Do Early Adopters Get the Worm?

Abstract

Corporate leaders in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting use GRI reports, Integrated Reports, and SASB metrics to communicate value creation to stakeholders. Sustainable organizations recognize changes in value for financial, human, manufactured, natural, intellectual, and social capital. Studies have shown that a positive relationship exists between financial performance and emphasis on ESG issues (Bekefi and Epstein, 2016). On an annual basis, several organizations recognize companies for their ESG efforts. This study used a purposeful sample of 10 companies, known to be early adopters of ESG reporting, to explore whether or not early adopters were also recognized as ethical or sustainable entities. Results of the study provides insight into best practices for ESG reporting.