Integrating sustainability in business model disclosure: evidence from the UK mining industry

This article offers a methodological tool that assesses a company’s commitment to sustainability by analysing its business model (which is defined here as a description of processes through which organizations implement their competitive strategies and create value). Insofar as they are considered a key driver for long-term profitability, sustainability strategies should involve a company’s value creation processes — that is, a company’s business model. This paper specifically examines the extent to which mining companies engage in sustainability by performing content analyses of their business model disclosures. Our empirical analysis focuses on the UK mining industry because this sector often struggles with a host of societal, organizational, and environmental issues, and because UK mining companies are obliged to describe their business model in their strategic reports. In order to determine whether (and how) companies implement sustainability strategies in their business model, we perform a content analysis of the business model disclosures of 16 FTSE All-share index UK mining companies, for a total of 1,048 text units. Our results suggest that mining companies have opted for a selective and soft approach to sustainability. Although Air, Energy, Water, Local community engagement, Environmental protection, and Labour conditions are often addressed in the business models of UK mining companies, there is very little evidence to suggest that concrete initiatives were actually implemented in other areas. In fact, some topics are completely ignored (Raw materials), almost completely ignored (Waste, Corruption and Lobbying, Local employment), or discussed in a predominantly descriptive manner (Human rights, Opportunity and equality, Recruitment and bargaining, Training). The practical implications of this study are twofold. First, we offer a new means of investigating how companies engage in sustainability by performing content analyses of their business model disclosures. Secondly, we offer a detailed discussion of how sustainability affects value creation processes in the UK mining industry.