GRI 103: Management Approach 2016

This Standard includes general requirements and disclosures for reporting the management
approach for material topics. These are set out in the Standard as follows:
● General requirements for reporting the management approach
● Disclosure 103-1 Explanation of the material topic and its Boundary
● Disclosure 103-2 The management approach and its components
● Disclosure 103-3 Evaluation of the management approach
Material topics are those that reflect an organization’s significant economic,
environmental and social impacts; or that substantive influence the assessments and decisions of
stakeholders. The list of material topics is reported in Disclosure 102-47 of GRI 102: General
Disclosures.
The explanation of why the topic is material can include:
● A description of the significant impacts identified and the reasonable expectations and
interests of stakeholders regarding the topic;
● A description of the process, such as due diligence, that the organization used to identify
the impacts related to the topic.

Organizations might be involved with impacts either through their own activities or as a
result of their business relationships with other entities. An organization preparing a report in
accordance with the GRI Standards is expected to report not only on impacts it causes, but also on
impacts it contributes to, and impacts that are directly linked to its activities, products or services
through a business relationship. In the context of this GRI Standard, an organization’s business
relationships can include relationships with business partners, entities in its value chain, and
any other non-State or State entity directly linked to its business operations, products or services.
The topic Boundary is the description of where the impacts for a material topic occur, and
the organization’s involvement with these impacts. When describing ‘where the impacts occur’,
the organization can identify the entities where impacts occur, which can be entities in the
organization, and/or entities with which it has a business relationship, such as entities in its value
chain. The entities can be grouped based on their attributes, such as their type, location, or position
in the value chain. Examples include ‘customers using washing machines manufactured by the
organization’, ‘chemical suppliers in region X’, or ‘trading subsidiaries of the organization’.
Example of impacts that occur in the organization:
● The subsidiary of an organization operates in a water-stressed area and uses large amounts
of water, which has significantly impacted on the availability of water for the local
communities in the area. In this case, the description of the topic Boundary would identify
the specific subsidiary (where the impacts occur) and the fact that the impact is caused by
the activities of this subsidiary (the organization’s involvement).
Example of impacts that occur as a result of the organization’s business relationships
with other entities:
● An organization discovers through its due diligence that a number of its suppliers in region
X do not uphold basic health and safety standards at the factories where its products are
being manufactured. The organization has identified potential significant impacts on the
health and safety of its suppliers’ workers. In this case, the description of the topic
Boundary would identify the organization’s suppliers or group of suppliers in region X
manufacturing its products (where the impacts occur), and the fact that the impacts are
directly linked to the organization’s products via its relationship with those suppliers (the
organization’s involvement).
In situations where the organization does not have leverage over the entities that cause or
contribute to these impacts, the organization is still expected to report on these impacts and how
it has responded to them. The topic Boundary can vary by topic.
In some cases, if the Boundary of a topic extends beyond the organization, it may not be
possible to report some topic-specific disclosures. For example, if the Boundary for a topic
includes part of the supply chain, the organization might not be able to access the necessary
information from suppliers. In these cases, to prepare a report in accordance with the GRI
Standards, the organization is still required to report its management approach for the topic, but
can use the recognized reasons for omission for topic specific disclosures.
The reporting organization is expected to provide sufficient information for report users to
understand its approach to managing the material topic and its impacts. The purpose of the
management approach can be to avoid, mitigate, or remediate negative impacts, or to enhance
positive impacts.
 This Standard covers grievance mechanisms that are linked to the reporting organization.
Such mechanisms can be industry, multi-stakeholder or other collaborative initiatives. They
can also be processes established by the organization.
Mechanisms established by the organization are referred to as ‘operational-level’ grievance
mechanisms. These can occur at the organization level or at a lower level, such as a site or project
level.
When explaining the ownership of the mechanisms, the organization can indicate whether
the grievance mechanism is an operational mechanism, or whether it is a collaborative mechanism
established by, or formally involving, other organizations.
Grievance mechanisms can serve multiple purposes, which include:
● Providing remedy when negative impacts occur;
● Helping to identify negative impacts;
● Informing the effectiveness of the organization’s management approach.
In situations where the use of the grievance mechanism precludes access to judicial or
other non-judicial mechanisms, or can interfere with the legitimate role of trade unions, the
organization is expected to disclose this.