ZARA Materiality matrix

Description

Week 8: Midterm Assignment Introduction: Materiality matrix Assignment description Please note: You may complete this assignment individually or in a group of two. If you select the option to work in a group meaning working with one of your classmates you need to complete this assignment in a more comprehensive way and include both names on the project paper. Additionally, I am available to pre-grade your assignment and give you feedback before the final submission. If you prefer this option, you need to send your project at least 4 days before the deadline) The Materiality assessment map or Materiality Matrix should identify the main sustainability issues that are likely to affect the financial conditions or operating performance of the company. Usually, brands identify the following critical issues that serve as the core sustainability drivers in moving towards a more sustainable world: Chemical use, Waste in production, Water use, Energy use, Labor rights, Labor, Wages, Workers Safety, Biodiversity, Green gas emission, Climate change, Child Labor.  Depending on the brand you select to research you may identify other issues, as well. You don’t need to cover all issues, rather please focus on the most critical once (for example Water use, Waste-unsold merchandise, Production Waste, or any other issue you find crucial for that business).  Also, you should identify different sectors within the company where the issues are the maximal. For the majority of brands that would be in the supply chain. However, for some companies, it may be in sourcing, manufacturing-supply chain, but also in retail.  Steps you need to complete  Part 1. Select one merchandising brand (retail brand, clothing brand, a footwear brand, accessories brand or home furnishing brand). Identify internal and external stakeholders in order to be able to gather diverse insights from inside and outside company walls (in the process ask yourself what different stakeholders want from this brand? On the contrary, what shareholders want from this business- for the business perspective please consult the official website where you can identify their main sustainability focus easily). (Part One= 50 points) Part 2. Develop a short stakeholder survey. . Because this is a class project (and survey is just hypothetical) to get the best results ask/consult your classmates for their opinion about most critical issues for the selected brand. Materiality assessment questions should be formal and structured. I suggest using a traditional survey format to make it easy for stakeholders (in this case your classmates, colleagues or friends) to complete and easy for you to analyze results. In the survey, ask your selected stakeholders to rate the importance and impact of each indicator you’ve identified on a numerical scale, such as 1-5 or 1-10. For example, you can ask your colleagues, please rate how critical is chemical usage for brand x, and they are expected to provide a certain rating. You will ask the same questions for all issues you have selected to analyze so that at the end of the process you can rate the most critical among them.  Their ratings will give you quantitative data that can be analyzed and explained visually. For example, if you had 3 friends as your survey participants, and they all rated water usage the most critical for brand x.  Let’s assume they had scale 1-5; so each of them rated with 5 water usage..scores for water usage will be following:  friend 1-water usage rate 5  friend 2-water usage rate 5  friend 3-water usage rate 5  total=water usage 15 or  friend 1-waste problems rate 5  friend 2- waste problems rate 3 friend 3- waste problems rate 1 total waste problems = 9  Tip: Leave additional space for written insights and comments to enhance the results you receive. Once you have your survey complete, you need to compile your data and report that for this project (you may select to report data in a table/chart or as a word/text). (Part 2= 50 points) Part 3. Lastly, you have to plot your findings in any way you can in order to create your own Materiality Matrix for the selected brand. Be creative, you can use any program to create a graph (like PowerPoint or excel, or even word tools). Alternatively, you can describe your findings using your own words (Part 3=100 points).  If you create two plots please create one describing what brand according to your survey need to report publicly on the website Plot 1: X: Significance of Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts (high and low or moderate) Y: Impact on Stakeholders Assessments -(high and low-moderate) On the other plot again you will describe what brands according to your survey need to implement in their own business  Plot 2: Y(Ability to influence and control-high and low-moderate) X: Significance of Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts (high and low or moderate) *Again, if you don’t like to create visuals please describe your findings and suggestions using words.