scholarly journals Institutional drivers of environmental management accounting adoption in public sector water organisations

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 984-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Imtiaz Ferdous ◽  
Carol A. Adams ◽  
Gordon Boyce

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences on the adoption of environmental management accounting (EMA) in corporatised water supply organisations, from an institutional theory perspective, drawing on the concepts of reflexive isomorphism and institutional logics. Design/methodology/approach The primary research involves case analysis of three companies in the Australian water supply industry, drawing on interviews, internal documents and publicly available documents, including annual reports. Findings Two key drivers for the adoption and emergence of EMA are: the emergence of a government regulator in the form of the Essential Services Commission (ESC) and community expectations with regard to environmental performance and disclosure. The water organisations were found to be reflexively isomorphic, while seeking to align their commercial logic to “sustainability” and “ensuring community expectations” logics to the legitimate adoption of EMA. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature by providing case study evidence of the intentions and motivations of management in adopting EMA, and the nature of that adoption process over an extended period. Further, it provides empirical evidence of the applicability of reflexive isomorphism in the context of EMA and institutional logics.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Che Ku Hisam Che Ku Kassim ◽  
Noor Liza Adnan ◽  
Roziani Ali

Purpose Because of the heightened environmental awareness of the public, local governments (LGs) are being pressured to improve on the extent and quality of environmental disclosures (EDs) provided in an array of reporting media. The lack of an accounting tool to identify, measure and report EDs has propelled the infusion of environmental management accounting (EMA) to support the reporting practices. This paper aims to examine the institutional pressures influencing EMA adoption by Malaysian LGs. Design/methodology/approach Using the consensus approach, a self-administered questionnaire survey is conducted on accountants in LGs in Peninsular Malaysia. The items in the questionnaire are based on the findings of prior studies on EMA adoption. Findings The results suggest that coercive isomorphism from the state government is perceived to be the influential institutional factor placing intense pressures on LGs to adopt EMA. Research limitations/implications The results solidify the potential role of the state government in any public policy changes which could further stimulate and promote the adoption of EMA. Originality/value Insufficient empirical evidence on the adoption of EMA in LGs within a developing country’s perspective contributes to a limited understanding on the development of environmental-related practices in different economic stages and environment as well as within the public sector’s perspective.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 411-425
Author(s):  
Nursyazwani Mohd Fuzi ◽  
Nurul Fadly Habidin ◽  
Sharul Effendy Janudin ◽  
Sharon Yong Yee Ong ◽  
Ku Maisurah Ku Bahador

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of information system (IS) on the relationship between environmental management accounting practices (EMAP) and organizational performance (OPM) for Malaysian manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on survey data collected from 395 manufacturing companies in Malaysia. Validity and reliability analyses were performed using IBM SPSS and structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses. Findings The results indicated that EMAP positively and significantly to IS and OPM. This study also found that IS partially mediates the relationship between EMAP and OPM. This study also found that IS partially mediates the relationship between EMAP and OPM. Research limitations/implications This study has a number of limitations that need to be addressed in future research. First, the population and sample of survey respondents are only targeted in the Malaysian manufacturing industry. Second, this research only uses the survey technique and is conducted in the Malaysian manufacturing industry. Third, the limitation of this study would concern the difficulty to find EMAP and IS relationship literatures in the Malaysian manufacturing industry. However, the researchers consider that there is greater scope for investigation on the EMAP, IS and OPM relationships for Malaysian manufacturing industry. Originality/value This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by examining the mediating effect of IS on the relationship between EMAP and OPM for Malaysian manufacturing industry. Thus, it is expected that the results of this study have given valuable insight of the relationship between EMAP, IS on OPM for Malaysian manufacturing industry.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nursyazwani Mohd Fuzi ◽  
Nurul Fadly Habidin ◽  
Sharul Effendy Janudin ◽  
Sharon Yong Yee Ong

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors of environmental management accounting practices in Malaysian manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach A pilot study was carried out on a sample of 60 manufacturing companies from Malaysian manufacturing industry. A survey instrument including 25 measurement items was designed to identify the level of environmental management accounting practices implementation in the Malaysian manufacturing industry. Descriptive statistical analysis and reliability analysis were used to analyze the data with SPSS software. Findings Findings indicate that environmental safety is one of the critical success factors that play the key role in ensuring the safety awareness at workplace. Companies in the manufacturing industries need to obtain critical success factors of environmental management accounting practices implementation to enhance performance, particularly for Malaysian manufacturing industry. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this study has been the difficult to find the literature on environmental management accounting practices in the Malaysian manufacturing industry. Another limitation is this study only conducted to 60 manufacturing companies from Malaysian manufacturing industry. Practical implications For practical implications, the development of instruments in this study may be valuable tools to evaluate Environmental Management Accounting Practices (EMAP) in Malaysian manufacturing industry. This study also provides important guidelines for Malaysian manufacturing industry to implement EMAP. This research finding would provide new insights for the critical success factors of EMAP to improve performance in Malaysian manufacturing industry. Originality/value This study makes a new contribution to environmental management accounting practices in Malaysian manufacturing industry. This study also provides important information for decision makers involved in environmental management accounting practices implementation and also provides useful reference for future researchers in this research area.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Korutaro Nkundabanyanga ◽  
Bruno Muramuzi ◽  
Kassim Alinda

Purpose The increasing environmental challenges require efforts to expand the scope of accounting to better evaluate organizations’ behaviour/practices. This paper aims to report the results of studying the link between environmental management accounting (EMA), board role performance (BRP), company characteristics and environmental performance disclosure (EPD) of Ugandan manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach The study was correlational and cross-sectional. The results are obtained through content analysis of company reports, websites and a questionnaire survey of 102 large and medium manufacturing firms in four districts of Uganda. Findings Results indicate that EMA causes significant variances in EPD in manufacturing firms. Also, BRP and firm size explain variances in EPD through EMA. Research limitations/implications The research does not control for industry type. Still, the results offer hope on how the reliability of environmental performance information that companies voluntarily provide outside financial statements, can be improved. Originality/value Results potentially extend available literature by providing a mechanism through which the environmental performance information is obtained for onward disclosure.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 406-428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Qian ◽  
Roger Burritt ◽  
Jin Chen

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the extent to which Chinese businesses are ready for Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) development as a means to help address ongoing tensions between economic growth and environmental degradation. Design/methodology/approach – Case studies were conducted in three large manufacturing companies in the Central China region. Data gathering included 34 interviews with managers at different levels and departments in these companies. Findings – Through the institutional lens of EMA development, it was found that coercive and cognitive institutions have helped build the potential for EMA development. Coercive institutions encouraging corporate EMA development are manifested through increasing regulatory pressure for environmental management and reporting and increasing pressure for compliance under certified environmental management systems. Cognitive pressures are mainly from the perceived need for cognition by international supply chain alliances. Results also revealed that normative institutions serve to reduce the positive impacts of coercive and cognitive institutions on EMA development. Research limitations/implications – Findings imply that managers in heavy manufacturing companies are generally willing to change and prepare for EMA development under perceived high regulatory, economic, environmental and international pressures. However, the readiness of managers to embrace EMA depends on how soon concerns about regulatory inconsistency at local levels and low environmental awareness among employees can be resolved. Originality/value – This is the first study of EMA in the largest developing country. It enhances the understanding of environmental activities in business and identifies issues associated with the development of EMA in Chinese industries.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ria Nelly Sari ◽  
Aura Pratadina ◽  
Rita Anugerah ◽  
Kamaliah Kamaliah ◽  
Zuraidah Mohd Sanusi

PurposeThis study aims to determine (1) the effect of environmental management accounting on organizational performance and (2) the mediating effect of process innovation on the relationship between environmental management accounting and organizational performance.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses survey methods designed for management accountants of large manufacturing companies in Indonesia. Data from 123 respondents were analyzed using the WarpPLS.FindingsThe implementation of environmental management accounting exerted a positive effect on organizational performance. It is evident that the implementation of environmental management accounting encourages companies to innovate processes which will improve how well the organization performs.Research limitations/implicationsThese findings still contained several limitations such as data were only collected from one province in Indonesia, and so the findings might not be generalizable to other provinces in Indonesia. Also, the number of variables studied only involved three. The study only focused on certain dimensions of environmental management accounting without considering other dimensions in-depth.Practical implicationsThese findings extend the literature on environmental management accounting and demonstrate, from a practical perspective, environmental management accounting (EMA), which prioritizes the environment, will encourage companies to innovate their processes so that they are more environmentally friendly; EMA recognizes the important role of accountants in managing environmental issues.Originality/valueThis study documents the importance of environmental management accounting to assist companies in getting accurate information on environmental issues and environmental costs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 1165-1182
Author(s):  
Nursyazwani Mohd Fuzi ◽  
Nurul Fadly Habidin ◽  
Sharul Effendy Janudin ◽  
Sharon Yong Yee Ong

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between environmental management accounting practices (EMAP), environmental management system (EMS) and organizational performance (OPM) for Malaysian manufacturing industry by using structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Design/methodology/approach The population of the Malaysian manufacturing industry comprised 2,600 manufacturing companies. The unit of analysis is the organization that participated in the survey comprised of automotive/machinery, plastics/rubber/metal, food/tobacco, electrical/electronics and chemical/woods. Out of the 2,600 questionnaires sent to the respondents, 395 were received from manufacturing companies. The collected data are analyzed with the IBM SPSS Statistics and SEM technique. Findings Findings found that EMS implementation as a partial mediator to improve EMAP and OPM for Malaysian manufacturing industry. Further, the implementation of EMS was found to mediate the relationship between EMAP and OPM. Research limitations/implications The understanding of the importance of studying the relationship between EMAP, EMS and OPM has been emphasized in the present study. In fact, the findings of this study along with its limitations have paved the way for future research in EMAP, EMS and OPM areas. Practical implications This research provides important guidelines for manufacturers and related companies to implement EMAP and EMS in order to improve OPM. Hence, the Malaysian manufacturing industry may need to consider the measurement of EMAP, EMS and OPM as beneficial to their manufacturing companies. Originality/value The research contributes to the environmental management accounting by empirically linking the relationship between EMAP, EMS and OPM for Malaysian manufacturing industry.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1175-1202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamim Tashakor ◽  
Ranjith Appuhami ◽  
Rahat Munir

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the association between the belief-based factors (attitude, subjective norm (SN) and perceived behavioural control (PBC)) and environmental management accounting (EMA) practices. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the study develops a structural model and uses partial least squares (PLS) technique to analyse data collected based on a survey of the Australian cotton farmers. Findings The findings indicate that while attitude and PBC significantly influence farmers’ intention to adopt EMA practices, SN has a significant indirect influence on EMA practices through farmers’ attitude and PBC. Further, the study reveals that while the intention of more environmentally friendly farmers is largely influenced by attitude and SN, the intention of less environmentally friendly farmers is primarily driven by PBC. Practical implications The study provides important insights into the role of attitude, SN and PBC in motivating farmers towards adopting EMA practices. Such insights could also help farmers in designing effective EMA practices. Originality/value This study contributes to very limited EMA literature on TPB by integrating three belief-based factors namely attitude, SN and PBC.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 428-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Leanne Christ ◽  
Roger Burritt ◽  
Mohsen Varsei

Purpose Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) information has become synonymous with win-win decision settings, but this paper aims to consider how EMA support can be extended to company managers who face the dynamics of win-wins and trade-offs. Design/methodology/approach Based on extant literature, the paper suggests an important extension of the use of EMA in support of management decision-making. The need for extended consideration and use of EMA to help overcome trade-offs is illustrated using the case of a wine bottling plant location decision by an Australian company in a global supply chain transporting wine from Australia to North America and Europe. Findings Results confirm the need to add to the broader use of EMA to assist managers attempting to solve real world trade-off problems between economic performance, carbon equivalent emissions reduction and water risk reduction. Research limitations/implications Generalisation of the single wine company case illustration to other companies and similar industry settings remains to be investigated. Practical implications Trade-offs are considered between economic benefit and two environmental performance matters of concern to the company, carbon equivalent emissions reduction and water risk reduction. Originality/value The paper introduces the notion of extending the use of EMA as a pragmatic way for managers to assess trade-off situations with environmental alternatives where no optimal solution is available. Value is added through the real case study of an Australian wine company.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuwan Gunarathne ◽  
Ki-Hoon Lee

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the development and implementation of Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) and environmental management at the level of a firm in the hotel sector in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach – Case study method was used in the study. The primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews supported by observations of various facility centers (on-site assessment). Accounting records such as the Green Book, daily and monthly material and energy records, online resources and various other documents were content analyzed as sources of secondary data. Findings – The study observed that the hotel had reinvigorated some of its environmental management and EMA practices in an urgent, cost-saving bid when faced with a financial crisis. Having realized their cost-saving potential and strategic benefits, the management developed these selective practices over time into comprehensive practices that are integrated into the daily management process supported by all stakeholders. The development stages of EMA reflect how the hotel moved from a survival phase to an integration phase. Originality/value – The paper attempts to apply an integrated eco-control approach in an emerging South Asian country, Sri Lanka. Because eco-control of EMA is a new approach in developing countries, this paper provides important insights into the development of eco-control and EMA.


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