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Corporate sustainability reporting: scrutinising the requirements of comparability, transparency and reflection of sustainability performance

Author

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  • Ágnes Zsóka

    (Department of Marketing, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest)

  • Éva Vajkai

    (Department of Marketing, Corvinus University of Budapest, Budapest)

Abstract

Companies of different size and sector regularly publish sustainability reports in order to record and disseminate their activities aimed at contributing to sustainable development and to reflect their corporate social responsibility. From the various existing suggestions for such reports, the principles and guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative are most widely used – at least among large companies. The very detailed guidelines and indicator system aim at supporting companies to provide relevant, balanced, comparable, accurate, timely, clear and reliable information on corporate activities and performance, while focusing on sustainability-context and stakeholder inclusiveness in their “non-financial” reporting. However, based on research into the content and quality of non-financial reporting, it is difficult to clearly conclude just how comparable and transparent the reports are, as well as to decide whether they truly reflect the sustainability performance of the reporting companies. The paper provides a literature review and a qualitative analysis on the reporting practice of 37 large companies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ágnes Zsóka & Éva Vajkai, 2018. "Corporate sustainability reporting: scrutinising the requirements of comparability, transparency and reflection of sustainability performance," Society and Economy, Akadémiai Kiadó, Hungary, vol. 40(1), pages 19-44, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:aka:soceco:v:40:y:2018:i:1:p:19-44
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Szennay, Áron, 2020. "A vállalati társadalmi felelősségvállalás megközelítései és a fenntartható fejlődés [How popular approaches to corporate social responsibility relate to sustainable development]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(10), pages 1057-1074.
    2. Thaís Vieira Nunhes & Merce Bernardo & Otávio José de Oliveira, 2020. "Rethinking the Way of Doing Business: A Reframe of Management Structures for Developing Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-32, February.
    3. Thaís Vieira Nunhes & Enzo Viviani Garcia & Maximilian Espuny & Vitor Homem de Mello Santos & Raine Isaksson & Otávio José de Oliveira, 2021. "Where to Go with Corporate Sustainability? Opening Paths for Sustainable Businesses through the Collaboration between Universities, Governments, and Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-31, January.
    4. Aleksandra Szewieczek & Beata Dratwińska-Kania & Aleksandra Ferens, 2021. "Business Model Disclosure in the Reporting of Public Companies—An Empirical Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-27, September.
    5. Áron Szennay & Cecília Szigeti & Norbert Kovács & Dániel Róbert Szabó, 2019. "Through the Blurry Looking Glass—SDGs in the GRI Reports," Resources, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-17, May.
    6. Jose Manuel Diaz‐Sarachaga, 2021. "Monetizing impacts of Spanish companies toward the Sustainable Development Goals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1313-1323, July.
    7. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & David Talbot, 2022. "Comparing the uncomparable? An investigation of car manufacturers' climate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2213-2229, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    non-financial reporting; Global Reporting Initiative; sustainability performance; indicators;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Q56 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environment and Development; Environment and Trade; Sustainability; Environmental Accounts and Accounting; Environmental Equity; Population Growth
    • M31 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Marketing and Advertising - - - Marketing

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