Case study: How Kerry Properties creates economic value for its stakeholders
Kerry Properties Limited is a world-class property company with important investments in mainland China and Hong Kong, developing high-quality residential, commercial and mixed-use developments in prime locations. Kerry Properties values the relationships it has developed over its long history with staff, suppliers, partners, government agencies, and other key stakeholders, seeking to generate sustainable value for all.
This case study is based on the 2020 Sustainability Report by Kerry Properties, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
As a developer of premium residential and mixed-use developments encompassing office towers, apartments, shopping malls and hotels in prime locations in Hong Kong and mainland China, creating value for its stakeholders is an important part of Kerry Properties’ philosophy Tweet This!. In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Kerry Properties took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for the government
- create economic value for shareholders
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Boustead Projects has identified;
- How Boustead Projects proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Boustead Projects to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2020 Sustainability Report Kerry Properties identified a range of material issues, such as service and product quality, customer well-being, health and safety, energy efficiency and GHG emissions, waste management. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Kerry Properties.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Kerry Properties engages with:
Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
Investors and Shareholders
| · Annual/Special General Meetings · Annual and interim results announcements · Announcements and circulars · Annual and interim reports · Sustainability reports · Company websites · Investor visits/briefings · Response to investor surveys and benchmarking exercises · Press and analysts’ conferences · Roadshows and investors’ conferences |
Customers and Tenants
| · Customer satisfaction surveys · Customer service hotlines · Community events · Club and membership activities · Social media and company websites · Corporate publications · Mobile applications for tenants |
Government and Industry Associations | · Regular meetings · Public consultation · Conferences, forums and seminars |
Academia
| · Research studies · Student partnership programmes · Event venue sponsorships · Seminars |
Media
| · Press conferences and releases · Media briefings · Feedback and response to enquiries |
NGOs
| · Focus groups · Partnership programmes · Award schemes and charters · Sponsorships and donations · Conferences and seminars |
Employees
| · Orientation and training sessions · Team building activities · Recreational and volunteering activities · Lunch with senior management · Communication enhancement via latest information technologies · Employee Innovation Committee and sustainability taskforces · Staff magazine “Art of Services” · Employee opinion surveys · Annual performance appraisal · Mobile Intranet and emails · Newsletters |
Suppliers and Contractors
| · Surveys and meetings · Supplier enquiry hotline · Green Construction Site Award · Kerry Project — Community Caring Scheme · Safety briefings · Tendering and procurement processes |
Local Communities
| · Public/community events · Community initiatives · Corporate volunteer team and employee volunteering activities · Company websites |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Kerry Properties engaged with its stakeholders through a questionnaire survey (3,097 invitations sent with 1,982 responses received), focus groups (9 focus groups with 53 participants) and in-depth interviews (11 interviews with 13 participants).
What actions were taken by Kerry Properties to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2020 Sustainability Report Kerry Properties reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- It is a non-negotiable tenet of Kerry Properties’ operations that all its people feel valued, making sure they are treated fairly, impartially and with dignity. Accordingly, in 2020, Kerry Properties paid HK$ 1,415 million for employee wages and benefits.
- Creating economic value for the government
- In 2020, Kerry Properties paid HK$ 3,241 million to the government (taxation).
- Creating economic value for shareholders
- In 2020, Kerry Properties’ dividend per share amounted to HK$ 1.35.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.1, 8.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
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References:
This case study is based on published information by Kerry Properties, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
https://www.kerryprops.com/srreport/2020/pdf/en/KPL_SR2020_EN.pdf
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