Output details

Alles nur Greenwashing? Wie glaubwurdig berichten Unternehmen uber ihr Nachhaltigkeitsengagement? [Is everthing Greenwashing? How credible are companies' reports of their sustainable commitment?]

This study analyses the extent to which companies engage with sustainability or practice ‘greenwashing’; i.e. adopt only surface approaches. An innovative qualitative longitudinal design was applied to three international companies in the automotive industry. All sustainability reports of the last ten years were studied and compared to each other. The results show that BMW and Daimler genuinely attempt to engage with sustainability. In contrast, VW can be shown to potentially practice greenwashing. The study demonstrates the utility of the innovative methodology as a way of analyzing and comparing company practices to establish the level of commitment to sustainable business practices.