Sustainability Reporting and Communication
This module will have a “live project” as assessment, where we will be working with a real company to produce a sample of a Sustainability Report for the organisation. The assessment is based on a role-playing project scenario in collaboration with the ‘client’ company, and contributes to 100% of the overall mark for the module.
The assignment is composed of two separate but complementary documents:
a mock sustainability report sample for the client;
an accompanying discussion paper, where you explain your decisions behind what you presented in your mock report.
The overall wordcount across the two elements should not exceed 4000 words. Full details of the assessment are contained in the “Assignment Brief”, but see below an introduction to the working ‘project scenario’ that you will be working on.
Project Scenario
Your role:
You work for a sustainability consultancy company, providing services in sustainability strategy, benchmarking, reporting and communication. You are part of the companys Reporting and Communications Division, and you were approached by a prospective client who is scanning suitable companies to help them produce their first sustainability report. To help them select the right company to partner with, the client sent a similar brief to various prospective companies with instructions for the production of a mock or sample section of a report. This aims to help the client assess the quality of your work, reporting advice and insights, your understanding of the company, and overall ability to produce a high quality and effective sustainability report. The client will then use the samples received to determine which company(ies) to shortlist and proceed to the next stage of conversations.
Your client: Youngs Seafood Ltd.
Youngs is a British producer and distributor of frozen, fresh, and chilled seafood. The company was founded in 1805 and has been in continuous growth since, being today the UKs biggest specialist seafood brand. For more than 50 years the company has been based in Grimsby one of Europes oldest fishing ports where it currently employs around 1700 members of the community, and is the towns largest employer. The company has launched a Fish for Life initiative, where it has committed to responsible sourcing and to doing business in a responsible, sustainable manner that protects our industry and the environment. Recently the company became part of the wider Eight Fifty Food Group parent company, that also owns other food companies. Until now Youngs has never published a sustainability report. However, with increasing expectations from investors and other stakeholders for companies to disclose on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria, Youngs is currently considering producing its first public Sustainability Report.
Coursework Template
Module Title Sustainability Reporting and
Communication
Module Code 600562
Coursework Element Individual Report
Module Leader Dr. Fernando Correia
Word Count 4000 max
First Sit or Resit? First sit
Reassessment by
resubmission or new
assessment?
Resubmission
Submission Date See Canvas site
Assessment Submission (for student information)
eSubmission is the approved method for your programme of study. You must
hand in your assessed Assignment(s), for all modules that you are taking
during the 2020/21 Academic Year using the Canvas system. Submission of
a printed copy is NOT allowed. You should submit via the Assignments
menu item on the relevant module Canvas site.
Assignments must be submitted by the date and time stipulated. Deadlines
will be strictly adhered to. Students submitting late, and who do not have
mitigating circumstances approved by the Mitigating Circumstances Panel, will
be subject to penalties for late submission specified by the University. Please
note that Saturday and Sunday are treated as working days for the purposes
of the late submission policy.
.
Assignment Title:
Sustainability Report (Individual Assignment)
This assignment contributes to 100% of the overall mark for the module and is based
on a role-playing project scenario but in collaboration with a real company case
study.
The assignment is composed of two separate but complementary documents:
a) a mock sustainability report sample for the client;
b) an accompanying discussion paper, where you explain your decisions behind
what you presented in your mock report.
The overall wordcount across the two elements should not exceed 4000 words. You
are free to decide how you want to split the wordcount across the two documents,
providing that both aspects of the work have been covered. However, you must
indicate in each document its wordcount size in its cover page.
Project Scenario
Your role:
You work for a sustainability consultancy company, providing services in
sustainability strategy, benchmarking, reporting and communication. You are part of
the companys Reporting and Communications Division, and you were approached
by a prospective client who is scanning suitable companies to help them produce
their first sustainability report. To help them select the right company to partner
with, the client sent a similar brief to various prospective companies with
instructions for the production of a mock or sample section of a report. This aims
to help the client assess the quality of your work, reporting advice and insights, your
understanding of the company, and overall ability to produce a high quality and
effective sustainability report. The client will then use the samples received to
determine which company(ies) to shortlist and proceed to the next stage of
conversations.
Your client: Youngs Seafood Ltd.
Youngs is a British producer and distributor of frozen, fresh, and chilled seafood. The
company was founded in 1805 and has been in continuous growth since, being today
the UKs biggest specialist seafood brand. For more than 50 years the company has
been based in Grimsby one of Europes oldest fishing ports where it currently
employs around 1700 members of the community, and is the towns largest
employer. The company has launched a Fish for Life initiative, where it has
committed to responsible sourcing and to doing business in a responsible,
sustainable manner that protects our industry and the environment. Recently the
company became part of the wider Eight Fifty Food Group parent company, that
also owns other food companies. Until now Youngs has never published a
sustainability report. However, with increasing expectations from investors and
other stakeholders for companies to disclose on Environmental, Social and
Governance (ESG) criteria, Youngs is currently considering producing its first public
Sustainability Report.
Please note: the scenario above is an exercise aiming to simulate situations of real-
world contexts, in order to help students develop competences that can support
achieving the modules learning outcomes. The company mentioned has kindly
offered to collaborate with this module for this exercise, but is under no obligation
to review, comment or feedback on all students outputs. Communications between
the students and the company should only happen through the Module Leader. The
Module Leader has the discretion to decide which of the students submissions can
be shared with the company (if any), depending on the quality of the work submitted
and if considered appropriate.
Instructions
You need to produce two separate but complementary documents, as follows:
Document A Sustainability Report (PDF)
– This is your report sample for the client. The sample is a mock exercise and
will contain only a small number of sections when compared to a full
sustainability report. However, it should look highly professional both on
content and style, to help the client judge what your finished overall output
could look like.
– Your sample report should, as a minimum:
o Present an example of materiality analysis1 for the company,
providing your assessment of the relative importance of material
topics for both the company and (selected) stakeholders. This
should inform your selection of topics to report on.
o Select up to four material topics to report on in an in-depth way. The
information presented should follow GRIs Reporting Principles
for defining report quality (GRI-Global Reporting Initiative).
o Set clearly how the topics selected, any related performance targets,
KPIs or other, align to the most relevant SDGs (UN Sustainable
Development Goals).
– Your decisions on what and how to report on your selected topics should be
strongly informed by the latest developments in sustainability reporting best-
practice and guidance, as well as existing research and theorical developments
in the field. However, you do not need to use references in this document
(leave that to Document B).
– You can be as creative as you like with the presentation layout of your sample
report, but the overall content and presentation should be as relevant and
professional as possible, taking lessons from best-practice in the field.
– You can create the document in any editing software that you prefer and that
can better help you with the visual and creative side of the layout (Word,
Powerpoint, Publisher, etc). However, you should save and submit it as a PDF
document so as to not loose its formatting.
1 As defined by GRI: in sustainability reporting, materiality is the principle that determines which
relevant topics are sufficiently important that it is essential to report on them (GRI 2018, p.10).
Document B Explanatory Discussion
– This document complements the sample report, but here you will explain to
the client the rationale behind your decisions and choices for the contents
presented in Document A (your sample report).
– You should discuss and reflect on why your reporting approach can be
considered of high quality and provides value to the company and its
stakeholders. Ideally, you should also discuss any limitations of the processes,
choices or approaches you employed.
– Your reasoning should be strongly informed by evidence of critical review of
practitioner and academic literature. Please note that all sources must be
properly cited and referenced using the Universitys required Harvard
Referencing Style.
– As an output for a client, this document should also follow a professional
presentation structure, including:
o Cover/title page (not subject to wordcount)
o Table of contents (not subject to wordcount)
o Main body, including an Introduction and Conclusion sections. You
are free to decide on any other headings in between those two
sections, to help structure and organize your argumentation.
o References list (not subject to wordcount).
– As Document B is mainly text-based, you can submit this document in either
Word or PDF format.
Learning Outcomes
This assignment assesses the modules learning outcomes listed below. For a
successful completion the assignment should evidence ability to:
LO1 Critically evaluate arguments, assumptions and theoretical concepts to
comment and make judgements on current corporate sustainability
reporting and communication practice.
LO2 Critically evaluate, select and apply appropriate frameworks, techniques
and/or indicators to produce or enhance a sustainability report for a
selected organization.
LO3 Communicate and report business sustainability information and ideas
to both specialist and non-specialist audiences through a variety of
forms.
Supporting Resources
You can find a wide range of supporting resources to help you with your writing, referencing,
critical thinking, research searches, etc, in the Universitys online guides developed by our
Skills Team. To access the full set of resources, please check the Universitys website:
https://www.hull.ac.uk/choose-hull/study-at-hull/library/skills
Some useful guides of particular relevance to this assignment include:
– Referencing your work: Harvard Hull (this is the referencing style you should use for all
assignments at Hull University Business School)
– Writing academically
– Critical writing
– Referencing your work. Please remember that in the Business School students are
required to use the Harvard Hull referencing system.
Check also the remaining SkillsGuides for other tailored resources that can be useful for your
own needs, as well as the Universitys Digital Student resources.
The module Canvas site and reading materials provided throughout the term will also
contain additional useful sources and resources to help you with this assignment.
Remember that a good assignment will:
have a clear structure and presentation, with a good separation of themes through
the appropriate use of headings and sub-headings. Your work should be logically
constructed, explained and concluded.
show evidence of clear and original thinking and diligent research. Students should
show evidence of wide reading on the subject matter selected and also in-depth
understanding through a critical use of secondary research;
be no more than 4000 words long – the University will normally not mark beyond the
stipulated assignment length. You are free to decide how you want to split the
wordcount across documents A and B, but you should indicate in each document its
wordcount size. Overall wordcount excludes cover pages(s), table of contents, and
list of references, as well as charts, graphs or tables.
demonstrate good word processing and presentational skills;
Appendices can be used but only for illustrative or non-essential materials not for
main text, as this will not be considered in marking;
not contain any evidence of plagiarism or poor academic practice. See our skills
team guide on what is plagiarism and how to avoid it.
https://www.hull.ac.uk/choose-hull/study-at-hull/library/skills
https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/writing
https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/criticalwriting
https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/referencing
3
https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/SkillsGuides?b=g&d=a&group_id=14297
https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/digitalstudent
https://canvas.hull.ac.uk/courses/57153
https://libguides.hull.ac.uk/ld.php?content_id=3166124
Student Number:
Indicative Mark (subject to Module Board agreement):
Grading descriptors: quality of response to task and/or demonstration of ability
90+ A+ First Exemplary in all respects
80-90 A First Outstanding; exemplary in some respects.
70-79 A- First Excellent; outstanding in some/one major respect
60-69 B 2:i Good to very good
50-59 C 2:ii Satisfactory, with some gaps or limitations
40-49 D Third Adequate, but weak
35-39 E Com Fail Unsatisfactory. Some strengths, but outweighed by weak features.
1-34 F Fail Very unsatisfactory.
Learning Outcomes and assessment criteria:
A+ A A- B C D E F
LO1: Critically evaluate arguments, assumptions and theoretical concepts to comment and make
judgements on current corporate sustainability reporting and communication practice.
Demonstration of in-depth understanding on the subject,
insight and high-quality analysis.
Degree of ability to critically evaluate own and others
practice on sustainability reporting and communication.
Use and application of a depth and breadth of contextual
evidence, ideas, concepts, theory and other relevant
information to build argumentation.
LO2: Critically evaluate, select and apply appropriate frameworks, techniques and/or indicators to
produce or enhance a sustainability report for a selected organization.
Quality of discussion and evaluation of proposed
materiality analysis.
Application of GRI quality principles to selected topics or
information reported.
Ability to select and align organisational goals, targets and/
or indicators to the most relevant SDGs
LO3: Communicate and report business sustainability information and ideas to both specialist and
non-specialist audiences through a variety of forms.
Ability to select and use appropriate and effective format
and style of communication to report on business
sustainability-related information.
Ability to produce a creative, inspirational and/or
innovative sustainability report, but that is also rigorous
and authoritative.
Technical and academic writing standards
Overall organisation, structure and standard of presentation
of the assignment, and adherence to the assignment brief
(inc. wordcount, dual structure, etc).
Use of correct and appropriate referencing standards.
Quality and range of relevant literature sources for the
issues and arguments presented.
Standard of written communication and use discipline-
related terminology.
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