Assume that you have graduated from RMIT University and set up your own business – ASM (Australia Sustainability Management) Consulting – a sustainability consulting firm. This business is the realisation of your business proposal generated when studying at RMIT after you have successfully completed several sustainability-related courses. Using the proposal, you had won the RMIT Business Medal Award and gave a good impression to one of the industry panel judges Dr Kaushik Sridhar, Sustainability Manager from an Australian listed company, Evolution Mining. You intend to utilise this connection to expend your business opportunities. During your conversations with Dr Sridhar, you learnt that the company is looking for a sustainability consulting service. You notice a heightened interest in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by Australian companies. Hoping to have Evolution Mining as your future client, you plan to offer a free case study analysis for Evolution Mining regarding its sustainability practices and provide recommendations for how SDGs should be adopted by the company. You hope Evolution Mining will like your analysis and engage you for future paid consulting works.

The tasks that you planned for the Case Study Analysis Report are as follows.

 

(Note: Evolution Mining is a real-life entity. All of your research, analysis, discussions and recommendations relating to this case study should be based on real-world information and condition. Submissions of your case study on companies other than the selected case company will result in zero marks.)

 

 

 

Assignment One: Case Study Analysis Report

Content requirements

You plan to research and critical analyse the current situation, develop and justify a range of suitable solutions then recommend how the case company should address the sustainability opportunities as well as threats that the company is facing. You intend to address the following questions.

1. What is sustainability? Is the notion of sustainability relevant to the case company? Justify your answer.
2. What are SDGs? Are SDGs relevant to the case company? Justify your answer.
3. What are the specific (material) sustainability issues that the case company is facing? Justify your answer. Further, develop a strategic materiality matrix for the case company to illustrate your findings.
4. If sustainability and SDGs are relevant to the case company, how might the case company embed sustainability and SDGs in its operations and corporate activities? Develop possible solutions and the provide and justify your recommendations.

Submission requirements

Submitted:

Individually (this is an individual assignment)  Due Date:

By 11.59 pm, Sunday 15 August (late submission attracts 3 marks per day deduction; late submissions after five days will be awarded zero marks) Word Limit:

Maximum 2,000 words (not including executive summary, table of contents, references and appendices). Word count includes every word in the body of text (from your ‘d. Problem identification and analysis’ section to the end of the ‘h. Implementation’ section, including figures, tables, headings, etc). Every 100 words above the word limit attracts 0.5 marks deduction of available marks. For example, if the word count is 2,001, a deduction of 0.5 marks will apply. If the word count is 2,101, a deduction of 1 mark will apply.  Font size

12 for body text; 12 and above for headings; choose ‘justify’ to apply to the whole document margins.

             

Accounting for Sustainable Management

Weighting:

30%

Submission:

Electronic copy, via Canvas with in-built Turnitin report

 

Your submission should include:

1. Cover page. Include the course name, assignment name, your name, student number, lecturer’s name, and word count (excluding executive summary, table of contents, references and appendices).
2. Executive summary. Maximum one page. Include the purpose of the report, problem identified and recommendations/solutions. Brief background to the company.
3. Table of contents.
4. Problem identification and analysis. Addressing Q1 and Q2 to identify if sustainability and SDGs are relevant to the case company. Suggested word count around 700 words.
5. Statement of major problems. Identify key issues for the case company that must to be solved first by addressing Q3. Use strategic map to illustrate the major (material) issues. Maximum one page for this section. Suggested word count around 300 words.
6. Generation and evaluation of alternative solutions. Identify and evaluate at least two solutions for each of the major problems. Do not state which alternative is considered best as this will occur in the next section. Suggested word count around 300 words.
7. Recommendations. State which of the alternative solutions (singularly or in combination) identified in section f are recommended for implementation. Briefly justify your choice and explain how your solutions will solve the problems. Suggested word count around 300 words.
8. Implementation. Translate your recommendations into actions. Explain what should be done, by whom, when, in what sequence, and with what resources involved. Your solutions should be able to be realistically implemented. Suggested word count around 400 words.
9. References list. At least 20 references that are not included in the textbook are expected, within these outside-of-textbook references minimum 10 academic refereed journal articles should be listed.
10. Appendices (if any).

Name protocol of your electronic copy:

Before submission, rename your file name follow naming protocol:

• your last name;
• your first name; and
• your student number.

For example: Butler Amy 1234567

Suggestions and expectations from the Course Coordinator: Assignment One

Assignment One requires you to conduct independent research on issues relating to sustainability including SDGs, and its relevance to a case company in Australia. To successfully complete this assignment, your readings should start with, but not limited to, the Component One materials (Topics 1-3) of the course. You need to search for materials that are outside of prescribed texts, and it is expected that these materials should form the basis of your assignment. While reading these materials, it is suggested that you apply your learning from the readings to this case study (in particular, the four questions outlined) – this will enhance the relevance of your reading and writing.

In terms of your writing, quality (how well you communicate your work and how well the arguments are formed) is more important than quantity (the number of words written) – this is particularly important for report writing. The readers often are the senior managers, they have limited time to read the report. That is, your writing needs to be clear and straight to the point. To achieve this, you will need to collect relevant information, identify problems and most importantly, make suitable recommendations to solve these problems.

Your writing, in general, should always provide logical reasoning. You are expected to demonstrate professionalism by presenting a high quality written document and adhere to the referencing style that is detailed in the RMIT Business reference guide.

 

Particular expectations relating to each question:

1. What is sustainability? Is the notion of sustainability relevant to the case company? Justify your answer.

When defining sustainability and arguing the relevance of sustainability to the case company, your answer is expected to go beyond course materials – you are expected to draw from your research, and to explicitly link the importance of sustainability in business and the case company. You are expected to search for discussions from different parties (e.g., business leaders, international organisations, politicians, or various interest groups) as well as academic journals. Your discussion also needs to consider the changing and heightened social expectations on business operations. Further, you need to discuss the sustainability opportunities and threats that are particular to the industry within which the business operations. That is, you are expected to link sustainability to the industry. This involves researching, identifying and analysing sustainability issues in the industry at the world level and in Australia, the expectations (in general) from the stakeholders, and the competitors of The case company. You will need to look for evidence of what other business entities are doing as they pertain to sustainability (e.g., which competitors are currently adopting a particular framework and practice or producing sustainability reports). Particular industry initiatives or frameworks need to be addressed. Finally, you will research and analyse the sustainability issues that the case company is facing.

2. What are SDGs? Are SDGs relevant to the case company? Justify your answer.

In this part, you will start with explaining SDGs and its role in sustainability. The next step is to discuss SDGs’ relevance to the case company. You will research and analyse how businesses adopt SDGs worldwide, in Australia, by the industry that the case company operates in, and by the case company. Identify opportunities and issues as well as justify your discussions.

3. What are the specific (material) sustainability issues that the case

Accounting for Sustainable Management

company is facing? Justify your answer. Further, develop a strategic materiality matrix for the case company to illustrate your findings.

In this part, you are expected to explicitly identify material issues for the case company. This involves researching and analysing the current market position and sustainable practices of the case company, particular issues that the company is facing, as well as the expectations from its stakeholders. You will need to analyse the strength as well as future opportunities or improvements for your entity.

This is followed by constructing and presenting a strategic materiality matrix. Please note that materiality matrix can be developed for strategic development or reporting purpose therefore the focus and contents can be different. In Assignment One we focus on the strategic materiality matrix to decide what the case company need to prioritise in its strategy. (Avoid intensive use of GRI or IR materiality criteria as these two are for reporting purpose. Reporting materiality will be addressed in Assignment Two).

There are plenty of examples from websites on how to construct a strategic materiality matrix. When developing the matrix make sure it is customised for the case company. One way, but not the only way, to construct the strategic materiality matrix is to present the issues that significant to stakeholders and those to The case company, and plot them along the X-Axis (e.g., significance to The case company) and Y-Axis (e.g., significance to stakeholders) according to the degree of significance, urgency or priority.

 

4. If sustainability and SDGs are relevant to the case company, how might the case company embed sustainability and SDGs in its operations and corporate activities? Develop possible solutions and the provide and justify your recommendations.

This part is the most important and valuable work of your business report. Please do not shortchange this part. Your work on the first three questions is designed to build a solid foundation of research and analysis that logically lead to this part in which you will demonstrate your problem-solving skills. The reason for the report is to provide recommendations that convincing and useful to the company. First you provide possible solutions then provide your recommendations. Your recommendations should be specific and in-depth. Avoid offering recommendations that are too general (e.g., ‘the company should embrace sustainability practices’ without further detail), less relevant to the case company, or not realistic to implement. All recommendations should be actionable and realistic.

In class, each week I will be giving additional and detailed suggestions and illustrations. I will also take your questions and will answer your questions in greater detail. These suggestions I call them ‘feedforward’ (as opposite to ‘feedback’ which only happens after you submit your assignment) – suggestions are provided before you submit your work. I hope the above suggestions and in-class feedforward will help your academic performance!

Read carefully the marking rubric (next page), and understand how your work will be assessed.

 

 

 

Assignment One Marking Rubric (30%)

Scoring level	The depth and quality of the research undertaken by you	The application of the research to the task	The ability to synthesise information into a coherent and engaging report	The ability to correctly acknowledge sources using the Harvard Referencing system	Score
	8 marks	8 marks	8 marks	6 marks
4- Accomplished High Distinction	•  Materials referred to are relevant and •  References are drawn from a wide variety sources and •  References support the arguments presented and •  Research is current and from a reliable source (7-8 marks)	•    The report discussion clearly addresses the issues raised in the task and •    The discussions are very relevant and •    The report clearly outlines the major findings, the impacts of these findings, and recommendations   (7-8 marks)	•   The report is professionally presented and •   All grammar and punctuation is correct and •   The report is written in an appropriate style and •   The report is highly engaging and easy to read and •   All sections of the report have been included and correctly constructed        (7-8 marks)	•    You have used the RMIT Business referencing guidelines to clearly and accurately record all cited sources in the report and •    You have provided a list of references which is correctly formatted in the RMIT Business referencing guidelines style     (5-6 marks)
3- Highly Competent  Distinction/ Credit	•  Most of the materials referred to are relevant •  References are drawn from a range of sources •  References generally support the arguments presented •  Research is mostly current and from a reliable source                     (5-6 marks)	•    The report discussion addresses most of the issues raised in the task •    The report is mostly relevant to the needs of the client •    The report outlines the major findings of the investigation and the impact of these to the tasks (5-6 marks)	•   The report is professionally presented •   The majority of the grammar and punctuation is correct •   The report is written in an appropriate style and •   The report is engaging and fairly easy to read •   All sections of the report have been included and correctly constructed           (5-6 marks)	•    You have used the RMIT Business referencing guidelines to clearly and accurately record all cited sources in the report •    You have provided a list of references which is correctly formatted but •    Some minor errors in the citations and/or list of references (3-4 marks)

Accounting for Sustainable Management       6

2 – Satisfactory Credit/Pass	•  Some of the materials referred to are relevant •  References are drawn from one or two sources •  There is a lack of cohesion between the references cited and the topic being discussed •  Research is mostly current and from a reliable source (3-4 marks)	•    The discussion addresses most of the issues raised in the task but lacks some clarity •    The report at times lacks relevance and/or some of the conclusions drawn are erroneous •    The report outlines the major findings, the impacts and recommendations, but lacks clarity in linking these to the tasks (3-4 marks)	•   Improvement is needed in the presentation •   There are some errors in grammar and punctuation •   The report is mostly written in a style appropriate for the client •   The report is not engaging and/or is not easy to read •   All sections of the report are included but there are some errors in these sections (3-4 marks)	•    You have used the RMIT Business referencing guidelines to record cited sources in the report but have made some major errors in these citations and/or •    You have provided a list of references but there are errors in the construction of this list     (2-3 marks)
1- Unsatisfactory	•  There is a lack of evidence of relevant research •  The research presented is too narrow •  The research presented does not support the topic (0 – 2 marks)	•    The report discussion fails to address most of the issues raised in the task and the discussion lacks clarity •    The report lacks relevance in the discussion and/or most of the conclusions drawn are erroneous •    The report does not outline the major findings                               (0 – 2 marks)	•   Major improvements in the presentation of the report is needed •   There are many errors in grammar and punctuation which need correction •   The report style is inappropriate, the report is not engaging and/or is not easy to read •   Not all sections of the report have been included      (0 – 2 marks)	•    You have not used the RMIT Business referencing guidelines to record cited sources in the report  and/or •    Not all sources are cited and/or •    No List of references or serious errors in the construction of this list                           (0 – 1 marks)
Total					/30

 

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