CASE STUDY OF A SUSTAINABLE LUXURY PROPERTY & CSR

CSR INTEGRATION PLAN LUXURY PROPERTY BRAZIL

I am sharing with you an hypothetical Case study that I created about a luxury property in a developing country that has the Corporate Social Responsability as part of the objective toghether with its development & profit targets. The idea is to talk & share about sustainability for anyone that has not started yet.

How to convey the sustainability matter, the UN Sustainability goals within the reality of a little hotel?

Case Study CSR of a Luxury Property

This is a hypothetical case study project about a Luxury property located in Northern Coast

of Brazil. Situated in a fishing village of few homes, with beautiful beaches but in a remote area, with an extensive forest where live and work local born Indigenous Community.

The property has several Villas frontside, 1 Restaurant and beach services. The Clientele is manly High Spenders Brazilian artists and International travelers.

All the staff belongs to the local fishing community, apart from the Owners.

CAUSES

The fishing village is one of the poorest in Brazil and has social issues about poverty, education and forestall environmental protection due to the Indigenous community.

The location however is very attractive and host very famous people and artists in search of unique places and authenticity for their vacation.

The Owners feels the authenticity of the place and wish to integrate, as social entrepreneurs , effective solutions to benefit the community and third parties in addition to hotel’s objectives, and for the mutual success , integrating hotel business and population’s needs and causes fight.

They know about the problems related to the area, and understand that Poverty can prevent Customers to come due also to security issues, Education is limited while being in a remote area with few school’s options and issues about the Environmental stringent protection due the Indigenous community living in it, and maintaining beautiful Forest untouched. Since they understand that integration with the community is imperative for the survival of the luxury property, they rely on creating an overall project within the parties involved for a mutual development, therefore use the UN SDGs to share objectives that are adopted and recognized internationally.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals in regards of the company and stakeholder’s interest in the area are:

Poverty SDG 1 End Poverty in all its forms everywhere

Education SDG 4 ?promote lifelong learning.

Environmental SDG 15 Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.

DEFINITION OF THE PROJECT

The Owners manage a property that integrate Staff & their families for servicing into the area. The restaurant service use local fish from the local fishers to serve its clients.

Suppliers are mainly locals that have little shops and depends on the hotel and the community for daily dairy, and the regional offices is engaged for supplying utilities such as fresh water & energy system structure. Gas distribution for hotel laundry, kitchen’s service functionality is also provided locally.

The company need to follow strict governmental rules about the environmental issues related to its activities, labor management and tax, waste waters.

Property’s CSR established define that leaders and the staff will beneficiate mutually by the hotel’s activities by creating wealth for anyone, for the environment and community. As example the mutual objectives of the stakeholders and the shareholders meet within the activities involved. Both need to make the Property work, both need to receive payments for their work and both have interest that the company has a durable future.

OPERATION BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY

The property’s management could create a real local experience with the intervention of local artists. They empowered social and environmental awareness into the community cooperating with non-profits local and international associations. With the help of biologists, environmental and civil engineers, civics specialists, as wel as artists, photographers and film-makers who teach social media to the population, they take responsibility on the community creating the destination. An organic Festival that unites local businesses and residents with talented chefs from all across Brazil is the community event organized time to time.

DEFINITION OF THE STAKEHOLDERS

The Stakeholders of the Luxury property are very different and can be divided per area of influence :

Locally: Staff, local fishing community, NGO, environmental associations officers, local authorities, locals artists,

Regionally: Indie Protection association ( for the Indian rights leaving in the forest), governmental authorities, Brazilian travelers.

Nationally and Internationally: International Journalists, travelers. The engagement with stakeholders is fundamental to reach the target therefore companies have to implement procedures, resources in order to interact with any of the parties involved. Any of the stakeholder has a level, reputation, reason, legitimacy to discuss. Shareholders have to grab this necessity and do everything in their power to work, convey and integrate mutual objectives for the success of the company. Priorities also in this case need to be defined, meeting their need, show consideration with the Key Players is important for the company strategy.

OBJECTIVES

Shareholders objectives:

Profit :

- to run and have a profitable Luxury property that throughout its activities create extensive benefits to its staff, communities and environment.

- To improve satisfaction results in order to share it with staff benefiting the community.

Planet:

- to protect the environment while primary reason for being the destination preferred by its Customers.

- to have a future as company and a model of sustainable reality.

People:

- to create an hospitality culture for its employees throughout the property’s activities and services that is beneficial for the sake of the company.

- To have satisfied and loyal employees to run the property.

- To educate new employee with training sessions for the future on the property benefiting the community.

- To share company objectives and targets with stakeholders in order to reach a common goal.

Hypothetical Stakeholders objectives:

Profit :

- to work for a company that respect dignity and equality in terms of wages

Planet:

- to work for a company that has a mutual interest in protecting the environment while primary reason for the community and Touristic destination.

- to be as sustainable as possible for being a mutual objective

People:

- to invest in education for poor people.

- to help community to rich better life conditions.

- to share more equally work opportunity for everybody

DEFINITION OF THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

For the definition of the Corporate Social Responsibility of the property, in addition to the aim for a Profitable company, the implementation of sustainable targets such as Corporate Citizenship, Business Conduct principles and an overall vision to act for the benefit of any of the stakeholders involved. Being a corporate citizen and act in the way a good citizen would act in a community.

So part of the CSR essence:

DEFINITION OF THE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP

The company applies the following universal rules

- Respect for the individual, freedom of opinion, association.

- Respect and non discrimination.

- Believe in our associates as key for success.

- Care about concern & expectations of our Stakeholders.

- Apply our corporate citizenship in our daily business.

?COMMITMENTS TO ITS EMPLOYEES

The company strives to :

- Fair Working Conditions

- Business Ethics

- Health & Safety of the employees

- Human rights engagement

- Excellency in Labor Standards and equality

- Train, engage and employ locally

COMMITMENT TO ECONOMIC GOALS

The company wants

1) to achieve outstanding return for the shareholders reflecting excellency in profit performance.

2) To reward people that work for our company and shared successful ideas for improvement

3) to be recognized for the positive impact in people’s live

4) to have continues return grow to guarantee long term management

5) to build its reputation as a place where people can realize the personal and professional ambitions.

COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS

The company is striving:

a) to protect the environment

b) to make efficient use of the natural resources minimizing impact.

c) to care about the Health and Safety of our staff and their families.?

COMMITMENT TO SOCIAL GOALS

The company commits to respect always any of the regulation of the National law and:

1) refuse unethical behavior in daily activities

2) act as a responsible global citizenship based on people and corporate values

3) we trust in team work and promote always interaction

COMMITMENT WITH THIRD PARTIES

- Business conduct ethically

- Environmentally respected

- Health & Safety excellency

- Labor ethics

FINANCIAL

In order to be financially liable, the company has to commit for a specific value due to the transition to the Sustainable matter, identifying an investment values due to utilities equipment in substitution to traditional utilities system that impact the environment, in addition to new technology that help save natural resources. The investment is also important to :

- Destinate a certain amount of hours for disadvantaged people that need help.

- A certain quantity of training hours for scholars looking to learn about the hotel reality.

- Community philanthropy

- Improve relation between parties for the sake of Sustainability

- Inform and train staff to be engaged for the new CSR vision

- Marketing value to inform Clients, Journalists, and any of the stakeholders involved in the process

MARKETING

In order to make this overall project becoming real, the Marketing department will receive result of a first Audit about the status of the CSR and overall Sustainable result of the property. The first report can follow the rules of GRI International Standards for reporting in order to convey the beginning of a sustainable process.

Marketing is important to share the effective plan for the sustainable matter for clients:

- Hotel digital information, staff engagement, sustainable procedural standards.

- Hotel Website information on Sustainability

- Events organization for philanthropy

- Stakeholders engagement initiatives

- Additional recourses to protect hotel from transparency doubts of the sustainable progress

OPERATIONAL PLAN

To guarantee a future of the Luxury Property overall Sustainable engagement the important issue to create a NET within Hotel Associations, Sustainable Experts, Corporate Sustainable entities to confront the GRI result and engage in a much more secure future. Key Peer social reporting is also important to confront effective sustainable achievements and suggestions to improvement, comes with sharing effective targets and results. GRI has to show Financial reporting, Sustainable reporting and Company past and present improvement, in addition to the Future sustainable targets.

The overall project relies to ethical relations that can protect the company during period of economic storms. Preventive fund and assurance are important also to the matter of Sustainable instability due to governmental changes in policies, such as Crisis Management procedures.

Conclusion

The overall empirical project of a CSR definition of a company looking for sustainable matter pass throw the necessity to understand the environmental, social issues of the area, and make the rights decision on the effective possibilities of sustainable implementations.

On the beginning, the positive loop of the Sustainable matter can be adequate to the overall stakeholders necessity in order to permit that the company can integrate itself and work on specific Sustainable Development goals that are important for in the present and add new Sustainable goals which can be achieved in the future.

This is just a simple example on how we can work on the Corporate social responsibility, of course it is limited, and there are for sure errors, I am not an expert, but just want to contribute on the sustainable matter and help anyone interested to share more and more knowledge about the future goals . Thank you