Tasa de Incidencia

In addition to the quality principles indicated above, there are four content categories identified by the GRI. These four content categories are materiality, stakeholder inclusiveness, sustainability context and completeness. Guided by the four content categories an entity’s sustainability report would be balanced and reasonable. (GRI G3.1 2011:7).

The concept of materiality assists in deciding which information (content) should be included and which information (content) should be excluded from the sustainability report. Materiality is important as a clear and concise report would be more understandable to the user. As a result, only those topics and indicators which reflect the entity’s significant social, environmental and economic impacts, as well as those topics and indicators which would substantively influence the decisions made by stakeholders and users of the sustainability report should be included in the sustainability report. (GRI G3.1 2011:8). One of the main changes made to the GRI G4.0 guideline is the enhanced emphasis on the concept of materiality (English & Schooley 2014:29).

The second content category, stakeholder inclusiveness/engagement requires that the reporting entity identifies those parties (stakeholders) who have the ability to affect or are affected by the actions of the reporting entity, and reports on how it has responded to the reasonable expectations and interests of those identified stakeholders (GRI G3.1 2011:10).

It is in the best interest of all entities to manage stakeholder relations as strong stakeholder management could enhance competitive advantage through improved stakeholder perceptions of the entity (Greiling & Grüb 2014:211). Stakeholder engagement also requires that stakeholders be considered when making decisions or achieving the goals of the entity (Clarkson 1995 IN Kaur & Lodhia 2014:57 & Gibson 2000 IN Kaur & Lodhia 2014:57). King III identifies stakeholder inclusiveness as the recognition by an entity that it has many stakeholders who are capable of impacting the achievement of the strategy and long term sustained growth of that entity (Marx & Van Dyk 2011b:106). Stakeholder engagement is defined as a “trust-based collaboration between individuals and/or social institutions with different objectives that can only be achieved together” (Andriof & Waddock 2002 IN Kaur & Lodhia 2014:58).

There are many benefits regarding stakeholder engagement. Some of these benefits include:  Stakeholder engagement provides improved communication with stakeholders,

increased transparency, as well as enhanced trust and accountability (Kaur & Lodhia 2014:58).

 Stakeholder engagement enhances the usefulness of the report and increases stakeholder receptivity of the report (Kaur & Lodhia 2014:55).

However, there may be many challenges when aiming for stakeholder engagement. These challenges include the following:

 Greco, Sciulli and D’onza (2012:698) found a lack of interest by individual stakeholders regarding the sustainability issues of Italian municipalities. Reasons for this were stated as a lack of knowledge and background to make meaningful contributions. Group stakeholders (trade unions and charities) showed more interest in sustainability issues because they had enough knowledge to contribute to sustainability decisions and efforts. (Greco et al. 2012:698).

 Including all significant stakeholders in the stakeholder engagement process has been highlighted as a challenge due to the lack of time and financial resources. This challenge is also due to reporting entities being unfamiliar with stakeholder engagement. (Fougere & Solitander 2009 IN Van der Ploeg & Vanclay 2013:4; Gordon, Lockwood, Vanclay, Hanson & Schirmer 2012 IN Van der Ploeg & Vanclay 2013:4).

Despite these challenges, it is clear that it is important for a reporting entity to document the process of identifying and engaging with stakeholders as this will allow for relevant reporting (GRI G3.1 2011:10).

The third content category is concerned about the sustainability context. A report which incorporates details on the sustainability context is defined as a report which presents the reporting entity’s performance in the wider context of sustainability. For example, environmental performance should be reported on in the global context of resource restrictions and pollution levels. Employee wages and benefits should also be reported on in relation to the national minimum and median income levels. Sustainability context therefore allows the user of the sustainability report to assess the performance of the reporting entity in context. (GRI

The fourth content category, completeness, requires that all material topics and indicators be covered by the content of the sustainability report. The sustainability report should be sufficient for stakeholders to assess the reporting entity’s performance over the reporting period. Completeness can be broken down into three dimensions. These dimensions are scope, boundary and time. Scope requires that the range of sustainability topics reported on should reflect the significant economic, social and environmental impacts of the reporting entity. Boundary refers to the range of entities that are reflected in the sustainability report. The boundary should include entities where the reporting entity has control or significant influence over operational decisions. These include subsidiaries, sub-contractors, joint ventures, suppliers and customers. Lastly, the dimension of time requires that all activities, events and impacts should as far as possible, be reported on in the reporting period in which they occur. (GRI G3.1 2011:12). Table 2.1 provides a summary of the content indicators included in the GRI guideline.

Table 2.1: Summary of categories and aspects in the GRI guideline Category: Economic

Aspects Economic performance

Market presence

Indirect economic impacts Procurement practices Category: Social

Sub- categories

Labour practices and decent work

Human rights Society Product responsibility Aspects Employment Labour/management relations Occupational health and safety Training and education

Diversity and equal opportunity

Equal remuneration for women and men Supplier assessment for labour practices Labour practices grievance mechanisms Investment Non- discrimination Freedom of association and collective bargaining Child labour Forced or compulsory labour Security practices Indigenous rights Assessment Supplier human rights assessment Human rights grievance mechanisms Local communities Anti- corruption Public policy Anti- competitive behaviour Compliance Supplier assessment for impacts on society Grievance mechanisms for impacts on society Customer health and safety Product and service labelling Marketing communications Customer privacy Compliance

Category: Environmental Aspects Materials Energy Water Biodiversity Emissions

Effluents and waste Products and services Compliance

Transport Overall

Supplier environmental assessment Environmental grievance mechanisms Source: GRI G4 (2013:9)