Comparing Corporate Statements And Analysis Of AGL Energy And Lendlease Group Essay.

AGL Energy

The below report compares and contrasts the vision/mission, values, CSR and stakeholders of two reputed organizations namely AGL Energy and Lendlease Group. This is an attempt to understand if the various aspects of the corporate statements of these two companies and evaluate if they are SMART, value adding statements and believable. Before we begin the same it is crucial to have a brief understanding of the company itself.

A public-listed company providing energy products and services to the Australian economy, AGL Energy is involved in generation and retailing of electricity for commercial and residential purposes. Using resources such as thermal power, natural gas, hydroelectricity, wind power and coal seam gas, the company in 2014 had about 3.8 million consumers in Australia.

The Lendlease group is a multinational company that operates in property ad infrastructure. With operations in over 40 countries, the company is the second largest construction and engineering specialist in Australia. The company is known to be committed to providing innovative and sustainable property and is one of the few Australian based countries that has a major business setup in the United States as well.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely. This is the general measure used to understand how well the corporate statements are designed (Rehman, 2014). Apart from these 5 qualities a corporate statement should also be believable and add value to the company. For any new customer or an individual who is not associated directly with the company, it is only through these statements the value of the company is known (Credit, 2014). The vision statement shows what the company thrives to achieve. It is an indication of what the company was built for and what they wish to accomplish through their establishment. The values of any company define the way through which the company attempts to achieve this vision (Bourne, 2013). Values define the characteristics of a company. They define what the company believes in (Gehman, 2013).

With the growing issues of safety and sustainability in various fronts including social, economic and environmental, every company today has started taken part in active social responsibility where they aim to find solutions and practices that do getter good (Carroll, 2014). Services that minimally impact the environment negatively and solutions the boost not just the employees and vendors but the communities as a whole (Benn, 2014).

The below sub sections define each of the statement of each of the company. A SMART analysis of each of the statement is done followed by a contrast and comparision

Lendlease Group

“Creating energy solutions for the communities of today and tomorrow. We are taking action toward creating a sustainable energy future for our investors, communities and customers.” (Agl.com.au, n.d.)

The above statement is not very specific as they do not mention how they would like to create energy solutions of what kind of solutions they intend to create. Since it is vague it is not measurable (Mackrill, 2016). Achievability of the statement cannot be determined as there is no specific goal. It is a realistic and believable statement as technology today has enabled efficient energy solutions. The statement is not time bound

LeadLease Group: “To create the best places. We work closely with clients, investors and communities in Australia, Asia, Europe and the Americas to create unique places. Places that leave a positive legacy and inspire and enrich the lives of people around the world.  We do this through putting safety first and delivering innovative and efficient solutions which provide long term sustainable outcomes for a range of stakeholders.” (Lendlease.com, n.d.)

The statement above is specific and mentions who it effects, how it effects, and why they have set up the business. It is not measurable but achievable. It takes about future in general but is not time bound. The statement is believable as the company is known for its innovative menthods to provide service to the customers

• Both the companies define what they do in their vision statement. The core of the business they do is clear
• Both the statements mention the key stake holders that are the clients, investors and the communities. They are clear about the people they impact and hence know who would be affected by their actions
• The LendLease Group vision goes one step further and mentions how they want to achieve the same. The need for safety and innovation is mentioned while the AGL does not make any such attempts.
• AGL statement is to the point while LendLease statement is more specific 

 AGL has five values (Agl.com.au, n.d.)

1. One Team: We believe in one team where the entire organization acts as a single unit.
2. Delivery: We make simple clear goals happen
3. Authentic: Knowing our business and doing what we say
4. Safe and Sustainable: Thinking about how today’s actions will affect the days to come
5. Vitality: Going above and beyond with being open to new ideas

The statements are very specific. They clearly mention what they do and don’t. They are not measurable as they are not quantitative in nature. They are achievable but not time bound as business in an ongoing concern (Foray, 2013).

The Company has four principles (Lendlease.com, n.d.)

1. Safety: A place that cares for people
2. Sustainability: The decisions we make today, affect the lives of tomorrow
3. Diversity and inclusion: Encouraging difference, working together
4. Customer Focus: Everything we do, we do for our customer – Our places start and end with them

The values of Lendlease are also specific and achievable. They are also measurable as number of incidents, extent of diversity and customer satisfaction can be measure. They are not time bound as they exist for as long as the business does. They are believable as the form the basis of the business

• Safety and Sustainability are the key points for the both the organizations
• The LendLease goes one step ahead and takes up on the modern issues such as inclusivity and diversity. Mentioning the same in their values show the importance they give to this issue
• On the other hand, AGL talks about how their organziations perceives the work they do including the agile delivery, need for growing and being honest
• Though Landlease doesn’t explicity mention the above points, they include all of it in their fourth value that says Customer focus.

For AGL sustainability is the responsibility they have towards their employees, customers, investors, community and the environment. They believe that economic performance alone would not be enough to sustain in the present world. To truly succeed their today’s actions should shape a better tomorrow economically and environmentally. Any material risks that might affect the long term value of AGL are identified, managed, monitored and reported.

The statements are specific as they describe who are involved and what factor impact which factors. They are measurable through the sustainability report and hence are achievable as well. They are time bound as sustainability is need of the hour and are clearly very realistic

They believe that sustainability is creating places for people to meet their needs. They believe that is primal to build urban areas that are efficient and resilient. Sustainability is the primary business strategy and believe that the same can be achieved only by being socially, environmentally and economically valuable

The statement does not specify who are involved but only what gets impacted making it a little vague. It is not measurable but achievable.

• The sustainability statement of both the companies point out to view sustainability outside the economic view
• Both companies agree that to survive in today’s world it is crucial to invest in ways to make the world a better living place.
• Both the statements talk about the need to protect the communities around us and the environment.
• AGL is clearer about the steps they take to ensure sustainability. They even publish a report every year on the same
• The materials used by AGL are all safe and the same is mentioned in their statement while LendLease group does not talk of any specific issue they are currently tackling

For both the organizations the key stakeholders are the clients, community, environment, investors and employees as the same have been specified in most of their statements

Conclusion

It is necessary that organizational statements are smart and believable for the organization to clear show its clients, investors and communities what they believe in and attempt to achieve. This statements define what the companies stand for and hence keeping it simple yet clear is highly recommended

References

Agl.com.au. (n.d.). Our Values | AGL. [online] Available at: https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/what-we-stand-for/our-values [Accessed 2 Apr. 2017].

Agl.com.au. (n.d.). What We Stand For | AGL. [online] Available at: https://www.agl.com.au/about-agl/what-we-stand-for [Accessed 2 Apr. 2017].

Benn, S., Dunphy, D. and Griffiths, A., 2014. Organizational change for corporate sustainability. Routledge.

Bourne, H. and Jenkins, M., 2013. Organizational values: A dynamic perspective. Organization Studies, 34(4), pp.495-514.

Carroll, A. and Buchholtz, A., 2014. Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Nelson Education.

Credit, P.T., Leave, P., To, I.C. and Tessa, C., 2014. Be SMART.

Foray, D. and Goenaga, X., 2013. The goals of smart specialisation. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.

Gehman, J., Trevino, L.K. and Garud, R., 2013. Values work: A process study of the emergence and performance of organizational values practices. Academy of Management Journal, 56(1), pp.84-112.

Lendlease.com. (n.d.). Vision and Strategy | Australia | Lendlease. [online] Available at: https://www.lendlease.com/au/company/vision-and-strategy/ [Accessed 2 Apr. 2017].

Mackrill, T., 2016. Ten challenges to using SMART goals for action plans in Danish Municipal Social Work. In Decisions, Outcome & Change.

Rehman, A.U., Berry, J. and Siddiqui, M.A., 2014. Post stroke rehabilitation based on SMART goals: a case study. J Exp Integr Med, 4(1), p.71.