scholarly journals Corporate Sustainability Practices in Polluting Industries: Evidence from India, China and USA

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-168
Author(s):  
Prem Sagar Mishra ◽  
◽  
Ajay Kumar ◽  
Niladri Das
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Corporate World ◽  
Financial Perspective ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Sustainability Practices

In recent years, the tilt of the corporate world towards non-financial reporting can be clearly seen from traditional accounting practices. Sustainability reporting disclosures are an important tool for providing information about the environmental and social performance of companies to their various stakeholders. From a financial perspective, for any firm, there is always a possibility of reporting more of the information that favours their interests or conceal that which is not in their favour. This study evaluates the annual and sustainability reports of 380 Indian, 400 Chinese and 400 USA companies from five highly polluting industries on the basis of GRI (global reporting initiatives) guidelines. From the result, it is inferred that the findings are consistent with the legitimacy theory. The result shows that the profitability and capital structure of firms in the sample do not affect the sustainability reporting practices significantly. In addition, larger firms have a tendency to disclose more information in their annual and sustainability reports than smaller firms.

Compliance in Sustainability Reporting

2019 ◽  
pp. 38-65
Author(s):  
Svetlana Snezhko ◽  
Ali Coskun
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Positive Trend ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Main Achievement ◽  
Corporate Reporting ◽  
Sustainability Reports

The research is aimed at assessing the benefits of compliance for corporate sustainability and sustainable development. The main achievement of the research is the outcome of the survey on companies' public reports to identify the trends and measure the progress achieved in disclosing information on compliance. There are both business and public drivers for disclosure of compliance information in non-financial reporting. Best practices in disclosing information on compliance by the company-leaders were revealed. There is a positive trend in the expansion of information on compliance in sustainability reports in recent years. Some problematic areas in reporting on compliance were identified. The outcomes of the research call for companies to disclose information on compliance in a more explicit way. The results may be valid for the improvement of corporate reporting practices.

Sustainability reporting – more global than local?

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 478-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sashika Abeydeera ◽  
Helen Tregidga ◽  
Kate Kearins
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Global Institutions ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Sustainability Practices ◽  
A Site

Purpose In recognition of the potential for Buddhism to advance sustainability, this paper aims to investigate whether Buddhism appears to be informing the sustainability practices of corporations within a particular national context. Corporate sustainability reports are used as a site of analysis. Design/methodology/approach Sixteen corporate sustainability reports from a set of sustainability award-winning corporations in Sri Lanka, a country with a strong Buddhist presence, are analysed. Evidence of Buddhist principles and values related to sustainability is sought to ascertain the extent to which Buddhism is evident in disclosures within the reports. The influence of global institutions is also considered. Findings Analysis reveals surprisingly little evidence of Buddhist principles and values in the corporate sustainability reports of these award-winning corporations. Sustainability reporting practices are revealed to be highly institutionalised by global influences, with the majority of the reports examined explicitly embracing global standardisation. The standardisation of corporate sustainability reporting through the pursuit of globally accepted reporting frameworks is argued to have caused a disconnect between Buddhism as a prevalent institutional force in the local culture and context and the corporate representations evident in such reporting. Potential consequences of this disconnect in relation to the ability for Buddhism to inform sustainability practices at the organisational level are considered. Originality/value The paper contributes to the literature on corporate sustainability reporting through considering whether local cultural context is represented within such reports and possible reasons and consequences.

Tamed Transparency: How Information Disclosure under the Global Reporting Initiative Fails to Empower

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 74-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Dingwerth ◽  
Margot Eichinger
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Voluntary Disclosure ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Reporting Scheme ◽  
Corporate World ◽  
Four Levels ◽  
The Relationship

In this contribution, we explore the tensions that seem inherent in the claim that transparency policies “empower” the users of disclosed information vis-àvis those who are asked to provide the information. Since these tensions are particularly relevant in relation to voluntary disclosure, our analysis focuses on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) as the world's leading voluntary corporate non-financial reporting scheme. Corporate sustainability reporting is often hailed as a powerful instrument to improve the environmental performance of business and to empower societal groups, including consumers, in their relations with the corporate world. Yet, our analysis illustrates that the relationship between transparency and empowerment is conflictual at all four levels of activity examined in this article: in the rhetoric and policies of the GRI as well as in the actual reporting practice and in the activities of intermediaries in response to the organization's disclosure standard.

Impression Management in Sustainability Reports: An Empirical Investigation of the Use of Graphs

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. Cho ◽  
Giovanna Michelon ◽  
Dennis M. Patten
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Impression Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Social And Environmental Disclosure ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Social And Environmental Performance

ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether firms use graphs in their sustainability reports in order to present a more favorable view of their social and environmental performance. Further, because prior research indicates that companies use social and environmental disclosure as a tool to reduce their exposure to social and political pressures (the legitimacy argument), we also examine whether differences in the extent of impression management are associated with differences in social and environmental performance. Based on an analysis of graphs in sustainability reports for a sample of 77 U.S. companies for 2006, we find considerable evidence of favorable selectivity bias in the choice of items graphed, and moderate evidence that where distortion in graphing occurs, it also has a favorable bias. Our results regarding the relation between impression management and performance are mixed. Whereas we find that graphs of social items in sustainability reports for companies with worse social performance exhibit more impression management, no significant relation between environmental performance and impression management in the use of environmental graphs is found. Overall, our results provide additional evidence that corporate sustainability reporting, as it currently exists, appears to be more about fostering positive public relations than providing a meaningful accounting of the social and environmental impacts of the firm.

scholarly journals Sustainability Reporting and Firm Performance: The Demonstration of Pakistani Firms

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824402095318
Author(s):  
Xie Hongming ◽  
Bilal Ahmed ◽  
Arif Hussain ◽  
Alam Rehman ◽  
Irfan Ullah ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Firm Performance ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Corporate Strategy ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Composite Effect ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Sustainability Practices ◽  
The Impact

The nexus between sustainability and firm performance is an area of debate among researchers and academicians. The objective of this study is to examine the level and extent of sustainable financial reporting for non-financial firms in Pakistan and to assess the level of the impact of sustainable financial reporting on firm performance in Pakistan. This study is a novel research work as the sustainability practices are not mandatory in many Pakistani firms. Rather kinds of mix sustainability reporting practices are being practiced. The dilemma still exists whether sustainability practices affect the performance of Pakistani firms positively or not. We collect data from the sustainability reports as well as annual reports of 50 non-financial public limited companies listed in Pakistan Stock Exchange for the period 2013 to 2017. We calculate sustainability reporting index using content analysis procedure based on 42 indicators. The index is based on three subindices, namely, environmental, health and safety, and social indicators. We apply two regression models with a view to ascertain the individual effect of each indicator of the sustainability as well as the composite effect of sustainability reporting index on firm performance. The results confirm positive effects of all three individual indicators as well as the composite form of sustainability reporting index on firm performance. The findings of the study clearly outline the economic relevance for introducing the corporate sustainability reporting practices in corporate strategy.

scholarly journals Evolution of decision usefulness of sustainability reports

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-28
Author(s):  
Peter Nasiema Kamala
Keyword(s):  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Listed Companies ◽  
Dramatic Improvement ◽  
Legitimacy Theory ◽  
The Public ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Decision Usefulness ◽  
Sustainability Reports

This paper provides a historical context to sustainability reporting practices of listed companies by tracing their origin and developments to determine whether such developments have resulted in decision useful reports. Using a literature review, this paper highlights the developments in the sustainability reporting practices from the 1960s to date. The findings are interpreted using the lens of legitimacy theory. The findings indicate a dramatic improvement in the decision usefulness of sustainability reports produced by listed companies from the deceptive advertisements by companies in the 1960’s to relevant, reliable, timely, comparable, verifiable and understandable reports in year 2012. The findings further suggest a change in legitimizing strategies from manipulation of the public to an attempt to genuinely educate and inform the public, which confirms the explanatory power of legitimacy theory in explaining voluntary sustainability reporting. This paper makes a number of original contributions to the literature that attempts to explain the motives of sustainabi-lity reporting. First, it is one of the few studies that have employed legitimacy theory to explain the evolution of sustainability reports. Second, it is unique in that it uses legitimacy theory to explain the evolution of decision usefulness of sustainability reports

Matter of opinion

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 1043-1072 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenni Puroila ◽  
Hannele Mäkelä
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Rational Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Sustainability Reports

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the socio-political role of materiality assessment in sustainability reporting literature and discuss the potential of materiality assessment to advance more inclusive accounting and reporting practices, in particular critical dialogic accounting. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on literature on the concept of materiality together with insights from stakeholder engagement, commensuration and critical dialogic accounting the paper analyses disclosure on materiality in sustainability reports. Empirically, qualitative content analysis is used to analyse 44 sustainability reports from the leading companies. Findings The authors argue that, first, the technic-rational approach to materiality portrays the assessment as a neutral and value-free measurement, and second, the materiality matrix presents the multiple stakeholders as having a unified understanding of what is considered important in corporate sustainability. Thus, the technic-rational approach to the materiality assessment, reinforced with the use of the matrix is a value-laden judgement of what matters in corporate sustainability and narrows down rather than opens up the complexity of the assessment of material sustainability issues, stakeholder engagement and the societal pursuit of sustainable development. Originality/value The understandings and implications of the concept of materiality are ambiguous and wide-reaching, as, through constituting the legitimised set of claims and information on corporate sustainable performance, it impacts our understanding of sustainable development at large, and affects the corporate and policy-level transition towards sustainability. Exploring insights from critical dialogic accounting help us to elaborate on the conceptions and practical implications of materiality assessment that enhance stakeholder engagement in a democratic, rather than managerial, spirit.

Progression in Corporate Sustainability Reporting

2010 ◽  
pp. 289-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralf Isenmann
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Data Exchange ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Content Management ◽  
Reference Architecture ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Document Structure ◽  
Environmental Informatics ◽  
Sustainability Reports

In corporate reporting, greater internet use, reports available on the world wide web (WWW) and movements towards a more balanced reporting approach have become the most noticeable trends since the inception of sustainability reporting in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. While early sustainability reports merely have been available on print media, today most are accessible on the WWW as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) files. Such a layout oriented data format, however, does not seem to be sufficient any longer, especially in terms of content-syndication, harmonization, efficiencies, future ICT requirements, stakeholders’ reporting expectations, and data exchange, be it inside and outside the companies. Hence, reference architecture for sustainability reports built on XBRL (eXtensible Businesses Reporting Language) is proposed. This development is based on a research initiative embedded in the German Environmental Informatics community. The proposed document structure within the reference architecture particularly meets the requirements of the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) sustainability reporting guidelines (G3). While developing the document structure, an existing XBRL FRTA (Financial Reporting Taxonomies Architecture) - common for business financial reporting- was used. Such a unifying document structure is a key for advanced reporting systems, particularly for current ICT applications like (web) content management systems. Using the reference architecture offers an impressive array of benefits, e.g. it helps: to facilitate data exchange between reporters and report users, to improve a company’s information management, to support its reporting workflow, and to refine communication with its target groups in a meaningful way.

scholarly journals Performance indicators in CSR and sustainability reports in Hungary

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 137-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Karcagi-Kováts
Keyword(s):  
Financial Performance ◽  
Performance Indicators ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
External Pressure ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Selection Processes ◽  
The Media ◽  
Sustainability Reports

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Corporate Sustainability reporting is a relatively new phenomenon in Hungary. As the external pressure from the civil society, public authorities and the media has so far been fairly low, this important corporate activity emerged only at the beginning of the last decade. In spite of this, several pioneering companies have started to publish information on its environmental and social performance in recent years. CSR and sustainability reports are seen increasingly as strategic documents that offer a balanced, objective, and comprehensive assessment of a firm’s non-financial performance. In 2008 and 2009, more than a third of the 100 largest companies reported on their non-financial results (most of them were GRI based reports). In 2010, sixty-one organisations published a report about their non- financial performance, and 22 of these for only the first time. The aim of this paper is to present recent attempts to use indicators in CSR and sustainability reports. On the basis of a detailed review of 70 CSR/sustainability reports published during the last 9 years in Hungary, an analysis was made on the performance indicators appearing in the reports. The motivations of indicator selection processes was analysed and the intended roles of indicator set in communication and strategy design was presented. The significance of and limits to the proposed indicators was discussed.

scholarly journals Moving from Social and Sustainability Reporting to Integrated Reporting: Exploring the Potential of Italian Public-Funded Universities’ Reports

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3172
Author(s):  
Sara Giovanna Mauro ◽  
Lino Cinquini ◽  
Elena Simonini ◽  
Andrea Tenucci
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Public Universities ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Multiple Forms ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Public Sector Organizations ◽  
Sustainability Reports

Over recent years, the meaning of accountability has evolved and has reshaped what public sector institutions are expected to account for and how. Consequently, a large number of initiatives have emerged promoting non-financial reporting. In this context, public universities have started to experiment with sustainability reporting initiatives, but these efforts are still limited and challenged by the parallel development of multiple forms of reporting, which include integrated reporting (IR). IR has been interpreted as a further step in the reporting journey, suitable for representing the creation of public value and addressing accountability pressures. The current research aims at understanding if and how IR constitutes a feasible next step for improving the reporting practices of public universities. For this purpose, the research carries out a content analysis of social or sustainability reports written by a number of Italian public universities to find out which of the key elements of IR have already been included in such reports. Results show that some of those elements are already included, but often in a fragmented and non-homogeneous way. The findings pave the way for further considerations on how the potential adoption of IR may strengthen the value of social and sustainability reporting by integrating the information reported in different documents, fostering toward a bureaucracy that is more sustainable and providing more opportunities of innovation in reports on public sector organizations’ accountability.

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