scholarly journals The Role of Disability and Accessibility in Corporate Sustainability Reporting

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Vogelauer ◽  
David M. Herold ◽  
Elmar Fuerst
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Management Tool ◽  
Critical Elements ◽  
Corporate Reporting ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Flexible Management

Abstract Although companies increasingly focus on the social dimension in corporate sustainability, there seems to be a lack of understanding how and to what extent disability and accessibility frameworks and activities are integrated in corporate sustainability reports. In this article, we aim to close this gap by (a) analysing the disability and accessibility (D&A) activities from the largest 50 companies in Europe based on their corporate sustainability reports, and (b) advancing a simplified conceptual framework for D&A that can be used in corporate reporting. In particular, we provide an overview about corporate D&A reporting and associated activities according to three identified areas: (a) workforce, (b) workplace, and (c) products and services. Our findings are twofold: First, the majority of the companies address D&A in their corporate sustainability reports mainly under the diversity umbrella, but lack a detailed debate about the three identified areas. Second, we found that existing frameworks for D&A are hardly used because either they are not focused on corporate reporting or seem too difficult or complicated to complete. Thus, our framework not only represents a first opportunity to foster the implementation of a D&A framework within the social dimension of corporate sustainability reports, but also presents a holistic yet flexible management tool that takes into account the most critical elements while shaping implementation, directing evaluation and encouraging future planning of D&A initiatives. As such, this study contributes to and extends the limited amount of research of D&A activities in the social dimension in corporate sustainability reporting.

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.

Assessing sustainability reports of US universities

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1158-1184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remmer Sassen ◽  
Leyla Azizi
Keyword(s):  
Social Performance ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Incentives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
The University ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess sustainability reports of US universities to provide findings on the relative importance of disclosure topics. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted content analysis by using a specific university-oriented catalogue of indicators to cover the specific sustainability-related aspects of this sector. Findings Sustainability reporting by universities is still in its early stages. The findings show a clear focus on the environmental dimension, whereas the university and the economic dimensions see lower levels of reporting. The social dimension is rarely addressed. Research limitations/implications Future research could use the results of this study as a basis for investigating stakeholder expectations towards universities’ sustainability reporting and developing university-specific sustainability reporting standards. Practical implications The results could be used to improve universities’ sustainability reporting, as “good” practices are now readily available. Social implications The level of reporting on the social dimension is very low. Therefore, developing political incentives to improve universities’ social performance might be of interest. Originality/value The investigated setting is unique and contributes several findings in a less-researched area along with several practical, social and research implications.

Hard and soft sustainability disclosures: Australia’s resources industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tricia Ong ◽  
Terri Trireksani ◽  
Hadrian Geri Djajadikerta
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Environmental Index ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Scoring Index

Purpose Although studies in corporate sustainability have been vastly growing, there has been an increasing demand for more industry-specific sustainability reporting studies to develop a greater understanding of industry differences in sustainability reporting practice. This study aims to measure the quality of sustainability disclosures in the current leading environmentally sensitive industry in Australia – the resources industry. Design/methodology/approach A scoring index was developed to measure economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainability by integrating the fundamental principles of the hard and soft disclosure items from Clarkson et al.’s (2008) environmental index into the social and economic aspects of the Global Reporting Initiative framework. Subsequently, the index was used to assess sustainability disclosures in the annual and sustainability reports of resources companies in Australia. Findings The main findings show that companies report more of soft disclosure items than the hard ones. It is also found that companies report most sustainability information in the economic aspect rather than the social and the environmental aspects of sustainability. Most companies disclose sustainability information in their annual reports with few companies producing stand-alone sustainability reports. Originality/value This study addresses the need for more industry-specific sustainability studies by focusing on Australia’s resources industry. It also contributes to the lack of an existing tool to measure disclosures based on companies’ true contributions to sustainability by developing a new scoring index for hard and soft sustainability disclosures, which includes all three aspects of sustainability (i.e. economic, environmental and social).

scholarly journals Understanding sustainability for socially responsible investing and reporting

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 10-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianne Bradford ◽  
Julia B. Earp ◽  
Paul F. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Global Reporting Initiative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Behavior ◽  
Good Citizen ◽  
Responsible Investing ◽  
Reporting Structure ◽  
Sustainability Reports

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to determine what types of sustainability activities companies are reporting and whether persons external to the companies understand how those reported activities correspond to the companies’ narratives about sustainability. That is to ascertain how people interpret the meaning of the activities included in the sustainability reports. Design/methodology/approach From a sample of sustainability reports prepared by Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, the authors identified the distinct activities reported. The authors prepared a survey comprised of these activities and asked a sample of people knowledgeable about business and investing to evaluate each activity on the extent to which they are relevant to sustainability performance. The responses were then factor analyzed to identify the most important dimensions of sustainability these persons employed to relate the activities to sustainability. Findings The dimensions employed by the subjects differed in some significant ways from those dimensions used to construct the GRI format. Subjects evaluated sustainability efforts as primarily efforts of being a good citizen with sustainability an end in itself rather than as constraint to be respected in achieving profitability goals. Research limitations/implications The study is a first attempt so results are preliminary, i.e. suggestive but not definitive. Though preliminary an intriguing implication is that closure on a sustainability reporting structure would be premature. More effort needs to be devoted to provide more clarity on the concept of corporate sustainability and what its implications are for corporate behavior. Practical implications Given the results that sustainability be regarded as a corporate end, what is the role of the corporation in society seems still to be disputatious. Sustainability may not be something achievable without changes in corporate law. Originality/value The study is an early attempt to assess the potential alternative narratives about corporate sustainability. Its value lies in providing insights into the age-old question of what should be the role of the corporation in a free society.

scholarly journals Why “Less is More” in Non-Financial Reporting Initiatives: Concrete Steps Towards Supporting Sustainability

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgina Tsagas ◽  
Charlotte Villiers
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Integrated Reporting ◽  
Less Is More ◽  
Csr Reporting ◽  
Corporate Reporting ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Key Aspects

AbstractCalls are repeatedly made on corporations to respond to the challenges facing the planet from a sustainable development perspective and governments take solace in the idea that corporations' transparency on their corporate activity in relation to sustainability through voluntary reporting is adequately addressing the problem. In practice, however, reporting is failing to deliver truly sustainable results. The article considers the following questions: how does the varied reporting landscape in the field of non-financial reporting impede the objectives of fostering corporations' sustainable practices and which initiative, among the options available, may best meet the sustainability objectives after a decluttering of the landscape takes place?The article argues that the varied corporate reporting landscape constitutes a key obstacle to fostering sustainable corporate behaviour, insofar as the flexible and please all approach followed in the context of corporate sustainability reporting offers little to no real incentive to companies to behave more sustainably and ultimately pleases none in the long run. The case made is that “less is more” in non-financial reporting initiatives and hence the article calls for a revision of key aspects of the European Non-Financial Reporting Directive, which, as is argued, is more likely to achieve the furtherance of sustainable corporate behaviour. Although the different reporting requirements offer the benefits of focussing on different corporate goals and activities, targeting different audiences and allowing for a level of flexibility that respects the individual risks to sustainability associated with each industry, the end result is a landscape that lacks overall consistency and comparability of measurements and accountabilities, making accountability more, rather than less, difficult to achieve.The article acknowledges the existence of several variances relating to the notion of sustainability per se, which continues to remain a contested concept and variances between companies and industries in relation to how each is operating sustainably or unsustainably respectively. Such variances have so far inhibited the legislator from easily outlining through tailored legislation the individual risks to global sustainability in an all-encompassing manner. The end product is a chaotic system of financial reporting, CSR reporting, non-financial reporting and integrated reporting and little progress to increase comparability and credibility in order for companies to be held accountable and to behave in ways that do not harm the planet. A “clean up” of the varied initiatives in the terrain of non-financial reporting is recommended.

Characteristics of UK higher education institutions that disclose sustainability reports

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1279-1298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Remmer Sassen ◽  
Dominik Dienes ◽  
Johanna Wedemeier
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Uk Higher Education

Purpose This study aims to focus on the following research question: Which institutional characteristics are associated with sustainability reporting by UK higher education institutions? Design/methodology/approach To answer the aforementioned research question, this study uses logistic regression. Findings The results show that 17 per cent of the UK higher education institutions report on their sustainability (July 2014). In line with legitimacy and stakeholder theory, logistic regressions provide evidence that the larger the size of the institution, the higher the probability of reporting. By contrast, high public funding decreases this probability. Research limitations/implications The findings show characteristics of higher education institutions that support or hamper sustainability reporting. Overall, the findings imply a lack of institutionalisation of sustainability reporting among higher education institutions. Originality/value Although a lot of research has been done on corporate sustainability reporting, only a small number of studies have addressed the issues of sustainability reporting of higher education institutions. This study covers all sustainability reports disclosed among the 160 UK higher education institutions. It is the first study that investigates characteristics of higher education institutions that disclose a sustainability report.

scholarly journals Caracterizando a participação do profissional contábil no contexto da sustentabilidade empresarial

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 889-912
Author(s):  
Maria Luíza Farias Diniz ◽  
Aldo Leonardo Cunha Callado
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Indicators ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
Social Dimensions ◽  
Economic Dimension ◽  
Business Sustainability ◽  
The Social ◽  
A Company

Resumo: Com a preocupação de as empresas se manterem no mercado em longo prazo, passou a ser adotada por algumas organizações uma estratégia voltada à adesão a práticas sustentáveis. Com isso, o profissional contábil pode gerar ou gerenciar informações que auxiliarão no processo de resultados voltados à sustentabilidade. Assim, nesta pesquisa buscou-se responder à seguinte questão: de que forma o profissional contábil participa dos indicadores de sustentabilidade? Diante dessa problemática, o objetivo com o trabalho foi verificar a participação do profissional contábil em aspectos associados aos indicadores de sustentabilidade em uma empresa pertencente ao setor gráfico. A sustentabilidade empresarial foi mensurada a partir do Grid de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (GSE) que integra as dimensões ambiental, econômica e social. A participação do profissional contábil foi analisada a partir de ações voltadas ao planejamento, execução, controle e tomada de decisão dos indicadores de sustentabilidade. Esta pesquisa pode ser caracterizada como descritiva, exploratória e qualitativa, adotando a estratégia de estudo de caso, e foi desenvolvida a partir da aplicação de um questionário estruturado com realização de entrevista e visita técnica com a finalidade de observar in loco as ações mencionadas. A empresa investigada apresentou um resultado classificado como Sustentabilidade Empresarial Relativa, uma vez que possui resultados positivos nas dimensões econômica e social da sustentabilidade. Observou-se, ainda, que o profissional da Contabilidade participa de 14 indicadores dos 43 definidos pelo modelo, sendo quatro da dimensão ambiental, oito da dimensão econômica e dois da dimensão social. Diante do resultado, destaca-se a participação do contador em resultados associados ao desempenho da sustentabilidade empresarial (por meio dos indicadores) na organização analisada.Palavras-chave: Contabilidade gerencial. Profissional contábil. Sustentabilidade empresarial.Characterizing the participation of the accounting professional in the context of corporate sustainabilityAbstract: With the concern of companies to remain in the market in the long term, a strategy has been adopted by some organizations aimed at adhering to sustainable practices. With this, the accounting professional can generate or manage information that will help in the process of results oriented towards sustainability. Thus, this research sought to answer the following question: How does the accounting professional participate in sustainability indicators? In view of this problem, the objective of the study was to verify the participation of the accounting professional in aspects associated to the sustainability indicators in a company belonging to the graphic sector. . Business sustainability was measured based on the Corporate Sustainability Grid (CSG) that integrates the environmental, economic and social dimensions. The participation of the accounting professional was analyzed based on actions aimed at the planning, execution, control and decision making of the sustainability indicators. This research can be characterized as descriptive, exploratory and qualitative, adopting the case study strategy, and it was developed from the application of a structured questionnaire with interviews and technical visits with the purpose of observing the mentioned actions in loco. The company investigated presented a result classified as Relative Business Sustainability, since it has positive results in the economic and social dimensions of sustainability. It was observed that the accounting professional participates in 14 indicators of the 43 defined by the model, four of the environmental dimension, eight of the economic dimension and two of the social dimension. In view of the result, the accountant's participation in results associated to the performance of corporate sustainability (through the indicators) in the analyzed organization stands out.Keywords: Management accounting. Accounting professional. Corporate sustainability.

scholarly journals Language in social reproduction: Sociolinguistics and sociosemiotics

2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 43-81
Author(s):  
Patrizia Calefato
Keyword(s):  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Sixties ◽  
Roman Jakobson ◽  
New Type ◽  
General Linguistics ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

This paper focuses on the semiotic foundations of sociolinguistics. Starting from the definition of “sociolinguistics” given by the philosopher Adam Schaff, the paper examines in particular the notion of “critical sociolinguistics” as theorized by the Italian semiotician Ferruccio Rossi-Landi. The basis of the social dimension of language are to be found in what Rossi-Landi calls “social reproduction” which regards both verbal and non-verbal signs. Saussure’s notion of langue can be considered in this way, with reference not only to his Course of General Linguistics, but also to his Harvard Manuscripts.The paper goes on trying also to understand Roland Barthes’s provocative definition of semiology as a part of linguistics (and not vice-versa) as well as developing the notion of communication-production in this perspective. Some articles of Roman Jakobson of the sixties allow us to reflect in a manner which we now call “socio-semiotic” on the processes of transformation of the “organic” signs into signs of a new type, which articulate the relationship between organic and instrumental. In this sense, socio-linguistics is intended as being sociosemiotics, without prejudice to the fact that the reference area must be human, since semiotics also has the prerogative of referring to the world of non-human vital signs.Socio-linguistics as socio-semiotics assumes the role of a “frontier” science, in the dual sense that it is not only on the border between science of language and the anthropological and social sciences, but also that it can be constructed in a movement of continual “crossing frontiers” and of “contamination” between languages and disciplinary environments.

Materiality disclosure in sustainability reporting: fostering stakeholder engagement

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sie Bing Ngu ◽  
Azlan Amran
Keyword(s):  
Stakeholder Engagement ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Corporate Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate World ◽  
Reporting Process ◽  
Global Companies ◽  
Sustainability Reports ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to illustrate that stakeholder engagement is a fundamental step of the sustainability reporting process, as it assists in defining the materiality and relevance of the information communicated and enhances greater transparency and greater accountability to stakeholders. Findings In today’s corporate world, the role of stakeholder engagement has been recognized as being significant in completing the process for materiality disclosure in sustainability reporting, and it has become one of the vital elements in advancing sustainable development in the corporate sector. The materiality approach has been recommended as the instrument for scoping and defining the content for sustainability reporting or reports that only disclose issues that are considered material from the perspective of the stakeholders. This is relevant to both businesses and stakeholders. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the leading global companies in preparing their sustainability reports.

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.

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