The Connectivity Between Content Elements and SDGs in the South African Banking Industry

Reviewer 1

Response

With the rollout of the first sustainability reports grounded in S1 & S2, the debates on reports published to satisfy self interest will be minimised so, it is expected that this article consider this in its review.

Thank you for this insightful comment. We have considered this and even though IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 are not a primary focus area of the research, we have included IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 implications as part of the conclusions and recommendations.

This article tends to expand on the connectivity between content elements and SDGs in the SA banking industry, therefore, (in light of S1 & S2). It is expected that this article stresses on what is content elements, how it is identified and weighed, maintained and prioritized for standard sake and their connectivity between SDG and their progression overtime

Thank you for this comment, we have considered it and included additional context regarding using the content elements, which derive directly from integrated reporting. IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 are not the primary focus of the study, however, we have included additional considerations on the “way forward” as part of the concussion and recommendations.

Avoid praising researchers (eulogizing) in the writing style, let the readers decide.  For instance, Line 290. "This provided richer data regarding the different SDG reported on in the IR of the banks".  Also, 528-530.

Eulogizing is removed from the text as suggested.

Some of the texts lack clarity, for instance line 297-300.  Kindly review.

We have considered this and clarified the text.

In qualitative research the author's experience is not easily secluded from the analysis and suggestions thereof, thus it is unnecessary to explain the qualifications of the authors during interpretation, see Lines 306-308. 

Thank you for this recommendation. We have removed this from the manuscript.

It is understandable from the abstract that your research strategy intends to show the thematic content analysis and procure assumptions through grounded theory (GT).    Re.."This allows the researcher to quantify a qualitative concept through counts"  Revise your methodology to contemplate GT if so decided for proposition of concepts or theories.

The results of this study do not lead to the creation of a new theory, therefore After much consideration, we decided not to use GT as a methodology. Rather, we added a number of Analysis of Variance models to substantiate the findings and arguments made in the study.

Reviewer 2

Response

Abstract

In the abstract, it must focus on the objective of the study, the importance, the methodology, and then present the findings without boring elaboration that does not add value to the abstract as it shows in the beginning of abstract.

We have taken your comments into consideration and made material changes to the abstract to align better with the objective of the research and leave out any distracting discussions.

Introduction

The introduction failed to communicate the content elements that the research wanted to discuss, nor did it clarify basic concepts in the research such as connectivity, and it touched on a point that was emphasized heavily without providing a definition for them, which is the point of integrated thinking.

Thank you for the value point. We added more literature to clarify the concept of connectivity beyond what is already included in the introduction. We have also included the definition of integrated thinking as per the IIRC.

It was not explained why the focus was on the banking sector rather than other sectors in South Africa, and this could have been demonstrated by figures such as the profitability of this sector, the extent of its contribution to GDP, or even the volume of trading in the stock market.

Thank you for this insightful recommendation. We have added more information to justify the use of the banking sector. We have also included information relating to the contribution to GDP. It is very important to note that the banks are regarded as a catalyst in the value chain of the South African economy.

At the end of the introduction, a sentence must be included indicating how the research is organized and its sections.

Thank you, we have included a sentence to provide an introduction to other sections in the manuscript.

Literature review

The listing of literature review was not within a specific context that serves the purpose of the research. It was possible to divide the literature review into three sections. The first section presents the criticisms of economic orientation of financial reports. The second section discusses the argue over integrated reports. The third section explains how to direct integrated reports towards SDG. The descriptive analysis on which the study relies has led to literature review losing their importance in building answers to the study questions and building hypotheses to answer these questions

Thanks for the valuable comment. In light of this comment, we divided the literature review into three sections;

Firstly: “Critiques and shortfalls of traditional reporting.”

Secondly: “Sustainable Value Creation, SDGs and integrated reporting.”

Thirdly: “The importance of connectivity in reporting to achieve sustainability.”

Research method

As for the methodology, two basic points must be clearly explained: sample and data collection, study variables and how to measure them, and the analysis model used, which is what the study indicated by thematic content analysis, and with my reservations on this method or approach

A discussion of the sampling method, as well as a justification of the sample, and the data sources were added to the “Sampling and the Research Method” section.

We added an Analysis of Variance to add rigour to the paper. This allows us to statistically analyse which elements are most prominently connected to SDGs. This also allows us to test for statistical significance. Thus, the thematic content analysis was used to construct the variables of the paper by means of frequency (the discussion of this was improved in the methodology section). The counts were then analysed by means of the ANOVA, visual plots and trend analysis.

Findings

The study relied on frequency as one of the descriptive analysis methods when presenting the results. The disadvantage of such analyses is that they do not provide evidence of the significance of the results and their ability to be analyzed as much as they only reveal the existence of a specific case. The research could have set a comparative value that can be relied upon in building hypotheses and then analyzing the data through tests and statistical models that make the results more enriching. Another point that must be addressed is the issue of discussing the results and establishing logical reasons for the result, and comparing the results with the results of multiple studies instead of relying on three studies in the entire of the results.

Thank you for the valuable comment, to address this comment we conducted multiple ANOVAs to improve the quality and rigour of the analysis. Furthermore, Additional literature was added to the results and findings section, thus the results are linked and substantiated by literature.