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Web content mining for comparing corporate and third‐party online reporting: a case study on solid waste management

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  • Irene Pollach
  • Arno Scharl
  • Albert Weichselbraun

Abstract

This study investigates the coverage of solid waste management on 1142 websites maintained by companies, news media and non‐governmental organizations to validate an automated approach to content and language analysis. First, a frequency analysis of waste management terms sheds light on the breadth and depth of their environmental discourses, revealing that corporate and media attention to waste management is small compared with that of non‐governmental organizations. Second, an investigation of their attitudes toward waste management suggests that companies avoid negative information in environmental communication, unlike news media or non‐governmental organizations. Ultimately, an automated tool for ontology building is employed to gain insights into companies' shared understanding of waste management. The ontology obtained indicates that companies conceptualize waste management as a business process rather than framing it from an ecological perspective, which is in line with findings from previous research. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

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  • Irene Pollach & Arno Scharl & Albert Weichselbraun, 2009. "Web content mining for comparing corporate and third‐party online reporting: a case study on solid waste management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 137-148, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:18:y:2009:i:3:p:137-148
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.549
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    2. Meiwen Guo & Liang Wu & Jianping Peng & Chun-Hung Chiu, 2021. "Research on Environmental Issue and Sustainable Consumption of Online Takeout Food—Practice and Enlightenment Based on China’s Meituan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-24, June.
    3. J. Emil Morhardt, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting on the Internet," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(7), pages 436-452, November.
    4. Ralph Adler & Mansi Mansi & Rakesh Pandey, 2022. "Accounting for waste management: a study of the reporting practices of the top listed Indian companies," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2401-2437, June.
    5. Matthias S. Fifka, 2013. "Corporate Responsibility Reporting and its Determinants in Comparative Perspective – a Review of the Empirical Literature and a Meta‐analysis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 1-35, January.
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    7. Matthias S. Fifka & Maria Drabble, 2012. "Focus and Standardization of Sustainability Reporting – A Comparative Study of the United Kingdom and Finland," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(7), pages 455-474, November.
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    9. Lun Wang & Ehsan Elahi & Yuzhong Zhou & Liming Wang & Shihan Zhang, 2022. "A Review of Packaging Materials’ Consumption Regulation and Pollution Control," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-16, November.
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