Corporate sustainability assessments in the information communication technology sector in Malaysia

Abstract

The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda has further propelled the need for the private sector to engage with sustainable development. Corporate sustainability research seeks to specifically address this; however, extant literature highlights a paucity of research on how this occurs. In this study, we utilise an emerging process that has been identified to support managers in addressing sustainability—the corporate sustainability assessment (CSA). Utilising an in-depth case study and qualitative data collection, this study highlights how CSAs are a systematic and comprehensive approach to guide managers in how they can address sustainability. This study empirically examines three distinct but interconnected aspects of the CSA including the sustainability governance system, measurement of sustainability performance and sustainability reporting. With scant empirical studies on both CSAs and multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in emerging markets, this study provides unique insights into two key traits of MNEs to understand the interplay between home-and host-country contexts and the industrial sector the MNE is operating within.