Question: Graham has been promoted recently and now holds the position of a strategic director with Philla Plc, a composite materials ....

Requirements:

1. PLEASE REVIEW THE CASE STUDY BELOW AND ADDRESS THE QUESTION RELATED TO THE CHALLENGES HIGHLIGHTED.

Case study

Graham has been promoted recently and now holds the position of a strategic director with Philla Plc, a composite materials manufacturing company with several leading products in the construction and engineering market sector.

As strategy director (SD), Graham is now responsible for long term planning inputs with critical focus on helping the organisation transition through 

the challenging business environment that most companies are operating within today.

Philla Plc has recently released their end of year accounts and the company has performed quite well, posting pre-tax profits of £1.35 billion. The company’s management consider that they have worked extremely hard over the last couple of years and the results highlight the outcome of their work. They believe that they are entitled to significant bonus payments and that the board of directors (BoD) should put forward a decent reward proposal to the shareholders at the next annual general meeting (AGM) in February 2024.

Challenge

Upon assuming office, a number of high-level files have become accessible to Graham, most of which Graham had no idea of previously. Whilst Graham has worked at the company for over six (6) years, Graham has never had access to these files and is now really worried about some of the issues that Graham is discovering within the files as Graham takes time to review these files. These issues include:

1. Allegations of tax avoidance amounting to £254 million in taxes, avoided over the last four (4) years (2019-2023). This is mostly informed by irregularities between the official operating status of the company and its registered status (some of its subsidiaries are registered as UK and foreign charities although the company is not a charity, and the business only makes periodic donations to some preferred charities from time to time).

2. Ongoing criminal investigations against two senior directors (Sir Kolesh and Mrs. Tuna) for offences relating to physical and sexual harassment of three (3) junior members of staff who have now left the company. Although the directors vehemently deny the allegations, some of the files suggest that significant payments were made to the departing staff as well as a collection of non- disclosure agreements (NDAs). Graham is concerned about this and the impact it can have on the company if it were to become public knowledge.

3. A discussion with the HR manager seems to have highlighted some discrepancies in the company’s recruitment policies. She asserts that she has had to maintain quotas for some of the senior directors during every recruitment cycle, sometimes having to pass off on candidates that are more qualified in order to accommodate their requests. She is unsure of how to address this challenge and it keeps her up at night. The other directors seem to think that this is common practice in the industry, but Graham is concerned that this approach can affect staff recruitment and motivation. More so, a leak about this would create a significant scandal for the business.

4. Philla has no sustainability management plan in place. Regulation is increasingly affecting their access to markets for their existing products. A recent survey by McClean Partners Plc suggests that firms who do not have a Sustainability reporting plan as well as actively implement their plans, are at risk of going bankrupt within the next five (5) years (2029), emphasizing the need for commitments to clean energy, equitable workplaces and circular economy principles. As strategy director, Graham has concerns about their product materials, the partners that company trades with and the product lifecycle planning processes that are in place. Recent audits show that their products still contain worrying traces of phosphorus and sodium nitrates.

    

   Graham feels overwhelmed and is now suffering from anxiety related to issues identified and the potential implications for Graham and the company.

    

   Graham has decided to call on your expertise as a CSR consultant to advise them on the best steps to take moving forward. The terms and scope of your brief is below:

5. Review the issues above (items 1 to 4) and develop a 1500-word report advising on the best course of actions for Graham and Philla Plc. This should include clear recommendations and rationales (logical and theoretical) for each decision, referring to learning from the MGT357 module learning as well as some additional sources.

6. Provide a reflective account (1000-word essay) that details the specific theoretical framework(s) that informed your rationale for your recommendation report, making specific references to some of the key principles from your selected theory framework(s) and how these principles will help you integrate sustainability in your future career.