Sustainability reporting in the airline industry: Current literature and future research avenues

AbstractThis study collates potential economic effects of mandated disclosure and reporting standards for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability topics. We first outline key features of CSR reporting. Next, we draw on relevant academic literatures in accounting, finance, economics, and management to discuss and evaluate the potential economic consequences of a requirement for CSR and sustainability reporting for U.S. firms, including effects in capital markets, on stakeholders other than investors, and on firm behavior. We also discuss issues related to the implementation and enforcement of CSR and sustainability reporting standards as well as two approaches to sustainability reporting that differ in their overarching goals and materiality standards. Our analysis yields a number of insights that are relevant for the current debate on mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting. It also points scholars to avenues for future research.

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Leveraging CSR for Sustainability: Assessing Performance Implications of Sustainability Reporting in a National Business System

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13115987 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (11) ◽

pp. 5987

Author(s):

Labrini Sideri

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Development ◽

Banking Industry ◽

Sustainability Reporting ◽

Future Research ◽

Sustainable Development Goal ◽

Development Goal ◽

Sustainable Solutions ◽

Agenda 2030 ◽

Business System ◽

National Business

In the light of Agenda 2030 awareness of sustainability is steadily growing all over the world. Devastating phenomena like pandemics (Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDGs—Agenda 2030)), poverty (Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDGs—Agenda 2030)) as well as climate change (Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDGs—Agenda 2030)) threaten humanity, calling for more sustainable solutions. Although economic growth (Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDGs—Agenda 2030)) is one of the principal goals for a sustainable future, little research has been devoted to the interface of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability and their contribution to the financial sector, in view of sustainable banking. Even fewer are the studies concerning sustainable banking in Greece. This paper attempts a comparative overview of sustainability integration into businesses, focusing on the banking industry. The current theoretical analysis initially provides an extended review of the CSR and sustainability concepts, which is followed by a comprehensive analysis of non-financial disclosures (NFDs) and their business value, providing some evidence from Greece. The following sections refer to the performance implications and sustainability integration in the banking industry. Eventually, sustainable banking seems to enhance banking performance in a national business system. This is a very important deduction for sustainability to be both the cause and effect of corporate banking. Along with the discussion, some avenues for future research are highlighted.

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Stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting in higher education

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education ◽

10.1108/ijshe-06-2016-0116 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 19 (2) ◽

pp. 313-336 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Idoya Ferrero-Ferrero ◽

María Ángeles Fernández-Izquierdo ◽

María Jesús Muñoz-Torres ◽

Lucía Bellés-Colomer

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Stakeholder Engagement ◽

Academic Staff ◽

Sustainability Reporting ◽

Future Research ◽

Quality Of Reporting ◽

Stakeholder Expectations ◽

Content Type ◽

Exploratory Approach ◽

Internal Stakeholders

Purpose The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of stakeholder engagement in the context of sustainability reporting (SR) for higher education institutions (HEIs), together with the materiality principle and stakeholder expectations. Design/methodology/approach This research uses an exploratory approach based on content analysis, a case study and descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings Three key findings come out of this research. First, the results indicate that HEIs use diverse criteria for grouping stakeholders and that stakeholder engagement is a heterogeneous process. Second, the expectations of internal stakeholders align with the material aspects of SR. Finally, among internal stakeholders, students and academics disagree on the prioritisation of some sustainability aspects, with non-academic staff adopting an intermediate position. Practical implications This analysis improves our knowledge of stakeholder engagement in HEIs. It helps to identify the relevant impacts of stakeholder engagement, enhances the quality of reporting and encourages a real dialogue with stakeholders. Originality/value The study examines stakeholder engagement and how the materiality principle is adopted by HEIs through SR. Furthermore, it compares these results with stakeholder expectations, considering the discrepancies between stakeholders. The results open the way to future research to explore the potential conflicts and collaborations between and within stakeholders to advance towards more sustainable institutions in the higher education sector.

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Spinal cord injury and male infertility—a review of current literature, knowledge gaps, and future research

Translational Andrology and Urology ◽

10.21037/tau.2018.04.12 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 7 (S3) ◽

pp. S373-S382 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ross Anderson ◽

Rachel Moses ◽

Sara Lenherr ◽

James M. Hotaling ◽

Jeremy Myers

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Spinal Cord Injury ◽

Male Infertility ◽

Current Literature ◽

Future Research ◽

Knowledge Gaps ◽

Cord Injury

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Diversity in the Workplace: A Review, Synthesis, and Future Research Agenda

Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior ◽

10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-012218-015243 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 69-88 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Quinetta M. Roberson

Keyword(s):

Current Literature ◽

Scientific Knowledge ◽

Research Agenda ◽

Diversity Management ◽

Workforce Diversity ◽

Future Research ◽

Future Research Agenda ◽

Current State ◽

Diversity In The Workplace ◽

Theoretical Foundations

Fueled by socioeconomic trends that changed the composition of organizational workforces, the term workforce diversity was coined in the 1990s. Since then, both researchers and practitioners have strived (and struggled) to understand the concept, its effects in and on organizations, and strategies for managing such effects. In this article, I provide an overview and interpretation of the current literature to examine its purpose, progress, and direction. Highlighting key conceptualizations of the construct, theoretical foundations, and empirical findings on diversity and diversity management, I discuss the evolution and current state of the field and synthesize this information to propose a future research agenda. In doing so, I seek to identify theoretical, empirical, and practice areas of opportunity for advancing scientific knowledge about the meaning, substance, and outcomes of diversity as well as the implementation of diversity science in organizations.

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Organisational and professional challenges amid the evolution of sustainability reporting: a theoretical framework and an agenda for future research

Meditari Accountancy Research ◽

10.1108/medar-02-2021-1199 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Alessandro Lai ◽

Riccardo Stacchezzini

Keyword(s):

Design Methodology ◽

Sustainability Reporting ◽

Future Research ◽

Special Issue ◽

Content Type ◽

Professional Capital ◽

Research And Practice ◽

Corporate Reporting ◽

Professional Challenges ◽

Reporting Practice

Purpose This paper aims to trace subsequent steps of the sustainability reporting evolution in terms of changes in the organisation fields and professional jurisdictions involved. As such, it highlights the (interrelated) organisational and professional challenges associated with the progressive incorporation of “sustainability” within corporate reporting. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on Suddaby and Viale’s (2011) theorisation of how professionals reshape organisational fields to highlight how organisational spaces, actors, rules and professional capital evolve alongside the incorporation of sustainability within corporate reporting. Findings The paper shows organisational spaces, actors, rules and professional capital mobilised during the recent evolution of sustainability reporting, starting from a period in which there was no space for sustainability, to more recent periods in which sustainability gained increasing momentum beyond initial niches, and culminating in more integrated forms of sustainability reporting. Research limitations/implications Although the analysis is limited to empirical evidence collected by prior research and practice on sustainability reporting, the paper offers a view to imagine how the incorporation of sustainability within corporate reporting relies on and affects organisational fields and professional jurisdictions. Originality/value The paper offers a lens to interpret corporate and professional challenges associated with the more recent evolutions of sustainability reporting practice and standard setting. It also allows framing the papers accepted in the special issue on “new challenges in sustainability reporting” and concludes by suggesting an agenda for future research.

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What Can Comparative Authoritarianism Tell Us About China Under Xi Jinping (and Vice Versa)?

Issues & Studies ◽

10.1142/s1013251121500132 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

HANS H. TUNG ◽

WEN-CHIN WU

Keyword(s):

Current Literature ◽

Economic Performance ◽

Power Sharing ◽

Future Research ◽

Xi Jinping ◽

Media Freedom ◽

Regime Stability ◽

Conceptual Innovation ◽

Authoritarian Politics ◽

Autocratic Politics

This paper evaluates the progress and impact of the literature on comparative authoritarianism, showing not only how its development over the previous two decades can help us understand China’s authoritarian politics better, but also how the latter can move the former forward. We focus on two important topic areas in the literature: authoritarian power-sharing and autocratic politics of information (e.g., partial media freedom and government censorship). For the first topic, we shall review the literature on the authoritarian power-sharing between dictators and their allies and explicate how this conceptual innovation helps us understand the institutional foundation of China’s regime stability and phenomenal economic performance before Xi Jinping. The analysis then provides us a baseline for assessing China’s economic and political future under Xi Jinping given his clear departure from the pre-existing power-sharing framework. Finally, this paper also assesses the relevance of the literature on authoritarian politics of information to the Chinese context. In sum, we not only emphasize the conceptual contributions of the literature of comparative authoritarianism to the field of Chinese politics, but also identify lacunae in the current literature and avenues for future research that post-Xi political developments have made visible to us.

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Materiality assessment: the case of Latin American listed companies

Sustainability Accounting Management and Policy Journal ◽

10.1108/sampj-10-2020-0358 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Yully Marcela Sepúlveda-Alzate ◽

María Antonia García-Benau ◽

Mauricio Gómez-Villegas

Keyword(s):

Latin American ◽

Social Issues ◽

Construction Materials ◽

Field Research ◽

Principal Component ◽

Sustainability Reporting ◽

Listed Companies ◽

Future Research ◽

Content Type ◽

Sustainability Reports

Purpose This paper aims to propose a measurement of the materiality of environmental, social and governance information (ESG) reported by listed companies belonging to sensitive industries in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina. This analysis is carried out from the insights of stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory and institutional theory. The research questions addressed are: What type of information is considered as material by Latin American companies? Does this information respond to the environmental and social issues within the context of Latin American companies and the needs of their stakeholders? Design/methodology/approach A materiality index is developed from principal component analysis and factor analysis, which are multivariate analysis statistical techniques used in various fields to develop indices. The designed index examines materiality in the sustainability reports of 65 companies for 2017 and 67 companies for 2018. These firms belong to the energy, mining, chemical, construction, construction materials and public services industries in Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil. Findings The results show medium-high materiality indices, mostly in Chilean, Mexican and Colombian companies. In addition, issues such as water management, climate change and occupational health and safety are particularly interesting for companies. For the two years studied and from the perspective of material aspects for the company and its stakeholders, energy, mining and utilities (drinking water and sewage) sectors obtained the highest scores. This shows that the disclosure of ESG information is higher in industries related to the exploitation of natural resources that cause adverse effects on the environment such as extractive industries. Both the analysis presented in this paper and the materiality measurement developed, allow social responsibility managers to have a standard on the level of importance allotted to the different topics disclosed in sustainability reports. Additionally, this study provides a perspective of the material issues recognized by sensitive industries with great environmental impact. Similarly, an analysis of the issues considered material by stakeholders is provided. This allows such issues to be compared, identifying similarities and differences among the issues regarded as material by a company and its stakeholders. Practical implications The paper opens the debate is open as to whether the information disclosed response to the needs of stakeholders or whether, on the contrary, the materiality analysis is a process that emerges simply from the interests of the company. These demands for qualitative and field research to complement quantitative studies such as this one to research the stakeholders’ engagement processes in context. Social implications The paper’s purpose a challenge for future research is to strengthen the use of various methodologies that allow knowing the participation processes in the definition of materiality in the ESG information and the companies’ engagement with stakeholders. This stimulates research in the region, which is still in its infancy. Originality/value The international literature contains few studies related to the assessment of materiality for sustainability reporting. So this paper contributes proposes measurement of materiality for ESG information.

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Contextualizing Disability Experiences

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190093167.013.6 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kenzie Latham-Mintus ◽

Sabrina Cordon

Keyword(s):

Current Literature ◽

Contextual Factors ◽

People With Disabilities ◽

Social Identities ◽

Future Research ◽

Physical Barriers

Scholars and advocates have long proposed that an individual’s impairment is not the source of disability, but instead it is social and physical barriers put in place by society that are disabling. The purpose of this chapter is to (1) provide an overview of how contextual factors are conceptualized and measured in the current literature; (2) describe the key findings and discuss what the current research tells us about the salience of the environment for individual disability experiences; and (3) identify critical gaps in the literature and discuss future recommendations. The chapter takes a place-based approach and focuses on the communities and neighborhoods in which people with disabilities live. The chapter also explores how the intersection of disability and other social identities is influenced by the environment. Finally, the chapter concludes by discussing existing gaps in the literature and recommendations for future research.

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Neurorehabilitation in Adults With Traumatic Upper Extremity Amputation: A Scoping Review

Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair ◽

10.1177/15459683211070277 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 154596832110702

Author(s):

Jake Rydland ◽

Stephanie Spiegel ◽

Olivia Wolfe ◽

Bennett Alterman ◽

John T Johnson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Upper Extremity ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Current Literature ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Neural Mechanisms ◽

Limb Amputation ◽

Future Research ◽

Prosthetic Devices ◽

Scoping Reviews ◽

Extremity Amputation

Background Most of the current literature around amputation focuses on lower extremity amputation or engineering aspects of prosthetic devices. There is a need to more clearly understand neurobehavioral mechanisms related to upper extremity amputation and how such mechanisms might influence recovery and utilization of prostheses. Objective This scoping review aims to identify and summarize the current literature on adult traumatic upper limb amputation in regard to recovery and functional outcomes and how neuroplasticity might influence these findings. Methods We identified appropriate articles using Academic Search Complete EBSCO, OVID Medline, and Cochrane databases. The resulting articles were then exported, screened, and reviewed based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Results Eleven (11) studies met the study criteria. Of these studies, 7 focused on sensory involvement, 3 focused on neuroplastic changes post-amputation related to functional impact, and 1 study focused on motor control and learning post-amputation. Overall, these studies revealed an incomplete understanding of the neural mechanisms involved in motor rehabilitation in the central and peripheral nervous systems, while also demonstrating the value of an individualized approach to neurorehabilitation in upper limb loss. Conclusions There is a gap in our understanding of the role of neurorehabilitation following amputation. Overall, focused rehabilitation parameters, demographic information, and clarity around central and peripheral neural mechanisms are needed in future research to address neurobehavioral mechanisms to promote functional recovery following traumatic upper extremity amputation.

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