Architecture-Oriented Agile Approach for Sustainability Reporting
57
framework identifies all relevant indicators needed through materiality, that is, aligns
the demands of the GRI Standard with the reality of the company and stakeholders.
But here there is a dichotomy. Stakeholders—more specifically investors— want
reports to provide relevant indicators while providing reliable information (strict
audit processes) and facilitating comparability between companies (benchmarking)
(Bernow et al. 2019). There is still ambiguous, incomplete information and continence of indicators (Boiral and Henri 2017). However, as each company has its
particularities presented in the materiality process, it is impossible to replicate an
indicator structure for different companies. As the context is different, that is, the
indicators should also be. Balancing this investor demand requires a kind of “balance scale”, standardizing material topics to industry, business size, or other forms
of business profile grouping. In a study, Ali et al. (2017) show that different business
characteristics influence the publication of sustainability reports. In this way, it is
possible to automate material topics according to certain particularities.
In this context, all phases of the procedure were performed in sync and in a
complementary manner, due to the fact that the report was made in an incremental
manner. Moreover, each phase provided the necessary support for the next phase to
occur, and then, the procedure can be considered a guide for the implementation of
this type of adequacy project. This shows that the process of reporting is increasingly integrated and holistic, linking sustainability dimensions with the stakeholders,
functional areas and thereby enhancing the organization’s contributions to a more
sustainable society (Lozano and Huisingh 2011). With the increasingly synchronized,
organized and holistic sustainability report the document emphasizes the quality principle and completeness. In a paper Odriozola and Baraibar-Diez (2017), the quality
presented in the sustainability reports favors the organization to have a good brand
reputation. In other words, sustainability reports are directly and indirectly associated
with the market perception of the company.
Sustainability practices in an organization are achieved through corporate governance (Hussain et al. 2018). The use of agile approaches favors the detailing and
consecutive improvement of processes (such as the steps for preparing the sustainability report). Thus, agile mechanisms, such as SCRUM, can facilitate faster and
more efficient adoption of new practices compared to traditional design methods.
In addition, the implementation of sustainability committees and external advisors,
as well as promoting transparency, help to increase the quality of the report (Fuente
et al. 2017), and agile methodologies can help to structure such management actions.
6 Conclusion
The procedure used was able to guide and assist in the preparation of the sustainability
report, according to the parameters laid down by the GRI Standard. Since it directed
what would be the necessary steps to report the sustainability projects and practices.
Thus, through this application, it was possible to test the ability of the procedure to
57
framework identifies all relevant indicators needed through materiality, that is, aligns
the demands of the GRI Standard with the reality of the company and stakeholders.
But here there is a dichotomy. Stakeholders—more specifically investors— want
reports to provide relevant indicators while providing reliable information (strict
audit processes) and facilitating comparability between companies (benchmarking)
(Bernow et al. 2019). There is still ambiguous, incomplete information and continence of indicators (Boiral and Henri 2017). However, as each company has its
particularities presented in the materiality process, it is impossible to replicate an
indicator structure for different companies. As the context is different, that is, the
indicators should also be. Balancing this investor demand requires a kind of “balance scale”, standardizing material topics to industry, business size, or other forms
of business profile grouping. In a study, Ali et al. (2017) show that different business
characteristics influence the publication of sustainability reports. In this way, it is
possible to automate material topics according to certain particularities.
In this context, all phases of the procedure were performed in sync and in a
complementary manner, due to the fact that the report was made in an incremental
manner. Moreover, each phase provided the necessary support for the next phase to
occur, and then, the procedure can be considered a guide for the implementation of
this type of adequacy project. This shows that the process of reporting is increasingly integrated and holistic, linking sustainability dimensions with the stakeholders,
functional areas and thereby enhancing the organization’s contributions to a more
sustainable society (Lozano and Huisingh 2011). With the increasingly synchronized,
organized and holistic sustainability report the document emphasizes the quality principle and completeness. In a paper Odriozola and Baraibar-Diez (2017), the quality
presented in the sustainability reports favors the organization to have a good brand
reputation. In other words, sustainability reports are directly and indirectly associated
with the market perception of the company.
Sustainability practices in an organization are achieved through corporate governance (Hussain et al. 2018). The use of agile approaches favors the detailing and
consecutive improvement of processes (such as the steps for preparing the sustainability report). Thus, agile mechanisms, such as SCRUM, can facilitate faster and
more efficient adoption of new practices compared to traditional design methods.
In addition, the implementation of sustainability committees and external advisors,
as well as promoting transparency, help to increase the quality of the report (Fuente
et al. 2017), and agile methodologies can help to structure such management actions.
6 Conclusion
The procedure used was able to guide and assist in the preparation of the sustainability
report, according to the parameters laid down by the GRI Standard. Since it directed
what would be the necessary steps to report the sustainability projects and practices.
Thus, through this application, it was possible to test the ability of the procedure to