Introduction
When we consider the sector of professional services, the greatest firm is PricewaterhouseCoopers. It is listed in stock as PwC and is operational in about 157 nations around the globe. The year of establishment of the Company is 1998. It so happened that the two Companies, Price Waterhouse, established in 1854, and Coopers and Lybrand, established in 1849, decided to merge and thus the Company was formed. The numbers of offices that function under the Company name are about 756. The total number of staffs employed by the Company reaches to about 208100. The purpose served by the Company is the building of social trust so that important and crucial problems can be solved (Pricewaterhousecoopers 2015). The Company strives to achieve this purpose, and the same is backed up by the services that the Company provides.
Corporate Sustainability Strategies
Corporate sustainability strategies are those initiatives or approaches taken by a business which aims at giving a brighter future to the general public. It resembles the green strategies undertaken by a Company, which have long-term impacts on the consumer as well as the value added to the employees. This means that there should be a consideration for the operations of the business to identify correctly the ways in which it can improve its operations and create greener solutions to the general issues faced by the public.
Economic Aspect
PwC is a corporate organization, meaning that the economic aspect cannot be neglected and has to be incorporated as far as possible. The motto or the purpose of existence of a corporate entity is revenue generation or profit maximization. There will be no future for the Company in case they are not able to generate profits. A Company following green operations does not necessarily mean that they are not interested in earning; it just signifies that they are environment and law friendly ways of earning.
There are four distinct focus areas in the corporate sustainability strategy of PwC, and each one is carefully designed so that the Company reputation is enhanced in the eyes of the shareholders and there is some level of differentiation from its competitors. In short, these areas are expected to provide the Company its competitive advantages. The four areas of focus are:
Responsible Business
Workplace and Diversity
Community Engagement
Environmental Stewardship
Responsible Business- The area of responsible business deals with maintaining the quality and ethics in the organization. This also implies that the sole responsibility of the performance ways of PwC will be the Company itself. The category that the Company falls in is that of professional services. This means that the area of work is to provide corporate services and help the clients tackle risks, identify and grasp opportunities and create more sustainability.
Workplace and Diversity- This ensures that the workplace environments in which employees are involved will be safe and diverse. There should be impending respect and a feeling of mutual cooperation in the workplace. All this would create a better workplace performance in the long run.
Community Involvement:
One of the beliefs that drive PwC is that there is the responsibility of the Company not just towards its stakeholders, but also towards the community where the operation lies. The workforce at PwC voluntarily extends their helping hands during the hours of work so that the community can be helped and contributed to in any way possible.
Environmental Stewardship- This stewardship means that the environmental impacts should be minimized, and the environment should be helped with the notion of "go green." The impact caused by the company to the environment is mostly in terms of business travel carbon emissions and the energy consumption in facilities (Wackernagel, & Rees, 1998). The Company is striving to create a reduction of both these aspects.
Social Aspect
The social aspect includes the campaigns and programs that are undertaken by the Company so that the society and its inhabitants can be helped. There is high seriousness in the Company regarding this issue. There have already been numerous community services and other acts that enhance the social standards. The Company itself encourages its employees to be a part of communal and social acts. The underprivileged are one of the target groups of these help programs, where these people are supported to regain their social status and face problems to conquer them. Even during work hours, the employees are allowed and motivated to indulge in community and society services.
Ecological Aspect
The Company has made efforts so as to minimize the Company carbon emissions and the usage of electricity in the facility. The affiliates and encouraged and demanded to do the same. Public transport is promoted among the employees for the office-home commute. The reward system has been introduced for employees who are environmentally forward. The green strategy is thus encouraged at the overall organizational level, in an attempt to preserve and improve the surrounding environment. The activities of humans have implanted the seed of destruction on the ecology (Nothwehr, 2012). Hence, it is very important to formulate the strategy that will direct the efforts in protecting the environment and see the ecology in a holistic view (Baum, Dobrev, Witteloostuijn, & A, 2006).
PwC's Sustainability Strategy
With the motive that their organizational goals are assisted to be met, PwC has drafted a new sustainability strategy. The formulation of this strategy has been done considering that no important aspects are missed out. The company adopts the strategy of protecting the ecology and environment at a corporate level. The corporate level strategy of ecological protection drives the overall activity, resources, competencies and resources to protect the environment from the top to bottom level of the organization (Johnson, Scholes, & Whittington, 2006).
One of the major suggestions that the Company provides its clients is work towards a sustainable and a better environment. There are also provisions for discounts and incentives for those clients who follow environmentally sustainable strategies. There is high encouragement level in employees and may even be forced into working towards achieving the green environment strategy. There is a reward system for the practice of such behavior.
Employees have been restricted from the use of personal use of corporate vehicles. This would help in the reduction of carbon emissions. Employees have also been restricted to use the resources of the corporation for personal usage. The environmental impact of the Company is thus reduced.
The amount of paperwork and thus the use of papers in the Company are quite high, resulting in a large quantity of waste paper. Employees are encouraged to save paper as much as possible and recycle and reuse. Digital strategy to computerize all the paperwork and documents is underway, which will help save paper. The clients of the Company are also encouraged to do the same.
The canteen at the corporation is also environment-friendly. Waste of food is prohibited as far as possible. The waste of canteen is minimized with the use of proper plates and utensils and not paper cutlery. Plastic usage has also been strongly banned. Employees and clients are also encouraged for the same.
Energy saving has also been given much consideration. Almost all offices have a reliance on renewable sources of energy rather than absorbing grid power. One of the top priorities is water management. There is assurance that there is no wastage of water in the office and elsewhere. The offices have a system for rainwater harvesting so that water saving is promoted.
Carbon Management
The largest possible impact that PwC has on the environment is through its carbon emissions, which is still quite low. The Company target is to cut the emission of greenhouse gasses by a huge amount of 34% at the end of 2020 and whooping 80% at the end of 2050. This target has been set to take 1990 statistics as the base. The short run target, however, is the reduction in total emissions from operations by 25% at the end of 2017. The success has ben quite near since the reduction in emissions since 2007 has reached a level of 23%. They have concentrated on the need to pass these values to the employees in the organization as well as the clients in the form of reports and case studies.
The following have been some of the steps that PwC has undertaken to control carbon footprint:
Measurement and timely report of their organizational carbon footprint
Benchmarking and Target Setting for the reduction in absolute emission levels
Minimization in carbon emissions by improvement in their operational efficiency and also latest technology grasp to create solutions for carbon emission reductions.
Improvement in the supply chain so that carbon footprint can be significantly reduced.
Knowledge sharing on carbon emissions, management of carbon footprints and other information with employees and clients so that best practices are promoted.
Motivate and encourage employees to contribute to the control of carbon footprint at personal as well as professional levels.
The use of renewable energy sources whenever and wherever possible.
Inherent Opportunities and Risks
There are both risks as well as opportunities associated with the techniques used for carbon management. The reduction in carbon emissions means that costs are also reduced. However, it may also mean that superlative technology is required to keep carbon emissions under the control. The major opportunity that the Company may capitalize on is that it makes the company unique; striving for environmental protection. The cost is that work needs to compromise at some level so that the environment can be saved. There are possibilities of business disruption, but there can be even severe consequences if the climate change starts affecting their lives.
CR Commitment of PwC for Years 2014-16
The timeline for PwC's strategic commitment and implementation have been presented below. These commitments have already been acquired by few of the bigger firms. The goal now is to standardize these commitments into all the twenty-one firms that PwC is associated with. There is the apt knowledge that the only alignment to a combined method will be able to make the commitments a success. The commitments are:
Harnessing the networking powers for scaling an improving accountable business behavior
Increasing the favorable impacts on the community and social activities so that growth of the society can be fastened.
Managing and reducing the environmental impacts and increasing favorable social impacts simultaneously.
Enhancing the relevance and transparency of prepared CR reporting.
PwC’s CR Commitments 2015-16 Status
The achievement of the CR activities of PwC can be proven from the fact that all the biggest firms of PwC have implemented their CR strategies. This is in alignment with the global CR strategy focus of the Company. There has also been the establishment of leadership ladders of CR. The objective behind this is to enable these firms for the implementation of their individual strategies and the planning of a future where environment remains as the central component.
All the firms on an individual basis have set internal targets, and they are all striving to achieve these targets. A survey is also conducted from people so that the performance of the company in the environment and social sectors can be evaluated. All the associate twenty-one firms encourage their staffs to get involved in volunteering activities. The measurement and increase of the social impact of these activities are also considered. Wise investment decisions are ensured so that highest level of favorable impacts on the society can be observed. Out of the 21 large firms, 17 have prepared their individual environmental policies at the local level, which are in alignment with Statement of PwC’s Network Environment. Internal reporting has been introduced in all the offices so that the communication on activities is clear for the stakeholders (Wackernagel & Rees, 1998).
Improvement Aspects in PwC’s Strategies
A Company that has an objective of optimizing its processes will always have room for improvement. Same is the case with PwC. There are attempts of strategy improvement round the clock so that their favorable effects can be multiplied.
The offices where the techniques of environment saving are lacking are put on the list for early installing as soon as possible. The offices which already have the environment saving techniques installed have operated in high maintenance so that the best equipment has been used. The community has been set up to work for the environmental impact assessment, which helps improve environment related strategies. The employee workforce at the Corporation is joining hands so that community services can be facilitated. Reward systems have been introduced for employees and affiliates who commit to their environment saving the campaign. The Company thinks that since they have the power and position to make a difference, they should essentially be doing the same for the community. Clients are still the kings for the corporation; however society and environment follow very close. There is high seriousness for improvement of the environment and the society.
Environmental Goals for PwC
The Company has a continuous focus on the improvement of performance in all related areas. The major areas where the focus lies are the use of waste and materials, transportation management, the efficiency of energy and local community engagement and practices. There is a periodic measurement of their carbon imprints and actions are taken on a regular basis so that energy usage is kept at the minimal level. Restoration projects and the use of RECs confirm that carbon impacts are remediated. They believe in the power of reducing, recycle and reuse and follow the same.
The Company is always on the hunt for sustainable ways and materials so that environmental imprints can be substantially reduced. The issues that affect the society and the environment are always kept in mind and considered during the processes of procurements, designing, refurbishing and managing the rented or owned facilities. The effects of these considerations on the procurement and strategy performance are duly noted, and favorable practices are suggested to the Company affiliates. The workforce is continually trained to provide classes, training, and other coaching facilities for the youth of that area for spreading environmental awareness. This helps create a sustainable environment.
Environmental sustainability has been embedded as an important management function and kept at the center of a corporate sustainability strategy. Annually, the strategies are evaluated in terms of their management and monitoring. The communication part is very clear and timely reporting is promoted at the internal as well as an external basis (Pricewaterhousecoopers, 2015).
The collaboration part of the company is also very strong with stakeholder ties. All the related parties work together so that better environment can be provided to enhance performance. These issues are considered even during the delivery of services to the clients. The environmental performance is made public through an external report, which is published on an annual basis. Engaging with government entities, corporates, and non-governmental organizations so that synergy can be created for the successful implementation of their programs extends the partnerships. Favorable impact based activities are promoted in any way possible.
PwC’s Achievements in Environmental Sustainability
There has been a considerable decrease in the amount of paper used by the Company. In 2012, the amount of paper purchased by PwC was 103,854 Kgs whereas the same quantity dropped to 89, 721 Kgs in 2013. The amount of paper recycled in 2013 was 68,824 Kgs and the same in 2012 was 124,284 Kgs.
The amount of trees saved as a result of paper recycling and reusing was 688 trees in the year 2013 and 2102 trees in the year 2012. The energy consumption is also on a strict decline. The amount of energy consumed by PwC in 2013 was 3,378,427 kWh, which is quite a decrease from the 2012 consumption figure of 3,833,998 kWh. The consumption of water has been reduced. The quantity of water consumed in 2013 was 13,091 cubic meters, which was 15,145 cubic meters in 2012. The use of technology has also been optimized. There has been an increase in the number of teleconferences, the number being 13,866 for 2013 and 11,933 for 2012.
The use of teleconferencing helped in reduction of travels for meetings. This resulted in an overall decrease in the carbon emissions by the use of office transportation. The analysis of the carbon footprints of the Company suggests that the same CO2 imprints from railway and airways amount to 5,239.8 metric tons in 2013 as opposed to 4094.83 CO2 metric tons in 2012.
The quantity of CO2 produced from the motor vehicles in the year 2013 was 355.92 metric tons which are a decline from the 569.98 metric tons in 2012. In the year 2013, PwC’s amount of paper sent for the purpose of recycling was 44.6%, which was also because the Company purchased lower paper volumes at that time. The savings for 2013 related to the energy consumption decrease amount to 646,951 kWh, which means that 19% power consumption was saved (Pricewaterhousecoopers, 2015).
Conclusion
There are many Companies who are looking forward to being an environment-friendly Company because the time is demanding the same. However, PwC has stood as a Company with foresight, which has already put its actions and strategies in place. The PwC belief that it can create a difference has provided impetus to the serious work that it carries out in the environment sectors.
The corporate culture of the Company promotes the employees and its affiliates towards the achievement of a better environment. The whole company is putting its effort towards a common goal with greater social and environmental implications. And PwC as a Company is exceeding at the process.
References
Baum, J. A., Dobrev, S. D., Witteloostuijn, & A. (2006). Ecology and strategy. Amsterdam, Oxford: Elsevier JAI.
Johnson, G., Scholes, K., & Whittington, R. (2006). Exploring corporate strategy. Harlow, England: FT/Prentice Hall.
Mackey, A., Mackey, T. B., & Barney, J. B. (2007). Corporate social responsibility and firm performance: Investor preferences and corporate strategies. Academy of management review, 32(3), 817-835.
Nothwehr, D. M. (2012). Ecological footprints: An essential Franciscan guide for faith and sustainable living. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press.
Pricewaterhousecoopers. (2015). PwC. Retrieved 12 December 2015, Retrieved from: http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about/corporate-responsibility/our-cr-commitments.html
Pricewaterhousecoopers. (2015). PwC. Retrieved 12 December 2015, from http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/about/corporate-responsibility/environment.html
