ABSTRACT
All that is the
Woolworths
Corporations in SA.
Charmaire Zimbizi
Gr 12H
BUSINESS STUDIES
Term 3 Project
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Mrs. Basson
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Human Rights issues as the defined in SA constitution ........................................................................ 2
Dignity................................................................................................................................................. 2
Equity .................................................................................................................................................. 2
Diversity in the Business ........................................................................................................................ 2
Inequality ............................................................................................................................................ 2
Race..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Environmental Protection and human rights ........................................................................................ 3
CSI Initiatives (In Regard to Triple Bottom Line): ................................................................................... 3
CSR (In Regard to Triple Bottom Line) .................................................................................................... 4
Woolworths Initiatives ........................................................................................................................... 5
The Inclusive Initiative ....................................................................................................................... 5
The Woolworths Trust aims to: .......................................................................................................... 5
................................................................................................................................................................ 5
Isikhwama Reusable Shopping Bags: ..................................................................................................... 5
Taxation................................................................................................................................................... 6
Success: ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Failure: ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Management .......................................................................................................................................... 6
Success: ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Failure: ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Capital ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Success: ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Failure: ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Division of Profits ................................................................................................................................... 6
Success: ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Failure: ................................................................................................................................................ 6
Legislation ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Success: ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Failure: ................................................................................................................................................ 7
Reflection Woolworths CSI Initiatives: .................................................................................................. 7
Reflecting on Woolworths CSR Initiatives: ............................................................................................ 7
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................ 8
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Introduction
Woolworths in South Africa, commonly known as "Woolies," is a leading retail chain that has
established itself as a crucial component of the country's consumer landscape. The first Woolworths
store opened its doors in Cape Town in 1931, introducing a unique concept that combined quality
merchandise, exceptional customer service, and a dedication to sustainability. Over the decades,
Woolworths in South Africa has grown prominently, offering a diverse range of products including
clothing, food, homeware, beauty products, and more. The company places a strong emphasis on
ethical, environmentally conscious practices, and community engagement. With an extensive
network of stores across the nation and a strong online presence, Woolworths continues to play an
integral role in the lives of South Africans, serving as a symbol of reliability, quality, and responsible
business practices.
Human Rights issues as the defined in SA constitution:
Dignity
The Woolworths Group places significant emphasis on upholding human rights. They recognize and
honour the principle that every individual's dignity is non-negotiable, and they reject any form of bias
or inequity. This commitment is demonstrated through their Inclusive Justice Initiative, which is a
comprehensive company-wide program designed to realize their transformational vision of fostering
comprehensive growth that includes everyone within their workforce. This initiative centers on
eliminating any type of bias or unfair treatment that might exist within the organization. Their goal is
to foster a culture that promotes dignity, recovery, autonomy, and freedom for all. Consequently, they
hold all members of their business to an identical standard and do their part to ensure up to par labour
and safety standards.
Equity
All individuals receive equal treatment, regardless of their gender or race. The emergence of the Covid19 pandemic protests systemic racism, and recent civil unrest in certain regions of South Africa have
brought to light issues of social, racial, and gender-based inequality. These challenges strongly
motivated the Woolworths group to ensure that principles of human rights, diversity, and inclusivity
are firmly embedded in their corporate ethos. As a participant in the UN Global Compact, their
organization is dedicated to upholding the principals outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the International Labour Organisation. This commitment is further driven by their
endorsement of the UN Women's Empowerment Principles and the united Global Compact. The
company pledges to actively adhere and promote the principles advocated by these initiatives,
ensuring that all our company members are protected from any sense of unfairness.
Diversity in the Business
Inequality
Through the implementation of the Inclusive Initiative, Woolworths has successfully established
practices and nurtured a culture that champions the values of respect, autonomy, and impartiality for
all stakeholders, including employees, customers, and communities. This initiative is designed to
address and counteract issues of racism and gender disparity through active community engagement.
Moreover, the fight against inequality is further championed by the Inclusive Justice Initiative (IJI). The
IJI goes beyond our transformation and BBBEE strategy, including cultural elements, shifts in mindset,
and the development of leadership. This initiative embraces the principles of diversity, inclusivity,
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social justice, fairness, and equality. The IJI is committed to methodically eliminating systemic
disparities and broader forms of injustice. It acknowledges the presence of both conscious and
unconscious biases, preconceptions, and prejudices, based on the understanding that the company's
operations mirror global societal dynamics on a smaller scale.
Race
The company addresses the issue of race through a range of approaches. According to (Moholi,
2021)Their Inclusive Justice Initiative places a strong emphasis on diversity and inclusivity, serving as
fundamental principles in creating a workforce that showcases their dedication to providing equal
employment opportunities, regardless of factors such as race, gender, age, disability, appearance,
political affiliation, pregnancy, religion, or sexual orientation. These principles also mirror the
demographic makeup of the nations in which they conduct their operations.
Environmental Protection and human rights
The well-being and safety of both their workforce and customers are of great importance to the
Woolworths group. As indicated in their 2022 Report, the group achieved notable success in its health
and safety department over the past year. The company is dedicated to establishing a secure and
healthy setting for all its employees, consumers, and contractors. This commitment was put to the test
during the challenging circumstances posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Their staff we’re very agile in
their responses as over 70% we’re vaccinated. They implemented protocols to ensure the welfare of
all stakeholders. Whenever it was necessary, they temporarily closed all their stores and workplaces
to guarantee the safety of both their personnel and customers. In addition, the Group’s compliance
department actively monitored and reported on compliance with health and safety legislations.
CSI Initiatives (In Regard to Triple Bottom Line):
Regarding social involvement the Woolworths franchise places a high level of importance on their role
as responsible corporate citizens. The company has established various initiatives aimed at addressing
both economic and social issues. Among these is the Inclusive Initiative, which seeks to educate society
on matters of inclusivity, ranging from matters of race to matters of sexuality. This same initiative has
the goal of supporting the growth and empowerment of small and medium-sized businesses while also
ethically sourcing from local enterprises. They have also brought dozens of small black enterprises into
their supply chain, with many more still to come. Their central strategy for social development is their
strong commitment to being an engaged and accountable corporate citizen. They aim to enhance the
well-being of the communities in which they run their business operations. Their approach to social
development centers around meaningful partnerships with key strategic allies.
According to (Limited, 2022)within South Africa, their focus through their Foodforward SA was
concentrated on two crucial points: education and food security. This is done overseen by the
Woolworths Trust. Operating for 18 years, the Trust is focuses on initiatives that address food security
and education. During the financial year, the Trust continued its partnerships with non-governmental
organisations that have helped to redistribute edible surplus food to people in need, to grow food to
support the food needs of a local community, and training emerging young farmers on agriculture,
educational and environmentally friendly food production.
On a broader scale, across the entire Group, they have identified community resilience and active
employee participation as fundamental aspects of overarching their social development strategy.
Within Australia, social advancement is the main goal of the Good Business Journey strategy,
demonstrated by the collaboration between David Jones and Country Road Group with numerous
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charitable organizations through diverse brand-community partnerships. The goal of these endeavours
lies in combating challenges related to well-being and empowerment the livelihoods of Australian’s by
providing the underprivileged food access to food and clothing, as well as having their employees
involved in the community to encourage their employees to give back to their communities and foster
a culture of giving. “Teaming up for Just Cause” is a programme that invites Woolworths staff to choose
a charitable cause to support. Each cause selected receives funding to get it started, and for every
team that reaches its fundraising target, the company matches the figure by up to R40 000.
CSR (In Regard to Triple Bottom Line)
The Woolworths Group not only places emphasis on meeting the social and environmental aspects of
the triple bottom line, but also prioritizes them. As a company, they consume approximately 1% of
Australia's electricity and rank among the largest electricity consumers in New Zealand. While they
have made significant strides in enhancing their energy efficiency, their goal is to be able to rely entirely
on clean, renewable electricity for all their energy needs. The group is committed to achieving this by
2025. According to (Limited, 2022)thus far the group have started replacing old metal halide and
fluorescent luminaires with energy efficient LEDs in selected stores across the franchise. This energy
efficient solution enables them to reduce the store’s carbon footprint, save energy resources, and
reduce operating costs. As a group their aim is to contribute more to future generations than that
which they consume, thus fostering sustainable support for the times to come.
According to (SKWEYIYA, 2021), the group also intends to give significant attention to the agricultural
crisis. They have collaborated with their farmers, suppliers, and the wider agricultural sector to
promote regenerative farming techniques that safeguard soil quality this includes, mentoring up and
coming farmers and enhance efficient water usage. Within their head office they treat and use
underground water. They have implemented modifications across their entire company chain to tackle
food wastage, with the goal of achieving zero disposal of food into landfills by 2025.
The group has also redirected their attention towards environmentally friendly packaging. They are
diligently working to enhance the sustainability of their packaging by reducing the reliance on plastic
use and rather incorporating new recycled materials in their Own Brand packaging. According to
(Limited, 2022)they have introduced Isikhwama reusable shopping bags which have completed
replaced their old plastic bags. They are committed to implementing the Australasian Recycling Label
on all their own brand items, allowing customers to easily identify recyclable components as well as
preserve the planet from unnecessary pollution.
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Woolworths Initiatives
The Inclusive Initiative
 Focus is regenerative food production.
 Involves training up and coming farmer about authentic agriculture.
 Aims to ensure that their company is supplied by only the best, both profitably
and environmentally.
 Their own farmers provide the agricultural masterclasses.
 Employ people with skills, that way they are able to partake in the economy.
Figure 1: Farmer Training
The Woolworths Trust aims to:
 Combat food shortage by donating this food to needy
communities via structured charity organisations.
 Care for children living in harsh living conditions.
 Raise awareness on the suffering of children.
 Help reduce preventable accidents and injuries to children
and to help make South Africa safer for our children.
 Through various food drives they have helped feed
numerous communities in SA.
Figure 2: Woolworths food drive
Isikhwama Reusable Shopping Bags:
 This is a recycling strategy that Woolworths put into place, with the aim to:
o Combat plastic waste crisis.
o Makes reusable shopping bags using fabric.
o Make sure that everything in their stores, from trolleys to signage is made of
recycled materials.
o Their limited-edition wildlife edition initiative gained over R8.3 million for
conservation efforts since 2010.
 Upon introducing this they have completely eradicated the distribution of
plastic bags from the Woolworths.
Figure 3: Eco Friendly Shopping
bags
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Taxation
Success: As of end of December 2022, the Woolworths Group pays 30,.12% tax. Since they are actively
involved in the environment and society, mainly their energy efficiency initiatives they were able to
receive tax rebates of R2.6 million as of 2022, as per Section 12L of the Income Act in South Africa.
Failure: Since they are large enterprise and one that is very well liked by the people, their profits are
extremely high, thus their tax rates are high as well. Woolworths expects an announcement on
personal tax hikes in the budget, which is a move that would mostly affect their fewer wealthy
shoppers, as mentioned by the retailer's chief executive.
Management
Success: The Woolworths group is governed by a over 12 directors and 8 Executives, indicating that
they are a very well-oiled company run by a variety of diverse and skilled board.
Failure: Woolworths is big company thus decision making may become a time consuming and
sometimes conflicting task. The directors renumerations packages do add to company expenses, which
reduce company net profit, although with how successfully the group is operating that is not much of
a concern.
Capital
Success: Since the Woolworths group is large enterprise, they earn a large capital sum as they’re shares
are listed on the JSE at a pretty levelled price at about 7 711c, with about 4947 daily trades. It is safe
to say that Woolworths need not worry about capital.
Failure: Because shares are bought a rapid rate, this also means that dividend payouts too increase,
which will eventually lead to less retained income from company profits if funds are not properly
managed.
Division of Profits
Success: All shareholders are paid their dividends according to the type of shares that have e.g.:
ordinary shareholders will be paid out their dividends after their accounts have been analysed and
updated.
Failure: Unfortunately, not all shareholders receive their dividends, e.g.: Ordinary shareholders are last
to receive their payout as stated above. This is very discouraging to potential other investors, although
with a large enterprise like Woolworths, that is not a department that they necessarily struggle in as
they have people gunning for shares throughout the day.
Legislation
Success: Their audit committee is required to report to the shareholders in terms of their statutory
responsibilities and to the Board on all other duties assigned to them. The Committee is required to
be a standing committee, with the composition of auditors and membership reviewed by the Board
annually, to ensure that shareholders can utterly trust that the business is being properly managed.
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Failure: The process of formulating the committee takes place at the AGM, which is quite a time
consuming and complicated task as it includes all shareholders present at the meeting.
Reflection Woolworths CSI Initiatives:
Regarding social engagement, the Woolworths franchise emphasizes its role as responsible corporate
citizens. They've introduced various initiatives to address economic and social concerns. This includes
the Inclusive Initiative, educating on inclusivity spanning race and sexuality. This initiative also aids in
empowering small and medium-sized businesses whilst also ethically outsourcing. Many small black
businesses are now part of their supply chain, with more to join. Their main approach to social
development involves being a committed and accountable corporate citizen, with the goal to improve
the well-being of local communities.
In South Africa, they’re focus is on education and food security, through the Foodforward SA
programme overseen by the Woolworths Trust. The Trust, operating 18 years, supports initiatives in
food security and education by partnering with NGOs to distribute surplus food, train young farmers,
and aid communities. Across the Woolworths Group, community resilience and employee involvement
are core to their social strategy. In Australia, the Good Business Journey strategy focuses on social
progress. David Jones and Country Road Group have collaborated with charities to ensure the wellbeing and empowerment of community members, providing access to food and clothing for the
underprivileged. Employees engage in community work, supported by the "Teaming up for Just Cause"
program where Woolworths matches employee-raised funds for chosen causes.
Reflecting on Woolworths CSR Initiatives:
The Woolworths Group places high importance on addressing social and environmental aspects within
the triple bottom line. They prioritize these areas and are actively working to enhance their energy
efficiency and transition to renewable energy sources by 2025. They are already replacing traditional
lighting with energy-efficient LEDs in select stores. They're committed to sustainability and reducing
their impact for the sake of future generations. They're also tackling agricultural challenges by
promoting regenerative farming and responsible water usage.
Additionally, they are focused on reducing food waste across their operations and aim to eliminate
landfill disposal of food by 2025. The company is taking steps toward environmentally friendly
packaging by incorporating recycled materials and introducing reusable bags. They're also
implementing clear recycling labels on their products to guide consumers in making eco-conscious
choices.
Conclusion
Woolworths in South Africa is a prominent and well-regarded retail brand that encompasses various
sectors, including clothing, food, and general merchandise. Famously known for its commitment to
quality and sustainability, Woolworths emphasizes their responsible sourcing and ethical practices. The
brand's fresh food and produce offerings stands out, showcasing top tier-quality groceries sourced
locally to cater to health-conscious consumers. With a diverse range of fashion, lifestyle products, and
homeware, Woolworths appeals to a broad spectrum of preferences, cultivating a loyal customer base.
The group supports local communities, education, and environmental sustainability. Woolworths in
South Africa continues to distinguish itself in the retail landscape through its dedication to quality,
sustainability, and innovation, demonstrating its long-standing reputation for quality.
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Bibliography
Limited, W. H., 2022. Woolworths.co.za. [Online]
Available at: https://www.woolworths.co.za/content/howto/making-a-difference/energy-climatechange/_/A-cmp213099
[Accessed 21 August 2023].
Limited, W. H., 2022. Woolworths.co.za. [Online]
Available at: https://www.woolworths.co.za/content/article/w-today/10-ways-we-re-working/_/Acmp207978
[Accessed 21 August 2023].
Limited, W. H., 2022. Woolworths.co.za. [Online]
Available at: https://www.woolworths.co.za/content/howto/making-a-difference/socialdevelopment/_/A-cmp213125
[Accessed 21 August 2023].
Moholi, N. (., 2021. 2021 Social and Ethics Committe Report, Sidney: Woolworths Holdings Limited.
SKWEYIYA, T., 2021. Vision 2025 Pillars and Underlying Goals, Sidney: Woolworths Holdings Limited.
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