Question

The CEO of BEEKAY Company, a listed mining company, is in discussing with the Chairman whether or not the company should adopt a triple bottom line (TBL) reporting system in order to demonstrate BEEKAY Company's level of sustainable development. BEEKAY Company's competitors are increasingly adopting TBL reporting and the Chairman feels that it would be beneficial to follow suit. The CEO, on the other hand, feels that pursuing TBL reporting would be expensive and is not necessary.

Required

(a) Explain what TBL reporting involves and how it would help demonstrate BEEKAY Company’s sustainable development. Support your explanation by including examples of proxies that can be used to indicate the impact of the factors that would be included in a TBL report.

(b) Discuss how producing a TBL report may help BEEKAY Company's management focus on improving the financial position of the company. Illustrate the discussion with examples where appropriate.

(c) DANDEE is a large region with a rugged, beautiful coastline where rare birds have recently settled on undisturbed cliffs. However, today, many communities in DANDEE suffer high unemployment. Government initiatives for regeneration through tourism have met with little success as the area has poor road networks, unsightly derelict buildings and dirty beaches and has discovered substantial tin reserves in DANDEE. With new technology, mining could be profitable, provide jobs and boost the economy. A number of interest and pressure groups have, however, been vocal in opposing the scheme including wildlife protection representatives, villagers worried about the potential increase in traffic congestion and noise, environmentalists, and anti-capitalism groups.

Required

Explain the conflicts between the main stakeholder groups in this scenario and discuss how the conflicts could be resolved.

Answer 1

A) TBL or Triple bottom line approach is a reporting and managing method with a view of environmental benefit attached to it. Unline the normal bottom line approach which focuses on just profits for the the company, the triple line approach talks about profit+ planet + people. Using TBL reporting methods is an expensive affair as well as company's may not able to keep all three parameters together making it a long and confusing decision making process.

B) Using TBL method of reporting results in increased reputation of the company in the market, increased motivation levels in employees and new market to perform.

C) Mining business in Dandee will prove to be very damaging to the natural beauty, granted it could bring employment and profits but will damage the wildlife and lives of people living there with pollution and construction. It would be better if instead of mining business, Dandee should focus on increasing tourism activities including wildlife sanctuaries and bird sanctuaries, better road facility would still be better for localiets and tourists.