Beyond Compliance: Multi-Dimensional Text Mining Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reporting

Abstract

This study investigates how organisations respond to Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requirements through systematic analysis of corporate communications and sustainability reports. We employ multi-dimensional text mining analysis of 500 companies across 12 industries, using lexical analysis, sentiment analysis, and network analysis of sustainability reports (2022-2024) and corporate communications (1.200 documents) from TIME’s Most Sustainable Companies ranking. Three distinct organisational response patterns emerge: compliance-oriented positioning (35%), transformation-oriented positioning (42%), and value-creation positioning (23%). Service-oriented sectors demonstrate positive sentiment (+0.67) toward CSRD implementation, while resource intensive industries show negative sentiment (-0.14). The cross-country analysis reveals distinct national approaches reflecting institutional contexts. This study contributes the first large-scale text mining analysis of CSRD implementation responses, providing empirical evidence of heterogeneous organisational approaches to sustainability reporting beyond simple compliance frameworks. The multi-dimensional methodology enables systematic comparison across industries and countries, revealing sector-specific implementation patterns previously unidentified in sustainability reporting literature. Findings inform policymakers about industry-specific implementation challenges and demonstrate that regulatory framing significantly influences organisational strategic positioning toward sustainability reporting. © 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2025 The Author(s).