scholarly journals Quest for Alternative Sociological Perspectives on Corporate Social and Environmental Reporting

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeeshan Mahmood ◽  
Zubair Ahmad

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to review existing dominant theoretical perspectives used in corporate social and environmental accounting research, identify their limitations and to suggest some alternative theoretical perspectives for further research. Methodology: In order to identify relevant research papers, on the use of different theoretical perspectives on corporate social and environmental accounting research, published in academic journals, different keywords were searched in google scholar. Research papers were then shortlisted according to their relevance to the topic. The results: Among all theoretical frameworks, there is a great variety but accounting researchers remained selective in heir use of the theory and some other aspects of the theory remained unexplored. Apart from this narrow application, repeated application of same theories, especially legitimacy and stakeholder theory) provide very little additional insights. Implication: The dominant theoretical perspectives on CSER do not fully capture the complexity of the phenomenon. This situation demands researchers to explore alternative theoretical perspectives for better and insightful research. The main contribution of this paper is that it suggests the theory of realistic evaluation (RE) and the institutional logics perspective (ILP) as alternative sociological perspectives. This paper invites future researchers to apply these theoretical frameworks and to explore their usefulness.

Author(s):  
David L. Owen ◽  
Brendan O'Dwyer

The purpose of this article is to provide a brief overview of the development of corporate social and environmental reporting practice since it first began to achieve some degree of prominence on an international scale in the 1970s, before offering a critical evaluation of the state of current practice. This article focuses on the contribution of present day reporting, and associated assurance, initiatives made towards enhancing the transparency of corporate social and environmental impact, together with delivering enhanced levels of accountability to organizational stakeholders. A large part of this article draws on research in social and environmental accounting within the field of interdisciplinary accounting research. This research field has a thirty-five-year history and has developed in parallel with certain streams of corporate social responsibility research in the management literature. For example, social and environmental accounting research embraces both normative concerns with fulfilling obligations and duties to the wider society.


2007 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Castelo Branco ◽  
Lúcia Lima Rodrigues

This paper provides an analysis of some relevant issues in corporate social and environmental reporting (CSER) research by way of review of relevant literature. Issues in the following two main areas of CSER research are identified: the methodologies used to capture empirical data on CSER; and how to theoretically interpret the trends of CSER. An overview of these issues is provided and some clues to understand what is at stake are offered. We argue that the choice of methods used to collect empirical data on CSER depends upon the context in which the organisations operate and the purpose of the study to be made. Because of the large array of factors affecting companies‟ decisions to engage in social responsibility activities and disclosure, the use of multi-theoretical frameworks is proposed.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Saha ◽  
Praveen Goyal ◽  
Charles Jebarajakirthy

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic review of the available literature on value co-creation (VCC) and provide insightful future directions for research in this domain. Design/methodology/approach The extant literature on VCC has been reviewed by collecting relevant research papers based on certain specified delimiting criteria. A total of 110 research papers have been analysed to gain useful insights into VCC literature. Findings The study analyses the literature on VCC and provides a clear distinction between VCC and its closely related constructs in the literature. The study also draws significant insights from the VCC literature based on some specific parameters. Some frequently used theoretical perspectives have been discussed in the study, thus pointing towards a few alternative theories that can be used for future research. Finally, specific trends emerging from the literature have been discussed that provide a comprehensive understanding of the research inclinations of this concept, along with future scopes of research in the VCC domain. Research limitations/implications The papers were selected for this study based on some delimiting criteria. Thus, the findings cannot be generalised for the entire research on VCC. Originality/value This paper fulfils the need for a systematic review of the extant literature on VCC. The study synthesises literature and bibliography on VCC from 2004 to 2019 to benefit both academics and practitioners and gives some directions to advance this domain of literature.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Floriana Fusco ◽  
Paolo Ricci

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a picture of the state of the art in social and environmental accounting research applied to the public sector, highlighting different streams and the main gaps in current literature and providing input for future research.Design/methodology/approachA bibliometric method was used to analyse the characteristics, citation patterns and content of 38 papers published in international academic journals.FindingsThe findings show that the research on social and environmental reporting in the public sector is still at an early stage. Current investigations, although slowly on the increase, are still very few and localised. Most papers are about the reasons why public organisations report, what and how they report, but there are so many aspects that need to be investigated more in-depth or require extra validation in order to open new directions for future research, among which the relationship with and the differences between other non-financial type of reporting, namely ICR and IR.Research limitations/implicationsThe study shows some limitations, mainly related to the adoption of the bibliometric method. Indeed, it does not take into account books and chapters but only papers published in international and academic journals. This leads to exclude a significant part of the existing literature and other relevant contributions on the field.Originality/valueSocial and environmental reporting practices are quickly spreading in the public sector. The field is particularly interesting, given the specific connotations of this kind of organisations. However, the literature is clearly not exhaustive and there is not a comprehensive and systematic review of the state of the art on the subject.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Afzalur Rashid

Purpose This study aims to examine the influence of institutional shareholding on a firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a content analysis to capture a firm’s CSR practices, based on various attributes of social and environmental reporting made by the firm. Based on these attributes, a corporate social responsibility reporting index (CSRI) is constructed. To examine the causal relationship between institutional shareholding and firm CSR practices, this study uses a simultaneous equations approach to control the endogeneity problem. Findings The finding of this study is that both CSR reporting and institutional shareholding negatively influence each other. Research limitations/implications This study is subject to some limitations such as the subjectivity or judgement associated in the coding process. Practical implications If the institutional investors are not concerned with its environmental and societal issues, there will be a sustainability issue for the business because companies will continue ignoring the employee health and hygiene, education, training and welfare. Their ignorance of these societal issues will lead to compromising the quality of living for important stakeholders within the society. Originality/value This study contributes the literature on CSR reporting.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Riccardo Torelli

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the concepts of sustainability, responsibility and ethics focussing on their links and differences, also to understand how companies move respectively in these field; to understand how companies sometimes move away from the basic and deep meaning of these concepts, landing in a merely utilitarian sphere of personal advantage where ethics, instead of being an irreplaceable and essential stronghold, is found to be a fiction or just an instrument. Design/methodology/approach The methodology used assumes a theoretical critical approach and, based on the vast literature on the items, is based on a conceptual analysis of the themes of sustainability, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethics and of the behaviour that companies can adopt in the three contexts. A critical approach to these issues and concepts can effectively help us to understand how companies are responding to external demands and to the challenges of responsibility and sustainability, which are becoming increasingly pressing. Findings Ethics, sustainability, CSR and social and environmental reporting are distinct constructs with different meanings but linked by important conceptual and operational relationships. Research limitations/implications The results of the research are the consequence of the application of a critical approach based on a theoretical analysis of the concepts under study. It would be interesting to support the results achieved with empirical research studies. Practical implications This conceptual path helps scholars and companies themselves to understand the difference between the three key concepts analysed. Only by understanding the basic meaning will it be possible to really make one’s own and pursue it in the correct way. Social implications Nowadays, the authors are overwhelmed by these three concepts which are used as synonyms and incorrectly. This leads to confusion and misunderstandings. Knowledge of the characteristics and differences between these concepts and their concrete applications is of great importance. Originality/value This study tries to provide a critical discussion of how the three concepts intersect and differentiate, leading to concrete results or results that have nothing to do with their meaning. There are no conceptual papers in the literature that deal with the three concepts and also analyse the implications on the real world.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shengli Yu ◽  
Anna Lee Rowe

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the motivations underpinning recent evolving corporate social and environmental reporting (CSER) among enterprises in China through the lenses of senior managers. Design/methodology/approach Using the interpretive tenets of engagement research, semi-structured in-depth interviews were adopted to explore the perceptions of senior managers from 21 large companies in various industries. The aim is to make sense of the emerging CSER phenomenon occurring in the field through engagement, observation and penetrating interviews. Findings The findings identify the main enablers driving CSER in China as: regulations and government influence; management awareness; benefits to company image; peer pressure/reporting by peers and public pressure on controversial companies. Guided by a system-based theoretical framework in terms of motivations for CSER, this study offers insights into the effectiveness of using widely adopted Western-based theoretical approaches in a Chinese context where companies operate against a different socio-economic, political, regulatory and cultural backdrop. Research limitations/implications The deep-rooted face (Mianzi) culture has the potential to influence managers to portray a positive image about their companies and themselves. Originality/value This engagement-based study is one of the few initiatives exploring managerial perceptions of CSER in China that adds to the scant literature pertaining to rich “emic” data in accounting, encompassing cultural influence by applying systems-oriented theoretical framework. The stimulus for CSER identified are useful for regulators and organizations to better comprehend how to set effective policies that promote CSER and fit the distinctive institutional characteristics of China.


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