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Top1. Introduction
The number of sustainability reports published by firms around the world is growing (Buallay, 2020). This pace of growth increased markedly when research started to show that sustainability reporting is linked to improved business performance (Alhawaj et al., 2023). However, other scholars have identified a negative relationship (Duque-Grisales & Aguilera-Caracue, 2019; Landi & Sciarelli, 2019) or an insignificant relationship (Atan et al., 2018) between the two.
Despite this, many researchers claim that results of this research are ambiguous, inconclusive, or contradictory (Brooks & Oikonomou, 2018). It has been noticed that there is a lack in cross-sector studies in sustainability reporting (Buallay & Hamdan (2023). Qiu et al. (2016) suggests that sustainability reporting across industries matters to shareholders, as sustainability reporting may help the firms generate profit. Margolis et al. (2009) raise the problem of aggregation as a potential source of heterogeneity in empirical findings, the results should be analysed by sector, as sectors differ greatly in purpose and size, which gives results ranging from local to international levels, short-term to long-term, and voluntary to fully mandated. Barnett (2007) and Soana (2011) claim that the numbers of Sectorial studies of ESG disclosure and firm performance is lacking and that ESG characteristics vary across industries, thus making generalization from the results difficult when the study is run over several industries at once.
Cross-sector research used to address social issues provides multidisciplinary and different conceptual frameworks (Selsky & Parker, 2005). As this paper addresses sustainability reporting, which covers multidisciplinary issues (environmental, social and governance). Multidisciplinary literature may assist management, researchers and regulators in addressing the issue of sustainability reporting. Sectors differ greatly in purpose and size, which gives results ranging from local to international scope, short term to long term, and voluntary to fully mandated. This review explains that when researchers from different sectors focus on the same issue (i.e., sustainability reporting), they are likely to think about it differently (Buallay, 2022).
The e-waste production of the IT sector is estimated at between 20 and 50 million tons every year. Schwarxer et al. (2005) stated that e-waste increased 3–5% per year. Firms in this sector face many sustainability challenges. These include environmental challenges (for example, e-waste disposal may pollute groundwater or the environment), social challenges (for example, electronic equipment can be redistributed to social communities), governance challenges (for example, companies have legal responsibility to recycle electronics that are returned to them at the end of their life cycle; Nnorom & Oshibanjo, 2008) and economic challenges (for example, the use of email bills saves costs; Rainie & Horrigan, 2005). These sustainability issues need to be addressed with stakeholders. Sustainability reporting may help IT firms to communicate with their stakeholders about economic, environmental and social issues which enable those firms to be sustainable in the long term (Pojasek, 2007). The ICT industry plays a major role in economic growth and productivity, ICT technologies could contribute to energy efficiency solutions (Buallay & Al Marri, 2022). Some studies have also highlighted the possible services of the ICT industry to millennium developmental goals through disclosing sustainability related information (Kuhundt et al.,2006: Hilty et. al., 2011). Stakeholders are increasingly seeking this information at different levels form the ICT sector, in particular on the sustainability impacts of products and services provided.