Industry Comparison

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Current language: English (2023)

You are viewing information about the following Industries:

  • Internet Media & Services The Internet Media & Services industry consists of two main segments. Entities in the Internet Media segment provide search engines and internet advertising channels, online gaming, and online communities such as social networks, as well as content, which is usually easily searchable, such as educational, medical, health, sports or news content. Entities in the internet-based Services segment sell services mainly through the internet. The industry generates revenue primarily from online advertising, usually on free content, with other revenue sources being subscription fees, content sales or the sale of user information to third parties.
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  • Aerospace & Defence Entities in the Aerospace & Defence industry include manufacturers of commercial aircraft, aircraft parts, aerospace and defence products, as well as defence prime contractors. Commercial aircraft manufacturers represent approximately one quarter of industry revenue and sell mainly to commercial airlines and governments. Aerospace and defence parts manufacturers represent the largest segment of the industry by total revenue, selling primarily to governments. Both aerospace and defence manufacturers operate globally and serve a global customer base. Defence primes represent approximately one quarter of total industry revenue and manufacture products including military aircraft, space vehicles, missile systems, ammunition, small arms, naval ships, and other commercial and military vehicles. Their customers consist of various government agencies and related businesses with global operations. The defence prime category also includes firearms manufacturers that sell to law enforcement agencies, businesses, distributors, retailers and consumers. Important sustainability topics within the industry include the energy efficiency and emissions profile of products and management of manufacturing energy and waste.
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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.
  • Internet Media & Services Remove
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    • Energy Management The category addresses environmental impacts associated with energy consumption. It addresses the company’s management of energy in manufacturing and/or for provision of products and services derived from utility providers (grid energy) not owned or controlled by the company. More specifically, it includes management of energy efficiency and intensity, energy mix, as well as grid reliance. Upstream (e.g., suppliers) and downstream (e.g., product use) energy use is not included in the scope.
      • Environmental Footprint of Hardware Infrastructure With the Internet & Media Services industry providing a growing amount of content and service offerings, entities in this industry increasingly own, operate or rent more data centres and other hardware. Thus, managing the energy and water use associated with IT hardware infrastructure is relevant to value creation. Data centres must be powered continuously. Energy supply disruptions may have a material impact on operations depending on the disruption magnitude and timing. Entities face a trade-off between energy and water consumption because of data centre cooling needs. Cooling data centres with water instead of chillers improves energy efficiency, but this method may create dependence on significant local water resources. Data centre specification decisions are important for managing costs, obtaining a reliable energy and water supply, and reducing reputational risks, particularly with the increasing global regulatory focus on climate change and the opportunities arising from energy efficiency and renewable energy innovations.
    • Waste & Hazardous Materials Management The category addresses environmental issues associated with hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated by companies. It addresses a company’s management of solid wastes in manufacturing, agriculture, and other industrial processes. It covers treatment, handling, storage, disposal, and regulatory compliance. The category does not cover emissions to air or wastewater nor does it cover waste from end-of-life of products, which are addressed in separate categories.
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    • Customer Privacy The category addresses management of risks related to the use of personally identifiable information (PII) and other customer or user data for secondary purposes including but not limited to marketing through affiliates and non-affiliates. The scope of the category includes social issues that may arise from a company’s approach to collecting data, obtaining consent (e.g., opt-in policies), managing user and customer expectations regarding how their data is used, and managing evolving regulation. It excludes social issues arising from cybersecurity risks, which are covered in a separate category.
      • Data Privacy, Advertising Standards & Freedom of Expression Entities in the Internet & Media Services industry rely on customer data to innovate new tools and services, generate revenues through advertising sales, and track and prevent criminal behaviour, such as hacking and online predators targeting children. However, the use and storage of a wide range of customer data, such as personal, demographic, content and behavioural data, raises privacy concerns, resulting in increased regulatory scrutiny in many countries. Entities face reputational risks from providing access to user data to governments, which may raise concerns that governments may use the data to limit citizens’ freedoms. Entities may also face increased costs of compliance associated with the varying local laws or government demands related to censorship of culturally or politically sensitive material on websites. This issue may affect entity profitability through the loss of users and may influence entity decisions to enter, operate in, or exit specific markets.
    • 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 Internet Media & Services entities are targets of growing data security threats from cyber-attacks, which may put customer information and an entity’s own data at risk. Inadequate data security threat prevention, detection and remediation may influence customer acquisition and retention and result in decreased market share or lower demand for the entity’s products or services. By identifying and addressing data security threats in a timely manner, entities may protect brand value and improve customer acquisition and retention. Furthermore, effective management may avoid significant expenses associated with data breaches, which are most commonly directed at recapturing users following a breach.
    • 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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    • 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 Recruitment, Inclusion & Performance Employees are important contributors to value creation in the Internet Media & Services industry. Recruiting qualified employees to fill these positions may be difficult. A shortage of technically skilled employees can create intense competition to acquire highly skilled employees globally, contributing to high employee turnover rates. Entities offer significant monetary and non-monetary benefits to improve employee engagement, retention and productivity. Initiatives to improve employee engagement and work-life balance might influence the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce. Efforts to recruit and develop globally diverse talent pools may mitigate the talent shortage and improve the value of entity offerings. Greater workforce diversity is important for innovation, and it helps entities understand the needs of a diverse and global customer base.
    • 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.
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    • 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.
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    • 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.
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    • Competitive Behaviour The category covers social issues associated with existence of monopolies, which may include, but are not limited to, excessive prices, poor quality of service, and inefficiencies. It addresses a company’s management of legal and social expectation around monopolistic and anti-competitive practices, including issues related to bargaining power, collusion, price fixing or manipulation, and protection of patents and intellectual property (IP).
      • Intellectual Property Protection & Competitive Behaviour Despite the openness of the Internet, entities in the Internet Media & Services industry spend a significant proportion of revenue on intellectual property (IP) protection, including acquiring patents and copyrights. Although IP protection is inherent to some entity business models and an important driver of innovation, entity IP practices may be a contentious social issue. Entities sometimes may acquire patents and other IP protection to restrict competition and innovation, particularly if they are dominant market players. Because of software complexity, its abstract nature, and increasing IP rights protection related to software, Internet Media & Services entities must navigate overlapping patent claims. As a result, entities in the industry with alleged patent violations may be subject to frequent litigation or increased regulatory scrutiny. Adverse legal or regulatory rulings related to antitrust and IP may expose Internet Media & Services entities to costly and lengthy litigations and potential monetary losses as a result. Such rulings also may affect an entity’s market share and pricing power if its patents or dominant position in important markets are challenged legally, with significant financial consequences. Therefore, entities that balance IP protection and its use to spur innovation while ensuring their IP management and other business practices do not unfairly restrict competition may reduce regulatory scrutiny and legal actions while protecting market value.
  • Aerospace & Defence Remove
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    • Energy Management The category addresses environmental impacts associated with energy consumption. It addresses the company’s management of energy in manufacturing and/or for provision of products and services derived from utility providers (grid energy) not owned or controlled by the company. More specifically, it includes management of energy efficiency and intensity, energy mix, as well as grid reliance. Upstream (e.g., suppliers) and downstream (e.g., product use) energy use is not included in the scope.
      • Energy Management Energy is a critical input to aerospace and defence manufacturing processes. Purchased electricity is the largest share of the industry’s energy expenditures, followed by purchased fuels. The type of energy used, magnitude of consumption and energy management strategies depend on the type of products manufactured. An entity’s energy mix, including electricity generated on-site, grid-sourced electricity and alternative energy, may influence the cost and reliability of energy supply and, ultimately, affect the entity’s cost structure and regulatory risk.
    • Waste & Hazardous Materials Management The category addresses environmental issues associated with hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated by companies. It addresses a company’s management of solid wastes in manufacturing, agriculture, and other industrial processes. It covers treatment, handling, storage, disposal, and regulatory compliance. The category does not cover emissions to air or wastewater nor does it cover waste from end-of-life of products, which are addressed in separate categories.
      • Hazardous Waste Management Aerospace and defence product manufacturing may generate hazardous process waste, which may include heavy metals and wastewater treatment sludge. Entities face regulatory and operational challenges in managing waste, since some wastes are subject to regulations pertaining to their transport, treatment, storage and disposal. Waste management strategies include reduced generation, effective treatment and disposal, and recycling and recovery, when possible. Such activities, although requiring initial investment or operating costs, may reduce an entity’s long-term cost structure and mitigate remediation liabilities or regulatory penalties.
    • Customer Privacy The category addresses management of risks related to the use of personally identifiable information (PII) and other customer or user data for secondary purposes including but not limited to marketing through affiliates and non-affiliates. The scope of the category includes social issues that may arise from a company’s approach to collecting data, obtaining consent (e.g., opt-in policies), managing user and customer expectations regarding how their data is used, and managing evolving regulation. It excludes social issues arising from cybersecurity risks, which are covered in a separate category.
      None
    • 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 Entities in the Aerospace & Defence industry may develop sensitive military and advanced aviation products, and entities in this industry therefore may be at risk for cyber-attacks. A data security breach may be costly for an entity and its clients when information systems are compromised. Ensuring data security may require aerospace and defence entities to invest in research and development and increase capital expenditures in the short to medium term to improve the security of systems and products. Significant or frequent disruptions or security breaches may result in regulatory action, legal action, or adversely affect revenues and brand value.
    • 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 Product safety is an important consideration for aerospace and defence entities given the industry’s important role in commercial aviation and military operations. Product safety incidents could result in financial impacts, including increased costs, regulatory penalties or brand-value impacts that could affect market share adversely. Additionally, counterfeit components have been found in the aerospace and defence supply chain, increasing the risk of safety incidents because of low product quality. Through product design, supplier vetting and customer engagement involving maintenance and accident investigations, entities in this industry may ensure the safety of their products over the long term, mitigating potential financial consequences such as revenue loss because of repeated safety incidents or recalls.
    • 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.
      • Fuel Economy & Emissions in Use-phase Customer preferences and regulatory incentives are increasing the demand for energy-efficient and reduced-emissions products in the Aerospace & Defence industry. Many of the industry’s products are powered by fossil fuels and release greenhouse gases (GHGs) and other air emissions during use. As the designers and manufacturers of most of the global aerospace and defence transportation fleet, entities in this industry have a unique opportunity to support many industries and government agencies that are striving to meet GHG emissions and fuel-management goals and imperatives. Products with higher fuel economy and lower use-phase emissions may capture expanding market share and adapt to changing customer preferences and regulations around fuel economy and emissions more effectively.
    • 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 Aerospace and defence entities are exposed to supply chain risks when critical materials are used in products. Entities in the industry manufacture products using critical materials with few or no available substitutes, many of which are sourced from only a few countries that may be subject to geopolitical uncertainty. Entities in this industry also face increasing global demand for these materials from other sectors, which may result in price increases and supply risks. Entities that limit the use of critical materials by using alternatives and securing their supply may mitigate the financial impacts stemming from supply disruptions and volatile input prices.
    • 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 Aerospace and defence entities based in jurisdictions with stronger business ethics laws may be vulnerable to regulatory scrutiny of their business ethics because of operations and sales in regions with weaker government enforcement of business ethics laws. Entities in this industry have been found in violation of corruption and anti-bribery laws. Unethical practices may jeopardise future revenue growth and may result in significant legal costs and higher reputational risk. As such, strong governance practices may mitigate the risk of violating business ethics laws and resulting regulatory penalties or brand-value impacts.
    • Competitive Behaviour The category covers social issues associated with existence of monopolies, which may include, but are not limited to, excessive prices, poor quality of service, and inefficiencies. It addresses a company’s management of legal and social expectation around monopolistic and anti-competitive practices, including issues related to bargaining power, collusion, price fixing or manipulation, and protection of patents and intellectual property (IP).
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