Comparative Analysis of the Sustainable Practices Based on Social …
93
Concerning the companies’ commitment to the environmental and social criteria,
it was verified that the analyzed companies have goals to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, waste, energy and water consumption and waste generation.
Finally, economic practices averaged 58%. The explanation for this performance
is the protection of economic information. For example, investment data, salary, and
tax are not reported to maintain security and confidentiality.
4 Conclusion
Incorporating the sustainable practices included in the ISO 26000 standard and the
GRI report is not a simple task and requires organizations’ commitment to society,
the government, and the environment. In general, according to the comparative analysis carried out in this study, although there are still areas that need improvement,
companies achieved positive results in meeting the guidelines of ISO 26000 and GRI,
showing concern regarding sustainable development.
A limitation of this research was the lack of standardization of corporate sustainability reports. For example, Natura was the only one that highlighted the GRI indexes
in the report’s content, allowing the easy identification of each criterion.
As a result of the lack of standardization and the subjectivity of company reports,
comparing practices between companies can be an arduous task. Based on this, it
is suggested the standardization of the sustainability reports, in order to present
understandable and comparable information. Thus, besides allowing the monitoring
of environmental, social and economic performance, the utilization of benchmarking
to find the best practices would be promoted.
Despite this, the analysis serves as a guide to support decision-making since it
highlights all the sustainable practices that the main companies in the sector implement, and practices that demand improvement actions. Furthermore, the information
presented encourages the promotion of sustainable practices in Brazil focusing on
the improvement of social responsibility. In this way, companies in the sector and
other sectors could use such information to correctly organize and disseminate these
practices.
Appendix 1
Comparative Table of the Sustainable Practices
See Tables 2, 3, 4, and 5.
93
Concerning the companies’ commitment to the environmental and social criteria,
it was verified that the analyzed companies have goals to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, waste, energy and water consumption and waste generation.
Finally, economic practices averaged 58%. The explanation for this performance
is the protection of economic information. For example, investment data, salary, and
tax are not reported to maintain security and confidentiality.
4 Conclusion
Incorporating the sustainable practices included in the ISO 26000 standard and the
GRI report is not a simple task and requires organizations’ commitment to society,
the government, and the environment. In general, according to the comparative analysis carried out in this study, although there are still areas that need improvement,
companies achieved positive results in meeting the guidelines of ISO 26000 and GRI,
showing concern regarding sustainable development.
A limitation of this research was the lack of standardization of corporate sustainability reports. For example, Natura was the only one that highlighted the GRI indexes
in the report’s content, allowing the easy identification of each criterion.
As a result of the lack of standardization and the subjectivity of company reports,
comparing practices between companies can be an arduous task. Based on this, it
is suggested the standardization of the sustainability reports, in order to present
understandable and comparable information. Thus, besides allowing the monitoring
of environmental, social and economic performance, the utilization of benchmarking
to find the best practices would be promoted.
Despite this, the analysis serves as a guide to support decision-making since it
highlights all the sustainable practices that the main companies in the sector implement, and practices that demand improvement actions. Furthermore, the information
presented encourages the promotion of sustainable practices in Brazil focusing on
the improvement of social responsibility. In this way, companies in the sector and
other sectors could use such information to correctly organize and disseminate these
practices.
Appendix 1
Comparative Table of the Sustainable Practices
See Tables 2, 3, 4, and 5.