Tassal: Leading Australian Seafood Company For Sustainable Aquaculture Practices

About Tassal

Question:

Discuss about the Analysis of Tassal Management Australia.

Tassal is an Australian company established in 1986 that deals with seafood, specializing in the production and marketing of Atlantic salmon. The salmon products are distributed in wholesale and retail to both the local and international market. For production, Tassal has more than three hatcheries that produce an estimated 10 million smolt each year. The company started as a private company but this changed in 2003 when it went public and was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Tassal is headed by its Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mark Ryan. The Head Office handling Tassal’s operations is located in Hobart and their two retail stores are in Salamanca and Kew. Operations at Tassal include the production of healthy fish at the hatcheries, processing in their three processing facilities, the sale and distribution of both branded and unbranded products. A lot of other operations meant to add value to the process also take place along the way. Tassal products are distributed in wholesale and retail to the local Australian market and the international market consisting of Asia and New Zealand (Hobday and Cvitanovic 2017).

Due to the sensitive nature of the processes involved in aquaculture, there are impacts of Tassal operations to the environment. This could arise from the technology used in the production of fish or the effect of fish farming on the environment and society. The integration of sustainability practices has become necessary for the successful performance of a company in contrast to the previous times where the only factor to be considered was making a profit (Stead and Stead 2013). Sustainability ensures the negative effects to the environment resulting from the operations carried out at a company are minimal (Do, 2013). Tassal has also been recognized globally for its sustainability practices in the company through ASC certification and its partnership with WWF.

The aquaculture industry in Tasmania expanding rapidly and expecting further growth, numerous fish production companies have come up. Despite Tassal being the largest producer in of Salmon in Tasmania, it faces stiff competition from Petuna Seafoods and Huon Aquaculture among others.

Tassal’s mission is to create a better tomorrow which involves the integration of their operations with innovation and sustainability. Bring sustainable well-being and health to consumers, the environment and everyone involved is the mission Tassal has set for itself. The company has sought to achieve this mission through making the production of healthy fish a priority. The focus here is on the healthy meals fed to the fish, reduced use of antibiotics and selective breeding which does not involve genetic modification. Collaboration with the company’s employees, customers, suppliers, stakeholders, and employees is how Tassal plans to achieve their mission and vision. Tassal defines their culture and business through their values and 5 Ps. The 5P’s stand for people, product, planet, profit, and process. The values that Tassal runs on include being passionate, owning it, operating safely and achieving their goals together. These values guide the quality of their products, attitude, commitment, and how they work (Locke and Latham 2013).

Sustainability Practices and Impacts of Operations

The goals set by Tassal seem to revolve around creating a zero harm environment for the employees, maintaining the well-being of stakeholders and ensuring their actions do not harm the environment. Some of the goals set by Tassal for the fiscal year 2014 include responsible operations alongside wildlife, ensure continued alignment of factory practices with the environment and improved communication with stakeholders. These goals can be described to take up a modern approach since the alignment of operations with the best sustainable methods require dealing with current states in the case of regulations, society and the environment. Sustainability has been incorporated into these goals in such a way that when better communication with stakeholders is accomplished, raised concerns that could be threatening their wellbeing are addressed. Alignment of the operations in Tassal with responsible practices means that they will eliminate or minimize any identified harmful effect to the environment (Shields et al. 2015). Responsible operations along wildlife mean that the company’s operation will not endanger the health of the wildlife.

Human resources management is designed to optimize employee’s performance while aligning this performance to the company’s objectives (Fee 2014). Tassal is one the leading employers in Tasmania and has received an award for the best employer. This was awarded to Tassal because of their exceptional commitment to their people. The company’s policy makes sure the locals are considered for employment. Locals who may not have the required expertise are offered training by the company. Tassal also employs a human resources initiative that uses a performance management system that engages both the salaried and non-salaried employees. This initiative ensures the non-salaried employees are up to the task in terms of the required the skills and salaried employees are performing at their best capability. The system also uses Margate Processing which is based on awards to keep the employees motivated. The right workforce for Tassal was chosen by offering equal opportunities to all future employees without discrimination brought by the diversity of future employees (Jabbour and Santos 2008).

Tassal has made sure its investment in their employees is not only aimed at profit but also for the growth and development of talent. This is made evident by the learning and development sessions handled within the company and externally. Tassal also protects its employees through the zero harm policy employed by the company. The zero harm policy is meant to be implemented by both the employees and Tassal in order to effectively offer protection during all operations. This works for the employees in such a way that none of the tasks required of them is more important than their safety. The can do safely approach taken up by the Tassal workforce ensures that there are no risks allowed to take place throughout the operations at Tassal (Christenson et al. 2017). Sustainable practices by the human resource management employ the zero harm system. The Zero Harm aims at achieving zero incidents causing lost time injury, zero fatalities, zero incidents that are preventable and zero breaches of the regulations set by WHS management system. The HRM is also responsible for hiring employees meant specifically to maintain sustainability at Tassal. This includes the professionals hired to maintain the health of the fish (Leith and Haward 2014).

Competition and Expansion

Tassal is headed by a board of directors who are assigned special responsibilities to head in the company. This method is effective as it allows them to focus on the specific areas and improve on them. The styles of leadership used by the board of directors and the CEO can be described as strategic (Du et al. 2013). This is because the decisions made by the leaders are done in such a way that they align with the company’s core values that focus on preserving the well-being of people and the environment. Transformational leadership can also be used to describe the case of Tassal. Decisions made by the leaders to adopt responsible practices in terms of sustainability have changed the company into a globally recognized sustainable aquaculture company. The company also came to serve as a benchmark for the integration of a company’s operations with the responsible practices. These decisions include the partnering of Tassal with WWF and the decision to align specific operations with sustainable practices.

Mark Ryan, the CEO of Tassal, received the CEO Award from The Richard Pratt Banksia Foundation. This was meant to recognise his efforts towards driving the company towards sustainability in Australia and making Tassal the benchmark for the adoption of sustainability by other companies (MacManus 2013). The CEO is passionate about sustainability and his unrelenting focus on sustainability has resulted in the adoption of responsible practices at Tassal. Mark, who is also the managing director of Tassal, mentioned in a statement his acknowledgement that in the 21st century making profits was not sole priority of a business and this would be shown clearly in the example of Tassal. Social and environmental responsibility is necessary in order to satisfy the expectations of the stakeholders, community and customers. Mark exhibited charismatic leadership as his passion to embrace sustainability influence the employees to act accordingly. His leadership was also influential in the sense that it made Tassal a role model for incorporation of sustainability practices in Australian fish farming.

Under Mark’s leadership, Tassal has partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Australia seeking for expert advice on how to employ their sustainability practice. This partnership proved its worth by an analysis of the changes it has impacted. The WWF has seen Tassal eliminate the use of the paint used in pens and nets that may contain harmful copper components. The amount of feed provided to the fish has also greatly reduced the effect on the stocks of wild fish (Wild-Allen et al 2010). WWF has also provided great support for research projects aimed at improving the fishing industry. The CEO of Tassal has also led the company to gain its Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification, which has been described as the highest standard globally offered for farming fish responsibly. This attracts customers who are conscious about engaging with companies that maintain environmental sustainability (Caliyurt and Yüksel 2016).

The incorporation of sustainability practices in their fish farming operations led Tassal to receive gold standard ASC certification. This was aided by Tassal’s effort, in collaboration with WWF, to engage in responsible practices with regard to the environment, management, and monitoring the nutrients. In an effort to expand its market, Tassal acquired De Costi Seafoods. This means that Tassal now caters for the salmon and seafood market, rather than just salmon. The CEO stated this as an effort toward growth and through maximizing consumption of seafood at a domestic level and economies of scale, Tassal stood to benefit from the whole seafood and salmon food chain (Bilinelli 2016).

Tassal's Mission, Vision, and Values

The research and development initiatives which Tassal heavily invests in, may sometimes require introduction of new technology (Christopher 2016). The marine inspector and cleaner is one of the technologies that Tassal has taken up for the cleaning net system and they reported improved fish stock growth as well as increased survival rates. The innovation eliminates the need for antifouling paint which may be harmful to marine life. Tassal also tries to use the latest technologies available in the production of smolt while still ensuring their effect on the environment is minimal. Technology has also been adopted by Tassal to transform the conversion rate of the fish feeds to more sustainable amounts. Tassal, in collaboration with Intuit technologies, developed a system aimed at monitoring the conditions of salmon farming through video feeds and environmental sensors.

Value chain sustainability is seen in the case of Tassal where the company collaborates with WWF in order to receive advice from the experts on how to embrace sustainability in their operations. Mark Ryan implemented this decision in an effort to address the need to introduce sustainable practices at various stages of the company’s operations adding value to them. These led to more responsible practices at the production level such as better health of the fish through the reduced use of antibiotics. There was also a reduced effect on wild fish which was achieved through the massive reduction of the use of fish as a feed in Tassal. These among other changes made in collaboration with WWF effectively add value to the products produced at Tassal while appealing to customers in their bid to conserve the environment by protecting it from harmful substances.

Tassal should continuously invest in the development of further innovative solutions for use their operations. This is because the industry relies on technology for the high quality products while still being environmentally and socially responsible (Brooks 2013). This recommendation will involve a greater focus by the research and development team in trying to optimize production with zero harm with minimal negative effects on sustainability. Feedback from key stakeholders is gathered and issues relating to the management of certain operations identified. This information will be made accessible to the department involved in coming up with the appropriate innovative solutions.

Tasmania is the leading producer of sea products in Australia and for this reason, Tassal faces a lot of competition. Consumers have a wide range of products to choose from and have the option of going for alternatives that are cheaper. The sale of Tassal products may therefore be too dependent on the demand which may vary from time to time. Tassal have the option of addressing this issue by building customer loyalty to their brand. High sustainability standards and the quality of the product based on their production could be some of the selling points that Tassal could utilize. This will all be done strategically in the  marketing operations of the company with an aim of building customer loyalty and promoting sustainability (King 2016).    Frequent internal audits to evaluate the state of the operational procedures within the company could also be taken up by Tassal. This will detect the need for necessary upgrades early enough and warn the company of potential hazards that risk putting the fish, employees, consumers, society or environment in danger (Holmen, Utne & Haugen 2017). These audits will also keep Tassal compliant with the necessary regulations taken into account in the certification that the company wants to achieve. Focus on practices that are responsible will be taken into consideration during these audits. Appropriate action will be taken on all areas identified to be lacking or requiring adjustments.

Conclusion

It is evident that management decisions made at Tassal have improved their operations and led them to be among the best companies in the Tasmanian aquaculture industry. Tassal’s commitment to remain socially and environmentally responsible under the leadership of Mark Ryan has put the organisation ahead of its competition in the industry. This commitment has also brought the company recognition and set the pace for other companies to ensure they engage in sustainable operations. Investment in further innovative solutions, regular assessment on Tassal’s management and its contribution to the company’s success are required to give Tassal a competitive edge and promote its growth and development.

References

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