Suchergebnisse

AbstractThe aim of the article is to investigate the quality of stakeholder engagement (SE) in sustainability reporting (SR). The first part analyses the role of SE in SR according to the literature: SE is a fundamental step of the reporting process because of its role in defining materiality and relevance of the information communicated. The second part of the paper is dedicated to an empirical analysis of a sample of sustainability reports. The analysis showed that what is really applied in a wide majority of the cases is a stakeholder management approach rather than an SE approach. In the light of the above, questions for the future are if SE is moving from being a simple way to consult and influence stakeholders to an effective instrument for involving them in the company's decision making, through a mutual commitment. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

In a context of growing social and environmental concerns, the role of large enterprises and corporations in encouraging sustainability has drawn increasing attention in recent years. Both academic debates and public-opinion research have called into question the extended responsibilities of firms in our increasingly inter-connected world. By studying issues associated with the greatest challenges mankind is currently facing -- from climate change to social exclusion -- the scientific community is aware of the need to account for the actions and agendas of companies, especially large ones. They are becoming important global political actors with great power, but also unprecedented responsibilities. With this in mind, the authors believe that it is more important than ever that large enterprises, on the one hand, take into account the opinion of their stakeholder while defining their strategies and, on the other hand, disclose material and relevant information on their ability to contribute to sustainability while delivering value for all of their stakeholders. A consensus is being reached on the responsibility of large enterprises to report in a triple bottom perspective -- not only on their financial performances, but also on their social and environmental outcomes. Consequently, it is important to understand what elements organizations need to report on in order to provide stakeholders with relevant and comprehensive sustainability reports.? Against this background, this book presents a significant and original contribution, both empirically and theoretically, to the social and environmental accounting literature by studying the various features of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reporting.

Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability Reporting- Front Cover -- Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability Reporting -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Foreword by Linda Thorne -- Acknowledgements -- Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Business and sustainability -- 2.1 Enterprises' extended role in society -- 2.2 The path to integrated reporting -- 2.3 The concept of sustainability -- Chapter 3: Materiality in sustainability reporting -- 3.1 Social and environmental sustainability reporting -- 3.2 The topic of materiality and its relevance for sustainability reporting -- Chapter 4: A theory of stakeholder engagement -- 4.1 Stakeholder theory -- 4.2 The process of stakeholder engagement -- 4.3 Stakeholder engagement for sustainability reporting -- 4.4 A review of stakeholder engagement tools -- Chapter 5: An empirical overview of stakeholder engagement in sustainability reports -- 5.1 Research context and objectives -- 5.2 Research design -- 5.3 Discussion of results -- Chapter 6: Conclusions -- Index.

This study uses theories on dialogic accounting to assess whether online interaction through social media is used as a mechanism of public information and stakeholder engagement by Canadian and American public transportation agencies. We embraced a quantitative methodology in which content analysis was performed on the Facebook and Twitter accounts of 35 transit operators in Canada and the United States. We categorized the contents of 1,222 Facebook posts and 2,615 tweets, assessed which level and what type of interaction was effectively reached for every category, tracked whether and how agencies reply to comments on their posts, and assessed the general tenor of the discussion. Our results show that public transportation agencies often take advantage of their presence on social media to provide the public with information on their services and to perform activities associated with stakeholder engagement. However, we have found some significant differences in the utilization of social media by public transportation agencies, all of which are discussed in the "Conclusion" section of this article. Twitter is most often used for public information messages, while Facebook appears to be used more to publish content in a dialogic perspective that creates two-way, collaborative conversations with users. In terms of practical implications, our study suggests that a broader and more continuous commitment to interaction between users and stakeholders on social media would create new opportunities for improving transparency and, indirectly, the services of public agencies.

The present study offers an empirical analysis of motivations for social reporting in voluntary organizations (VOs). Our concurrent mixed methods research design is supported by a questionnaire administered to all of the organizations listed in the regional registry of VOs in Tuscany. Analysis of the scores associated with each set of motivations suggests that VOs issue social reports to offer a truthful representation of the organization's activities, provide relevant information to stakeholders, and conduct an effective form of internal control. Our findings suggest that many of these motivations connect with each other and produce less conflict among VOs than they do among for-profit organizations, thereby highlighting some peculiar characteristics of these types of organizations. By studying the theoretical perspectives that better correspond to the motivations of Italian VOs, our study contributes to the literature by providing a more complete understanding of why these organizations decide to issue a social report.