Executive Summary:

Wesfarmers Limited, being an Australian listed business, has a legal obligation to provide
information to various stakeholders. Wesfarmers Company's non-financial reporting during the
Covid-19 outbreak was done throughout its websites and establishment media. Wesfarmers
Limited has kept multiple parties updated about how it has reacted to economic, financial, and
political challenges that have arisen throughout the pandemic thanks to the shift in sustainability
reporting. Environmental sustainability aids the organization in identifying the pandemic's many
risks and possibilities. Economic and non-economic data are essential for diverse stakeholders to
make decisions. During the pandemic crisis, sustainability reporting was critical for Wesfarmers,
since numerous stakeholders benefitted from the company's reaction. Materiality evaluation
should be included into Wesfarmers' Risk Management (RM). Non-financial disclosure has
shown to be just as crucial as financial reporting throughout the crisis era. This study
concentrates on the organization's most important features, such as customer involvement,
SWOT analysis, policies, marketing tactics, and communication strategies.

Introduction and Background:

Wesfarmers originated in 1914 as a Western Australian farmers' cooperative and has grown to be
among Australia's leading publicly listed firms. Its diverse businesses include home
improvement, outdoor living, and construction materials; department stores and clothing;
workplace and digital data; pesticide and fertilizer manufacturing and distribution;
manufacturing and health distribution channels; and energy handling and distribution, all of
which are headquartered in Perth. With about 105,000 employees and more than 480,000
stockholders. Wesfarmers is a publicly traded Australian corporation with its headquarters in
Sydney.  The company's registered office and primary place of business is in Perth. It has the
listing code 'WES' on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). During the year, the company's
structure remained unchanged (Dögl and Behnam, 2014).Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian
publicly listed company with a diversified portfolio of businesses that includes hardware,
paper products, clothing, and departmental shops, as well as gas manufacturing and sales,
chemical and fertilizer manufacturing, and product safety distribution channels. The
company is based in Perth, Australia, and employs about 115,000 people. Its main markets
are Australia, Nz (New Zealand), and the U.k (Dögl and Behnam, 2014).

Customer Engagement:

Wesfarmers understands the significance of offering facilities for its customers and the larger
investing community to obtain up-to-date, data on approximately, engage in corporate
shareholder decisions, and have two-way contact with the company, the Council, and the
stakeholders. Wesfarmers has created an investment engagement program to communicate with
stockholders, financial holders, the press, and the general investing community. Additionally, the
directors of the company can decide to receive messages and other ownership information via
electronic means. Wesfarmers takes its ongoing disclosure duties seriously, and the business has
a formal Market Transparency Plan in order, which may be seen on its website. In addition, the
firm has policies and procedures to ensure that the Board receives files of any significant market
statements made in accordance with its mandatory disclosure responsibilities as soon as they are
made (Rhook, 2019).

Communication Strategy:

Wesfarmers communicates with their stakeholders on a regular basis through external media
organizations and their own media channels. This communication might be place through
'earned' or independent media. We collaborate with worldwide, national, and regional media
groups because they feel it promotes transparency and enhances Wesfarmers' reputation. They
are expected to uphold high expectations, particularly environment, openness, honesty, financial
reporting, and a long-standing focus on operational and financial success, according to media
criticism and inquiries (Rodriguez-Melo and Mansouri, 2011). Holding media briefings to
correspond with earnings release announcements and other key events, where appropriate, is part
of their involvement with media organizations. All media inquiries are considered by corporate
affairs departments, who respond properly based on what is best for the firm and its companies.
Other media interviews with the Chairman and Managing director, Financial Manager, and
Executive Managing Partner of Corporate Affairs, as well as Divisional Managing Directors, are
available upon request.

Apart from financial results, the emphasis of media attention in the 2021 fiscal year was on
technical and community reaction to COVID-19, as well as the corporation's perspectives on the
event's general economic effect and recovery prospects. Other topics of increasing media interest
include the company's approach to changing climate, the effect of Targeted store closings and K
center conversion on member of the team employment and impacted rural communities, and how
they are managing cyber-security concerns and preserving consumer data privacy (Rodriguez-
Melo and Mansouri, 2011).

Swot Analysis:
The Swot analysis of Wesfarmers reveals the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities to
score, and difficulties. Strengths and weaknesses are internal characteristics of Wesfarmers'
SWOT Analysis, whereas opportunities and threats are external variables (Kenny, 2011). 
Strengths:

 The brand's heritage dates back to 1914.

 Community engagement projects are emphasized.
 Providing ease and excellent service for the customers.
 Performance and reliability are critical.
 A large number of businesses, in-store employees, and a workforce of nearly 2 lac
people.

Weaknesses:

 As an industry leader, you are constantly investigated for any crucial decisions you make.
 Restricted geographical presence due to experiences limited to Australia.

Opportunities:

 Extending business beyond Australia.

 Improve store integrity, services, and satisfaction criteria.
 Corporate customer loyalty for employees and customers.

Threats:

 Businesses that are threatened by rivals.

 The economic depression has resulted in diminished consumer sentiment and purchasing.
 An opponent who provides unique goods and services at an affordable price.

Recommendations:

Either during or after the epidemic of COVID-19. Wesfarmers has to make some adjustments to
their sustainable development. Wesfarmers has to rethink its material evaluation and how it fits
into its Enterprise Risk Management strategy (ERM). The economic effect on non-financial
economic, health, and political concerns that arose during in the Covid-19 crisis has pushed for
their integration. A materiality evaluation can also be used by Wesfarmers to determine the link
between a company's impacts on a specific environmental aspects and how the issue affects the
business. Wesfarmers must establish what information consumers require in order to make an
informed decision about its pandemic strategy.
Wesfarmers needs to improve the integration of sustainability reporting with financial statements
and performances. The COVID-19 case has highlighted the influence of non-financial ESG
problems on the financial position of the firm. Wesfarmers' integrated reporting detailed how the
corporation dealt with significant problems. Wesfarmers is also expected to draw on climate
disclosure to demonstrate the company's resiliency. As an example. The COVI D-19 problem has
made Wesfarmers pay more attention to risk elements including stakeholder wellbeing,
operational interruptions, and increased flexibility (Wesfarmers Business and Competitive
Environment, 2022).

This paper makes several recommendations for Wesfarmers in terms of expanding into
international markets. Wesfarmers has the potential to expand into emerging countries like India.
India's consumer products demand is quite strong, and the country has a large population (1.2
billion). Companies benefit from operating in India because of the cost-effective and trained
labor, lower operating expenses, and liberal laws and regulations, all of which make it a desirable
place to expand. Wesfarmers, Australia's biggest private business, takes care of its workers by
acknowledging and appreciating their responsibilities. Collective bargaining agreements
encompass more than 90 per cent of the company's personnel. Wesfarmers offers employment
training to its workers as well as career advancement chances. The company's staff is quite
varied, with a good mix of genders, ages, and ethnicities, and it employs a large number of
indigenous people.
Conclusions:
The activities of Wesfarmers were addressed in this study, as well as its foreign performance.
Wesfarmers is one of Australia's largest enterprises, having been founded in Western Australia in
1914. Wesfarmers is a publicly traded firm that makes the majority of its money from
supermarkets. Supermarkets (Cole's), department shops, office supplies, home remodeling
(Hypermarket Ware Houses), resorts, and beverages are among the company's operations.
Energy, fertilizers, chemicals, coal, and safety items are among the company's industrial
divisions. Woolworths Ltd. is Wesfarmers' main rival, with Prime as a digital opponent.
Wesfarmers employs around 200,000 people in Australia and has an investor base of
approximately 550,000. The company's main purpose is to provide a sufficient return to its
owners. Wesfarmers has pursued a number of company expansion initiatives. The organization
meets consumer demands successfully and takes entrepreneurial initiative to acquire
development prospects. The corporation restructures its portfolio to include more value-added
businesses and assures long-term viability with adequate management strategies.
Comparison of Tesco and Wesfarmers Ltd.:

Coming on to the comparison, a few more diversified corporations exploit their more climate-
friendly large box operations to mask their less climate-friendly investments, whereas Tesco
wants to make suppliers and consumers accountable for cutting emissions. Australia's
Wesfarmers is an excellent example. What began as a conservative agriculture-focused firm has
become chaotically diversified. Wesfarmers controls the Australian operations of big box
retailers Walmart and Targets, as well as the largest Australian office equipment retailer, Office
Works, as well as liquor shops, gas stations, and an insurance company. Wesfarmers owns
Bunnings, Australia's largest home renovation retailer, which receives 16% of its power from
solar and claims to be carbon-neutral by 2016.

Wesfarmers also owns Cole, Australia's foremost grocery chain, which boasts a well-publicized
'ecofriendly choice' line of products, a relationship with ecological nonprofit Clean It up Aussie,
and claimed to have lowered greenhouse gas emissions by almost forty thousand tons in the last
two years. While the bigger Wesfarmers brand does not advertise itself as environmentally
friendly, its sustainability report features smiling youngsters recycling paper bags at
Supermarkets and Bunnings employees proudly holding energy-efficient incandescent bulbs.
Wesfarmers has gained a greener image as a result of these brands, which is concerning
considering that the product carbon impact has more than quadrupled since 2007. That truth,
however, is simply the tip of the iceberg. Wesfarmers also has a small resources division, which
consists primarily of coal mines. So, while the hypermarkets industry is going green, the
hardware industry is pledging decarburization, the office supply industry is recycling printer
cartridges, and the corporate headquarters is muttering about having to put alternative energy
sources in its fleet of vehicles, the coal industry is busy broadening manufacturing and emission
levels as if changing climate doesn't exist. This isn't mentioned in the report, which makes it
seem like the supermarket line is responsible for over half of the firm's emissions (Canniford,
2013).

So regarding above justifications and research on a little comparison between these two
organizations, we can say that Tesco which is a multi-national organization; has better
communication and marketing policies than Wesfarmers of Australia which is without a doubt an
old and effective organization but due to the reasons that it is only limited to the people of
Australia and New Zealand and we know that the population of these two countries combined is
merely 30 million whereas Tesco has expanded in all over the world and has millions of
customers. So it is fair enough to say that Tesco has an upper hand over Wesfarmers Ltd.
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Rowe, A., Nowak, M., Quaddus, M. and Naude, M., 2013. Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainable
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Rodriguez-Melo, A. and Mansouri, S., 2011. Stakeholder Engagement: Defining Strategic Advantage for
Sustainable Construction. Business Strategy and the Environment, 20(8), pp.539-552.

Dögl, C. and Behnam, M., 2014. Environmentally Sustainable Development through Stakeholder
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