Sustainability Assessment, Policies & Regulations, ESG Issues, Infrastructure Developments, Company Profiles, Benchmarking, SWOT, Company ESG Disclosure Scores
Report Overview
Average ESG disclosure score for the point-of-sale terminal Industry is between 60% and 70%. Our proprietary Environment, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) scoring framework analyzed 65 parameters across ESG, as represented in methodology section of this document. Hewlett Packard Inc., Toshiba Corporation, Panasonic Corporation, and seven more market leaders were part of our research. Six out of 10 companies we researched scored above the average industry score. However, three market leaders need to focus more on ESG reporting and transparency, as they scored well below 50%.
Nonetheless, we have seen a positive pattern in ESG revelation among point-of-sale terminal industry participants since 5 years. Our research shows that most of the sustainability-related revelations have been made around ecological measurements, which stand at almost 75%, followed by governance and social with a score of ∼ 60% and ∼ 50%, respectively. Hewlett-Packard, Inc. (HP) has been a leader in the sector from an ESG disclosure standpoint with a score of 79% followed by Toshiba Corporation and Panasonic Corporation, among others.
For more details: https://astra.grandviewresearch.com/point-of-sale-terminal-industry-esg-outlook
Environmental Insights
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the global transition from coin- and paper-based payments to digital transactions implies that the quantity of Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals is rapidly growing. However, this development is accompanied by liability; not exclusively to consider the effect the increased number of gadgets has on various factors like financial incorporation, additionally with the ecological impact of the assembling process of payment terminals, their transportation, use, support, and end-of-life handling. Some of the significant sustainability challenges faced by the industry are generation & disposal of e-waste during the end-of-life of POS equipment; large-scale use of paper in the form of printed receipts, resulting in waste generation; and the supply chain disruptions arising from semiconductor shortages, which have led to the adoption of various methods such as reducing top margin, on-demand printing, receipt compression, and greener manufacturing, such as halogen-free cases & recyclable packaging.
Social Insights
Predominantly, social metrics consist of an assessment that covers both the parameters–human capital and community. The variables that are accounted for in this classification are employee turnover rate as well as their wellbeing & security, including injury rates, and OHSAS certificates, alongside government assistance provided to both workers & clients. Among the companies within the sector, Toshiba Corporation ranks highest on the social pillars with a score of around 90%. It has standardized robust human rights checking components not only within its own operations but also across the supply chain. It also considers the health and safety of its employees as a priority factor. Therefore, in 2020, Toshiba acquired ISO 45001certificationsfor 100% manufacturing sites. A vast majority of organizations have conducted customer satisfaction studies, however, only a few have revealed the quantitative outcomes, which is surely an area of improvement.
Governance Insights
The Governance aspect within ESG evaluation is one of the principal foundation stones of an association, which integrates various estimations, including business ethics, board structure, monetary issues, payoff, succession planning, and statutory audits, among others. As per Grand View Research’s ESG scoring model, HP ranks the highest in corporate governance among its peers operating in the point-of-sale terminal market. The organization has the highest number of independent directors (more than 91% of the board includes autonomous chiefs or independent directors), which enhances corporate responsibility and administrative principles in accordance with investors and consumers. HP has a designated Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) who monitors privacy-related issues. It also has the highest percentage of female members on its board, which is above 45%. This depicts a positive diversity initiative, and the incorporation of planned annual incentive for its top executives, linked to the sustainability performance, helps boost accountability for sustainability performance. Due to the institutionalization of a robust business continuity plan consisting of emergency responses along with disaster prevention & mitigation responses, Panasonic Corporation ranked second in the governance metrics. In addition, the company has established systems related to compliance issues for reporting & whistleblowing and investigation & correction of violations. With increase in number of cyberattacks, various organizations have adopted different plans such as Cisco Systems, Inc. has a centralized chief privacy office with regional officers leading each of the three major regions, including Americas, EMEA, and the Asia Pacific, which includes Japan & China. Each regional officer chairs a regional privacy council for their respective territory.
Country-level Insights
Despite the surge in demand for POS terminals globally, there have been some disadvantages associated with generation & disposal of e-waste during the end-of-life of POS equipment, customer data privacy & security, and supply chain disruption, among others. Therefore, to combat these challenges, most legislation and policies as of now allude to the standard of “Extend Producer Responsibility” that expects makers to acknowledge liability regarding all stages in an item’s lifecycle, including its final disposal.
