Dissemination analysis of SDGs in sustainability reports to enhance corporate communication strategy

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are at the heart of the management of public and private enterprises. Organizations have incorporated the SDGs into their business strategy by developing actions that they disseminate in their reports. In the last decade, academic research has paid special attention to this development, publishing a growing number of studies on the subject with the emergence of a specific line of research in the area of sustainability: sustainability reporting. In this context, this paper aims to show a methodology that serves as a tool to analyze the disclosure of SDGs in the sustainability reports. This methodology has three stages. First, a lexicographic analysis of sustainability reports has been carried out, second, a correspondence analysis, and third, outlining through “guided questions” how the information obtained can be useful to analyze SDG communication strategy. For further illustration the methodology has been applied to a company in the Spanish agri-food sector: Ebro Foods. This work has both academic and professional implications by providing a guideline for SDG dissemination analysis in sustainability reports and, on the other hand, by providing the business world with an analysis tool that serves to improve communication strategies in the field of sustainability.