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

Figures & data

Figure 1. Key steps for sustainability reporting. Source: Deloitte (2021).

Table 1. Main variations between the GRI and SASB.

	GRI	SASB
Target audience	The GRI is intended for a larger group of stakeholders.	The SASB is primarily intended for investors.
Materiality and scope	The importance of an organization’s economic, environmental, and social impacts on its stakeholders is known as materiality, according to the GRI.	The financial materiality of ESG variables is the focus of the SASB’s definition of materiality.
Industry-specific standards	Sector disclosures under the GRI are optional and less thorough than those under the SASB.	Companies are now able to provide comparable data across sectors because of the industry-specific standards developed by the SASB, which offer extensive guidance on the ESG criteria that are pertinent to each business.
Flexibility vs comparability	The GRI’s principle-based methodology enables organizations to tailor their reporting depending on their specific stakeholder needs and context, which can result in disclosures that are more meaningful and contextually relevant.	Although the SASB’s standardized, sector-specific approach offers more comparability among businesses, it may restrict organizations’ capacity to customize their disclosures to their particular circumstances.
Reporting levels	The GRI provides three reporting levels (Core, Comprehensive, and Sector Disclosures) so that organizations can select the amount of detail and breadth that best meets their goals and available resources.	The SASB does not have discrete reporting levels; rather, it mandates that businesses report on all ESG variables that are financially significant as determined by the relevant industry-specific standards.

Source: ESGPRO (n.d.).

Table 2. Inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Criteria	Reason
Inclusive Criteria
Papers written in English	Most prestigious academic journals are published in English.
Papers from International Journal	International scholarly research has demonstrated
Papers study in the Sustainability	The research focuses on sustainability
Papers study about SMEs	SMEs are the subject of the research.
Papers written between 2012 and 2023	The duration is important to get new insight into the respective field and the previous 10 years of research consider as a relevant period of the subject
Papers written more than 4 pages	The study is very thorough from providing background information to drawing conclusions
Exclusive Criteria
Dissertations, theses, books, magazines, newspapers, working papers, and reports should be dropped	There is no scholarly evidence to support the review
Papers do not focus on Lean and SME	Those papers do not fit with the research focus

Table 3. Searching algorithm.

Search string combination	Databases
‘Sustainability Reporting’ and ‘Small and Medium Enterprises’	ProQuest
‘Sustainability Reporting’ and ‘Challenges’	Science Direct
‘Sustainability Reporting’ and ‘Barriers’	Emerald
‘Sustainability’ and ‘Small and Medium Enterprises’	Springer
	Taylor & Francis Online
	MDPI

Table 4. Quality assessment checklist.

Question	Scale of assessment
Do the researchers discuss the issue that relate to Sustainability Reporting for SMEs?	Level of Participation 1 – No, and not considered (Score:0) 2 – Partially (Score:0.5) 3 – Yes (Score: 1)
Is there a clear definition of the aims or research question from the research?	Level of Agreement 1 – Disagree (Score:1) 2 – Somewhat Disagree (Score:2) 3 – Neither Agree not Disagree (Score:3) 4 – Somewhat Agree (Score: 4) 5 – Agree (Score:5)
Do the researchers discuss about the limitation to implement the Sustainability Reporting?	Level of Participation 1 – No, and not considered (Score:0) 2 – Partially (Score:0.5) 3 – Yes (Score: 1)

Figure 2. Distribution of Selected Publication Based on Year of Publication. Source: Own construction based on literature review method.

Table 5. Distribution of Selected Publications from Journals and Conferences

International Journal and Conference	# of Publication
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal	1
Agricultural Systems	1
Cogent Business & Management	2
Environment, Development and Sustainability	1
International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing	1
International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology	1
IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering	1
Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies	1
Journal of Cleaner Production	4
Journal of Environmental Planning and Management	1
Journal of Integrative Environmental Science	1
Journal of Risk and Financial Management	1
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development	1
Journal of Transport Geography	1
Meditari Accountancy Research	4
Pacific Accounting Review	1
Procedia Manufacturing	1
Research in Hospitality Management	1
Resources Policy	1
Sustainability	8
Sustainability Manufacturing and Service Economics	1
Sustainability Materials and Technologies	1
Sustainable Production and Consumption	1
Total	37

Table 6. Financial barriers of sustainability reporting for SMEs.

Attributes	Source
High Cost	Abdullah et al. (2023), Bruce et al. (2023), Kumar et al. (2023), Hegab et al. (2023), Martínez and Hernández (2020, 2021), Pommier and Engel (2021), Saygili et al. (2023), Shalhoob and Hussainey (2023), Sohns et al. (2023), Tauringana (2021), Xin et al. (2023)
Losing key/valuable customers	Shalhoob and Hussainey (2023)
Uncertainty of Benefit	Ardra and Barua (2022)

Table 7. General attitude barriers to sustainability reporting for SMEs.

Attributes	Source
Lack of Innovation	Ardra and Barua (2022), Kwak et al. (2023), Yadegaridehkordi et al., (2023)
Resistance to change	Ardra and Barua (2022), Hegab et al. (2023)

Table 8. Knowledge and technology barriers to sustainability reporting for SMEs.

Attributes	Source
Infrastructure issue	Ardra and Barua (2022), Brusca et al. (2018), Bruce et al. (2023), Mousa and Ozili (2022)
Lack of expertise	Abdullah et al. (2023), Ardra and Barua (2022), Băndoi et al. (2021), Hegab et al. (2023), Kumar et al. (2023), Lai and Stacchezzini (2021), Saygili et al. (2023), Sohns et al. (2023) , Xin et al. (2023)
Data availability	Ardra and Barua (2022), Dissanayake (2021), Hegabet al. (2023)

Table 9. Organizational barriers to sustainability reporting for SMEs.

Attributes	Source
Lack of Time	Arena and Azzone (2012), Saygili et al. (2023), Sohns et al. (2023)
Lack of Strategy	Kumar et al. (2023)
Organizational Culture	Kumar et al. (2023), Srisathan et al. (2020)
Lack of Resource	Arena and Azzone (2012), Ardra and Barua (2022), Anyigbah et al., (2023), De Micco et al. (2021), Kumar et al. (2023), Mousa and Ozili (2022), Martínez and Hernández (2021), Saygili et al. (2023), Shalhoob and Hussainey (2023), Sohns et al. (2023), Xin et al. (2023)
Poor commitment from the board of director	Arena and Azzone (2012), Abdullah et al. (2023), Ardra and Barua (2022), Boix-Fayos and De Vente (2023), Brusca et al. (2018), De Micco et al. (2021), Kumar et al. (2023), Mousa and Ozili (2022), Tiwari et al. (2018) , Yadegaridehkordi et al. (2023), Zimonet al. (2022)

Table 10. Policies and regulation barriers to sustainability reporting for SMEs.

Attributes	Source
Complex and difficult tools for corporate sustainability measurement	Gutiérrez et al. (2021), Jiménez et al. (2021), Pommier and Engel (2021), Singh et al., (2021)
Government Bureaucracy	Abdullah et al. (2023), Sohns et al. (2023)
Does not have a clear and standardized policy	Abdullah et al. (2023), Bouraima et al., (2023), Boix-Fayos and De Vente (2023), Gherardi et al. (2021), Gutiérrez et al. (2021), Ortiz-Martínez and Marín-Hernández (2020), Singh et al. (2021), Steinhöfel et al., (2019), Tiwari et al. (2018)

Table 11. Policies and regulation barriers to sustainability reporting for SMEs.

Attributes	Source
Poor stakeholder engagement	Farooq and De Villiers (2019), Hegab et al. (2023), Kaur and Lodhia (2019), Kwak et al. (2023), Mousa and Ozili (2022), Shalhoob and Hussainey (2023)
Organizational dynamics	Rossi and Luque-Vílchez (2021)

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Data availability statement

Upon a reasonable request, the information and materials that support the conclusions of this article will be given.