Business Research Skills and Method

(2324_S01_PGE_M2_MKT_0002_E_D_MC)

FINAL PILOT REPORT

What factors relate to the comprehensiveness of
sustainability reporting?
A study of a developing country

Student: Tran Xuan Dai

KEDGE Business School Bordeaux

Word count: 1639

Report type – Research

1. Statement of Originality and Ethical Conduct
I hereby declare that I am fully responsible for this research. Data for this research has been
gathered by ethical guidelines to ensure that no participants were harmed or subjected to
any undue risks. All work is attributed to the author, and no sources other than those cited
and correctly referenced following APA standards have been used. All use of Artificial
Intelligence (AI) tools (such as Chat GPT, BING Chat, Google Bart, etc.) will be declared
upfront, with all prompts and outputs included in the appendix of my report.

Result of Plagiarism test by SafeAssign

Result of AI test by winston.ai

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2. Executive summary
Sustainability reports are used by governments as a tool to implement the targets of the 17
Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. The quality and quantity of these
reports are affected by internal and external elements.
This research explores the factors influencing the comprehensiveness of sustainability
reporting in Vietnam. It mainly focuses on the relationship between external factors and
sustainability reporting. It examines the role of policies, stakeholders, and market pressures
in shaping these reports.
The research will use a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches. Combining survey
on companies in Vietnam and scanning the sustainability reports of top companies in
Vietnam.
The finding has the potential to influence practices, inform policy, and shed light on future
research about the standardization of sustainability reporting. This study also has limitations.
The study focuses mainly on manufacturing companies due to the limited workforce and
lack approachable of data resources due to the channel to approach the data resources in
Vietnam being underdeveloped. Further study could be implemented to reflect on effective
and efficient policy-making and narrow the research in some specific industry sectors.

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3. Table of Contents

1. Statement of Originality and Ethical Conduct ................................................................ 1

2. Executive summary ....................................................................................................... 2

3. Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... 3

4. Introduction.................................................................................................................... 4

a. Background to the study ............................................................................................ 4

b. Research significance................................................................................................ 4

c. The research problem................................................................................................ 4

d. Scope of this research ............................................................................................... 4

e. Research aim and objectives .................................................................................... 4

5. Literature review ............................................................................................................ 5

6. Method .......................................................................................................................... 6

a. Justification of research design and planned outputs ................................................ 6

b. Ethical considerations ................................................................................................ 7

c. Plan for conducting your research ............................................................................. 7

d. Research Flow Map ................................................................................................... 7

7. Data analysis and discussion ........................................................................................ 8

8. Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 9

9. References .................................................................................................................... 9

10. Appendix .................................................................................................................. 12

a. Survey questionnaire: .............................................................................................. 12

b. Consent form for participants................................................................................... 16

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4. Introduction
a. Background to the study
After the launch of the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in
2015, the Vietnamese government has been working to implement this target by enhancing
regulations (Nguyen et al., 2021).
b. Research significance
Many research points out the relationship between the sustainability reporting of companies
and their sustainable practice performance (Bauckloh et al., 2023; Garcia-Torea et al.,
2023). It’s said that companies who publish more information on environmental topics in
their sustainability reports will have more responsibility for their activities' effect on the
environment (Braam et al., 2016; Ioannou & Serafeim, 2017). However, the increasing
request for commitment to sustainable development has reduced the number of companies
who voluntarily disclose sustainability reports (Perez & Sanchez, 2009). As a result, many
standard-setting and regulatory initiatives have been implemented to make a positive impact
on the environment through sustainable reporting (Bauckloh et al., 2023). Vietnam has
deployed regulations to disclose sustainability reporting (Circular No. 155/2015/TT-BTC,
Circular No. 96/2020/TT-BTC) since then.
c. The research problem
This research will focus on finding elements that affect the comprehensiveness of
sustainability reports in the context of a developing country like Vietnam.
d. Scope of this research
The data will be collected by analysing companies’ sustainability reports from 14 sectors in
Vietnam’s Stock Market and interviews with corporate managers responsible for these
reports.
e. Research aim and objectives
The result of the research should show if the external factors such as regulatory and
government policies (Christensen et al., 2021), public interest group, non-governmental
organizations, stakeholders, customers (Beerbaum & Puaschunder, 2019; Wilson, 2013) or
internal factors such as liquidity, the size of the company, the type of the industry, board of
director (Hidayah et al., 2019; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2020) has certainly contributed to the
comprehensive of sustainability reports. The research should answer the following question:
“What factors affect the comprehensiveness of sustainability reporting in Vietnam?”. The

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finding also has the potential to influence practices, inform policy, and shed light on future
research about the standardization of sustainability reporting.

5. Literature review
Sustainability reporting has many ways to be called such as nonfinancial reporting,
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting but they all have the same meaning
and attract more attention. Sustainability reporting is commonly used by governments to
strengthen relations between society and the business community and advance the
sustainability (Buallay, 2019). Mandatory sustainability reporting can have a real effect on
ESG if the objective is to influence companies’ behavior (Christensen et al., 2021). The
common framework used to conduct sustainability reporting in the Asia Pacific is the Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard with 81% of companies that were studied
(PricewaterhouseCoopers, n.d.).
Based on (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2020) and (Linh, 2019), some proof of elements that affect
on sustainability disclosure of manufacturing firms in Vietnam are as follows. The size of the
company has the most impact on the sustainability report due to the large number of
stakeholders. The second positive impact on sustainable development disclosure of firms is
the independence of the board of directors. The ownership of the government has a negative
impact on the level of information in sustainability reports while the foreign owner is a
positive element that affects the disclosure of sustainable practices of firms (Dang & Pham,
2022; Nguyen & Nguyen, 2020). The financial leverage of the company is also counted as
a factor that affects the level of information on the sustainability report due to the need to
build trust for the creditor. All of these are counted as internal factors.
External factors affecting sustainability reporting can include regulatory and government
policies (Christensen et al., 2021), stakeholders and investors (Beerbaum & Puaschunder,
2019), and social awareness (Bauckloh et al., 2023). Companies in environmentally
sensitive countries are less frequently using sustainability reporting assurance than
companies in non-ecologically sensitive countries (Simoni et al., 2020). The increasing
social expectation on companies to limit carbon emissions forces them to disclose their
carbon performance through sustainability reporting (Bauckloh et al., 2023). There is no
study on how external elements affect the comprehensive of sustainability reports in
Vietnam. Hence, the study will focus mainly on the relationship between external factors and
sustainability reports.

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 Hypothesis:
- H1: Regulatory and government policies have an important role in the disclosure of
sustainable activities of firms.
- H2: The production of sustainability reporting under the pressure of Stakeholders and
investors.
- H3: Social awareness and expectations forced companies to produce sustainability
reports.

6. Method
a. Justification of research design and planned outputs
The research will use a mix of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The data will be
collected by analysing companies’ sustainability reports from 21 sectors in Vietnam and
interviews with corporate managers responsible for these reports. With the population size
of the stock market around 1700 companies by July 2023 (VCCorp.vn, 2023), the confidence
level is 80% and the margin of error is 7%, the sample size of the research is 80. The
research will check the difference in sustainability reports between before and after Circular
No. 155/2015/TT-BTC in 2015 and Circular No. 96/2020/TT-BTC in 2020 enacted in
Vietnam. Do other external and internal factors affect the disclosure of companies’
sustainability practices?
The finding also has the potential to influence practices, inform policy, and shed light on
future research about the standardization of sustainability reporting. It is anticipated that the
research will uncover a complex interplay of different factors that influence the
comprehensiveness of sustainability reports in Vietnam. Based on the result, the study could
suggest practical steps for policymakers and corporate managers to integrate transparency
and comprehensiveness into sustainability reports.
Due to the limited time of the research and the limited connection with enterprises, the
number of responses could be lower than expected, leading to the low accuracy of the
research. On the other hand, the research could face the generalizability of findings beyond
Vietnam. This limitation has been counted and prevented by reducing the confidence level
to 80% and increasing the margin of error to 7% to reduce the sample size needed. The
research also includes a diverse range of companies in the sample, from different sectors
and diverse company sizes. Moreover, the findings will be compared with studies from other

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emerging markets to find similarities and highlight unique factors relevant to Vietnam. It is
also said that personalization could affect the quality of the respondents.

b. Ethical considerations
The research will follow the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to ensure the rights
of all participants. Participants will be provided detailed information about the study,
including the target of the research, potential risks, and the participants’ rights. The data will
be stored on the author’s personal computer and trusted survey platforms (Google Forms)
with limited access for only the author. Participants have the right to access their responses
and make corrections if necessary.
c. Plan for conducting your research
Phas Task M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6
e
1 Literature review
2 Data collection (reports & ESG
data)
3 Data processing (reports)
5 Analysis (weighting scheme)
6 Write-up

Figure 1: GANTT Chart illustrating the timeline for completing the paper

d. Research Flow Map

Identify Research Problem

Research Question

Conduct Literature Review

Design Methodology

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 Collect Data

Analyze Data

Conclusions

7. Data analysis and discussion

The pilot research aims to find out the external factors that affect the comprehensive of
sustainability report of firms in Vietnam. There are 10 participants as the sample of the pilot
survey. They are mainly businesses in the manufacturing and retail industries with the size
of companies from 250 to over 1000 employees. Reports from 5 companies that have the
best sustainability report awarded by Vietnam Listed Company Awards were analyzed.
The results show that regulatory and government policies have an important role in the
disclosure of sustainable activities of firms. This means that hypothesis 1 (H1) is accepted.
After Circular No. 155/2015/TT-BTC in 2015 and Circular No. 96/2020/TT-BTC in 2020
enacted in Vietnam, the number and quality of sustainability reports have been improved.
This is consistent with the previous study (Christensen et al., 2021). 80% of participants say
“complying with government policy” is the main motivation of their company to engage in
sustainability reporting.
None of the participant’s companies is motivated by stakeholders to disclose
sustainable practices but 80% of participants think stakeholders and investors have an
important role in driving companies’ sustainability reporting efforts. Hence, the hypothesis 2
(H2) is accepted. The production of sustainability reporting under the pressure of
Stakeholders and investors.
The results also show that sustainability reporting is a competitive advantage and is
used for public relations purposes. This result can be interpreted as the rise of social
awareness and expectation is a factor that forces companies to produce sustainability
reports. Therefore, the hypothesis 3 (H3) is accepted.

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8. Conclusions
The study has revealed the multifaceted nature of sustainability reporting of companies in
Vietnam. Companies that are bigger, have a longer history, operating in industries with
higher environmental and social impacts are more likely to engage in sustainability reporting.
Companies in the manufacturing industry tend to have more and better sustainability reports.
Additionally, there are external factors that can affect the quality and the comprehensive of
sustainability reporting. First is the crucial role of regulation and policy in the disclosure of
sustainable activities in firms. The second factor is the rising awareness of society in
sustainable development and the pressure of stakeholders on companies. Understanding
these elements and how they are crucial to comprehending the sustainability reporting
sector in Vietnam.
This study also has limitations. The study focuses mainly on manufacturing companies
due to the limited workforce and lack approachable of data resources due to the channel to
approach the data resources in Vietnam being underdeveloped. Further study could be
implemented to reflect on effective and efficient policy-making and narrow the research in
some specific industry sectors.

9. References
Bauckloh, T., Klein, C., Pioch, T., & Schiemann, F. (2023). Under Pressure? The Link

Between Mandatory Climate Reporting and Firms’ Carbon Performance.

Organization & Environment, 36(1), 126–149.

https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266221083340

Beerbaum, D., & Puaschunder, J. M. (2019). A Behavioral Economics Approach to

Sustainability Reporting. SSRN Electronic Journal.

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3381607

Braam, G. J. M., Uit de Weerd, L., Hauck, M., & Huijbregts, M. A. J. (2016). Determinants

of corporate environmental reporting: The importance of environmental

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 performance and assurance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 129, 724–734.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.03.039

Buallay, A. (2019). Between cost and value: Investigating the effects of sustainability

reporting on a firm’s performance. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 20(4),

481–496. https://doi.org/10.1108/JAAR-12-2017-0137

Christensen, H. B., Hail, L., & Leuz, C. (2021). Mandatory CSR and sustainability

reporting: Economic analysis and literature review. Review of Accounting Studies,

26(3), 1176–1248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11142-021-09609-5

Dang, H. N., & Pham, C. D. (2022). The effects of earning quality on sustainable reports:

An empirical study from Vietnam. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja,

35(1), 6705–6722. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2022.2053360

Garcia-Torea, N., Larrinaga, C., & Luque-Vílchez, M. (2023). Bridging the Understanding

of Sustainability Accounting and Organizational Change. Organization &

Environment, 36(1), 17–38. https://doi.org/10.1177/10860266221083339

Hidayah, N., Badawi, A., & Nugroho, L. (2019). Factors Affecting the Disclosure of

Sustainability Reporting. International Journal of Commerce and Finance, 5(2),

Article 2.

Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2017). The consequences of mandatory corporate

sustainability reporting. Harvard Business School Research Working Paper, 11–

100.

Linh, N. V. (2019). The Effects of Business Efficiency to Disclose Information of

Sustainable Development: The Case of Vietnam. Asian Economic and Financial

Review, 9(4), 547–558. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.aefr.2019.94.547.558

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Nguyen, A. H., & Nguyen, L. H. (2020). Determinants of Sustainability Disclosure:

Empirical Evidence from Vietnam. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and

Business, 7(6), 73–84. https://doi.org/10.13106/JAFEB.2020.VOL7.NO6.073

Nguyen, T. M. L., Ngo, T. H., & Le, M. N. (2021). Progress towards sustainable

development goals at provincial level in Vietnam. E3S Web of Conferences, 258,

06033. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202125806033

Perez, F., & Sanchez, L. E. (2009). Assessing the Evolution of Sustainability Reporting in

the Mining Sector. Environmental Management, 43(6), 949–961.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9269-1

PricewaterhouseCoopers. (n.d.). Sustainability Counts II. PwC. Retrieved November 7,

2023, from https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues/esg/esg-asia-pacific/sustainability-

counts-2023.html

Simoni, L., Bini, L., & Bellucci, M. (2020). Effects of social, environmental, and institutional

factors on sustainability report assurance: Evidence from European countries.

Meditari Accountancy Research, 28(6), 1059–1087.

https://doi.org/10.1108/MEDAR-03-2019-0462

VCCorp.vn. (2023, July 28). Sau 23 năm hoạt động của thị trường chứng khoán Việt Nam:

Phổ cập hơn 7 triệu tài khoản, khẳng định vị thế của kênh dẫn vốn quan trọng trong

nền kinh tế. cafef. https://cafef.vn/sau-23-nam-hoat-dong-cua-thi-truong-chung-

khoan-viet-nam-pho-cap-hon-7-trieu-tai-khoan-khang-dinh-vi-the-cua-kenh-dan-

von-quan-trong-trong-nen-kinh-te-188230727225149474.chn

Wilson, M. C. (2013). A Critical Review of Environmental Sustainability Reporting in the

Consumer Goods Industry: Greenwashing or Good Business. Journal of

Management and Sustainability, 3, 1.

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10. Appendix
a. Survey questionnaire:

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 b. Consent form for participants

Dear Participant,

Sustainable development is now a hot topic of concern to government and society. We are
exploring motivations and challenges in sustainable practices disclosure among companies
in Vietnam as a part of the Sustainability reporting legalization project.

We would therefore like to have your views which can help in understanding key motivations,
challenges, and impacts associated with sustainability reporting. The information will be
collected by interviews and questionnaires.

We cannot guarantee that this study will assist you in any way. However, your organization
may utilize the study to assess and plan for your future strategy.

Please rest assured that:

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 • Your participation is voluntary – you don’t have to participate
• You can always contact the researchers if you have any queries regarding this
research
• Any information provided will remain confidential
• You will not be identified unless you expressly state your permission
• Data held on computers and “hard” copy files will be held securely
• Data collected will be fed back to you so that you can make corrections
• Data analysis will be available on request
• Your name and signature below are used only as proof of reading the consent
statement below – these will not be used in any other way
• You can withdraw your consent at any time (using the Consent Withdrawal - section
at the bottom of this page)

By participating in the survey, you agree that the information that you are going to provide
will be used for the above research purpose.

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