Challenges and opportunities in sustainability reporting: a focus on small and medium enterprises (SMEs)

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to observe how Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) struggle to develop the sustainability reports that are today important and required by consumers. The rationale is that the sustainability report is influenced by governance practices, social responsibility, and environmental impact. The research successfully summarizes the barriers from 37 influential sustainability report papers by employing a thorough systematic literature review. It was based on 6 well-known databases with the limitation of exclusion criteria such as 11 years of research (2012–2023), used English, and more than 4 pages articles. According to the findings of this literature review approach, SMEs encounter six different sorts of barriers while trying to develop a sustainable report: financial, general attitude, knowledge and technology, organizational, policies and regulations as well as socio-environmental barriers. Based on this result, the top management of SMEs will be able to determine how to prioritize removing the biggest obstacles of their reporting task.