scholarly journals Sustainability Reporting In A Global Context: What Are The Characteristics Of Corporations That Provide High Quality Sustainability Reports An Empirical Analysis

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Petra F.A. Dilling
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Qualitative Variables ◽  
Global Corporations ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Sustainability Report

Over the last years, sustainable development has become one of the major issues that all global organizations are facing. The Global Reporting Initiative, located in the Netherlands and considered the leading authority world-wide, has developed what is currently considered the “common framework for sustainability reporting”. The latest version of their reporting guidelines called G3 contains detailed instructions and standards on how to prepare sustainability reports. By using G3 guidelines, corporations show a strong commitment of continuous improvement of their sustainability reporting practices. The G3 guidelines are increasingly adopted by many global corporations and organizations. At present, more than 700 organizations voluntarily publish a sustainability report according to G3 guidelines. For the first time, this empirical study investigates if the better performing and/or governed corporations prepare their sustainability reports according to the G3 guidelines. The goal of this study is to determine if there are significant differences with regard to size, financial performance, capital structure, and corporate governance between firms that publish a G3 sustainability report to those that don’t. Therefore, quantitative and qualitative variables of 124 randomly selected G3 reporting and non-G3 reporting corporations from 25 countries were analyzed. The results of this analysis show that corporations with the characteristics of being located in Europe, and/or being active in the energy or producing sector, and/or with a higher profit margin are more likely to produce high quality sustainability reports. Corporations with a higher long-term growth rate, on the other hand, are less likely to produce sustainability reports. The results of this unique study contribute directly to the knowledge of corporations providing voluntary CSR information in form of quality sustainability reports and the importance of the development of globally accepted sustainability reporting standards. 

Ethical environment, accountability, and sustainability reporting: What is the connection in the hospitality and tourism industry?

2021 ◽  
pp. 135481662110626
Author(s):  
Amal Hamrouni ◽  
Abdullah S Karaman ◽  
Cemil Kuzey ◽  
Ali Uyar
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Ethical Business ◽  
Ethical Environment ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Institutional Forces ◽  
Hospitality And Tourism ◽  
Sustainability Report

Drawing on institutional theory, this study tests how the ethical behaviors of firms, in interaction with public officials and through the strength of accountability regulations, influence sustainability reporting practices in the hospitality and tourism (H&T) sector. The results indicate that firms operating in a highly ethical business environment are less likely than those in a less ethical environment to disclose a sustainability report. However, accountability yields the opposite result; firms established in environments characterized by high accountability are more likely than low accountability environments to issue a sustainability report, which implies a complementary effect between the strength of the accountability and the firms’ sustainability disclosures. This verifies that the weakness or strength of informal and formal institutional forces exert considerable influence on firms’ desire to carry out sustainability reporting. However, this influence is not true of the acquisition of external assurance statements and following Global Reporting Initiative guidelines, with which accountability has a negative and insignificant association, respectively.

scholarly journals Corporate Sustainability Reporting in the BIST Sustainability Index

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (10) ◽  
pp. 21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burcu Demirel ◽  
Murat Erdogan
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Development Stage ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Sustainability Index ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Working Day ◽  
Sustainability Report ◽  
Day By Day

<p>In recent years, there is a growing focus on corporate operations especially since the publication of the first environmental reports in 1989. Companies have started to publish information about its environmental, social and sustainability policies. The study examines the sustainability reporting elements of Borsa Istanbul Sustainability Index (BIST) in Turkey and to evaluate which elements is most vital in this context. This study will begin with the sustainability reporting that will be examined under the roof of corporation sustainability and end with the examination of sustainability reports of 15 firms, which are included in the BIST Sustainability Index in Turkey, and a content analysis. The reports of companies under study were taken from special web site and GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) database of companies. Being the first study in examining the sustainability report of companies in BIST Sustainability Index, it is expected to contribute in literature about sustainability reporting recently started to gain importance in Turkey. Overall our findings suggest that the sustainability index established in Turkey is still in development stage, but the enterprises in the endeavor are working day by day to develop the sustainability qualities.</p>

Creating sustainability reports that matter: an investigation of factors behind the narratives

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Habiba Al-Shaer ◽  
Khaldoon Albitar ◽  
Khaled Hussainey
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Governance ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Sustainability Report ◽  
Forward Looking

PurposeThis paper aims to provide a novel approach to examine sustainability report narratives by considering key features of these narratives including, forward-looking content, risk content, tone and sustainability-specific content.Design/methodology/approachUsing a sample of UK firms' sustainability reports from 2014 to 2018, the authors capture the report content by compiling a collection of words using a computational linguistic technique that attempts to identify specific attributes of sustainability reports.FindingsThe findings show the main factors that determine the content of sustainability reports are: (1) external governance-related factors, including the voluntary adoption of sustainability reporting assurance, the choice of assurance provider, stakeholder engagement and ownership concentration; (2) internal governance factors, including board quality and the existence of a sustainability committee; and (3) reporting behaviour including the publication of standardised Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reports and financial reporting quality.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors limit our sample to companies operated in the UK. Future research can explore the results in other institutional contexts such as North America or Asia–Pacific where the governance of sustainability reporting and other factors determining the content of sustainability reports could be different. Also, it would be interesting to interview managers and other stakeholders to obtain their opinions with regard to sustainability reporting and assurance practices and to understand their opinions regarding the GRI guidelines and its appropriateness. This study combines different research streams to advance our understanding of sustainability disclosures and factors that determine sustainability narratives.Practical implicationsCorporate managers need to strengthen their internal and external governance mechanisms to enhance the comprehensiveness and credibility of sustainability reports and are encouraged to engage stakeholders in the sustainability reporting process. Policymakers can mandate the assurance of sustainability reports and establish reporting formats and standard words to control the tone of sustainability reports. Finally, researchers, professionals as well as policymakers need to monitor sustainable development goals and targets to increase awareness, knowledge and practices that can be operationalised to ensure a global society that can afford sustainable living.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, no study has yet examined sustainability report narratives by considering key features of these reports, including forward-looking content, risk content, tone and sustainability-specific content.

scholarly journals Sustainability Reporting Pattern in Pharmaceutical Sector : A Study of Top 10 Economies across the Globe

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 460-465
Author(s):  
Mahesh Kumar ◽  
Birajit Mohanty ◽  
Madhusudan Narayan ◽  
Vadera M L
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
Pharmaceutical Companies ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Business Sustainability ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Global Corporations ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Education And Development

Sustainability reporting is now a mainstream activity of global corporations and is an important issue of the decade. Transparency and accountability for stakeholders are the most demanding issues in pharmaceutical sectors. Companies or Industries can’t survive without sustainable growth. Since most of the stakeholders are aware of recent problems such as community health, climate change, education and development, business sustainability, etc., the demand for disclosures in these areas have also been remarkably increased. Global companies have started business sustainability for economic and non-economic activities of the venture, along with the accountability of external and internal stakeholders towards the goal of sustainable development. This paper examines the sustainability reporting practices of the top 10 economy's pharmaceutical companies across the globe. For this purpose, sustainability reports based on GRI and Non- GRI guidelines for 5 years (2012 to 2016) of the top 10 economy's pharmaceutical companies were collected from the GRI-Database. The number of pharmaceutical companies along with a country name that published sustainability reports has been classified into four categories such as companies with GRI reports are published for 5 years, less than 5 years, Non-GRI reports and mixed reports (GRI &Non-GRI) and a total number of reports published in the given time periods. The results revealed that the sustainability disclosures in Pharmaceutical sectors are dominated by both the 1st and 2nd largest economies across the globe USA, China, and Brazil, and the worst sustainability disclosures are Canada, Italy, Germany, and India. It means pharmaceutical companies in the USA, China, and Brazil are more conscious about sustainability reporting as compare to the rest of the countries of the top 10 economies in the world.   

scholarly journals Analyzing the quality disclosure of Global Reporting Initiative G4 sustainability report in Indonesian companies

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 453-468
Author(s):  
Wika Harisa Putri ◽  
Handoko Arwi Hasthoro ◽  
Ghea Maudhia Putri
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Economic Indicator ◽  
Environmental Indicators ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Corporate Accountability ◽  
Financial Industry ◽  
Environmental Reporting ◽  
Industry Classification ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Sustainability Report

The establishment of a company cannot be separated from its environmental and social factors. Sustainability reports start from those applied to current companies because there are forms of corporate accountability to stakeholders and community considerations of the company to provide social responsibility. This study finds out and empirically proves that there are differences in each Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 indicator in the company’s sustainability report in each industry classification. The authors investigate the dominant indicators in each industry classification based on sustainability reports. The data are obtained from 28 GRI G4-based company sustainability reports in 2016 and 2017. The analytical method in the study is the K-means clustering analysis. The results of study indicate the differences in GRI G4 in 2016 and 2017. The researchers find out that the dominant indicator expressed in the financial industry is an economic indicator. Meanwhile, in the mining, transportation and infrastructure industries, basic and chemical industries etc. the dominant indicators to be disclosed are environmental indicators. This research provides a theoretical basis for sustainability and environmental reporting, particularly in the context of developing countries. It is expected that this study should also inform business practitioners as well as policymakers vis-à-vis sustainability reporting in practice.

scholarly journals Sustainability Reporting in India – A Study of Infosys Sustainability Reports

2020 ◽  
pp. 336-346
Author(s):  
Priyanka Nayak ◽  
Narayan Kayarkatte
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Effective Medium ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Sustainability Performance ◽  
Indian Company ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Sustainability Report ◽  
Policies And Practices

Sustainability reporting is becoming more prevalent, driven by a growing recognition that sustainability-related issues can materially affect a company’s performance. In India, with the Companies Act 2013 making CSR mandatory in specified areas, more and more companies are undertaking sustainability and CSR initiatives. However, accounting and reporting of these activities are still at a nascent stage, with nearly 40 companies disclosing their sustainability performance. One such Indian company to report on CSR operations is Infosys. Infosys Ltd has proved to be the first IT firm in the globe to publish a sustainability report under the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) G4 framework. This case study aims to explore the reporting methods followed by Infosys and to comprehend the effect it has on the synergy and development of the business. It studies the sustainability report of Infosys for 10 years and tries to understand the reporting policies and practices. Infosys has been one of the pioneers in sustainable development and reporting the same. Sustainability reports help not only to showcase the CSR activities but also serve as an effective medium for reaching nations sustainability goals.

scholarly journals Compliance with materiality in G4-sustainability reports by electric utilities

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Slacik ◽  
Dorothea Greiling
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Electric Utility ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Reporting Practice ◽  
Sustainability Reports

Purpose Materiality as an emerging trend aims to make sustainability reports (SR) more relevant for stakeholders. This paper aims to investigate whether the reporting practice of electric utility companies (EUC) is in compliance with the materiality principle of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) when disclosing SR. Design/methodology/approach A twofold content analysis focusing on material aspects (MAs) is conducted, followed by correlation analysis. Logic and conversation theory (LCT) serves to evaluate the communication quality of documented materiality in SR by EUC. Findings The coverage and quality of documented MAs in SR by EUC do not meet the requirements for relevant and transparent communication. Materiality does not guide the reporting practice and is not taken seriously. Research limitations/implications Mediocre quality of coverage and communication in SR shows that stakeholders’ information needs are not considered adequately. The content analysis is limited in focusing on merely documented aspects rather than on actual performance. Originality/value This study considers the quality of communication of documented materiality through the lens of LCT. It contributes to the academic debate by introducing LCT as a viable theoretical perspective for analyzing SR. The paper evaluates GRI-G4 reporting practices in the electricity sector, which, while under-researched is crucial for sustainability. It also contributes to the emerging body of empirical research on the relevance of materiality as a guiding principle for sustainability reporting.

Sustain and legitimize reputation

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nubia Cristina Mapa ◽  
Luiz Claudio Vieira de Oliveira ◽  
Mario Teixeira Reis Neto
Keyword(s):  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Mining Company ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Rhetoric ◽  
Rational Discourse ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sustainability Report ◽  
Discursive Resources

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the discursive resources used to sustain and legitimize the reputation of the mining company Samarco Mineração regarding sustainability, before the environmental accident occurred in 2015. Design/methodology/approach The sustainability reports from 2005 to 2014 were accessed for the analysis of the presentation texts, and the discourse analysis method was applied to access the discursive resources employed. Findings From the classical concepts of rhetoric, ethos, pathos and logos, it was found that they reinforced the reputation and legitimacy of the company. The ethos is responsible for the company’s image, while pathos triggers the emotional reception of that image, provoking positive expectations. The logos relate the built image and its emotional reception to a rational discourse that values the company’s expertise. The analysis, in the light of the new rhetoric, exposes the strategies to lead the public to accept the image of solidity and confidence given by a reputation respected nationally and internationally. Research limitations/implications As a limitation, the quantitative data of the report were not analyzed, since the objective was to analyze the discourse construction, understanding that the research was adequate for the established purposes. For the future, it is suggested to analyze the discourse of the company after the environmental accident in order to verify the strategies used in the same theme; analyze the discourses in other reports published in the Global Reporting Initiative model; investigate how the logic of sustainability report construction based on a standard model can interfere in the formation of reputation and legitimacy of the companies; and analyze the impact of CSR on the strategy of the companies. Practical implications The knowledge about the functioning of the language and discourse as an indicative of subjectivity provides a more critical reading and reveals elements implicit in the discourse of the organization. It was verified that the sustainability reports in encapsulated formats allow some stability in the discourse, since companies tend to follow the same line of previous years, even with changes in the organizational structure. Originality/value Discourses built by the companies do not always reflect the true operational and engineering situation practiced by them, and that successful and reputed companies can surprise their stakeholders with events of great magnitude that cause significant losses, be they monetary or human lives.

scholarly journals Sustainability Reporting Practices: Evidence from Bangladesh

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 61
Author(s):  
Sumaiya Akhter ◽  
Pappu Kumar Dey
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Annual Report ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Employee Benefits ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Product Responsibility

The objective of this paper is to examine the nature and extent of sustainability reporting practices by the listed companies in Bangladesh. In order to fulfill this objective, the research has examined the content analysis of annual report (2015-2016) and website of the top 50 listed companies (according to market capitalization). Based on Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 guidelines, the study investigates three broad areas i.e. economic, environmental and social with 40 indicators. The findings of the study demonstrate that organizations in Bangladesh address few sustainability issues. Companies focus more on community development which is 90%, followed by employment and employee benefits (67%). The level of disclosures in website is meagre where only 26% of the sample companies disclose at least one indicator. Organizations’ attention on issues like environment, human rights and product responsibility is limited in relation to other issues. The extent of disclosure is also poor that is 66% of the companies use less than 25 sentences in sustainability reporting. Moreover, only 16% of the sample companies use separate sustainability reporting section. The limited disclosures on sustainability issues may be because of voluntary sustainability reporting in Bangladesh.

Intellectual Capital Disclosure in Sustainability Reports

2013 ◽  
pp. 195-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Bronzetti ◽  
Romilda Mazzotta ◽  
Graziella Sicoli ◽  
Maria Assunta Baldini
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Voluntary Disclosures ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Sustainability Report

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the level and the quality of voluntary disclosures of Intellectual Capital (IC) in the sustainability reports on a sample of Italian listed companies. The authors conducted an analysis of twelve sustainability reports for two years (2009-2010). These are related to six firms selected among the most capitalized 37 Italian listed companies. To investigate the “level of disclosure,” the authors identified the presence of IC information, while to evaluate the “IC quality,” they constructed a voluntary disclosure index based on content analysis. IC information disclosure is more likely present in sustainability reports of firms with a higher levels of application of the Global Reporting Initiative framework. The results confirm that the sustainability report can adequately represent the intellectual capital, especially in order to understand its role in the firm and the interaction with other variables present in the firm.

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