Content Word Analysis of SDG Business Reports to Examine SDG Focus Across Sectors

Abstract

This study aims to explore the common content words found in annual business reports related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from seven sectors, using a corpus-based method to identify frequent content words and examine the SDG focus of each business sector. The study collected 33 reports from each sector, totaling 231 reports spanning the years 2019 to 2022. A corpus-based approach was applied, using AntConc software to identify the top 100 most frequent words in each sector. After extracting the content words, including nouns, verbs, and adjectives, these were compared with SDG-related keywords obtained from academic sources from the websites of three universities: the University of Toronto, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), and the University of Auckland. This comparison allowed for identifying frequent content words related to SDGs, implying the SDG focus for each business sector. The findings indicate that across all seven sectors, seven content words related to SDGs were commonly found: business, management, sustainability, report, development, health, and risk. When identifying the content words related to SDG keywords for each business sector—excluding the words found across all sectors and those not aligned with SDGs—it was observed that the highest proportion of content words in business reports, excluding the resources and real estate sectors, aligned with SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure). In contrast, the resources and real estate sectors aligned more closely with SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities). The study suggests that while most business sectors focus on innovation and infrastructure, sectors such as resources and real estate place more emphasis on urban sustainability and development. These insights offer a clearer understanding of how businesses across various industries prioritize different SDGs based on their operational contexts.