Individual Company Analysis. Sony Company. Management Essay

The targeted company is SONY. Instructions and some published reports are attached. Reference resources are not limited

Individual Company Analysis

The primary question driving this assignment is to assess the degree to which your company is making (or preparing to make) “the big pivot,” and in the process, what evidence exists that the efforts of your firm is influencing broader actions across industries and civil society.  Toward this goal, this semester-long assignment will be completed in two (2) separate phases, the first of which is to be submitted through this assignment page.

In this phase, you will be individually responsible for conducting and communicating findings from research on a single “leading” company within a specified industrial sector. Based on our workshop, you should attempt to address the following aspects of your firm's sustainability reporting:

• Does the report provide details on CSR/Sustainability practices as well as policies?



• Do they report systematic data or just anecdotes?



• Does it report in a comparable format over time?



• Do they report future goals and past performance against these goals?



• Are the goals consistently reported (have any been abandoned)?



• Do they report bad news as well as good news?



• Do they identify and report on "material" aspects?



• Do they integrate CSR/Sustainability reporting with traditional/financial reporting?



• Have you found other information (news, reports, etc.) not reported on by your company?

Report Guidelines: 5-pages, single-spaced text, double-space between headed sections; tables and figures are to be in addition to these guidelines, and are unlimited.

SEMESTER PROJECT – CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY ASSIGNMENT

The nature of human activities has challenged the limits and floors of our ecological and social systems. New and significantly more sustainable models of production and consumption will likely need to dominate economies within the decade.  In response, organizations across global business, government and civil society have embraced strategies and policies addressing not only climate change and the preservation of biodiversity, water supplies, and other natural resources, but also poverty, inequality and the lack of access to opportunity. The world is awash with frameworks and business models, goals and targets, compacts and commitments; all of which seek to align governments and businesses in a common pursuit of transitions to sustainable futures. For example, the United Nations’ ambitious 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development outlines a universal call to action; at least 66 countries have specified portfolio goals for renewable energy; and, more than 400 firms have committed to ‘science based’ carbon reduction targets. While these efforts, and many others, illustrate broad ‘buy-in’ to the sustainability agenda from a planning and strategy perspective, little attention has been paid to its actual implementation, i.e. to the concrete steps needed to transition sustainability strategy into practice.

Even with the increasing evidence that firms who invest in sustainability tend to earn greater financial and market returns – and have happier and more committed employees, customers and investors – meaningful sustainability initiatives across core business practices have yet to materialize widely. In fact, current best-practice of sustainability, isn’t that good.

• Less than 11% of the 2422 respondents to the 2017 McKinsey Global Survey reported modest (or greater) value created by sustainability programs in their operations (62% hadn’t formally integrated sustainability in operations at all). 
• Of the 1035 qualified sustainability experts responding to the GlobeScan-SustainAbility 2017 Sustainability Leaders Survey, only 6% listed ‘results/walk the talk” as a reason for recognizing companies as ‘leaders.’ 
• Among 272 responding BSR members (a highly informed group of professionals on the leading edge of sustainable business), less than half indicated that measuring progress on Sustainable Development Goals (42%) or climate change (38%) will be a high priority for their firm’s sustainability function in 2025.

This lack of focus on the implementation of actual sustainability practices stands in sharp contrast to the challenge and opportunity at hand. A recent report of the Business and Sustainable Development Commission identifies the next 15 years as critical for the implementation of sustainable development solutions, where ‘kicking the can down the road’ will put ‘impossible environmental and social strains’ on the global economy. The report also estimates more than US$12 trillion in specific revenue and cost saving opportunities related to business solutions targeting food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials, and health and well-being.

This assignment provides an opportunity to practice some of these skills and apply the concepts developed within this course. This assignment aims to provide an integrative learning experience. 

Assignment

The primary question driving this assignment is to assess the degree to which your company is making (or preparing to make) “the big pivot,” and in the process, what evidence exists that the efforts of leading firms are influencing broader actions across industries and civil society. Toward this goal, the semester-long assignment will be completed in two (2) separate phases:

• First, you will be responsible for conducting and communicating findings from research on a single “leading” company within a specified industrial sector.
  • Report Guidelines: 5-pages, single-spaced text, double-space between headed sections, tables and figures are to be in addition to these guidelines and are unlimited.

• Second, in larger groups focused on a specified industrial sector, you will provide a comparative assessment of the firms examined, providing important information with regard to aspects reported, performance achieved to date and collective progress toward a more sustainable future.
  • Report Guidelines: 10-pages, single-spaced text, double-space between headed sections, tables and figures are to be in addition to these guidelines and are unlimited.

The road to these outcomes has two major stops. 

• First, individual firm assessments will be due no later than 11:59 PM on November 1, 2019. Additional information is forthcoming to help guide your efforts toward this project. In addition, the class period of October 16, 2019 is currently scheduled as an in-class workshop day.

• Second, group industrial sector assessments will be due no later than 11:59 PM on December 16, 2018. Additional information is forthcoming to help guide your efforts toward this project. In addition, the class period of November 27, 2018 is currently scheduled as an in-class workshop day.

As a guide for this assignment, we will lean on Andrew Winston’s book, “The Big Pivot.” While we will take a quick look at Part I of the book earlier in the semester to orient sustainability challenges to the business management context, this assignment will use Part II, “Radically Practical Strategies,” as a framework for your firm and industry assessments. He suggests three primary ways that firms can, or should, “pivot” to address the realities of a changing climate, scarcer and more expensive resources, and more open, transparent, automated, artificial, and autonomous intelligence. These are:

• Vision Pivot (fighting short-termism, setting science-based goals, pursuing heretical innovation);
• Valuation Pivot (incentives to engage the organization, redefine ROI, value natural/social capital);
• Partner Pivot (become a lobbyist, collaborate radically, inspire customers to care/use less).

Basically, he argues that companies need to transition/change from current practices in order to make good business that solves sustainability challenges, while staying within the social and environmental carrying capacity of the new world order (okay, NWO is a joke, look it up if interested). Your challenge is to examine your company’s: 1) annual financial reports; 2) sustainability/responsibility reports and web content; 3) news and media content associated with your company’s interactions with the environment and key stakeholders (governments, employees, investors, suppliers, civil society, etc.); 4) mention of your company in third-party reports (e.g. non-profit, advocacy, governmental documents/studies). You will focus on the past 5 years of reported information. Every firm and every industry will be different, but you are to develop a coherent assessment that is not limited to, but must include the examination of three primary questions:

1. What evidence can be observed of a vision, valuation and/or partner pivot across this 5-year time horizon?
2. Specific to goals and targets, are they quantitative, are they “science-based,” is there evidence that they have been met, is there evidence that they have changed, shifted, or been abandoned?
3. To what extent is sustainability influencing research and development (R&D), mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and new product development (NPD) investments targeting innovations that mitigate environmental/social risks or help customers/clients/society adapt to the new realities of a changing climate and changing world?