26 research outputs found
Evaluating sustainability in organisations with a fuzzy logic approach
Purpose - To determine whether the organisations more strategically committed to its stakeholders present
better social and financial performance and, based on this relationship, know the state of the art of the
Spanish sectorsâ approach to the sustainable development.
Design/methodology/approach - This paper analyses the sustainability approach of a sample of 52 Spanish
listed firms. This process is based on the study of different indexes generated in order to evaluate the
companyâs commitment through its stakeholders, the social and financial performance of these organisations,
and the relationship between them. Previous results showed a positive and not significant relationship
between these variables and a positive financial performance. This paper replicates a former research by
introducing a fuzzy- logic- based methodology in order to generate the aforementioned indexes.
Findings -The current results support the conclusions formerly obtained and simultaneously demonstrate that
the big Spanish companies are at an incipient stage of development of a clearly sustainability - oriented management.
Research limitations/implications - The unavailability of a long series of organisations sustainability
information is an obstacle for a broader analysis. This research could motivate the usefulness of the fuzzy
logic methodology for analysing the business sustainability approach and to develop studies on the corporate
social performance.
Originality/value - The use of fuzzy logic methodology for the generation of indexes related to the
organisations social responsibility and sustainability result
Rating the Raters: Evaluating how ESG Rating Agencies Integrate Sustainability Principles
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rating agencies, acting as relevant financial market actors, should take a stand on working towards achieving a more sustainable development. In this context, the objective of this paper is, on the one hand, to understand how criteria used by ESG rating agencies in their assessment processes have evolved over the last ten years and, on the other hand, to analyze whether ESG rating agencies are contributing to fostering sustainable development by the inclusion of sustainability principles into their assessment processes and practices according to the ESG criteria. This research is based on a comparative descriptive analysis of the public information provided by the most representative ESG rating and information provider agencies in the financial market in two periods: 2008 and 2018. The findings show that ESG rating agencies have integrated new criteria into their assessment models to measure corporate performance more accurately and robustly in order to respond to new global challenges. However, a deep analysis of the criteria also shows that ESG rating agencies do not fully integrate sustainability principles into the corporate sustainability assessment process
SDG reporting: an analysis of corporate sustainability leaders
Purpose
This study aims to empirically analyze a sound commitment and a consistent integration of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in the corporate reporting and management systems of companies that have a leading position in sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
The study applies a content analysis procedure based on a proposed analytical framework to codify the commitment and the SDG integration. In order to analyze the consistency of the integration, this study has provided a âSDG integrationâ score based on fuzzy inference systems methods. The companies in the sample have been identified as benchmarks in terms of sustainability in a specific region of Spain.
Findings
The findings show a lack of formality regarding the SDG commitment at the highest decision-making level and a low level of SDG integration in the reporting and management systems. These results are mainly explained because the most companies do not prioritize according to the materiality analysis and those SDGs more reported have not been deployed along targets and KPIs in a consistent way.
Research limitations/implications
The results provide practical implications that help to overcome the limitations in terms of comparison and consistency of the SDGs-reported information. It also illustrates how the leading sustainable companies are doing the SDG reporting and suggests which elements could be improved to promote a consistent integration of the SDGs in the management systems.
Originality/value
This study provides new work lines in the promotion of an effective SDG-business reporting based on a robust management structure that allows an alignment among the SDG-business decisions based on a normative, strategic and operational approach
Sustainability rating agencies as a driver of socially responsible investment
El conjunto de actores de los mercados financieros a nivel mundial estĂĄn demandando
de forma creciente que la informaciĂłn financiera de las empresas se vea integrada con
informaciĂłn de carĂĄcter ambiental, social y de gobierno corporativo. Las agencias de calificaciĂłn de la sostenibilidad surgen en los mercados como oferentes de dicha informaciĂłn,
desarrollado sus propias herramientas de mediciĂłn y evaluaciĂłn de los criterios financieros,
ambientales y de gobernanza (FASG).
El objetivo de este artĂculo es poner de manifiesto la funciĂłn impulsora y modeladora
que estĂĄn realizando estas agencias en el anĂĄlisis de la sostenibilidad corporativa, sus metodologĂas de evaluaciĂłn y los criterios que utilizan, constatando que estĂĄn potenciando el desarrollo de la inversiĂłn socialmente responsable (o inversiĂłn sostenible, o inversiĂłn con criterios ASG), y de las finanzas sostenibles, tanto por ofertar bases de datos de criterios FASG,
como por la elaboraciĂłn de Ăndices bursĂĄtiles de sostenibilidad que sirven de benchmarking
para los fondos de inversiĂłn con criterios de sostenibilidad. Sin embargo, por ahora, este
impulso no estĂĄ impactando en la innovaciĂłn hacia modelos de negocios sostenibles.The financial market actors worldwide are increasingly demanding that the financial
information of companies should be integrated with information of an environmental,
social and corporate governance nature. The sustainability rating agencies emerge in the
markets as providers of such information, developing their own tools for measuring and
evaluating the financial, environmental and governance criteria (FESG). The objective of this paper is to highlight the function that these sustainability agencies
are fulfilling, their evaluation methodologies and the criteria they use, confirming that they
are promoting the development of socially responsible investment (or sustainable investment, or ESG investment). Both for their offer of databases of FESG criteria, and for the
elaboration of sustainable indexes that serve as benchmarking for investment funds with
sustainability criteria. However, they are not influencing innovation towards sustainable
business models
Sustainable supply chain management in a global context: a consistency analysis in the textile industry between environmental management practices at company level and sectoral and global environmental challenges.
In a global context, it is crucial to measure and report the corporate sustainability impacts taking into account what is happening along the whole supply chains. The objective of this study is to analyze whether environmental measurement and reporting practices, currently developed by companies under a global supply chain context, are aligned with global environmental challenges and the environmental hotspots at the sectoral level. To tackle this objective, this study has been focused on the textile sector, due to the relevance of its environmental impacts. A research was conducted based on the analysis of global environmental challenges: 1) at company level, on the measurement and reporting of specific environmental indicators connected with the impact categories of the European Organization Environmental Footprint (OEF); and 2) on the analysis of textile industry environmental hotspots, through the technical tool SimaPro that allows their quantification and identification along the life cycle phases using different scenarios. The results show a consistency between global environmental challenges and company environmental disclosure; however, a disconnection between the specific environmental indicators reported by textile companies and the main hotspots of the sector are observed. This implies that companies could be managing environmental issues related to global environmental concerns but ignoring those critical environmental issues truly relevant from a technical point of view, according to the nature of their activity. The paper argues that is not only necessary to consider the corporate awareness regarding global environmental challenges, but also to address the real environmental hotspots at the sectoral level. This paper represents a contribution in the discussion about what sustainability management implies along the supply chains, emphasizing the need to advance in a consistent and science-based integration of global environmental challenges, environmental hotspots at the sectoral level and environmental management practices at company level. The results obtained help global chain actors and other organizations to address this challenge
Materiality Analysis for CSR Reporting in Spanish SMEs
Most corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards have not been designed
to be implemented in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Given
that 99% of Spanish companies are SMEs, this study aims to propose a
selection of basic CSR material issues that, because of their usefulness and
signiïŹcance, should be adapted to Spanish SMEs and their stakeholders.
This study provides a CSR model for SMEs that includes the most important
social, environmental, and corporate governance issues. This model, which
is based on expert knowledge, is useful for integrating sustainability in the
management of SMEs and enhancing the management of stakeholders
MatemĂĄtica de las operaciones financieras
Departamento de Finanzas y Contabilidad. Asignatura de MatemĂĄtica de las Operaciones Financiera. CĂłdigos de las asignaturas: FC1003, EC1003, AE1003, DA020
Integrating multiple ESG investors' preferences into sustainable investment: A fuzzy multicriteria methological approach
The integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria into the evaluation process of assets is a theme that is widely accepted among socially responsible investors. In this process, however, the integration of investorsâ preferences has not been adequately developed. The challenge is to integrate the preferences of heterogeneous investorsânot only conventional investors but also investors who are particularly sensitive to sustainability issues (socially responsible investors)âconsidering that socially responsible investors are not necessarily homogeneous. This paper attempts to address this challenge by developing a methodological approach based on an application of fuzzy multicriteria decision-making methods (MCDM) to integrate ESG investorsâ preferences, as jointly considered. Because investorsâ preferences may vary depending on which material aspects are considered within a sector, this study has been tested using clothing-sector data. Results confirm the usefulness of the methodological approach proposed for a proper generation of a âcommercial solutionâ that integrates the preferences of various investors and simultaneously is consistent with individually defined preferences