Materiality analysis in sustainability reporting: a tool for directing corporate sustainability towards emerging economic, environmental and social opportunities
Abstract
Materiality analysis is a multi-purpose tool for prioritising sustainability issues from the double perspective of companies and stakeholders, meaning that both parties contribute to identifying the present and emerging social and environmental risks and opportunities. The current study proposes a practical and structured approach for performing materiality analysis, integrating the well-known Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) materiality matrix and a new “adequacy matrix”. The purpose of the GRI materiality matrix is to prioritize sustainability issues in terms of relevance to both companies and stakeholders. The adequacy matrix supports evaluation of the transparency and effectiveness of corporate sustainability (CS) communication.
Particularly, the paper aims to give indications to companies that want to prepare a sustainability report according to the GRI guidelines by planning the allocation of resources to reporting activities: the comparison between the positioning of GRI sustainability aspects in the two matrices serves in identifying the most critical issues for improving accountability. The proposed method includes a consistency test, to overcome the subjectivity, uncertainty and vagueness affecting judgements. The results provide managers with useful information for aligning CS strategic decision-making, sustainability reporting, and accountability to stakeholders. An illustrative application to a small and medium-sized (SME) company completes the paper.
First published online 30 August 2019
Keyword : materiality analysis, sustainability reporting, sustainability strategy, sustainability performance, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines
How to Cite
Calabrese, A., Costa, R., Levialdi Ghiron, N., & Menichini, T. (2019). Materiality analysis in sustainability reporting: a tool for directing corporate sustainability towards emerging economic, environmental and social opportunities. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 25(5), 1016-1038. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2019.10550
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Calabrese, A., Costa, R., Ghiron, N. L., & Menichini, T. (2017). Materiality analysis in sustainability reporting: a method for making it work in practice. European Journal of Sustainable Development, 6(3), 439-447. https://doi.org/10.14207/ejsd.2017.v6n3p439
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Hellström, D., Jeppsson, U., & Kärrman, E. (2000). A framework for systems analysis of sustainable urban water management. Environmental Impact Assessment Review, 20(3), 311-321. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0195-9255(00)00043-3
Herzig, C., &Schaltegger, S. (2011). Corporate sustainability reporting. In Sustainability communication (pp. 151-169). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1697-1_14
Hsu, C. W., Lee, W. H., & Chao, W. C. (2013). Materiality analysis model in sustainability reporting: a case study at Lite-On Technology Corporation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 57, 142-151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.05.040
International Organization for Standardization. (2010). Guidance on Social Responsibility (ISO 26000:2010(E)). Geneva, Switherland.
Jones, P., Comfort, D., & Hillier, D. (2016). Managing materiality: a preliminary examination of the adoption of the new GRI G4 guidelines on materiality within the business community. Journal of Public Affairs, 16(3), 222-230. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.1586
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Landrum, N. E., & Ohsowski, B. (2018). Identifying worldviews on corporate sustainability: a content analysis of corporate sustainability reports. Business Strategy and the Environment, 27(1), 128-151. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1989
Lindgreen, A., & Swaen, V. (2010). Corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00277.x
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Manetti, G. (2011). The quality of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting: empirical evidence and critical points. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 18(2), 110-122. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.255
Messier Jr, W. F., Martinov-Bennie, N., & Eilifsen, A. (2005). A review and integration of empirical research on materiality: Two decades later. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 24(2), 153-187. https://doi.org/10.2308/aud.2005.24.2.153
Milne, M., & Gray, M. R. (2013). Towards reporting on the triple bottom line: mirages, methods and myths. In The triple bottom line: does it all add up (pp. 92-102). London: Routledge.
Muga, H. E., & Mihelcic, J. R. (2008). Sustainability of wastewater treatment technologies. Journal of environmental management, 88(3), 437-447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.03.008
Nwagbara, U., & Reid, P. (2013). Corporate social responsibility communication in the age of new media: towards the logic of sustainability communication. Revista de Management Comparat International, 14(3), 400-414.
Owen, D. L., Swift, T. A., Humphrey, C., & Bowerman, M. (2000). The new social audits: accountability, managerial capture or the agenda of social champions? European Accounting Review, 9(1), 81-98. https://doi.org/10.1080/096381800407950
Pérez‐López, D., Moreno‐Romero, A., & Barkemeyer, R. (2015). Exploring the relationship between sustainability reporting and sustainability management practices. Business Strategy and the Environment, 24(8), 720-734. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1841
Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2006). Strategy and society: the link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsibility. Harvard Business Review, 84(12), 78-92.
Rossi, C., Cricelli, L., Grimaldi, M., & Greco, M. (2016). The strategic assessment of intellectual capital assets: an application within Terradue Srl. Journal of Business Research, 69(5), 1598-1603. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.10.024
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