1. State of the Arts on Sustainability Report:
GIN th International Conference
06 –
State of the Arts on Sustainability Report:
A Case of Korean Business Circles
Ⅰ. Introduction
Ⅱ. Theoretical Perspective and Applied Method
Ⅲ. Case Study including findings and discussions
Ⅳ. Conclusion
Yoon-Gih Ahn* & Yoon-Jung Chin**
* POSRI, Senior Researcher & Erasmus University, Ph.D Candidate
** POSRI, Associate Researcher

2. Introduction 1
Corporate Sustainability Management as a New Paradigm for Business Circles 2
In line with growing importance of stakeholders in business circles, Communication as one of key tools for transparency 3
Therefore, the paper examine two folds; one is to identify state of the arts of sustainability report in Korean business circles, the other is to compare state of the art of sustainability report of three Korean companies and that of three global leading companies in the same industry.

3. Theoretical Perspectives
Stakeholder theory emphasizes the relationship and dialogue/ communication with groups with a stake in the firm, ultimately integrating them into managerial decision-making (Emshoff and Freeman, 1978).
Corporate accountability theory requires the integrity and transparency from firm’s stakeholder. Therefore, corporate sustainability report should be issued on the basis of the verification by internal or external body to enhance understanding or awareness of its stakeholders.

4. Applied Methods ② ④ ① ③ (Stakeholder Perspective) “Involve Me”
“Discuss
with Me”
“Prove Me”
“Show Me” ① ③
“Tell Me”
“Impacts”
“Internalization”
“Inclusion”
Integration
Incubation
(Sustainability Report Model Perspective)

5. Applied Methods
Source: Revised on the basis of

6. Corporate Activities from the point of Triple Bottom Lines views
Applied Methods
Corporate Activities from the point of Triple Bottom Lines views
Plan
Stakeholder Analysis
Identification of Core Stakeholders of Companies
Business Principles
Reflection of Laws, Regulations, and Standards etc. of External and Internal Society
Mgt. Philosophy
Reflection of the concept of sustainability for continuous growth and its characteristics
Objectives
Objectives and Targets of Corporate Level
Measures
Indicators for diagnosing the progress of Objectives and Targets Do
Awareness
Activities for enhancing awareness of internal and external persons, e.g., PR, Training Departments
Organization
Organization being in charge of Sustainability Issues
Implementation
Activities by Value Chain (R&D, Purchase, Manufacture, Marketing
Check
Self-diagnosis
Whether company itself diagnose or not, and temporally or regularly
Third Party Verification
Verification of Management Systems like ISO 9000, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18000, SA 8000 etc. and Environmental, Social, and Sustainability Report
Results of Rating Institutes like SAM, FTSE, ISVA etc.
Act
Board of Director
Whether the review or not, and temporally or regularly
Management Review
Consistency
Linkage of PDCA loop

7. Case Study ② ④ A D C2 B E4 F3 ① ③ G2 (Stakeholder Perspective)
“Involve Me” ② ④
“Discuss
with Me” A D C2
“Prove Me” B E4 F3
“Show Me” ① ③ G2
“Tell Me”
“Impacts”
“Internalization”
“Inclusion”
Integration
Incubation
*Note: The number means no. of firms.
(Sustainability Report Model Perspective)

8. (electronics/food & drinking)
Case Study
Raw Material
(iron ore, energy, etc.)
Customer Oriented
Industry
(electronics/food & drinking)
Manufactures
(Automotive)
Logistics
Public Service
Financial Service
(Energy & Water Utilities/Real Estates)
(Insurance/Bank)

9. Case Study
In Plan stage, the importance and the analysis of stakeholders were identified more clearly and accurately in the global leading companies than Korean companies.
In Do Stage, organizational charts of global companies for sustainability management were more comprehensive and systematic than those of Korean companies.
In the framework of strategic management perspectives, the structure of globally leading companies for sustainable management is more clearly and accurately developed than that of Korean companies.

10. Thank you for Your Attention !
Conclusions
Applied methods will be helpful to examine and understand state of the arts of sustainability report in Korean business circles and to compare sustainability report of three Korean companies with that of global leading companies. Through the analysis, the paper confirmed in Korean business circles such as follows;
Sustainability report of Korean companies is evolving stage from the infant stage. They also are not enough to discuss or involve with their stakeholders and sustainability report model does not reflect TBL factors sufficiently in their business management in strategic perspectives.
Particularly, the result compared three Korean leading companies with three global leading companies in the same industry in PDCA perspectives presents the gap. The structure of globally leading companies for sustainable management is more clearly and accurately developed than that of Korean companies.
Korean business circles should have a continuous interest in sustainability report as one of key tools for communicating with stakeholders. As well, accountability theory and strategic approach method are highly important when they publish their sustainability report.
Thank you for Your Attention !