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1 – 10 of 43
Article
Publication date: 1 March 1982

Richard D. Baumann and David A. Wilmshurst

The first production implementation of the General Motors Consight vision system at the St. Catherines, Ontario, foundry is successfully sorting up to six different castings at up…

Abstract

The first production implementation of the General Motors Consight vision system at the St. Catherines, Ontario, foundry is successfully sorting up to six different castings at up to 1,400 an hour from a belt conveyor using three industrial robots in a harsh manufacturing environment.

Details

Sensor Review, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0260-2288

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2016

Olivia Giles and Daniel Murphy

This paper aims to explore any potential link between the corporate issue of a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) with a changed environmental, social and…

1007

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore any potential link between the corporate issue of a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) with a changed environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting focus as part of a complementary communicative legitimation strategy.

Design/methodology/approach

A longitudinal content analysis of the annual reports of three sample Australian corporations was undertaken, measuring changes in ESG disclosure levels and disclosure focus around the time a SLAPP was issued by each sample firm.

Findings

This paper provides support for the contention that both the number of ESG disclosures and the type of ESG disclosures changed after the sample firms issued SLAPPs.

Research limitations/implications

A number of limitations are identified within the paper, including difficulties identifying when SLAPPs are initiated.

Originality/value

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first investigation of the relationship between SLAPPs and ESG reporting, and this study helps open up a new area of research into how ESG reporting is used by corporations in a strategic manner.

Details

Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, vol. 7 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-8021

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2006

David Campbell, Geoff Moore and Philip Shrives

This paper seeks to address a gap in the literature in that it explores community disclosures in annual reports examining annual reports for 5 UK FTSE 100 sectors between, 1974…

3223

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to address a gap in the literature in that it explores community disclosures in annual reports examining annual reports for 5 UK FTSE 100 sectors between, 1974 and 2000.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample was bifurcated into types – those with higher public profile and those with lower public profile based on a measure of “proximity to end user”. Two approaches were adopted in the paper: longitudinal volumetric word count mean and frequency of disclosure by company.

Findings

The two approaches demonstrated that community disclosure was positively associated with public profile. The findings are consistent with reporting behaviour found in other categories of voluntary disclosure, where disclosure has been found to be associated with the presumed information demands of specific stakeholders. Additionally the research supported a legitimacy theory‐based explanation of cross‐sectional variability in community disclosures. Illustrative disclosures from a number of companies are also presented in the paper.

Research limitations/implications

Further areas of research are suggested by these findings. In addition to articulating the potential value of examining community disclosure patterns in other contexts (e.g. in other sectors and other national situations), and in other media (e.g. internet studies), the findings in this study suggest that there may be value in exploring the ways in which voluntary disclosure responds to other external structural variables.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper has been to show that a hitherto less‐analysed category of voluntary social disclosure (community disclosure) is cross‐sectionally responsive to the structural vulnerability of companies to issues associated with “general” social concern.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 March 2017

Heidi Sundin and David Andrew Brown

The purpose of this paper is to adopt an agency theory approach to investigate the integration of environmental issues into management control systems (MCS). Prior environmental…

2921

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to adopt an agency theory approach to investigate the integration of environmental issues into management control systems (MCS). Prior environmental accounting research has focussed on increasing organisations’ environmental accountability by “monitoring” through external reporting to stakeholders. However, this overlooks the alignment of agents’ interests within the firm.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative case study is undertaken in a large Australian listed property trust to investigate how agents’ interests may be integrated with environmental objectives through the use of MCS.

Findings

From the case an analytical framework is developed to illustrate how environmental issues are incorporated into organisational behaviour through MCS. The findings include, single objective environmental MCS; multiple objective MCS, which include priorities that specify environmental and economic trade-offs; and balancing MCS, which provide overarching decision-making principles without priorities.

Practical implications

The findings provide examples of how an organisation may integrate environmental issues across a range of MCS and the things to consider in doing so.

Originality/value

This paper draws on an agency perspective as an approach to incorporate environmental issues into MCS and to align behaviour. It explains a new way in which tensions can be managed. This study is one of the first to adopt the control package approach in investigating the incorporation of environmental issues in MCS.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Public Policy and Governance Frontiers in New Zealand
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83867-455-7

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1985

David J. Carson

Looks at the recent development of the teaching of marketing to the owners and managers of small business. Considers the requirements of education of small businesses and the…

Abstract

Looks at the recent development of the teaching of marketing to the owners and managers of small business. Considers the requirements of education of small businesses and the differences that arise. Investigates the attempts of the marketing group of the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland, to meet these requirements. Concludes that success for marketing educators can only be achieved by practising marketing in the design and conduct of their programmes.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 19 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 28 March 2022

Mumbi Maria Wachira and David Mutua Mathuva

Over the last few decades, corporate environmental reporting (CER) has received substantial attention due to complex societal and ecological challenges experienced at a global…

Abstract

Over the last few decades, corporate environmental reporting (CER) has received substantial attention due to complex societal and ecological challenges experienced at a global scale. While there has been growth in CER research across the world, we know very little of the state of CER research in Africa. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive literature review of CER in sub-Saharan Africa to demonstrate its current state, uncover gaps in extant studies and identify areas for further research in the region. We perform a metasearch on the Financial Times Top 50 journals in addition to wider analyses using African Journals Online (AJOL) and Google Scholar between 2008 and 2020. Though there is some progress in interrogating CER in the region, there is much leeway for further research into how public and private corporations provide an account for their interaction with nature. Extant studies have examined how CER is often subsumed within corporate social responsibility initiatives while other studies explore ways in which CER can provide accountability mechanisms in the mining sector of select countries. Important areas of future research include the influences of legal, cultural and political systems on the level of CER, the tensions between economic development driven by multinational corporations and the necessity for ecological protection. Finally, further research could investigate the role CER can play in encouraging specific corporate disclosures around GHG emissions, especially given global efforts being undertaken to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Details

Environmental Sustainability and Agenda 2030
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80262-879-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 September 2021

Yu Chih Chiang, Che-Jen Su, Hsin-Hsing Liao, Monica Chaudhary and Yi-Fang Lan

This paper aims to explore adolescents’ perceptions of child-parent dominance in family vacation decision-making (FVDM) by investigating child-parent relative influence (CPRI) and…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore adolescents’ perceptions of child-parent dominance in family vacation decision-making (FVDM) by investigating child-parent relative influence (CPRI) and responsibility-sharing (RS) within the family in regard to 15 vacation issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts Davis and Rigaux’s (1974) framework for identifying adolescents’ perceptions of child-parent dominance across a set of subjects concerning FVDM, by inspecting the distribution of family decision roles across 25 nations. This study then segments the issues regarding family vacations and nations, judging by CPRI and RS within the family. In addition, this paper introduces Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and diverse indices of development for each surveyed nation and compares their respective correlations with CPRI and RS at the national level.

Findings

The results, derived from data collected in 25 countries or territories, illustrate a climate of a parent-dominant-to-autonomous style of FVDM for all decision issues and all nations. Overall, both information availability and economizing attribute of issues are related to the democratization of FVDM. The relationship between the child-parent role distribution and national clusters varied across issue clusters. In addition, the paper found the national effectiveness more effective than the cultural dimension in explaining the dispersal of CPRI-RS profiles.

Originality/value

The data collected from 25 nations provide strong evidence for profiling child-parent dominance in FVDM. The data also serve as a basis for analyzing the role of sociocultural and ideological influences on child-parent dominance in FVDM, which was not established in previous research.

子女在家庭渡假决策中的主导地位:多国分析研究

中文摘要

目的

我们针对15个度假决策项目,调查青少年子女与父母的相对影响力(CPRI)和责任分担(RS),以探讨青少年在家庭渡假决策(FVDM)中相对于父母的支配地位的看法。

设计/方法/流程

我们应用戴维斯(Davis)和里加(Rigaux)发表于1974 年的理论架构,调查25国中家庭决策角色的分配情况,从而确定青少年在家庭渡假决策相关决策项目中,子女-父母主导地位之看法。此外,我们根据”相对影响力”和”责任分担”来分别区隔决策项目与国家。我们也应用霍夫斯泰德的文化维度和多元社会发展指数,比较它们与”相对影响力”和”责任分担”的相关性。

结果

从25个国家或地区收集的数据得出的结果表明,对于所有决策问题和所有国家来说,家庭渡假决策属于父母主导或自治风格的氛围。总体而言,资讯的可用性和问题的节约属性都与家庭渡假决策的民主化有关。子女-父母角色分布与国家集群之间的关系因决策项目集群而异。此外,我们发现,在解释”相对影响力-责任分担”侧像的分散方面,国家效能比文化维度更具影响力。

创意/价值

我们从25个国家/地区收集的数据为分析家庭渡假决策中子女-父母的主导地位提供了有力的证据。并分析社会文化和意识形态影响对家庭渡假决策中子女-父母主导地位的基础,在现有的文献中尚未被建立。

Propósito del articulo

Nosotros exploramos las percepciones adolescentes sobre la predominancia de padre e hijo en la toma de decisiones vacaciones en familiares (FVDM) mediante la investigación de la influencia relativa entre padres e hijos (CPRI) y la responsabilidad compartida (RS) dentro de la familia en relación con 15 temas de vacaciones.

Diseño/ metodología/enfoque

Adaptamos el sistema de David and Rigaux para identificar las percepciones de adolescentes sobre el dominio padre e Hijo en un conjunto de temas relacionados con la FVDM, mediante la inspección de la distribución de los roles de decisión familiar a través de 25 países. Luego, segmentamos los problemas relacionados con las vacaciones familiares y naciones, juzgando por CPRI y RS con la familia. Además, presentamos las dimensiones culturales de Hofstede y los diversos índices de desarrollo para cada sociedad encuestada y comparamos sus respectivas correlaciones con CPRI y RS a nivel nacional.

Resultados

Los resultados obtenidos de los casos recopilados en 25 países o territorios, ilustran un clima de estilo de FVDM de los padres en predominio autónomo para todos los temas de decisión y naciones. En general, tanto en los temas de disponibilidad de información como el atributo economizador están relacionadas con la democratización de la FVDM. La relación entre la distribución de roles de padres e hijos y los grupos nacionales vario entre los grupos temáticos. Además, encontramos que la eficacia nacional es más eficaz que la dimensión cultural para explicar la dispersión de los perfiles CPRI-RS.

Originalidad/valor

Nuestros datos recopilados de 25 países proporcionan pruebas sólidas para perfilar el dominio de padres e hijos en la FVDM. Los datos también sirven como base para analizar el papel de la influencias socioculturales e ideológicas en el predominio de padres e hijos en la FVDM, que no se estableció en investigaciones anteriores.

Article
Publication date: 26 April 2019

Katherine Leanne Christ, Kathyayini Kathy Rao and Roger Leonard Burritt

Given the impending introduction of legislation requiring large Australian listed companies to make supply chain disclosures about modern slavery, the paper aims to reveal current…

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Abstract

Purpose

Given the impending introduction of legislation requiring large Australian listed companies to make supply chain disclosures about modern slavery, the paper aims to reveal current voluntary practice. The purpose of this paper is to provide a benchmark for assessing the current engagement of large companies with modern slavery in Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

Institutional theory provides the foundation for assessing current voluntary practice in relation to modern slavery disclosures by large Australian listed companies. Content analysis is used to identify quantity and quality of modern slavery disclosures of the top 100 companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. The contents of annual and standalone reports available on websites, as well as other online disclosures, are examined using terms associated with modern slavery identified from the literature.

Findings

Evidence gathered about modern slavery disclosures by ASX 100 companies shows information in annual and standalone reports reveal far less than other disclosures on company websites. Overall, the volume and quality of disclosures are low and, where made, narrative. A wide range of themes on modern slavery are disclosed with bribery and corruption and human rights issues dominant. Although currently in line with institutional theory, as there appear to be mimetic processes encouraging disclosure, results support the idea that legislation is needed to encourage further engagement.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides a baseline of understanding about the volume and quality of modern slavery disclosures as a foundation for future research into the practices of Australian companies prior to the signalled introduction of legislation mandating reporting. It also identifies potential lines of research. The sample only examines large Australian listed companies which restricts generalisation from the results.

Originality/value

This is the first academic research paper to examine quantity and quality of modern slavery disclosures of large Australian companies. Results add support for the introduction of legislation by government.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2006

A. Salama, A. Cathcart, M. Andrews and R. Hall

This paper was motivated by the current debate over the voluntary approach to environmental disclosures in corporate annual reports and assesses the effectiveness of the current…

Abstract

This paper was motivated by the current debate over the voluntary approach to environmental disclosures in corporate annual reports and assesses the effectiveness of the current policy of voluntarism in the UK. A brief review of the relevant theories, which explain why managers might choose to voluntarily provide environmental responsibility information to parties outside the organisation, is presented. With this background, the paper then questions whether the UK government’s faith in voluntarism and the pursuit of best practice will be enough to generate any real change in current environmental reporting practices. We argue that voluntarism is not effective and that there is an urgent need to introduce strict governmental regulations on the information that must be disclosed and the form in which it should be presented in corporate annual reports as have been established in several other countries. In addition, further consideration is needed to achieve reforms in academic accounting education in order to improve corporate accountability and transparency in corporate annual reports. Organisations need to respond to the growing demands for corporate social and environmental responsibility and this will be possible with the support of an accounting profession that takes a more proactive approach to engaging with stakeholders. For this to happen, we need to rethink the focus of accounting and business education. We must move away from the dominant model, which treats accountancy as a set of techniques, towards a more holistic approach which recognises the social and environmental impacts of organisational activity.

Details

Social Responsibility Journal, vol. 2 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-1117

Keywords

1 – 10 of 43