An Analysis of the ESG Management Strategies of Small Giant Companies in Busan and Ulsan, Gyeongnam Province

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to present the ESG management strategy of small giant companies which comes to be the foundation of the best one among top-notch companies and a core of national competitiveness, and to support sustainable management through ESG management and strengthen competitiveness. The importance and priority of ESG factors were derived through AHP analysis. For this purpose, AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) analysis was conducted on small giants in the region of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam Province to determine the scale and priority of K-ESG elements in ESG management strategy.

As a result of AHP analysis, among environment, society, governance, and information disclosure as the top-level factors of ESG, ‘environment’ was found to be the most important factor, followed by society, governance, and information disclosure. In addition, the verification of information disclosure was recognized as the most important factor in the importance of the sub-factors of information disclosure, environmental management goal in the sub-factors of environment, industrial safety in the sub-factors of society, and ethical management in the sub-factors of governance.

The results of this study have the implications as follows: First, small giants in the regions of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam Province should recognize the environment as a new value based on the fact that sustainability and long-term growth can be achieved not only by financial performance but also by a healthy environment. Second, voluntary safety education for strengthening industrial safety and efforts to improve a working environment for industrial safety should be continuously carried out. In addition, if companies build trust from their stakeholder groups by carrying out their work transparently, rationally, and fairly through voluntary community service activities and compliance with social ethical norms, it is considered that small giants in the region of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeonsang Province will be able to pursue sustainability through ESG activities.

On the other hand, since the data was collected locally in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam Province during the research process, it is somewhat unreasonable to generalize the results of the study. It is thought that further research will be needed to overcome regional limitations. In addition, if a comparative study that can reflect the characteristics of the region where small giants are located is conducted, it is expected that research results with substantial and academic value will be derived. As for the small giant companies located in the region of Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam Province, this study presents the direction of management in the ESG strategy of small giants and ESG management priorities of enterprises.