involved three main areas : direct

empowerment through ownership ,employment equity

,and indirect empowerment through preferential

procurement and enterprise development .

There is growing empowerment of:

black employees, women and people with disabilities

through the BEE employee share ownership scheme,

focused recruitment,, promotions, development and

retention mechanisms;

black and female unemployed communities ,through

learning and job creation opportunities;

black owned and small enterprises through supplier

support, coaching and development and opportunities

to join the Woolworths supply chain; and

communities through sustainable food security and

nutrition initiatives in schools across the country, as

well support for orphaned children.

By2012 Woolworth pledged to advance skills

development and equity ownership by filling

leadership positions with people from previously

disadvantaged groups .

Woolworths identified the environment as a key focus

for the business when announcing the Good business

journey.

Woolworth committed to increasing organic and free-

range food sales fourfold by 2012.

This would result in a reduction in the use of harmful

pesticides and chemicals .,which would benefit

consumers and improve water quality .

Woolworth committed to supporting free-range

farming method and animal welfare .

The company pledged to reduce product packaging .

Woolworths recognizes that climate change is a major

issue that affects the retail sector both directly

through the operations they run, and indirectly

through their supply chains and the use of our

products and services by customers.

Woolworth make a firm commitment by 2010 to :

reduce relative transport emissions by 20%;

reduce relative electricity usage by 30%;

open a trial green store; – source food regionally

wherever possible, reducing reliance on long-

distance road transport;

restrict airfreight of food products;

help set up model ‘green’ factories with selected

suppliers and work closely with suppliers to reduce

their carbon footprint.

work with soil scientists to regularly monitor their

farmers’ soil sustainability, increasing its CO2

absorption abilities.

Woolworths managed the GBJ centrally, through the

head of corporate governance and the corporate

affairs office .

In 2006 ,Woolworths created the Woolworth

sustainability index ,that measured progress towards

achieving 2012 targets by means of weighted

measurement and tracking system of over 200

indicators .

After the announcement of the GBJ, feedback from

stakeholders had been mixed. Those already involved

in sustainability issue had been supportive ,but some

had cautioned that the target were far reaching and

would be a challenge for Woolworth to achieve .

 In feburary2009,woolworth announced 10 key

sustainability risk areas, grouped into main categories

that might impact negatively on the company’s ability

to meet the 2012 targets :

External trading conditions, transformation, the

environment ,and the role of suppliers .

The impact of the global economic downtown had been felt by retailers across the globe.

In late February 2009,the south African economy contracted for the first time in decade .

Woolworth said that there had been significant changes in spending patterns .

It seemed that consumer were fast losing interest in sustainability issue and were looking for cheapest price .

Woolworth believed that their consumers were till concerned with social and environmental issue.

Organic product would retail at higher price than non-organic products, but Woolworth consumers would be willing to pay a small premium for sustainable products .

In 2008,organic clothing sales were 47persent above target Woolworths become the world’s third –largest consumer of organic cotton behind American giants wall-Mart and Nike .

In 2008 ,Woolworth headed the JSE’s top 100 carbon disclosure leadership index in the low carbon sector .

Woolworth commitment to reducing the relative amount of carbon produced directly by business ,by 30 present by 2012.

Woolworths was predominantly an own brand business ,selling product that had been specifically developed for the company under the Woolworth brand ,this was the target of GBJ..

The GBJ could not be successful without the commitment of the company’s suppliers ,and this was one of the most difficult areas of control.

All suppliers were bound by the Woolworths' supplier code of business principle .

The code covered legal, ethical ,and environmental requirements and helped to ensure that suppliers employees were traded fairly .

Each supplier was independently audited to ensure compliance with the code .

Woolworth had aimed to achieve 100 present to the code from its clothing suppliers by 2008 but had achieved only 73 present compliance ,due to difficulties in ensuring compliance from international suppliers .

In 2006 ,Woolworth introduced the Eco-efficiency awards for suppliers and become the first retailer in the world to recognize its suppliers for their contribution to environmental protection .

The company had also committed to promoting organic farming ,to use more environmentally friendly methods ,including assisting farmers to reduce their water, chemical, and fertilizer usage by 25 present.

Woolworths received a wards for his efforts from the civil organizations was named the 2008 international responsible retailer of the year at the world retail awards.

Woolworth had beaten both Sainsbury's and Tesco. Two of the united kingdom's largest grocery retailers ,which were regarded as industry leaders with comprehensive corporate social responsibility and sustainability plans .

For Woolworth to keep its public support ,the company had to push the values of the GBJ hard and that now ,more than ever ,Woolworth couldn’t be seen to be backing away from its stated sustainability targets or making too many adjustments to the original target .

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