CSRD Compliance as a Catalyst for Sustainability Leadership among ICT Firms

Abstract

The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is commonly framed as a reporting mandate; however, early implementation suggests that its effects extend beyond disclosure compliance and into broader organizational transformation. This study examines how CSRD adoption shapes sustainability leadership and organizational capabilities among ICT firms operating in Finland through a qualitative document analysis of publicly available sustainability and integrated reporting disclosures. Drawing on institutional theory, the study analyses how coercive regulatory pressures interact with normative expectations concerning assurance, data credibility, and stakeholder accountability, alongside mimetic pressures associated with emerging European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The findings identify five interrelated mechanisms through which CSRD influences organizational sustainability practices: the formalization of governance and compliance structures, the adoption of assurance as an indicator of reporting maturity, the institutionalization of double materiality and stakeholder engagement processes, the development of sustainability data infrastructures and internal control systems supported by digital reporting capabilities, and the emergence of compliance as an organizational learning process. These mechanisms reflect distinct preparation pathways and varying levels of sustainability leadership across firms. The study conceptualizes CSRD compliance as a socio-technical process through which digitally intensive firms strengthen sustainability governance, reporting capability, and strategic organizational learning.