Industry Comparison

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Current language: English (2023)

You are viewing information about the following Industries:

  • Medical Equipment & Supplies The Medical Equipment & Supplies industry researches, develops and produces medical, surgical, dental, ophthalmic and veterinary instruments and devices. Hospitals, clinics and laboratories use these products, which range from disposable items to highly specialised equipment. The increased prevalence of diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles and an ageing population are important factors that may encourage growth in this industry. Emerging markets and the expansion of health insurance may contribute to further growth. However, the extension of government insurance programmes, provider and payer consolidation, and regulatory emphasis on reduced costs in all markets may result in downward pricing pressure.
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  • Hardware Hardware industry entities design and sell technology hardware products, including computers, consumer electronics, communications equipment, storage devices, components and peripherals. Many entities in the industry rely heavily upon the Electronic Manufacturing Services & Original Design Manufacturing (EMS & ODM) industry for manufacturing services. The industry is expected to continue to grow as technology use rapidly increases, especially among emerging market consumers.
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Relevant Issues for both Industries (9 of 26)

Why are some issues greyed out? The SASB Standards vary by industry based on the different sustainability-related risks and opportunities within an industry. The issues in grey were not identified during the standard-setting process as the most likely to be useful to investors, so they are not included in the Standard. Over time, as the ISSB continues to receive market feedback, some issues may be added or removed from the Standard. Each company determines which sustainability-related risks and opportunities are relevant to its business. The Standard is designed for the typical company in an industry, but individual companies may choose to report on different sustainability-related risks and opportunities based on their unique business model.

Disclosure Topics

What is the relationship between General Issue Category and Disclosure Topics? The General Issue Category is an industry-agnostic version of the Disclosure Topics that appear in each SASB Standard. Disclosure topics represent the industry-specific impacts of General Issue Categories. The industry-specific Disclosure Topics ensure each SASB Standard is tailored to the industry, while the General Issue Categories enable comparability across industries. For example, Health & Nutrition is a disclosure topic in the Non-Alcoholic Beverages industry, representing an industry-specific measure of the general issue of Customer Welfare. The issue of Customer Welfare, however, manifests as the Counterfeit Drugs disclosure topic in the Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals industry.
  • Medical Equipment & Supplies Remove
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    • Data Security The category addresses management of risks related to collection, retention, and use of sensitive, confidential, and/or proprietary customer or user data. It includes social issues that may arise from incidents such as data breaches in which personally identifiable information (PII) and other user or customer data may be exposed. It addresses a company’s strategy, policies, and practices related to IT infrastructure, staff training, record keeping, cooperation with law enforcement, and other mechanisms used to ensure security of customer or user data.
      None
    • Access & Affordability The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure broad access to its products and services, specifically in the context of underserved markets and/or population groups. It includes the management of issues related to universal needs, such as the accessibility and affordability of health care, financial services, utilities, education, and telecommunications.
      • Affordability & Pricing Health care cost containment and health care access regulatory initiatives may place downward pricing pressures on the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry. This pressure may be increased further by consolidation among health care providers and the role of government-sponsored insurance programmes. Entities that ensure fair pricing may limit the negative effects of cost containment as well as benefitting from the potential revenue opportunities associated with expanded access. Entities that successfully balance the risks and opportunities associated with cost containment and improved access to health care may increase their market share among segments of the population that might ordinarily be less likely to seek health care.
    • Product Quality & Safety The category addresses issues involving unintended characteristics of products sold or services provided that may create health or safety risks to end-users. It addresses a company’s ability to offer manufactured products and/or services that meet customer expectations with respect to their health and safety characteristics. It includes, but is not limited to, issues involving liability, management of recalls and market withdrawals, product testing, and chemicals/content/ingredient management in products.
      • Product Safety Information on product safety and side effects may be discovered after controlled clinical trials and approval. In such cases, entities are exposed to the financial implications of recalls and other adverse events, such as unfavourable media coverage, fines or investigations. Issues related to product safety, such as equipment failures, manufacturing defects, design flaws or inadequate disclosure of product-related risks, may result in significant product liability claims. Entities that limit the incidence of recalls, safety concerns and enforcement actions for manufacturing concerns may better protect shareholder value.
    • Selling Practices & Product Labeling The category addresses social issues that may arise from a failure to manage the transparency, accuracy, and comprehensibility of marketing statements, advertising, and labeling of products and services. It includes, but is not limited to, advertising standards and regulations, ethical and responsible marketing practices, misleading or deceptive labeling, as well as discriminatory or predatory selling and lending practices. This may include deceptive or aggressive selling practices in which incentive structures for employees could encourage the sale of products or services that are not in the best interest of customers or clients.
      • Ethical Marketing Entities in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry face legal and regulatory challenges associated with product marketing. Direct-to-consumer advertisements for medical devices and outreach to physicians provide opportunities for entities to increase their market share. However, challenges arise from the potential for marketing off-label uses, which may result in significant fines and settlements. Corporate disclosure of legal and regulatory fines and the codes of ethics that govern marketing activities may allow investors to develop a better understanding of performance in this area.
    • Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure that its culture and hiring and promotion practices embrace the building of a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the makeup of local talent pools and its customer base. It addresses the issues of discriminatory practices on the bases of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and other factors.
      None
    • Product Design & Lifecycle Management The category addresses incorporation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations in characteristics of products and services provided or sold by the company. It includes, but is not limited to, managing the lifecycle impacts of products and services, such as those related to packaging, distribution, use-phase resource intensity, and other environmental and social externalities that may occur during their use-phase or at the end of life. The category captures a company’s ability to address customer and societal demand for more sustainable products and services as well as to meet evolving environmental and social regulation. It does not address direct environmental or social impacts of the company’s operations nor does it address health and safety risks to consumers from product use, which are covered in other categories.
      • Product Design & Lifecycle Management Medical equipment and supplies entities face increasing challenges associated with the human and environmental impact of the industry’s products. Entities may face consumer and regulatory pressure to limit the use of material inputs associated with health concerns, while also addressing issues such as the energy efficiency and end-of-life disposal of specific products. Entities that address these concerns while engaging in efforts to enhance product take-back may satisfy consumer demand and reduce future liabilities better.
    • Supply Chain Management The category addresses management of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks within a company’s supply chain. It addresses issues associated with environmental and social externalities created by suppliers through their operational activities. Such issues include, but are not limited to, environmental responsibility, human rights, labour practices, and ethics and corruption. Management may involve screening, selection, monitoring, and engagement with suppliers on their environmental and social impacts. The category does not address the impacts of external factors – such as climate change and other environmental and social factors – on suppliers’ operations and/or on the availability and pricing of key resources, which is covered in a separate category.
      • Supply Chain Management Supply chain quality is essential to protecting consumer health and corporate value. Entities that fail to ensure quality and traceability throughout their supply chains may be susceptible to fines, lost revenue and reputational damage. Additionally, entities may need to manage the use of material inputs that are considered scarce. Disclosure of supply chain audit programmes, strategies to ensure traceability and management of critical materials may better inform investors how entities in this industry are protecting shareholder value.
    • Materials Sourcing & Efficiency The category addresses issues related to the resilience of materials supply chains to impacts of climate change and other external environmental and social factors. It captures the impacts of such external factors on operational activity of suppliers, which can further affect availability and pricing of key resources. It addresses a company’s ability to manage these risks through product design, manufacturing, and end-of-life management, such as by using of recycled and renewable materials, reducing the use of key materials (dematerialization), maximizing resource efficiency in manufacturing, and making R&D investments in substitute materials. Additionally, companies can manage these issues by screening, selection, monitoring, and engagement with suppliers to ensure their resilience to external risks. It does not address issues associated with environmental and social externalities created by operational activity of individual suppliers, which is covered in a separate category.
      None
    • Business Ethics The category addresses the company’s approach to managing risks and opportunities surrounding ethical conduct of business, including fraud, corruption, bribery and facilitation payments, fiduciary responsibilities, and other behaviour that may have an ethical component. This includes sensitivity to business norms and standards as they shift over time, jurisdiction, and culture. It addresses the company’s ability to provide services that satisfy the highest professional and ethical standards of the industry, which means to avoid conflicts of interest, misrepresentation, bias, and negligence through training employees adequately and implementing policies and procedures to ensure employees provide services free from bias and error.
      • Business Ethics Entities in the Medical Equipment & Supplies industry are subject to various international, national and local laws pertaining to health care fraud and abuse. An entity’s ability to ensure compliance throughout its global and domestic operational footprint may have notable effects on enterprise viability and reputation. Corporate disclosure of legal and regulatory fines and the codes of ethics that govern interactions with health professionals may better allow investors to monitor performance in this area.
  • Hardware Remove
    Access Standard
    • Data Security The category addresses management of risks related to collection, retention, and use of sensitive, confidential, and/or proprietary customer or user data. It includes social issues that may arise from incidents such as data breaches in which personally identifiable information (PII) and other user or customer data may be exposed. It addresses a company’s strategy, policies, and practices related to IT infrastructure, staff training, record keeping, cooperation with law enforcement, and other mechanisms used to ensure security of customer or user data.
      • Product Security The hardware products and related software offered by entities in the Hardware industry may have vulnerabilities that expose consumers to data security threats. Therefore, hardware manufacturers must help ensure user data security. Such vulnerabilities may occur at any stage of a product lifecycle, including product design, the manufacturing supply chain, product distribution and the product’s use-phase. Entities in the industry unable to identify vulnerabilities may risk exposing consumer data to security threats and potentially eroding the trust of their customer base. Cybersecurity threats create both risks and opportunities for the Hardware industry, as effective product security may be a source of competitive advantage for entities, potentially increasing their sales and market share. Additionally, user concerns about data security and related government actions may also serve as revenue-generating opportunities for securing government contracts and providing security products.
    • Access & Affordability The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure broad access to its products and services, specifically in the context of underserved markets and/or population groups. It includes the management of issues related to universal needs, such as the accessibility and affordability of health care, financial services, utilities, education, and telecommunications.
      None
    • Product Quality & Safety The category addresses issues involving unintended characteristics of products sold or services provided that may create health or safety risks to end-users. It addresses a company’s ability to offer manufactured products and/or services that meet customer expectations with respect to their health and safety characteristics. It includes, but is not limited to, issues involving liability, management of recalls and market withdrawals, product testing, and chemicals/content/ingredient management in products.
      None
    • Selling Practices & Product Labeling The category addresses social issues that may arise from a failure to manage the transparency, accuracy, and comprehensibility of marketing statements, advertising, and labeling of products and services. It includes, but is not limited to, advertising standards and regulations, ethical and responsible marketing practices, misleading or deceptive labeling, as well as discriminatory or predatory selling and lending practices. This may include deceptive or aggressive selling practices in which incentive structures for employees could encourage the sale of products or services that are not in the best interest of customers or clients.
      None
    • Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion The category addresses a company’s ability to ensure that its culture and hiring and promotion practices embrace the building of a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the makeup of local talent pools and its customer base. It addresses the issues of discriminatory practices on the bases of race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and other factors.
      • Employee Diversity & Inclusion Greater workforce diversity is important for innovation since it helps entities understand the needs of a diverse and global customer base, which results in the ability to design desirable products and communicate with customers effectively. Entities unable to attract and retain diverse talent may risk losing market share to competitors that successfully employ a staff capable of recognising the needs of diverse populations and capturing demand from segments of the population that have been traditionally overlooked. Furthermore, entities perceived as being more representative of a diverse, global customer base may increase brand loyalty which also may be a source of competitive advantage. Entities successful in recruiting and retaining a diverse and inclusive workforce also may achieve lower employee turnover rates, resulting in cost savings.
    • Product Design & Lifecycle Management The category addresses incorporation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations in characteristics of products and services provided or sold by the company. It includes, but is not limited to, managing the lifecycle impacts of products and services, such as those related to packaging, distribution, use-phase resource intensity, and other environmental and social externalities that may occur during their use-phase or at the end of life. The category captures a company’s ability to address customer and societal demand for more sustainable products and services as well as to meet evolving environmental and social regulation. It does not address direct environmental or social impacts of the company’s operations nor does it address health and safety risks to consumers from product use, which are covered in other categories.
      • Product Lifecycle Management Entities in the Hardware industry face increasing challenges associated with environmental and social externalities attributed to product manufacturing, transport, use and disposal. Rapid obsolescence of hardware products may worsen these externalities. Entities are designing more products with the entire lifecycle in mind. Specific considerations include energy efficiency of products, hazardous material inputs, and designing for and facilitating safe end-of-life disposal and recycling. Entities that prioritise designing and manufacturing products with improved environmental and social impacts may avoid costs associated with externalities, and they may be more likely to grow consumer demand and market share, while eliminating potentially harmful materials. Furthermore, entities that minimise environmental and social externalities of products may be less exposed to increasing regulation and costs, such as those related to extended producer responsibility.
    • Supply Chain Management The category addresses management of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks within a company’s supply chain. It addresses issues associated with environmental and social externalities created by suppliers through their operational activities. Such issues include, but are not limited to, environmental responsibility, human rights, labour practices, and ethics and corruption. Management may involve screening, selection, monitoring, and engagement with suppliers on their environmental and social impacts. The category does not address the impacts of external factors – such as climate change and other environmental and social factors – on suppliers’ operations and/or on the availability and pricing of key resources, which is covered in a separate category.
      • Supply Chain Management Entities in the Hardware industry commonly have relatively narrow profit margins and remain competitive by relying on complex, global supply chains and outsourced production to electronics manufacturing services (EMS) entities. Because entities in the industry typically contract with suppliers in countries with lower direct costs, entities often manufacture products in countries that have limited labour regulations or enforcement protecting workers. Entities in the industry may have limited direct control over social and environmental standards in production, making management of this issue difficult. This dynamic may increase an entity’s exposure to reputational risks and impacts on short- and long-term costs and sales. Such effects may arise from increasing regulation and enforcement in response to high-profile safety or labour incidents, or through a shift in demand away from entities associated with such incidents. Entities that actively manage the impacts generated by the supply chain using supplier standards, monitoring and engagement may better protect shareholder value over the long term.
    • Materials Sourcing & Efficiency The category addresses issues related to the resilience of materials supply chains to impacts of climate change and other external environmental and social factors. It captures the impacts of such external factors on operational activity of suppliers, which can further affect availability and pricing of key resources. It addresses a company’s ability to manage these risks through product design, manufacturing, and end-of-life management, such as by using of recycled and renewable materials, reducing the use of key materials (dematerialization), maximizing resource efficiency in manufacturing, and making R&D investments in substitute materials. Additionally, companies can manage these issues by screening, selection, monitoring, and engagement with suppliers to ensure their resilience to external risks. It does not address issues associated with environmental and social externalities created by operational activity of individual suppliers, which is covered in a separate category.
      • Materials Sourcing Entities in the Hardware industry rely on numerous critical materials as important inputs for finished products. Many of these inputs have few or no available substitutes and often are sourced from only a few countries, many of which may be subject to geopolitical uncertainty. Other sustainability impacts related to climate change, land use, resource scarcity and conflict in regions where the industry’s supply chain operates are also increasingly shaping the industry’s ability to source materials. Additionally, increased competition for these materials because of growing global demand from other sectors may result in price increases and supply risks. The ability of entities to manage potential material shortages, supply disruptions, price volatility and reputational risks is made more difficult by the practice of commonly sourcing materials from supply chains that may lack transparency. Failure to effectively manage sourcing may constrain access to necessary materials, reduce margins, impair revenue growth or increase costs of capital.
    • Business Ethics The category addresses the company’s approach to managing risks and opportunities surrounding ethical conduct of business, including fraud, corruption, bribery and facilitation payments, fiduciary responsibilities, and other behaviour that may have an ethical component. This includes sensitivity to business norms and standards as they shift over time, jurisdiction, and culture. It addresses the company’s ability to provide services that satisfy the highest professional and ethical standards of the industry, which means to avoid conflicts of interest, misrepresentation, bias, and negligence through training employees adequately and implementing policies and procedures to ensure employees provide services free from bias and error.
      None

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