Question

Dunphy, Griffiths and Benn (2007) developed a 6 Phase Model to describe the stages a business will progress through in its transformation to becoming a sustainable organisation. One of the phases identified by the authors is the compliance phase.

a. Describe the sustainability objectives and indicators typical of businesses in the compliance phase. b. Describe the range of compliance actions that would be typical of a large chemical manufacturing company that was in the compliance phase

Answer 1

Answers:

a.)

An effective and robust compliance management system is an integral component of an organization's structure. Organizations should implement compliance objectives correctly to ensure organizational goals are achieved. The compliance phase requires implementation of four crucial steps that include planning, implementing, monitoring and reviewing and lastly maintaining the compliance action (Benn, Dunphy & Griffiths, 2007).

The sustainability objectives of compliance phase is to ensure it operates in accordable with applicable regulations and laws, assures prompt corrective action, it creates a culture of integrity and honesty, builds trust and confidence and it prevents fraud and abuse. The key indicators in the compliance phase include prevention (achieved through training and following code of conduct), detection (achieved through non-harassment and monitoring), and corrective action (disciplinary policies and investigations).

b.)

A large chemical manufacturing company must comply with safety and health guidelines. The guidelines are aimed at processes and conditions found in the "chemical industry". The first compliance action is disaster prevention and it requires understanding of how operational processes can be harnessed. The operations needed in disaster prevention should focus on the management, personnel and physical subsystem.

The management subsystem includes process specifications, management personnel, standard operating procedures, and plant design. The personnel subsystem includes providing appropriate employee training and correctly defining emergency and normal operations. The physical subsystem focuses on waste removal and ventilation systems, communications systems, storage areas and transportation systems.

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Conclusion:

The compliance phase should be implemented as an early warning system of detecting risks facing an organization. A compliance management team should be set up to design proper procedures and solutions that can address and prevent risks that are likely to occur in the compliance phase. Organizations can rely on set compliance phase objectives and indicators to determine if the intended goals have been achieved.

References

Benn, S., Dunphy, D., & Griffiths, A. (2007).Enabling change for corporate sustainability: An integrated perspective. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 13(3), 156-165.