The approach of Indian corporates towards sustainable development: An exploration using sustainable development goals based model

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the contribution of the Indian corporate world towards sustainable development. We propose a framework of Corporate Sustainability Performance derived from factors suggested by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a component of a global agenda for sustainability. This framework is further applied to evaluate the sustainability performance of Indian firms to identify potential gaps in their sustainability efforts. The impact of factors like firm-size, ownership structure, and environmental sensitivity of firms has been statistically tested for these firms. The paper uses a mixed-method where content analysis has been applied to generate the data by analyzing disclosure reports of the top 100 Indian firms for the year 2016-2017, and a mathematical model is used to arrive at sustainability performance factors at various levels. Statistical tools like descriptive analytics, t test, and analysis of variance are used to test various hypotheses. The findings suggest a significant gap in the full potential and current status of sustainability investments by Indian corporates and hence confirm a huge improvement potential. "Cement" is the best performing sector, whereas "Media" is at the bottom of the performance stack. The Indian corporate world aligns its maximum effort along the "Education and Learning" dimension, whereas minimum effort is made for "Oceans, Sea, and Marine." A significant difference was found for the performance based on environment sensitivity and firm-size. Differences across firms based on ownership identity and concentration could not be established. The study highlights the implications for the regulatory mechanism that needs to change if the contribution from the private sector is required for SDGs.

CEO characteristics and environmental disclosure of listed firms in an emerging economy: Does sustainability reporting format matter?

“…The effect is a reduction in environmental disclosure to shareholders and stakeholders. We also perceive the negative association contribute to what other authors have argued as a reduction in the investment gap due to inadequate disclosures (Jha & Rangarajan, 2020) in environmental issues in India.…”

“…There is a mitigated impact on the environment through environmental disclosure, which seeks to address the negative effect on the environment through investments in reclining, efficient use of energy, and pollution prevention (Dagiliene et al, 2020). However, evaluated sustainability performance and efforts of listed firms in India and using 100 firms between 2016 and 2017 showed a significant gap in sustainability investment (Jha & Rangarajan, 2020).…”

Business orientation and sustainable development: A systematic review of sustainability orientation literature and future research avenues

“…Traditionally, the sustainability matters were handled by the public authorities and institutions (Camilleri, 2020). The recent past has witnessed the constantly growing interests among the private sector to incorporate sustainability principles (economic, social, and environmental) in their business practices (e.g., Jha & Rangarajan, 2020;Scheyvens, Banks, & Hughes, 2016). Sustainability in business has become an important issue due to two main reasons: (a) the integration of sustainability elements offers long-term benefits to the firms (Calabrese, Costa, Levialdi, & Menichini, 2019), and (b) various stakeholders (e.g., UN, governments, customers, employees) exert immense pressure on firms to behave in a socially and environmentally responsible way (Schaltegger, Hörisch, & Freeman, 2019;Schmitz, Baum, Huett, & Kabst, 2019;UN, 2020).…”

Innovation Ecosystem framework directed to Sustainable Development Goal #17 partnerships implementation

“…The Agenda is a call for action, aiming to end poverty, protect the planet, and guarantee peace and prosperity for all countries (Dalampira & Nastis, 2020;Elalfy, Darwish, & Weber, 2020). The United Nations General Assembly adopted the 17 SDGs (Diaz-Sarachaga, Jato-Espino, & Castro-Fresno, 2018;Jha & Rangarajan, 2020) as an integral part of the Agenda in September 2015. They constitute an intergovernmental agreement, based on multi-stakeholders' engagement processes, which guide developmental challenges with interlinked socio and environmental solutions (Jonas, Boha, Sörhammar, & Moeslein, 2018;Van Zanten & Van Tulder, 2018).…”