scholarly journals Strategies for Building Environmental Transparency and Accountability

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9116
Author(s):  
Christina W. Y. Wong ◽  
Chee Yew Wong ◽  
Sakun Boon-itt ◽  
Ailie K. Y. Tang
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Social Pressure ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Carbon Disclosure Project ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

How do nature-inspired enterprises be accountable to the natural environment formed? Natural environment is one of the basic elements of the business. Firms should be sensitive to environment, so they should develop environmental transparency and accountability. This paper develops a framework to understand how environmental transparency and stakeholder governance create environmental accountability, following an “action cycle” informed by four accountability criteria—identifiability, awareness of monitoring, expectations of evaluation, and social pressure. The paper analyzes the environmental transparency practices of 50 companies listed in the annual Best Global Green Brands report, the Global RepTrak 100, and The Climate A-List of the CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). The results show that exemplar firms improve the “what”, “how”, and “how much” factors in terms of environmental information to identify what will be disseminated to whom when the information follows the criteria of accountability, which allow stakeholders to effectively adopt a governance role. This paper provides a 2 × 2 matrix for firms and stakeholders to better understand how accountability leadership is driven by environmental transparency, stakeholder governance and accountability criteria. The practical implications of environmental transparency are highlighted, specifically in terms of strategies for building accountability to meet the growing expectations of transparency and accountability.

Towards a Virtual Enterprise Architecture for the Environmental Sector

2008 ◽  
pp. 368-378
Author(s):  
Ioannis N. Athanasiadis
Keyword(s):  
Information Management ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Service Oriented Architecture ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Management Ownership ◽  
Service Oriented

This chapter introduces a Virtual Enterprise architecture for environmental information management, integration and dissemination. On a daily basis, our knowledge related to ecological phenomena, the degradation of the natural environment and the sustainability of human activity impacts, is growing. As a consequence raises the need for effective environmental knowledge exchange and reuse. In this work, a solution among collaborating peers forming a Virtual Enterprise is investigated. Following an analysis of the main stakeholders, a service-oriented architecture is proposed. Technical implementation options, using web-services or software agents, are considered and issues related to environmental information management, ownership and standardization are discussed.

scholarly journals Dissemination of Environmental Information and its Effects on Stakeholders’ Decision-Making: A Comparative Study between Swedish and Polish Municipalities

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 9-47
Author(s):  
Anna Cregård ◽  
Iwona Sobis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Development Economic ◽  
Agenda 21 ◽  
Positive Effects

Abstract According to Action Agenda 21, which was adopted at the Rio Conference in 1992, sustainable development is a major objective for local and global development. Economic growth, good living conditions, and protection of the earth’s natural environment are important to all people in the world. This article focuses on one aspect of sustainable development, i.e. on environmental sustainability. Research shows that local government can take a leading position in protecting the natural environment and disseminating information on it among stakeholders. However, our knowledge about the dissemination of environmental information practices among stakeholders is limited. The purpose of this research is to fill a gap in current knowledge, to describe and compare the practical work with dissemination of such information among stakeholders in Swedish and Polish municipalities. The questions to be answered are: What environmental information is collected and produced by the local government ? At what stakeholders is such information targeted ? and What effects does it have on decision-making by stakeholders in the investigated municipalities ? The study is based on state regulations, the homepages of municipal offices, and policy documents, official reports, and semi-structured interviews with key managers responsible for the protection of the natural environment in the studied municipalities. Data were collected from late 2015 to early 2017. This research indicates that dissemination of environmental information has a positive effect on the decision-making of internal stakeholders. In both countries, the municipal authorities follow the EU recommendations, resulting in innovative work and growing environmental awareness among the municipal authorities, the residents, and other stakeholders. Improvement of the natural environment is perceived as “a must” for the future. Nonetheless, especially larger municipalities face challenges because the production and dissemination of environmental information is time-consuming. In the long run, however, surprisingly positive effects on the local protection of the natural environment appear.

Security as strategy

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 1-3
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Core Element ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Difficult Times ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings The notion of risk is, of course, as old as humanity itself, as to live is to understand there are risks involved in living longer or not living at all in the natural environment. But when did humans start doing something about risk and mitigating it in commercial terms? It is believed that Chinese traders 5,000 years ago used to distribute goods evenly throughout a fleet of boats in order to minimize risks of disaster should one or two boats capsize. And in personal terms, the Greeks and Romans established benevolent societies to help those people in their communities who were the worst off or had fallen on difficult times. Indeed, it seems to be a core element of our society that it has developed a means to support people when things go wrong. Practical implications Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Original/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Resilience and transparency in social systems

Kybernetes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dai Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Design ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Interventions ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

Purpose This paper draws on the literature of cybernetics to argue that the resilience of organizations can be diminished by an unconsidered maximization of transparency and accountability. In doing so, it critically examines the concept of resilience and the relationship of resilience to neoliberalism. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual analysis of resilience is carried out at two levels. First, the use of the concepts of resilience, viability, transparency, accountability and neoliberalism is considered, together with the relationship between them. Second, the management interventions that result from the application of these related ideas are critiqued from the perspective of cybernetics and particularly of variety and black boxes. Findings It is shown that within complex social environments, the unconsidered imposition of transparency and accountability as a management strategy may constrain the resilience of the organizations and individuals rather than enhance it. The use of data analytics enhances this tendency. Research limitations/implications The theoretical analysis of the relationship between transparency and resilience offers a basis for carrying out empirical studies. Practical implications There are practical implications for organizational managers, employees and stakeholders, offering them a means of understanding the systemic threat posed by organizational design decisions which enhance transparency and accountability without taking into consideration the full range of interactions which act to maintain organizational viability. Social implications The analysis provides a rationale for resisting the imposition of social policies inspired by neoliberalism. Originality/value The bringing together of the concepts of resilience, neoliberalism, transparency and accountability, and their exposure to cybernetic analysis, provides a novel perspective on resilience, and new insights into way that organizations maintain their viability.

The sustainable company: looking at goals for people, planet and profits

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 28-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy B. Palmer ◽  
David J. Flanagan
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Management ◽  
Goal Setting ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Large Firms ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to explore the landscape of sustainability goals set by large firms. Design/methodology/approach Sustainability reports were content analyzed using the triple bottom line framework. Findings This study identified 389 goals among 22 firms. The most common goals focused on the natural environment. On average, the firms list 18 sustainability goals. These included an average of eight “planet” goals, seven “people” goals and three “overarching” goals. Practical implications This research should be useful to sustainability professionals who are setting goals for their firms and seek to understand the current landscape of goals set by large firms. Originality/value Although previous research has analyzed the content of sustainability reports, this is the first paper to explore sustainability goals. Given the importance of goal setting in strategic management, this paper fills an important gap in the intersection between sustainability and strategy.

The influence of pro-environmental managers’ personal values on environmental disclosure

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercedes Luque-Vílchez ◽  
Enrique Mesa-Pérez ◽  
Javier Husillos ◽  
Carlos Larrinaga
Keyword(s):  
Driving Forces ◽  
Personal Values ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Social Reporting ◽  
Disclosure Quality ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Transparency And Accountability

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine in greater depth the influence of internal factors on the disclosure of environmental information by companies. The influence of pro-environmental managers´ personal values on environmental disclosure quality is analyzed and the extent to which the influence of those values is mediated by the practices associated with the environmental organizational structure of the company.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use a partial least squares structural equation model to analyze the relationship between the quality of the environmental information disclosed by 137 environmentally sensitive Spanish firms, their level of commitment towards the environment and the personal values of the directors in charge of those reports.FindingsA central finding of this work is that a positive relationship between the pro-environmental managers’ personal values and environmental disclosure quality is fully mediated by the environmental organizational structures of their companies.Practical implicationsA better understanding of the relationship between the personal values of managers and corporate environmental reporting quality will contribute to the design of policies that can enhance firm transparency and accountability, for example, by educating future managers in sustainability values.Social implicationsLight is cast on the mechanisms that can enhance corporate transparency and accountability in relation to environmental matters.Originality/valueIn this paper, a quantitative study of the internal driving forces of environmental disclosure is conducted, an aspect that has often been ignored in the literature on quantitative voluntary social reporting. The merit of this approach is its contribution to the literature through the analysis of the reasons why powerful actors within firms could (or could not) develop corporate social reporting practices.

scholarly journals Pandemic and human lifeworld: A manifest/hidden warfare

2021 ◽  
pp. 019145372199140
Author(s):  
Fred Dallmayr ◽  
Abbas Manoochehri
Keyword(s):  
Natural Environment ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Human Interference ◽  
One Step ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Natural Life

The crisis of pandemics such as Covid-19 reveals the reality of a crisis-ridden world fraught by devastation of nature and distortion of human life simultaneously. This article tries to bring to light that pandemics actually move from one ‘region’ of human Lifeworld to another. The phenomenological notion of ‘Lifeworld’ can enable one to see ‘natural life’ and ‘civil life’ as two different but related ‘regions of life’ related to each other in the context of an ontological unity. As such, the ‘coming’ of pandemic viruses into human life-sphere is seen as one step in a process which had already begun with the disruptive human interference in the natural environment. These are in fact practical implications of the mastery of the modern ‘ego cogito’ and its use of technological warfare.

The impact of social and environmental information on managers’ decisions

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-169 ◽  
Author(s):  
Afdal Madein ◽  
Mahfud Sholihin
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Project Evaluation ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Managerial Decision ◽  
Content Type ◽  
External Stakeholders ◽  
Evaluation Decision ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine whether managers consider social and environmental information in evaluating projects. Design/methodology/approach – Built on the stakeholder theory, this study hypothesises that managers consider social and environmental information in evaluating their projects. To test the hypotheses, this study employs experimental design. Findings – The authors find evidence that managers consider social and environmental information in evaluating their projects. Research limitations/implications – This study finds that social and environmental information is relevant for managerial decision making, particularly in project evaluation. Practical implications – Social and environmental information is considered relevant for project evaluation decision. Hence, managers should be provided those information. Originality/value – To the best of the knowledge, this is the first accounting study which examines the effect of social and environmental information on managers’ decisions, particularly in the Asian context using experimental approach. Previous studies only examined the effect social and environmental information on external stakeholders, such as investors.

Towards a Virtual Enterprise Architecture for the Environmental Sector

2008 ◽  
pp. 256-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioannis N. Athanasiadis
Keyword(s):  
Information Management ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Service Oriented Architecture ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Management Ownership ◽  
Service Oriented

This chapter introduces a Virtual Enterprise architecture for environmental information management, integration and dissemination. On a daily basis, our knowledge related to ecological phenomena, the degradation of the natural environment and the sustainability of human activity impacts, is growing. As a consequence raises the need for effective environmental knowledge exchange and reuse. In this work, a solution among collaborating peers forming a Virtual Enterprise is investigated. Following an analysis of the main stakeholders, a service-oriented architecture is proposed. Technical implementation options, using web-services or software agents, are considered and issues related to environmental information management, ownership and standardization are discussed.

Towards a Virtual Enterprise Architecture for the Environmental Sector

2010 ◽  
pp. 125-136
Author(s):  
Ioannis N. Athanasiadis
Keyword(s):  
Information Management ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Enterprise Architecture ◽  
Service Oriented Architecture ◽  
Virtual Enterprise ◽  
Knowledge Exchange ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
Management Ownership ◽  
Service Oriented

This chapter introduces a virtual enterprise architecture for environmental information management, integration and dissemination. On a daily basis, our knowledge related to ecological phenomena, the degradation of the natural environment and the sustainability of human activity impact, is growing and as a consequence raises the need for effective environmental knowledge exchange and reuse. In this work, a solution among collaborating peers forming a virtual enterprise is investigated. Following an analysis of the main stakeholders, a service-oriented architecture is proposed. Technical implementation options, using Web services or software agents, are considered and issues related to environmental information management, ownership and standardization are discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document