University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

The majority of the above seven criteria are geographical, reflecting the spatial
nature of a GBO, and the geographical test in each case is that no more that 50% of
the relevant indicator occurs in any one geographical region, and at least 20% occurs
in each of three regions (developed from Redding, 2006). All geographically-based
assessments are made using the following five areas: North America; Latin (South &
Central) America; Europe, including the former Soviet Union countries; Africa;
Middle East & Asia or separately as Middle East and Asia (developed from Redding,
2006). However, revenue (or net income) disclosures by publically traded (listed)
companies are not always made in line with these groupings (and privately held
companies typically provide even less data), so assumptions and interpolations may
be required. These six indicators are deliberately quantitative, but their use can be
limited by the degree of disclosure of information by businesses under review.
We have identified approximately forty organizations that meet several of the
requirements in the GBO definition proposed above, and 15% of these meet the
majority of the requirements (see Table 1, below). These are all publicly traded
companies that disclose financial data in accordance with the requirements of the
stock exchanges on which they are listed. It is probable that there are more
organizations that meet the requirements, particularly privately-owned, or unlisted
businesses that are not required to provide detailed annual business reports.
Requirements for Sustainability Management in a GBO
The concept of a sustainable business is not new (and it can be argued that every
business must, from this initial perspective, at least be financially sustainable as the
alternative is bankruptcy). There is no a priori contradiction or conflict between the
concepts of economic success and sustainability nor are the concepts of social and
environmental responsibilities of business organizations new. There were socially
active businesses in Britain before the industrial revolution, a period that also saw the
emergence of occupational health and safety regulation of business.
But GBOs have a number of specific exposures, or requirements that must be
addressed by a sustainability management system (SMS):
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