Multinational Corporate Sustainability: A Content Analysis Approach

Abstract

Multinational corporate sustainability is dependent upon factors other than short-term profit concerns and the capacity to generate wealth for shareholders. In the 21st century, a corporation’s future prospects are also linked to issues related to social acceptance and corporate legitimacy and respectability. Moreover, corporate viability increasingly requires the participation of all corporate stakeholders in the corporation’s decision-making process. Organizational Data Mining (ODM), in the form of content analysis, can be used to examine or “mine” documents such as corporate annual reports for important data or trends. In this context, content analysis becomes useful in determining both the financial and non-financial measures of a corporation’s viability. In addition to providing a reflection of current corporate performance, content analysis of corporate annual reports allows internal and external stakeholders to better determine the corporation’s future direction and strategic orientation.