Multivariate Sustainability Profile of Global Fortune 500 Companies Using GRI-G4 Database

Introduction

The growing and constant increase in the population and the search to satisfy their needs without compromising the environment and society, have been leading to the creation of the concept of sustainable development, which beyond just focusing on environmental matters, integrates economic and social aspects. Nowadays, it would be difficult to think of societies where companies are just entities exclusively oriented to the generation of profits for their shareholders. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has gradually become relevant along with the creation of economic value (Tejedor-Flores, Galindo-Villardón, & Vicente-Galindo, 2017).

A sustainable company is one that creates economic, social, and environmental value in the short and long term, hence contributing to the increase in the welfare of society and the progress of present and future generations. Sustainable development in a company is essential to maintain the economic profitability of its activities, taking into account new concepts of risk and opportunity. These are associated with environmental aspects and the social impact of production or the quality of labour relations (Rodriguez Rojas, 2015). The demand for information and transparency from companies has increased over the last few years. Public awareness and interest in social, environmental, and ethical issues and increased attention from the mass media have resulted in more companies making social disclosures about themselves (Ho & Taylor, 2007; Rouf, 2011; Patten, 1991). To defend a company's sustainability management, it is of the main importance that it shows this in its sustainability reports. The management of the company should try to meet the expectations of all stakeholders (investors, consumers, government, among others). This is why companies produce this type of publication, to be transparent and make themselves known in terms of sustainability.

To satisfy these expectations and clearly and openly inform about sustainability, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was founded in 1997. Its roots lay in the US non-profit organizations the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) and the Tellus Institute. GRI is an international independent organization that helps businesses, governments, and other organizations understand and communicate the impact of business on critical sustainability issues such as climate change, human rights, corruption, and many others (Global Reporting Initiative, 2013).

This chapter addresses the G4 Guideline reports corresponding to the four-generation of the GRI. This Guideline envision a sustainable global economy that combines long-term profitability with social justice and environmental care. The G4 Guidelines are organized into three categories: Economic, Environment, and Social. The Social category is extended into the following subcategories: labour, human rights, society, and product responsibility (Global Reporting Initiative, 2013). This chapter attempts to analyze, using multivariate statistical techniques, a group of companies with the highest income worldwide to find out their reporting characteristics. Using the GRI-G4 database, questions as following are study targets: What are the most relevant and frequently reported indicators? How to identifying sustainability gradients of these companies and similar groups of companies? Besides, these multivariate techniques are allowing the analyis of the sustainable development by sector, region, and country, and consequently, the findings of the sustainability characteristics of the companies corresponding to these areas.