Case study: How Uni Systems creates economic value for its stakeholders
Uni Systems operates since 1964 as the first Greek IT company to be founded in Greece and, today, is one of the largest companies in its industry, serving more than 300 active customers in over 25 countries. Uni Systems is focused on communicating and maintaining strong relationships with its stakeholders, generating sustainable value for all. Tweet This!
This case study is based on the 2021 Sustainable Development Report by Uni Systems, 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 financial value generated by Uni Systems reached €154.253.025. In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Uni Systems took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for financing bodies
- create economic value for state bodies
- create economic value for society
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Uni Systems has identified;
- How Uni Systems proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Uni Systems to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2021 Sustainable Development Report Uni Systems identified a range of material issues, such as protection of critical information systems and ensuring operational continuity, customer data protection and privacy, ensuring business ethics and combating corruption, strengthening employment, providing decent wages and halting brain drain. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Uni Systems.
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 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 Uni Systems engages with:
| Stakeholder Group |
| Employees |
| Regulatory or professional bodies |
| Social Institutions or Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) |
| Media |
| Business Community |
| Financial Bodies / Investment Community |
| Local community |
| Academic community |
| Business Partners |
| Customers |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Uni Systems engaged with its stakeholders through an electronic anonymous questionnaire survey.
What actions were taken by Uni Systems to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2021 Sustainable Development Report Uni Systems reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In 2021, Uni Systems paid €41.942.960 for employee salaries and benefits.
- Creating economic value for financing bodies
- In 2021, Uni Systems paid €2.499.974 to financing bodies.
- Creating economic value for state bodies
- In 2021, Uni Systems paid €29.828.764 to state bodies.
- Creating economic value for society
- In 2021, Uni Systems spent €127.059 in social investments.
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 Uni Systems, 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.unisystems.com/sites/default/files/2022-09/UNISYSTEM_ENG_19092022.pdf
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