The Influence of ESG-concept on the Reputation of High-technology Enterprises

The term 'sustainable development' had appeared in the 1980s. However, in Russia, until recently, it has been used mainly in academia, primarily by scientists dealing with environmental issues. Now we can state that the interest regarding this subject is growing day by day. The government is playing increasing role in promoting the idea of sustainable development. Russian business especially large high-technology companies, in turn, follow modern trends and declare their commitment to ESG principles, which in a broad sense represent the implementation of the sustainable development concept in commercial activities. Considering the requirements of the ESG-agenda in the formation of a company's communication strategy particularly in a digital environment makes it possible to improve the company's reputation with various stakeholder groups, primarily the government and society. Whereas refusal from such course of conduct may result in serious damage to both the corporate brand image and financial results of the company. The article examines the impact of ESG factors on the building of positive reputation among normative and diffuse stakeholder groups. The specifics of the use of Russian and foreign tools for monitoring non-financial performance of business units are determined. The dynamics of ESG indices changes as well as quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the degree of commitment to ESG principles of the largest Russian telecommunication companies are analyzed. Based on this analysis, the authors propose directions for introducing ESG-agenda in the communication strategy of large high-technology corporations particularly in a digital environment.