LEGO GROUP CSR

Introduction

Over time, a company’s success factors have been evaluated using various effects it has on the community it serves through the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. Most of the CSR initiatives or programs are often in alignment with their business strategies or goals. CSR operations aid companies in increasing their profitability levels by creating a positive brand image that is considered reliable by consumers and other stakeholders. Lego Group is a company that is involved in manufacturing toys, building amusement parks, and has numerous retail stores. In 2017, it was named the best company due to its outstanding CSR reputations by the Reputation Institute (Strauss, 2017). This paper aims to analyze what issues Lego Group is addressing in its CSR initiatives, how they are tackling the problems as well as how their CSR initiatives impact their internal and external stakeholders.

Problems addressed by the Lego Company

Environmental degradation through pollution has been one of the most common concerns for most companies, primarily because there is a constant production of materials. It has, however, emerged to be a considerable problem in mitigating the pollution and climatic effects thereon. Lego Company has created a Sustainable Materials Center which aims to come with suggestions on how to get sustainable alternatives to its current products. This will aid in reducing the use of petrochemicals, which are affecting both climate and environmental change. The company is looking for ways to reduce environmental waste by ensuring that waste from its operations does not end up in landfill sites; this is being achieved through its recycling and reuse actions.

The company intends to decrease its carbon footprint by using FSC certified packaging, which is more sustainable and environmentally friendly. It is also looking for means to use recycled and renewable elements from materials such as sugarcane to create plant-based toys. This process is also regulated to ensure that the company doesn’t compromise with food security as well as working with sugarcane suppliers to achieve the best quality of resources (Lego, 2020).  The partnership between Lego Group and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has seen it create more significant impacts on its environmental sustainability issues by decreasing its carbon emissions from its production to its distribution processes.

Effects of the company’s CSR initiatives on stakeholders

The main external stakeholders in the Lego Group Company are children; its other external stakeholders include investors and society at large. The company’s initiative motivates young individuals to become creative and positively impact the environment with their ideas or actions (Mainwaring, 2016). Through the Build, the Change initiative centered towards motivating young individuals towards adopting environmental awareness and being more cautious of their efforts on the environment. Its efforts also empower young children to learn as they play hence promoting their growth and health through training by their play agents as well as other education foundations meant to facilitate learning. Lego’s investors have become more interested in financing sustainable businesses that the company is developing. For society, such as educational institutions and the general public, they have been inspired to adopt environmentally friendly toys for playing and learning.

Lego’s retailers are part of it, internal stakeholders, due to the role they undertake in the company’s supply chain processes. The suppliers have been motivated to create a sustainable environment through their engagement in various environmental initiatives. The suppliers are inspired to work due to the conducive working environment created by the company. The employees form a significant part of their internal space due to their active contribution to the production processes. The company’s initiatives have motivated employees to become environmentally friendly individuals as well as more mentally healthy and safe in the workplace and other areas (Group, 2017). The company’s business partners, such as the WWF, have been able to get more funding and collaboration in their sustainable operations hence become more productive towards achieving their organizational goals and objectives.

The company’s mission is to motivate and develop future builders. It ensures that its stakeholders are aware of is operations by initiating programs that are coherent to its mission and objectives. For instance, its children based applications such as the Lego foundation aids children in learning the art of innovating creative objects which enhance their play sessions. For its internal stakeholders, the company has created strategies that align its operations with its mission. For instance, its employees are trained as play agents to engage with children to help them grow and learn as well. For its business partners, the company only partners with companies whose sustainable practices are environmentally friendly and positively impact children. In 2017, the company declined to renew its partnership with Shell Oil Company due to an observation of Shell’s products having adverse effects on the environment.

Recommendations to improve the company’s CSR

Lego Group has made tremendous progress using sustainable business models for its CSR program. However, it can enhance its performance by adopting more technological processes in its operations. It can create online games that are even more environmentally friendly since they do not require the use of products. The company can also engage children to aid in the creation of their toys to understand the various aspects to improve based on the end consumer’s point of view. They would also educate their customers on the impacts of climate change in a playful and engaging environment; this would enhance more awareness of its actions through its CSR initiatives. Its Engage to Reduce (E2R) program has been amazing at reducing the company’s carbon footprint; I would recommend that the company engages other manufacturing firms in reducing carbon emissions. This would further advocate its environmental sustainability message.

Conclusion

The future is reliant on the technological measures that companies employ towards creating sustainable businesses both socially, environmentally, and politically. While CSR initiatives are significant at tackling societal challenges, governments should consider better ways of partnering with companies to create a holistic environment for all citizens.

References

Group, L. (2017). The Lego Group Responsibility Report 2017.

Lego. (2020). Sustainable materials. Retrieved from Lego: https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/sustainable-materials

Mainwaring, S. (2016, 4, 11). How Lego rebuilt itself as a purposeful and sustainable brand. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmainwaring/2016/08/11/how-lego-rebuilt-itself-as-a-purposeful-and-sustainable-brand/7668e5de6f3c

Strauss, K. (2017, 9, 13). The ten companies with the best CSR reputations. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2017/09/13/the-10-companies-with-the-best-CSR-reputations-in-2017/5c2b13ca546b