Social responsibility-related governance disclosure: exploration of managerial perspective in a developing country
ISSN: 0114-0582
Article publication date: 5 July 2021
Issue publication date: 17 August 2021
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore corporate managers’ perspectives regarding the disclosure (non-disclosure) of social- and environment-related governance information.
Design/methodology/approach
Insights into corporate managers’ perspectives are explored by conducting in-depth personal interviews with senior corporate executives of textile and garment companies in Bangladesh.
Findings
This study establishes that the use of traditional media, such as corporate annual reports, for corporate social responsibility (CSR)-related governance information disclosure can be limited in particular situations, including the case of garment companies, wherein the provision of extensive governance information is necessary, and the information users find special purpose reports, e.g. social audit reports, more comprehensive, credible, and beneficial than annual reports. The results reveal that corporate managers of Bangladeshi supply companies are motivated by financial returns, and they aspire to ensure that buyers (powerful stakeholders) obtain the required CSR-related governance information; this is neither driven by corporate accountability nor transparency. Upon using the managerial branch of the stakeholder theory, the result of this study shows that corporate managers are influenced by powerful stakeholders when they make decisions vis-à-vis the provision of CSR-related governance information.
Originality/value
This study provides an implication for academics and practitioners toward understanding that corporate managers often provide substantive disclosures of CSR-related governance information through alternative media that have not been previously documented in the literature. Herein, a metaphor – veil – is used to illustrate the visibility gap between societal expectations and managers’ perspectives.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This paper has been enriched by some comments and suggestions from Professor Craig Deegan (RMIT University), Professor Ataur Belal (University of Sheffield), and Professor Zahirul Hoque (La Trobe University) on various occasions. An earlier version of this paper was presented in the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) Conference held in Darwin, Australia, 2011, and in the Seventh Asia Pacific Interdisciplinary Research in Accounting (APIRA) Conference held in Kobe, Japan, 2013. Some of the relevant comments and suggestions from the conference attendees were subsequently incorporated. The author is most grateful to the editor of Pacific Accounting Review for providing the opportunity for this paper to be considered for further reviews. Finally, the author is indebted to two anonymous reviewers for their sincere comments and suggestions to make this paper publishable.
Citation
Kamal, Y. (2021), "Social responsibility-related governance disclosure: exploration of managerial perspective in a developing country", Pacific Accounting Review, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 435-458. https://doi.org/10.1108/PAR-08-2020-0105
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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