Case study: How GEDI creates economic value for its stakeholders
GEDI Gruppo Editoriale is one of the primary European media companies, leading the digital and multimedia evolution in the sector. Creating long-term, sustainable value for all its stakeholders is a top priority for GEDI. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2021 Sustainability Report by GEDI, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
In 2021 the economic value generated by GEDI was € 533.8 million, part of which was distributed among GEDI’s employees, lenders and other stakeholders. In order to create economic value for its stakeholders GEDI took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for lenders
- create economic value for the public administration
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) GEDI has identified;
- How GEDI proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by GEDI to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2021 Sustainability Report GEDI identified a range of material issues, such as editorial responsibility and content quality, user satisfaction, digital transformation, privacy and data protection, business model in the media sector. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for GEDI.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process s of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups GEDI engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Market and financial community
| · Participation in conferences · Periodic meetings and specific events · Distribution of documentation |
| Public
| · Customer contact and feedback · Customer satisfaction surveys · Specific events · Interviews, focus groups · Engagement through website, social media, mailing list, etc. |
| Suppliers and business partners | · Meetings and specific events · Partnerships, etc. |
| Community
| · Organisation of events in the local community · Events and public debates, etc. · Social media |
| Opinion leaders | · Social media, events, debates, etc. |
| Personnel
| · Distribution of internal documentation · Company Intranet · Training · Themed discussion with management, etc. |
| Advertisers, business clients | · Contact and feedback with different client categories
|
| Institutions and regulatory bodies | · Conferences, participation in meetings and consultations, etc. |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics GEDI engaged with employee stakeholders through a survey and with the Group’s management through workshops.
What actions were taken by GEDI to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2021 Sustainability Report GEDI reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In 2021, GEDI paid € 191.8 million for employee wages and salaries.
- Creating economic value for lenders
- In 2021, GEDI paid € 7.3 million to lenders.
- Creating economic value for the public administration
- In 2021, GEDI paid € 4.8 million in taxes.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.1, 8.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
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References:
This case study is based on published information by GEDI, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
https://www.gedi.it/en/responsibility/sustainability-report
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