HASSAN Darren Mark, DBA

Formerly a Hotel General Manager and Managing Director of his own Trading and Consulting company, Darren Hassan is an Australian Military Veteran and is a Fellow of both the Australian Institute of Management (FAIM), and the Institute of Managers and Leaders (FIML). Prior to commencing the DBA, he held academic positions teaching Australian MBA programs.

He will defend his Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) in March 2024 on the theme “”Examen des lacunes perçues ou réelles dans les rapports et les outils de reporting sur le développement durable (SRT)”” under the supervision of Professor Emmanuel Josserand, University of New South Wales, Australia.

Pr Emmanuel Josserand

Examining Perceived Or Actual Gaps within Sustainability Reporting and Sustainability Reporting Tools (SRT)

The objective of this thesis proposal was to explore and investigate the current sustainability reporting practices of organisations, and to ascertain both their suitability for purpose and overall effectiveness.
Financial success for any business has been typically measured in terms of profits and Return on Investment, but measuring social and environmental capital is challenging and, to date, has not been assigned a system of measure that realistically tests its impact(s). Of course, there are Sustainability Reporting Tools (SRT), but the quantitative veracity of these, based on the findings of this study, tended to lack accuracy and integrity.
With global governments and organisations realising the importance of sustainable futures, the focus on striking the right balance is becoming more crucial. There is, however, an inconsistent approach in defining an agreed definition of sustainability, maintaining it, and making it transparent without adopting a ‘greenwashing’ approach.
Responsible capitalism can seemingly be achieved harmoniously with sustainable approaches, and without compromising values on either end of the environmentalist/capitalist spectrums without the need for complex reporting systems that ultimately hold no authority. Striving towards a more sustainable future is a noble goal of not just organisations and governments, but of all inhabitants of the planet. The subjectivity on how this is achieved however, poses numerous problems and viewpoints in its approach and execution.
Focussing on areas relevant to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this study sought to expound the current measures that exist between Sustainability Reporting (SR) and Sustainability Reporting Tools (SRT), and analysed the following frameworks for their efficacy beyond a solely financial standpoint;
-Triple Bottom Line (TBL/3BL),
-Environmental/Social/Governance (ESG),
-Total Value Framework (TVF).
For the main body of the study, 75 papers (ANNEX A) were extracted out of 86 for their links to the field of sustainability and sustainable development. The key working points from each of these frameworks were extracted and presented in a condensed format, which focussed on the relevant key areas aligned with this study which highlighted the SRTs discussed within this paper, and their perceived strengths and weaknesses.
The findings were refined to ascertain any gaps or weaknesses with these approaches and, where necessary or possible, offered an alternate approach.
Additionally, it addressed issues within SR such as greenwashing, the ‘Knowing-Doing’ gap, quantitative inconsistencies and imbalances, along with the causal factors in reluctance or hesitation in adopting SR/SRTs.
It then examined a selection of the Standards and Indexes/Measurement tools available as SRTs, determining their suitability and effectiveness as SRTs.
With these collective findings, the author assessed the viability of a new and more realistic SR methodology and presented that supposition.
An independent survey was constructed using Le Sphinx to gather a range of views and understanding of Sustainability concepts including SRTs. The survey of 70 respondents allowed for both informed and uninformed input from participants, and any assumed knowledge of Sustainability was neither required nor implied. The findings of the survey indicated the potential for regional/cultural factors contributing towards the different levels of sustainability literacy.
In this study, the assumption of Sustainable Development (SD) as a necessary and urgent aspect of existence was taken apolitically without any bias, and an attempt at coagulating its definition was presented by way of analysing the current frameworks and models for efficacy and impact. A systematic content analysis approach was used to evaluate appropriate publications from literature, with the findings being presented further on in the paper.
The selection of articles where the impact of sustainability research strongly focusses on organisational performance, the main keywords used were:
Sustainability, development goals, sustainable organization, global sustainability index, triple bottom line, greenwashing, sustainability reporting, total value framework, TBL, ESG, GRI, corporate sustainability, social sustainability, environmental sustainability, firm performance, financial performance, and non-financial performance. These articles were not selected for holding any particular position whether positive or negative but were randomly selected for relevance and alignment with Sustainability concepts.
Only English Language peer-reviewed articles with their full text in the English language were included in the research.
Search databases included:
• Google Scholar
• ResearchGate
• JSTOR
• SSRN
• Cambridge Core
• BSU EBSCO
• Open Edition
• Pro Quest
• Scholar Vox
• Scopus
• Elsevier
In summary, this qualitative study aimed to explore some of the main existing frameworks, their strengths and weaknesses, and attempted to address any perceived gaps in these with a view to establishing a more thorough and accountable system. The findings were presented by way of recommendations leading to a more organic methodology of Sustainability Reporting (SR) known simply as the ‘Above and Beyond (AB) approach.
The ultimate findings and recommendations are to consider Sustainability Reporting as a purely optional and voluntary disclosure tool available for organisations who seek to highlight their combined social, environmental and economic activities.