Abstract
Sustainability reporting has been marked by a rise in importance in recent years as it has proved to be an important management tool in the understanding of where an organization is situated along the sustainability pathway. However, industries have shown different behaviors towards embracing this practice. In this paper, we turn our attention to the port industry, using the metropolitan inland Port of Brussels (Belgium) as a case study. Given the contested nature of port activities within urban regions, metropolitan inland ports are expected to benefit from the development of a sustainability report as it allows a more transparent account of the contribution of port activities to the objectives of different stakeholder groups in the urban environment. The case study is based on a survey yielding 74 valid responses from different stakeholder groups (employees, clients, and broader society). Our results show that the expected content of a sustainability report is viewed differently by these various stakeholder groups in terms of the relative importance of the dimensions of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), as well as in terms of the specific indicators representing material issues. Furthermore, the concept of boundary setting with respect to the different dimensions of the TBL and the desired level of inclusion by stakeholders during the development of a sustainability report are differently assessed. The paper is of interest to academics as well as policy makers, as the research results complement the existing insights on sustainability reporting in general and can be used as basis to stimulate the adoption of sustainability reporting by inland ports.
Highlights
In the present business environment, organizations are under pressure by diverse groups of stakeholders to pay attention to ‘sustainability’ when they report about their performance
The most fundamental sample statistics are described before discussing the results of the analysis, which are divided into the different research areas of the case study
In light of the research presented in this paper we identified the availability of resources as a major barrier for inland ports to engage in sustainability reporting; deeper collaboration between inland and seaports within the same network/supply chains seems warranted
Summary
In the present business environment, organizations are under pressure by diverse groups of stakeholders to pay attention to ‘sustainability’ when they report about their performance. Existing literature and recent research show that the term ‘sustainability’ and associated management and reporting practices are mostly centered around three large domains, namely economic, social, and environmental—in other terms the Triple Bottom Line or TBL dimensions (people, planet, and profit). The importance of social and environmental aspects linked to business activities had increased and stimulated organizations to publish additional nonfinancial information [1]. The TBL concept is often used as a framework to operationalize the content of a sustainability report [5], as it is based on the same three dimensions (economic, social, and environmental) that are required in a sustainability report, as stated by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) definition [6]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
