88
M. Morioka et al.
In 2017, according to Euromonitor (2017), Natura kept leading the personal
hygiene, perfumery, and cosmetics market, followed by Unilever, Grupo Boticário,
L’oreal, Colgate Palmolive, Avon, and P&G.
Similar to the data provided by Euromonitor, Valor Econômico (2018) published
a list of the 1000 largest companies in Brazil and, for the sector analyzed in this
study, Unilever ranked first (44th overall ranking), followed by Natura (66th overall
ranking), Avon (136th overall ranking) and P&G (286th overall ranking). L’oréal,
Colgate Palmolive and Grupo Boticário are not in the ranking. However, Grupo
Boticário is a privately held company and does not publish net revenue, used for
analysis in the list.
For this reason, the companies Unilever, Grupo Boticário, Avon and P&G were
selected because they represent the largest share in the Brazilian market.
Concerning the sustainability benchmarking company, an international reference
in sustainable practices was researched. Forbes (2018) published an article about the
most sustainable companies of 2018, which were ranked by the Canadian magazine
“Corporate Knights”, that publishes “The Global 100” annually. Corporate Knights
have reviewed the financial and sustainability reports of more than 6000 companies
in several countries around the world, and the first ranked company in the personal
hygiene, perfumery, and cosmetics sector was Natura (14th overall ranking), followed
by L’oréal. (84th overall ranking) and Johnson and Johnson (92nd overall ranking).
Natura also received in 2017 the Sustainability Company of the Year Award from
Exame (2017) and the World’s Most Ethical Companies Award (Carta Capital 2018).
Therefore, due to the recognition and positive evaluation, both nationally and
internationally, the company chosen to be benchmarking was Natura.
3.2 Selection of the Comparison Criteria
The comparison criteria for the development of this research were found in the ISO
26000 guidelines (ABNT 2010) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI 2016).
The ISO 26000 norm has been recognized as a “milestone of global cooperation”
(Ward 2011), taking into account, it was the first effort at normative to develop
multi-stakeholder standards (Balzarova and Castka 2012).
As well as ISO 26000, GRI is considered a highly relevant reference to sustainability reports (Hourneaux et al. 2014), considering that it provides a comprehensive
framework of the principles, disclosure standards, indicators, and protocols (Alazzani and Wan-Hussin 2013). Besides, GRI has been widely applied for corporate
strategies and practices (Levy et al. 2010).
M. Morioka et al.
In 2017, according to Euromonitor (2017), Natura kept leading the personal
hygiene, perfumery, and cosmetics market, followed by Unilever, Grupo Boticário,
L’oreal, Colgate Palmolive, Avon, and P&G.
Similar to the data provided by Euromonitor, Valor Econômico (2018) published
a list of the 1000 largest companies in Brazil and, for the sector analyzed in this
study, Unilever ranked first (44th overall ranking), followed by Natura (66th overall
ranking), Avon (136th overall ranking) and P&G (286th overall ranking). L’oréal,
Colgate Palmolive and Grupo Boticário are not in the ranking. However, Grupo
Boticário is a privately held company and does not publish net revenue, used for
analysis in the list.
For this reason, the companies Unilever, Grupo Boticário, Avon and P&G were
selected because they represent the largest share in the Brazilian market.
Concerning the sustainability benchmarking company, an international reference
in sustainable practices was researched. Forbes (2018) published an article about the
most sustainable companies of 2018, which were ranked by the Canadian magazine
“Corporate Knights”, that publishes “The Global 100” annually. Corporate Knights
have reviewed the financial and sustainability reports of more than 6000 companies
in several countries around the world, and the first ranked company in the personal
hygiene, perfumery, and cosmetics sector was Natura (14th overall ranking), followed
by L’oréal. (84th overall ranking) and Johnson and Johnson (92nd overall ranking).
Natura also received in 2017 the Sustainability Company of the Year Award from
Exame (2017) and the World’s Most Ethical Companies Award (Carta Capital 2018).
Therefore, due to the recognition and positive evaluation, both nationally and
internationally, the company chosen to be benchmarking was Natura.
3.2 Selection of the Comparison Criteria
The comparison criteria for the development of this research were found in the ISO
26000 guidelines (ABNT 2010) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI 2016).
The ISO 26000 norm has been recognized as a “milestone of global cooperation”
(Ward 2011), taking into account, it was the first effort at normative to develop
multi-stakeholder standards (Balzarova and Castka 2012).
As well as ISO 26000, GRI is considered a highly relevant reference to sustainability reports (Hourneaux et al. 2014), considering that it provides a comprehensive
framework of the principles, disclosure standards, indicators, and protocols (Alazzani and Wan-Hussin 2013). Besides, GRI has been widely applied for corporate
strategies and practices (Levy et al. 2010).