A Mixed-Methods Framework for Assessing SDG Alignment Authenticity in Global South Corporations

• Sunday Sunday

  Ladoke Akintola University of Technology

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The integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into corporate purpose statements has become a dominant legitimating practice, yet mounting evidence suggests that such alignment often functions as a neocolonial mechanism that privileges Global North epistemic frameworks while obscuring substantive developmental impact. This study addresses the absence of validated diagnostic tools capable of distinguishing performative SDG alignment from authentic corporate purpose transformation. Drawing on a mixed-methods design combining computational text analysis of 312 corporate purpose statements from firms operating in Global South economies (2019–2024) with qualitative case analysis of twelve multinational subsidiaries, the research develops and validates the SDG-Purpose Authenticity Index (SPAI). Findings demonstrate that 89.4% of firms exhibit significant divergence between stated SDG commitments and observable resource allocation patterns, with performative alignment predicting elevated ESG disclosure scores (β = 0.41, p < 0.001) but null effects on community-level development outcomes. The proposed framework offers researchers and policymakers a replicable diagnostic instrument for interrogating corporate purpose claims, while advancing postcolonial theory by empirically substantiating the discursive mechanisms through which SDG rhetoric reproduces centre-periphery asymmetries. Implications extend to regulatory design, corporate governance reform, and the decolonisation of sustainability metrics.

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