The Genting Group is among some of the top multinational corporations in Malaysia, and one of the best managed corporations in Asia. The company has more than 35 thousand employees and it has occupied, and has all of its branches and entities placed on about 4, 500 hectares of land considered to be prime resort land. In addition to this, the company owns and utilizes about 133, 500 hectares of land for plantation. The Genting group is the term used to describe the firm’s holding company and its subsidiaries. The Genting Berhad is the name of the holding company, and it is comprised of four listed entities. The company has been estimated to hold about 25.2 billion dollars as combined market capitalization.
This paper, therefore, will look at some of the ways the company has enhanced and improved the society by being a responsible member of the society through corporate responsibility, and the ways the company has failed in being a responsible corporate citizen.
The company has indicated that is largely guided by the philosophy that a company should always be a responsible member of the society; the company, therefore, is keen on extending its responsibilities beyond their business. It is worth noting that the company has contributed considerably to the well- being of the society by contributing to the sustainable development and enhancement of the environment, economy, the market place and the community.
The company, for example, has been noted to be among one of the most dedicated companies focused on maintaining and sustaining the environment. The company has indicated that it is one of its goals to strike a balance between conservation and development. It has, for instance, been noted that the company usually designs and plans its operations and developments in a manner that greatly protects and minimizes the environment. In addition to this, the company has also initiated and implemented a number of initiatives to address and solve some challenges and issues affecting the environment.
One of the initiatives that the company has adapted towards the sustainability and conservation of resources and the environment is that the company has recently implemented an energy efficient management program that has seen most of the company’s subsidiaries use and applies measures for conserving and saving energy like the use of the more environment friendly T5 lights. Another initiative that the company has initiative in their bid to maintain the environment is to lessen the number of papers used in the company as much as possible. In this context, the company introduced vouchers that were electronic, in other words, paperless vouchers, to reduce the amount of papers the company and its subsidiary was using.
It was reported that the company reduced the number of paper vouchers used by about 7 million vouchers. This translated to the decrease of the number of trees cut down to produce paper, as well as, a reduction of the amount of fuel used to run the machines that produce paper. Just the same, a reduction in the use of paper vouchers led to a reduction of air pollution resulting from the machines used for cutting down the trees, producing the papers, and the trucks used to transport the paper and the raw materials.
It has been indicated that the company has also fitted its interior environment with features that friendly to the ecosystem. For example, the head offices of the company in Malaysia are fitted with double glazed glass on the exterior to minimize the need for air conditioning. This fitting ensures that the interior environment can self- regulate. This has significantly reduced the consumption and the costs of air- conditions in the offices. Though the company has utilized massive hectares of land to place their numerous and extensive resorts, it has not let this get in the way of conserving and protecting the environment. For example, one of its subsidiaries, Resorts World Sentosa, sits on about 49 hectares of land. The company has gone ahead and initiated eco- friendly initiatives such as green practices so as to conserve the environment. The company utilizes solar technology, and it is also actively involved with conserving trees. The company has relocated more than 200 trees since the commencement of the project in 2007.
Though the company has been trying to be more tolerant of the environment, and, though it has launched a number of energy saving initiatives, several areas of concern can be identified when it comes to sustainability and conservation of the environment. For example, Resorts World Genting is one of Malaysia’s best reserved. The resort is situated on the crown of a hill. This is one of the signs that the company is not completely eco- friendly. This is because such an establishment is a disturbance to the natural environment that hosts numerous life cycles and natural systems. The company has been establishing most of its luxurious establishments in areas with the most beautiful sceneries, and they have ended up messing with the natural beauty of the large pieces of land. In addition to this, the company has been establishing its resorts in huge hectares of land. This is a lot of wastage of natural resources. The soils are disturbed, and tremendous effects occur that affect the environment negatively.
The Genting Group is composed of various subsidiaries held by the main companies, some of which function in leisure and entertainment, plantation, power, property, manufacturing, oil and gas. Most of these activities have been indicated to be among the top most contributors to pollution, and climate change. Some activities like manufacturing of paper, which the company engages in, production of oil and gas, and plantation contribute largely to the deterioration of the environment. It should be the responsibility of the company to make sure that these activities are put under check to ensure sustainability of the environment. It can be argued that thought the company has tried to be eco- friendly it has not done enough, and it should; therefore, try harder to ensure that the environment, and, therefore, the society is protected. The company produces a lot of paper. This is the number one contributor to deforestation. The company should introduce more electronic vouchers like it has done with some of its subsidiaries to reduce wastage of trees and consequences of climate change that can result from deforestation. The company has also not planted enough trees to counter its deforestation activities.
The company also produces a lot of fuel, oil, and gas. It is common knowledge that such activities ruin the ozone layer by contributing to the ozone gases. The company has not done enough to clean up its toxic gases produced during the manufacture of gases and oil. The company is also a large shareholder in plantations. It utilizes a lot of water, and numerous, dangerous and toxic chemicals to the environment. The company has, as well, not done enough to address this problem. Genting should invest in plantation systems that conserve more water, and look for ways to minimize practices that intoxicate the soil.
In addition to the environment, the company has also been widely involved in the community life. For example, the company believes that, for it to be successful, it has to build successful and mutual relations with the community. As it follows, the company contributes largely to charity events and other foundations that are concerned to the welfare of the society. However, it has been noted that most companies involved in philanthropy sometimes contribute to charity programs and foundations that are not as significant as solving and addressing other community issues would be. It would be advisable for the company to carry out numerous surveys so as to identify the most essential challenges in the society before contributing to any particular one. In addition to this, the company has benefited the community considerably by taking care of the environment. When the company conserves the environment and its natural resources, it also furthers the survival of the society, as the environment is the support system of the society. However, when the company pollutes the environment, and depletes all of its natural resources then it is also harming the community in that it deprives the people enough rainfall, and, therefore, enough food and water for their survival. The company should, therefore, ensure that a balance is established between its development and profitability with the well- being of the general public by minding the environment, as well as, the people themselves.
The company’s actions towards the environment, as well as, the community can have numerous implications to the society, the environment and the company’s stakeholder. For example, when the company acts responsibly towards the environment, it ensures that natural resources are sustained for the future and current generations. However, when the actions of the company towards the environment are not responsible, the environment is directly affected negatively, something that indirectly affects the society negatively; mainly through the shortage of natural resources. In addition to this, the company can affect the scenery, and the beauty of the environment, either positively or negatively. For example, when the company invades the natural environment and keeps the beautiful animals and birds away they affect the scenery negatively.
Also, with the company’s activities in manufacturing and plantation, the company can affect the well- being of the environment, and, therefore, the well- being of the society. However, when the company plants trees, and conserves the present ones, they affect the environment positively. It has also been indicated that the company is sometimes helpful to unfortunate members of the society by contributing to foundations and charities responsible for taking care of the needy. In addition to this, helping out in the community can also have positive effects on the company and its stakeholder. This is because by being a responsible member of the community, the company puts itself in a positive light, in the society, something that can increase customers and, therefore, profitability of the company.
Conclusion
The Genting Group is a group of companies held under one holding company. The company and its subsidiaries have been a considerable responsible corporate citizen. The company has ensured this by making sure that it contributes to the success and improvement of the society, in addition to, the sustainability of the environment. However, the company can always do more to ensure that it is utterly enthusiastic to the triumph of the people and the sustainability of the environment.
Bibliography
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Crowther D. Social and Environmental Accounting. London: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2000.
‘Genting Group 2010 Annual Report.’ Genting Berhad. Last modified August 17, 2011.
‘Genting Group Corporate Profile.’ Genting Group. Last modified August 17, 2011. http://genting.listedcompany.com/corporate_profile.html
Kual Lumpur. ‘Genting Group contributed RM850, 000 for the refurbishment of “Lim GOH Tong Lecture Hall” in UM. University of Malaya. Last modified August 17, 2011. http://icr.um.edu.my/images/icr/berita/press/%286%29Release%20Lim%20Goh%20Ton g%20Lecture%20Hall%20%28UM%20&%20GENTING%29.pdf
‘Sustainability. Care for the community.’ Genting. Last modified August 17, 2011. http://www.genting.com/sustainability/community.htm
