SDG performance
: a study on the difference between large Portuguese Companies’ own assessment and consumers’ perception

  • Fedor Alexander Köber (Student)

Student thesis: Master's Thesis

Abstract

The 2030 Agenda of the United Nations has formulated the Sustainable Development Goals, which cover all areas of a sustainable world. In addition to the member states, companies also frequently incorporate these goals. The integration of Sustainable Development Goals is a central part of sustainable management. This thesis examines the self-assessment and integration of sustainability development goals by large Portuguese companies and the perception of this integration by consumers. The central goal is to identify possible differences. For this purpose, self-perceptions of 60 major Portuguese companies and consumer perceptions are collected. The Obsevatorio ODS project group at the Center for Responsible business has already accumulated data regarding companies’ self-perception. In addition, quantitative study collects data on consumers’ perceptions of these companies. The data of the company’s self assessment is compared to the perception of the consumers. Self-perception has divided the companies into four clusters. The clusters assess the quality of integration. Consumers also assign the same companies to the clusters. It was found that the perceptions of the two parties do not correlate. This means that the (self-)assessment of Sustainable Development Goals performance differs significantly between companies and consumers. Furthermore, it can be stated that the underlying discrepancy in perceptions can be on the part of both companies and consumers. Communication measures are not the cause of distortion. Nevertheless, consumers expect SDG integration from companies because they want to consume sustainably.
Date of Award24 Jan 2023
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • Universidade Católica Portuguesa
SupervisorNuno Moreira da Cruz (Supervisor)

Keywords

  • SDGs
  • Sustainable Development Goals
  • Sustainability
  • Perception
  • Consumers
  • Large companies
  • Portugal

Designation

  • Mestrado em Gestão e Administração de Empresas

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