Managing Sustainability Remains A Challenge For Asean Companies
KUALA
LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- Managing sustainability remains a challenge for
Asean companies, says a new PricewaterhouseCooopers (PwC) Malaysia survey.
The
survey also said that sustainability is an issue that can no longer be ignored
by the Asean business community, but many companies are at different stages of
understanding it.
According
to the survey, 81 per cent of respondents said sustainability was extremely or
very relevant to business, but less than half actually had a strategy aligned
with business goals.
The
survey, "Going Beyond Philanthropy?", explored how Asean companies
are embedding sustainability in their businesses.
Based
on the survey, sustainability goes hand in hand with risk management. It is
synonymous with building future long-term resilience for the business.
This
was only possible with a strong tone from the top, a critical component lacking
among the companies surveyed.
Only
three per cent had a strong leadership structure in place to spearhead
sustainability initiatives effectively, and only 35 per cent a dedicated team
to drive, monitor and measure their sustainability strategy.
"Companies
need to publish and share their sustainability initiatives regularly in their
annual reports or a stand alone sustainability report if they are keen on
building genuine public goodwill.
"Chief
Executive Officers should reinforce this culture of transparency within the
company by working directly with their stakeholders like employees, suppliers
and investors to develop their sustainability strategy.
"They
also should use various communication channels to get feedback," said PwC
Advisory Services Malaysia (Consulting Leader) Sundara Raj.
Overall,
the survey showed hat only 12 per cent of companies engage with all their
stakeholders including customers, investors/shareholders, regulatory bodies and
their local communities.
However,
the findings suggest that sustainability reporting is on the rise in the Asean
region.
Source:
Bernama
Date:
06 March 2013
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