From Transparency to Maturity. An Exploratory Exercise to Assess Supply Value Chain ESG Reporting in the Light of ESRS Requirements

The study is an exploratory exercise to assess the transparency and quality of supply chain reporting through ESG factors. A qualitative thematic content analysis of sustainability and integrated reports was employed on a sample constituted by Romanian listed companies, following the topic of supply and value chain reporting and transparency. The textual analysis was carried out with NVivo 15 after manual data gathering of reports publicly available for 2024. Afterward, a qualitative assessment was employed on the quality of supply and value chain reporting. For both qualitative assessments, the scoring method was used. The qualitative analysis revealed that the sustainability themes regarding “Value chain policies and codes of business conduct” and “ESRS value chain reporting” are the most transparently presented, obtaining the highest scores, followed by “Supply chain impact” and “Due diligence and ESG risk management in the value chain”. The least transparent topics are “ESG criteria integrated into supply chain management and suppliers selection” and “Communication and grievance mechanisms for value chain workers”. The supply chain reporting quality was assessed through the lens of robust points and weaknesses. The results showed that three companies have a good to outstanding quality of reporting, with a clear understanding of ESRS requirements and concrete steps integrated to improve supply chain transparency through ESG reporting. The paper enriches the knowledge in the field of assessing the supply chain ESG reporting transparency by adding value through the thematic qualitative analysis and evaluation of supply chain reporting quality, following the ESRS reporting framework. The results of the study can be helpful in the process of improving supply chain reporting, integrating ESG, and increasing the transparency of information by offering managers possible options for developing appropriate reporting tools.