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Determining factors of sustainability in a sugarcane company in Ecuador

Abstract:

The evaluation of sustainability framed in the 2030 Agenda is incipient in Ecuadorian agribusiness, where the application of Social Balances and GRI prevails, summarized in technical-descriptive reports that do not contemplate statistical modeling. The purpose was to determine the components that describe the sustainability of a sugar company that has reported sustainability reports between 2012 and 2019. 45 indicators from the GRI-200-Economic, GRI-300-Environmental and GRI-Economic series were assessed on an ordinal scale. 400-Social. Principal component analysis for categorical data - CATPCA was used as a method. As a result, three determinants were identified: 1. Integrated and impact management of operations (α-Cronbach: 0.994; %σ2: 56.735); 2. Compliance with regulations in the social and environmental spheres (α-Cronbach: 0.988; %σ2: 22.799); and, 3. Waste and habitat management (α-Cronbach: 0.977; %σ2: 18.064), which explain a % of total σ2 of 97,598. Better scores are seen between 2016 and 2019, so the GRI methodology was a driving factor over the Social Balances. In conclusion, CATPCA turned out to be a valuable tool to identify the dimensions of sustainability. It also made it possible to demonstrate an integrated management approach where the economic, environmental and social components converge, aligned with institutional governance.