Search Results (85)

In Europe, corporate sustainability reporting through the double materiality assessment was formally introduced with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive in response to the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. The double materiality assessment is essential not only to determine the scope of corporate sustainability reporting but also to guide companies toward an efficient allocation of resources and shape corporate sustainability strategies. However, although EFRAG represents the technical adviser of the European Commission, there are numerous “interoperable” standards related to the assessment of double materiality, including the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), or UNI 11919-1:2023. This research intends to systematically analyze similarities and divergences between the most widespread double materiality assessment standards at the global scale, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses and trying to identify a comparable path toward the creation of a set of common guidelines. This analysis is carried out through the systematic study of seven standards and by answering nine questions ranging from generic ones, such as “what is the concept of double materiality?”, to more technical questions like “does the standard identify thresholds?”, but adding original prospects such as “does the standard refer to different types of capital?”. Findings highlight that EFRAG, UNI 11919-1:2023, and GRI represent the most complete and least-discretionary standards, but some methodological aspects need to be enhanced. In the double materiality assessment, companies must identify key stakeholders, material topics and material risks, and must develop the double materiality matrix, promoting transparent disclosure, continuous monitoring, and stakeholders’ engagement. While comparability is principally required among companies operating within the same sector and of similar size, this does not preclude the possibility of comparing firms across different sectors with respect to specific indicators, when appropriate or necessary. Full article

Sustainable manufacturing is gaining attention in the scientific literature. However, it remains unclear how to effectively incorporate it within Production Planning and Control (PPC) tasks. All the choices taken in terms of PPC impact sustainability, and sustainability managers and planners or managers involved in tasks, such as scheduling or inventory management, are not conscious of what this means or implies, above all, in terms of the sustainable performance indicators on which their actions can act. While several studies have addressed both PPC and sustainability, there is still limited guidance or structured frameworks specifically aimed at systematically linking PPC tasks with sustainability indicators in a practical and operational industrial context, despite the development of numerous sustainability standards in recent years. For this reason, this research aimed to develop a first detailed framework, specifically based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard, that associates the most relevant indicators with the PPC phases, highlighting the type of impact (direct or indirect) of each phase on them. This could help with strategic decisions and promote more informed choices. The overall framework revealed the prevalence of environmental aspects involved in PPC phases (as expected) and a challenge related to the measurability of indicators (above all, the social ones). Furthermore, the Material Requirements Planning (MRP), identified as the most significant phase in terms of its impact on sustainability, was deeply analyzed, providing details related to the decision-making processes of this phase that affect sustainable performance. Full article

Background: Starting in early 2022, SARS-CoV-2 Omicron has driven large outbreaks in China, a predominantly infection-naive population with high inactivated vaccine coverage. This unique context provided a substantially less-confounded opportunity to evaluate how vaccination, public health, and social measures influenced severity. Methods: We systematically reviewed 86 studies (224 severity estimates) published from 2022 to 2024, reporting symptom and clinical severity outcomes (fever, cough, and sore throat; symptomatic, severe/critical, and fatal illness) of Omicron infections in China. Using meta-regression, we evaluated the associations of study setting, age group, vaccination status, predominant subvariants, and Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT) indices, including the Government Response Index (GRI), Containment and Health Index (CHI), and the Stringency Index (SI), with infection outcomes, adjusting for key confounders. Results: We found the primary or booster series of inactivated vaccines conferred strong protection against severe/critical illness (pooled relative risk (RR) 0.17 [95% CI: 0.09–0.33]) but did not reduce symptom frequency (RR 0.99 [95% CI: 0.95–1.02]). Each 10-unit increase in GRI or CHI was associated with 7% (95% CI: 1–12%) and 6% (95% CI: 1–10%) lower odds of symptomatic infection and 3% (95% CI: 1–4%) lower odds of severe/critical illness. Later subvariants (BA.5, BF.7, and XBB) showed 24–38% higher odds of upper respiratory symptoms versus BA.1. Conclusions: The data collection context significantly impacted severity estimates, with higher estimates from emergency hospitals. Overall, inactivated vaccines provided strong protection against severe/critical outcomes while stringent public health measures were associated with lower severity. Our findings underscore the importance of consistent and standardized protocols to produce reliable estimates of SARS-CoV-2 severity in evolving epidemiological contexts. Full article

Organizations face significant challenges in measuring and enhancing sustainability performance across complex operational processes. Current assessment methods frequently lack granularity, real-time capability, and integration with operational data. This study addresses these gaps by developing a conceptual framework that integrates business process mining with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) metrics. The methodology incorporates environmental, social, and economic sustainability indicators into process mining techniques through systematic metric mapping and event log enrichment. The framework enables the extraction and analysis of sustainability performance data at the process level, creating detailed heat maps that visualize resource utilization, emissions, and waste generation. An application to a Purchase-to-Pay process case study demonstrates how process variants impact sustainability metrics differently. Delays increase emissions by 16.7%, while rework increases waste generation by 41.7%. The results identify specific process bottlenecks with high environmental impact and reveal critical misalignments between economic and environmental sustainability goals. This framework provides organizations with a standardized yet flexible approach to measuring sustainability performance, bridging the gap between high-level sustainability reporting and operational processes. It enables continuous monitoring, targeted interventions, and transparent reporting across diverse industry contexts. Full article

This study investigated how corporate maturity—measured through firm age and lifecycle stage—moderates the value relevance of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosures in a frontier market context, using Bangladesh as a case study. Drawing on panel data from 2011–2012 to 2023–2024 for 86 publicly listed non-financial firms, the study employed a modified Ohlson valuation framework, panel regression analysis, and multiple robustness techniques (2SLS, PSM). ESG disclosure was measured using a researcher-developed index aligned with international reporting standards (GRI, SASB, TCFD, UN SDGs). ESG disclosures are positively associated with firm value, but this relationship is significantly moderated by corporate maturity. Younger firms exhibit a stronger valuation effect from ESG transparency, driven by higher signaling and legitimacy needs. In contrast, mature firms experience a diminished marginal benefit, reflecting routine compliance rather than strategic differentiation. These findings challenge the uniform application of ESG assessment models and suggest the need for lifecycle-adjusted disclosure ratings, particularly in nascent regulatory environments like Bangladesh. Investors and regulators should tailor ESG evaluation criteria by firm age and industry sustainability exposure. Younger firms, often overlooked, may carry outsized ESG signaling value in emerging markets. Enhancing ESG transparency among younger firms can foster greater stakeholder trust, support inclusive growth, and strengthen social accountability in emerging economies. This study contributes to the ESG literature by introducing corporate maturity as a key moderating variable in value relevance analysis. It provides new empirical insights from a developing economy and proposes lifecycle-based adaptations to global ESG rating methodologies. Full article

Operating room (OR) scheduling problems are often addressed using deterministic models that assume surgery durations are known in advance. However, such assumptions fail to reflect the uncertainty that often occurs in real surgical environments, especially during the surgery and recovery stages. This study focuses on a robust scheduling problem involving a three-stage surgical process that includes pre-surgery, surgery, and post-surgery stages. The scheduling needs to coordinate multiple resources—pre-operative holding unit (PHU) beds, ORs, and post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) beds—while following a strict no-wait rule to keep patient flow continuous without delays between stages. The main goal is to minimize the makespan and improve schedule robustness when surgery and post-surgery durations are uncertain. To solve this problem, we propose a Genetic Algorithm for Robust Scheduling (GARS), which evaluates solutions using a scenario-based robustness criterion derived from multiple sampled instances. GARS is compared with four other algorithms: a deterministic GA (GAD), a random search (BRS), a greedy randomized insertion and swap heuristic (GRIS), and an improved version of GARS with simulated annealing (GARS_SA). The results from different problem sizes and uncertainty levels show that GARS and GARS_SA consistently perform better than the other algorithms. In large-scale tests with moderate uncertainty (30 surgeries, α = 0.5), GARS achieves an average makespan of 633.85, a standard deviation of 40.81, and a worst-case performance ratio (WPR) of 1.00, while GAD reaches 673.75, 54.21, and 1.11, respectively. GARS can achieve robust performance without using any extra techniques to strengthen the search process. Its structure remains simple and easy to use, making it a practical and effective approach for creating reliable and efficient surgical schedules under uncertainty. Full article

Despite the climate crisis, a significant barrier to sustainability is limitations to the current accounting and reporting system. These deficiencies, mean the global financial system continues to invest trillions of dollars annually in environmentally sub-optimal projects. To catalyze the economic transition away from fossil-fuel and plastic configurations to more sustainable ones, sustainability accounting and reporting (SAR) is imperative. However, theoretical contention, pragmatic concerns, and costs stoke strong resistance to SAR. The research used ablative thematic analysis to apply hermeneutic phenomenology. First, it scanned the backdrop to the SAR problem and identified a corpus of recent literature from key associated institutions. The initial interpretation of the texts disentangled SAR’s conflicting threads and generated three themes of ‘climate crisis’ and ‘conservative’ or more ‘radical’ SAR reform paradigms. Iteratively harnessing these thematic lenses, the investigation re-examined the SAR literature corpus. The textual ‘dialogue’ generated understanding of the fragmented SAR responses to the climate crisis. Accordingly, the research reformulated its first theme to ‘dystopic climate crisis fragmentation’ and refined the other themes to take account of materiality and the split between Anglo-Saxon (IFRS, SSAB) or global (UN) and continental European accounting institutions (EU, GRI). Conservatives retain a single materiality investor-focus and concede only incremental standard improvements. Radicals seek to implement double materiality with a broader spectrum of stakeholders in mind. Both approaches have theoretical as well as pragmatic advantages and disadvantages, so the SAR contention rumbles on. Whilst the standard-setting landscape is evolving, disagreements remain. Its roots of contention are philosophical and pragmatic. Philosophically, radicals strive to temper libertarian anarcho-capitalist proclivities and broaden firm responsibility. Pragmatically, social, or environmental externalities are problematic to assign or measure. Given vested interests in the destructive status quo, it would be naïve to expect a harmonious SAR Ithaca to emerge anytime soon. Yet the challenges impel an intensification of SAR dialogue and concrete actions. Rather than a scientifically nomothetic contribution, the paper provides a qualitative, artful interpretation of a complex, contentious but crucial field. Full article

One of the core objectives of the European Green Deal in pursuing climate neutrality and sustainable development is the decarbonization of high-impact sectors. Among the most polluting is the fast fashion industry, driven by linear business models that must urgently transition to circular economy frameworks and decarbonized supply chains. Fast fashion poses significant environmental and social challenges due to its high greenhouse gas emissions, excessive resource consumption, and substantial waste generation. To foster greater sustainability within the sector, this study examines environmental indicators defined by the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), in accordance with the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) 2022/2464. Aligned with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), these standards aim to harmonize sustainability disclosures and enable better decision-making across environmental, social, and governance (ESG) dimensions throughout Europe. This research focuses on five key environmental aspects—climate change, pollution, water resource management, biodiversity, and circular economy/resource use—across four leading fast fashion brands: Mango, Zara, H&M, and Shein. Using an exploratory web-based methodology, this study evaluates how these companies disclose and implement ESG strategies in their supply chains. The central aim is to assess the sustainability and resilience of their operations, with particular emphasis on communication strategies that support the transition from linear to circular business models. Ultimately, this study seeks to highlight both the progress and persistent challenges faced by the fast fashion industry in aligning with ESG and ESRS requirements. Full article

Objectives: This study will characterize continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) data in patients with type 2 diabetes in China, and assess the relationship between CGM-derived indicators and diabetes-related clinical parameters. Methods: The data for this study were collected from a randomized trial in China (ChiCTR2000039424) from February 2020 to July 2022 in which patients wore a CGM device for 14 days. Glycemia risk index (GRI), coefficient of variation (CV), standard deviation (SD), mean amplitude of glycemic excursions (MAGE), time in range (TIR), time above range (TAR), time below range (TBR), and estimate glycated hemoglobin (eA1c) were analyzed. Ordinary least square linear regression and the Spearman method were used to test the relationship between CGM-derived indicators and diabetes-related clinical parameters. Results: In all, 528 patients with type 2 diabetes from a randomized controlled trial were analyzed. It was shown that CV, SD, and MAGE increased with age and diabetes duration, but decreased with an increase in body mass index. Higher fasting plasma glucose, higher baseline HbA1c, and higher insulin resistance levels were associated with higher GRI, SD, MAGE, TAR, and eA1c, and they were associated with lower TIR. In addition, higher HOMA-2β was associated with higher TIR and TBR, and with lower TAR and eA1c. Hemoglobin had positive correlations to SD, TAR, and eA1c. Conclusions: It was found that glucose variability increased with age and the duration of diabetes. However, glucose variability decreased with increased BMI. Meanwhile, greater glycemic variability was associated with worse islet function, higher baseline glucose level, and higher hemoglobin. Full article

The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) has maintained the world’s most comprehensive and dominant sustainability reporting standards. While primarily voluntary, they were widely used by energy companies, especially in the environmental disclosure area. With the recent introduction of the mandatory European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), companies may face challenges transitioning from GRI to ESRS. In this context, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the GRI Standards and the ESRS, focusing on their environmental disclosure requirements (‘E’). The purpose of our study is to evaluate the current level of environmental reporting by Polish energy companies based on GRI Standards, assess their compliance with the ESRS requirements under the ‘E’ pillar, and determine the role of GRI disclosures in facilitating the transition to the new standards. A case study approach was employed, using data manually collected from 2023 reports prepared according to GRI Standards by Polish energy companies. Content analysis and the GRI-ESRS Interoperability Index were applied. The findings reveal notable differences in the application of GRI Standards among the companies. The level of environmental disclosures based on GRI Standards is relatively low compared to ESRS requirements, suggesting that companies will face challenges in setting up systems to meet future reporting requirements. This study provides insights into current and emerging practices in environmental reporting, offering valuable implications for EU energy companies preparing their environmental reports in accordance with ESRS requirements. Full article

In the contemporary business environment, there is an increasing demand for companies to disclose information regarding their corporate sustainability practices. An increasing number of construction companies transparently publish their sustainability practices through corporate sustainability reports under the headings of economic, environmental, social and governance. In the context of current practices, construction companies publish corporate sustainability reports by using different reporting frameworks, especially in areas beyond financial aspects, including standards established by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as well as various legal obligations such as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Standard (CSRS). This diversity makes it difficult to compare reported data and draw meaningful conclusions. Therefore, this research aims to simplify the reported information by reducing corporate sustainability themes to the most relevant ones for construction companies. Sustainability reporting frameworks and guidelines were examined through thematic analysis; then, the materiality and validity of sustainability themes for construction “companies were assessed using the Delphi analysis technique. Themes such as “Energy” in the environmental dimension, “Health and safety issues” in the social dimension, “Financial performance” in the economic dimension and “Board structure” in the governance dimension were identified as the corporate sustainability themes with the highest degree of impact, with an acceptable consistency ratio as a result of the analyses. As a result of the study, a reporting framework was developed consisting of a total of twenty-six themes for construction companies. The identification of material themes facilitates the integration of construction companies into the corporate sustainability reporting process and provides benefits for the innovation and sustainability of the sector Full article

This study investigates the combustion behavior of hydrogen–air mixtures in a closed chamber at reduced initial pressure, focusing on applications in thermal energy methods (TEMs) for plastic processing. The primary goal was to develop and validate a numerical model capable of accurately predicting pressure and temperature profiles over time. By employing ANSYS Fluent 2024 R2 and the GRI-Mech 3.0 mechanism, a detailed combustion model was constructed and validated against experimental data, adhering to the standards outlined in EN 15967: 2011. Subsequent simulations under low-pressure conditions revealed consistent flame front propagation and turbulent flow patterns, crucial factors for achieving stable temperature distributions and optimal part placement. This validated model provides a valuable tool for predicting combustion effects, enhancing safety, and optimizing the performance of hydrogen-fueled TEM processes. By leveraging hydrogen as a clean and sustainable energy source, this research contributes to a more environmentally friendly approach to plastic processing. Future studies will delve into the combustion of hydrogen–air mixtures in the presence of plastic parts to further refine the efficiency and effectiveness of TEM processes. Full article

The construction industry is one of the most environmentally sensitive sectors, significantly impacting the adoption of sustainable development practices. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) pillars are essential for assessing corporate sustainability performance, revealing risks, and guiding improvement. Despite the widespread use of indicators, a notable gap exists in ESG frameworks oriented to assess company performance within the sector, with limited research on achieving standard tools. This study proposes a practical standardized framework of indicators for the European construction industry and provides a set of KPIs for the Italian context, serving as a tool to measure and report ESG performance. The methodology consists of the selection of indicators from established protocols for assessing and reporting ESG criteria, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). The selection process resulted in the identification of 118 indicators, categorized into 44 environmental, 54 social, and 20 governance indicators, enabling construction companies to comprehensively measure and report their ESG performance in accordance with disclosure regulations. The result of this work serves policymakers seeking to develop standardized frameworks specific to the construction industry, for defining expert panels to evaluate mandatory disclosures from companies, and as guidance for companies who need guidelines to assess their sustainability performance and ensure compliance and alignment with existing frameworks. Full article

This study aims to assess the disclosure extent and quality, as well as the percentage of audited reports, of the Brazilian companies listed on the IBOVESPA stock exchange index and explore some factors that influence disclosure quality. A content analysis of 71 annual sustainability (or similar) and integrated reports was conducted, focused on the social dimension. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between the disclosure quality index and being audited by a Big Four company, the number of members on the board of directors, the use of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards in the preparation of the reports, and the type of industry. The results suggest that although the disclosure extent is reasonable, its quality is poor. In addition, considering its voluntary nature, the disclosure-auditing index is deemed satisfactory. The results also suggest that the disclosure quality of Brazilian companies is positively and significantly influenced by being audited by a Big Four company, by adopting the GRI standards, by the number of members composing the board of directors, and by belonging to the “Energy and utility” industry. This study contributes to the extant literature by assessing the disclosure extent and quality and the percentage of audited reports of companies in an emerging economy setting—Brazil—and exploring some factors which influence the disclosure quality in emerging countries’ companies, such as auditing by a Big Four company, which has thus far been unexplored. It also contributes to increasing the awareness of the theme among managers. Full article

Accurate disclosure and proactive engagement in ESG practices are essential for achieving high-quality economic development, particularly as China addresses significant challenges during its reform journey. The Classified Reform of State-Owned Enterprises (CRSOE) is a strategic initiative by the Chinese government aimed at fostering this development. Our study leverages the implementation of the CRSOE as an exogenous shock, employing the difference-in-differences approach to assess the policy’s governance impact on ESG decoupling from the perspective of ownership heterogeneity. The policy was found to alleviate ESG decoupling, particularly pronounced among SOEs with special functions. The governance effect is achieved by reducing the aspiration–performance gap. Specifically, the policy effectively narrows the disparity between a company’s actual performance and the expected performance based on the industry average, thereby mitigating ESG decoupling. However, the policy’s impact can be weakened by factors such as political connections among executives and media attention. Furthermore, the CRSOE effectively addresses greenwashing practices within ESG decoupling, with a particularly strong effect on SOEs that fail to disclose ESG information in alignment with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the broader implications and underlying mechanisms of the policy. Therefore, building on the assessment of how the CRSOE policy impacts ESG decoupling, we also examine the mechanisms through which this policy operates and how its effectiveness varies under different conditions of heterogeneity. By extending the application of principal-agent theory and performance feedback theory, our research suggests that policymakers should prioritize market-driven reforms for fully competitive SOEs and promote a stronger emphasis on non-financial goals. Additionally, it is essential to mitigate the undue influence of political promotions on the management of all SOEs. Full article