Industry Comparison

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Current language: English (2023)

You are viewing information about the following Industries:

  • Education The Education industry includes education institutions that are profit-seeking and generate revenue from student fees. At the primary and secondary levels, this includes mostly education management organisations (EMOs) and some businesses. At the tertiary (or higher) level, services are delivered on a full-time, part-time, distance-learning, and occasional basis across establishments such as junior colleges, business and secretarial schools, colleges, universities, and professional schools including medical, pharmaceutical, and veterinary programs. An increasing number of students in for-profit universities take courses online.
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  • Cruise Lines Cruise Lines industry entities provide passenger transportation and leisure entertainment, including deep sea cruises and river cruises. A few large entities dominate the industry. Cruises provide a luxury resort experience for thousands of passengers at a time. The Cruise Lines industry often has been the fastest-growing segment of the travel industry, but it is very cyclical.
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Relevant Issues for both Industries (10 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.
  • Education Remove
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    • GHG Emissions The category addresses direct (Scope 1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that a company generates through its operations. This includes GHG emissions from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes), whether a result of combustion of fuel or non-combusted direct releases during activities such as natural resource extraction, power generation, land use, or biogenic processes. The category further includes management of regulatory risks, environmental compliance, and reputational risks and opportunities, as they related to direct GHG emissions. The seven GHGs covered under the Kyoto Protocol are included within the category—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).
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    • Air Quality The category addresses management of air quality impacts resulting from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes) as well as industrial emissions. Relevant airborne pollutants include, but are not limited to, oxides of nitrogen (NOx), oxides of sulfur (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, particulate matter, and chlorofluorocarbons. The category does not include GHG emissions, which are addressed in a separate category.
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    • Ecological Impacts The category addresses management of the company’s impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity through activities including, but not limited to, land use for exploration, natural resource extraction, and cultivation, as well as project development, construction, and siting. The impacts include, but are not limited to, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, and deforestation at all stages – planning, land acquisition, permitting, development, operations, and site remediation. The category does not cover impacts of climate change on ecosystems and biodiversity.
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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.
      • Data Security Colleges and universities are frequent and compelling targets for cyber criminals. The industry may face data security risks because of the large number of personal records processed and stored, the mix of intellectual property and personally identifiable information held (for example, national identification numbers, vaccination records or other information required for admission), and the open, collabourative environment of many campuses. The exposure of sensitive information through cybersecurity breaches, other malicious activities or student negligence may result in significant social externalities such as identity fraud and theft. Data breaches may compromise public perception of the effectiveness of a school’s security measures, which may result in reputational damage and difficulty in attracting and retaining students, as well as significant costs to fix the consequences of a breach and prevent future breaches. Enhanced disclosure regarding the number and nature of security breaches, management strategies to address these risks, and policies and procedures to protect student information may allow investors to understand the effectiveness of management strategies that schools employ regarding this issue.
    • 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.
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    • Customer Welfare The category addresses customer welfare concerns over issues including, but not limited to, health and nutrition of foods and beverages, antibiotic use in animal production, and management of controlled substances. The category addresses the company’s ability to provide consumers with manufactured products and services that are aligned with societal expectations. It does not include issues directly related to quality and safety malfunctions of manufactured products and services, but instead addresses qualities inherent to the design and delivery of products and services where customer welfare may be in question. The scope of the category also captures companies’ ability to prevent counterfeit products.
      • Quality of Education & Gainful Employment Increasing tuition payments require more students to finance their education with government and private loans. Rapid growth in student debt creates significant economic and social negative externalities if student loans go into default. Many programmes at for-profit colleges prepare students for gainful employment in recognised occupations. Entities that provide high-quality education and facilitate completion of programmes increase the chances of graduates obtaining employment and paying their loans. In the absence of sufficient educational and career management support, students may graduate with high debt and few skills valued by employers. Entities that perform poorly on accountability metrics such as graduation rates, default rates and job placement rates may jeopardise important governmental funding sources. At the same time, transparent disclosure of these metrics to prospective students is related directly to institutions’ ability to attract and retain students.
    • 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.
      • Marketing & Recruiting Practices For-profit education entities that grow the number of students that they admit and enrol will increase revenue. Therefore, entities may adopt aggressive recruitment strategies, such as spending significant amounts of money on marketing rather than on instruction and student services. Such aggressive recruiting practices have resulted in additional public and regulatory scrutiny of for-profit education entities. Using false or misleading advertisements to recruit prospective students may result in significant fines for entities and loss of eligibility for government-funded student loans. Limited funding sources may create incentives for entities to mislead students into taking private loans they are unable to repay, presenting a significant reputational risk to entities in the industry. Enhanced disclosure may allow investors to understand entity policies and practices for marketing and recruiting to attract students.
    • Labour Practices The category addresses the company’s ability to uphold commonly accepted labour standards in the workplace, including compliance with labour laws and internationally accepted norms and standards. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring basic human rights related to child labour, forced or bonded labour, exploitative labour, fair wages and overtime pay, and other basic workers’ rights. It also includes minimum wage policies and provision of benefits, which may influence how a workforce is attracted, retained, and motivated. The category further addresses a company’s relationship with organized labour and freedom of association.
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    • Employee Health & Safety The category addresses a company’s ability to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace environment that is free of injuries, fatalities, and illness (both chronic and acute). It is traditionally accomplished through implementing safety management plans, developing training requirements for employees and contractors, and conducting regular audits of their own practices as well as those of their subcontractors. The category further captures how companies ensure physical and mental health of workforce through technology, training, corporate culture, regulatory compliance, monitoring and testing, and personal protective equipment.
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    • Critical Incident Risk Management The category addresses the company’s use of management systems and scenario planning to identify, understand, and prevent or minimize the occurrence of low-probability, high-impact accidents and emergencies with significant potential environmental and social externalities. It relates to the culture of safety at a company, its relevant safety management systems and technological controls, the potential human, environmental, and social implications of such events occurring, and the long-term effects to an organization, its workers, and society should these events occur.
      None
  • Cruise Lines Remove
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    • GHG Emissions The category addresses direct (Scope 1) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that a company generates through its operations. This includes GHG emissions from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes), whether a result of combustion of fuel or non-combusted direct releases during activities such as natural resource extraction, power generation, land use, or biogenic processes. The category further includes management of regulatory risks, environmental compliance, and reputational risks and opportunities, as they related to direct GHG emissions. The seven GHGs covered under the Kyoto Protocol are included within the category—carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), and nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).
      • Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cruise lines generate emissions mainly from the combustion of diesel in ship engines. The industry’s reliance on heavy fuel oil (‘bunker fuel’) is of material concern because of rising fuel costs and intensifying greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations. Evolving environmental regulations are encouraging the adoption of more fuel-efficient engines, engine retrofits and the use of cleaner-burning fuels. Fuel constitutes a major expense for industry players, providing a further incentive for investing in upgrades or retrofits to boost fuel efficiency. In addition, GHG regulation violations may result in fines and compliance costs.
    • Air Quality The category addresses management of air quality impacts resulting from stationary (e.g., factories, power plants) and mobile sources (e.g., trucks, delivery vehicles, planes) as well as industrial emissions. Relevant airborne pollutants include, but are not limited to, oxides of nitrogen (NOx), oxides of sulfur (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), heavy metals, particulate matter, and chlorofluorocarbons. The category does not include GHG emissions, which are addressed in a separate category.
      • Air Quality Fuel use on cruise lines generates air pollutants such as sulphur oxides (SO?), nitrogen oxides (NO?) and particulate matter (PM10). These pollutants can have localised environmental and health impacts and are of particular concern at port cities and other restricted areas where entities may be penalised for exceeding emissions limits. Entities can manage these risks by commissioning more energy-efficient vessels, retrofitting existing fleets and using onshore power if it is available at ports.
    • Ecological Impacts The category addresses management of the company’s impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity through activities including, but not limited to, land use for exploration, natural resource extraction, and cultivation, as well as project development, construction, and siting. The impacts include, but are not limited to, biodiversity loss, habitat destruction, and deforestation at all stages – planning, land acquisition, permitting, development, operations, and site remediation. The category does not cover impacts of climate change on ecosystems and biodiversity.
      • Discharge Management & Ecological Impacts Cruise holidays offer access to undeveloped ocean waters and destinations with marine protected areas or areas with protected conservation status. Cruise ships, associated with large vessels, rapid influxes of tourists, intensive resource consumption and high waste generation, can be particularly damaging to ecosystems in which they travel and operate. Cruise ships discharge many types of treated and untreated wastewater at sea and non-degradable solid wastes on land. Careful management of ship discharge and the mitigation of cruise line ecological impacts may maintain shipping access to ports and preserve the natural beauty guests wish to experience, both of which are essential for entities to maintain market share as well as attract new customers.
    • 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
    • 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.
      • Customer Health & Safety Cruise lines offer a variety of luxury experiences and activities to their customers, including elabourate shows, casinos, fine dining, indoor skydiving, spa treatments, swimming and fitness facilities. Each activity comes with its own set of health risks, safety challenges and liabilities that entities must navigate. Consumer expectations for safety and comfort are high, so avoiding health and physical safety risks is especially important for entities’ viability. Publicised cases of crimes, injuries and illnesses onboard cruise ships may have serious repercussions on brand value and ticket sales. Customer lawsuits may also result in high incremental legal costs. Although cruise ship crime rates are low when compared to crime rates in most developed countries, law enforcement is much more difficult to navigate, and cases are not as easy to resolve since ships commonly take passengers to international waters and fly a foreign flag, leading to uncertainty about which jurisdictions are responsible for law enforcement. Entities can protect customer health and safety by implementing a robust safety management system.
    • Customer Welfare The category addresses customer welfare concerns over issues including, but not limited to, health and nutrition of foods and beverages, antibiotic use in animal production, and management of controlled substances. The category addresses the company’s ability to provide consumers with manufactured products and services that are aligned with societal expectations. It does not include issues directly related to quality and safety malfunctions of manufactured products and services, but instead addresses qualities inherent to the design and delivery of products and services where customer welfare may be in question. The scope of the category also captures companies’ ability to prevent counterfeit 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
    • Labour Practices The category addresses the company’s ability to uphold commonly accepted labour standards in the workplace, including compliance with labour laws and internationally accepted norms and standards. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring basic human rights related to child labour, forced or bonded labour, exploitative labour, fair wages and overtime pay, and other basic workers’ rights. It also includes minimum wage policies and provision of benefits, which may influence how a workforce is attracted, retained, and motivated. The category further addresses a company’s relationship with organized labour and freedom of association.
      • Labour Practices Cruise lines employ thousands of workers onboard each large vessel. Ships may register in countries where labour laws related to pay, working hours, fair treatment and termination may be flexible. Ship crews are multinational, and many are hired on a contract basis. Crews often work long hours for many months residing in shared quarters, which can make recuperation difficult. Some entities offer a gratuity-based wage structure to reduce payroll costs. Language barriers, the complexity of flag state laws and the laws in workers’ home countries may make labour law violation charges difficult for workers to file. Low morale among workers may impair their ability to meet customer service expectations, potentially reducing an entity’s revenues and market share over the long term.
    • Employee Health & Safety The category addresses a company’s ability to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace environment that is free of injuries, fatalities, and illness (both chronic and acute). It is traditionally accomplished through implementing safety management plans, developing training requirements for employees and contractors, and conducting regular audits of their own practices as well as those of their subcontractors. The category further captures how companies ensure physical and mental health of workforce through technology, training, corporate culture, regulatory compliance, monitoring and testing, and personal protective equipment.
      • Workforce Health & Safety Entities in the Cruise Lines industry operate a unique service that requires them to provide safety oversight comparable to a small city, including addressing all medical and security needs. A commitment to providing a clean and sanitary environment on board is important for protecting crew health, which can affect productivity and morale as well as customer health, and thus an entity’s reputation and market share. Additionally, several governing bodies—including the flag state, port state and home country of a crew member—may be involved in both providing and enforcing industry safety regulations. This regulatory mix may create confusion regarding the protections afforded to crew members. Entities that fail to protect crew health and safety may also experience higher employee turnover and difficulties with employee recruitment and retention.
    • Critical Incident Risk Management The category addresses the company’s use of management systems and scenario planning to identify, understand, and prevent or minimize the occurrence of low-probability, high-impact accidents and emergencies with significant potential environmental and social externalities. It relates to the culture of safety at a company, its relevant safety management systems and technological controls, the potential human, environmental, and social implications of such events occurring, and the long-term effects to an organization, its workers, and society should these events occur.
      • Accident Management Although cruise ships are one of the safest forms of travel for holidays, the industry competes on customer experience and satisfaction, making safety management a top priority. Given the scale of cruise vessels and the vulnerability of passengers at sea, one mismanaged accident may significantly reduce consumer confidence in an entity. Although major accidents are rare, they may affect not only an entity’s revenue and brand value, but those of the entire Cruise Lines industry. Proper equipment maintenance, staff training and implementation of the latest safety technologies and practices may protect an entity’s safety record and ensure high customer satisfaction while lowering an entity’s risk profile and cost of capital.

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