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New public management changes in both the Australian and Italian government sectors have affected their modus operandi. This research aims to illustrate how the balanced scorecard (BSC) has been used in both Italian and Australian local government organisations (LGO), focusing on implementation and practice.

A case study method is applied which was chosen to illustrate the use of the BSC model in both an Australian and an Italian LGO. These specific organisations were chosen as the authors are familiar with their experiments with the BSC.

The main finding was that the BSC was used internally in both the Italian and Australian cases and little material was used for an external accountability reporting technology.

The analysis is limited to two LGOs locations, thus no generalisation can be implied.

Few studies have reviewed, in the public sector, BSC practices, particularly for local governments.

The aim of this study is to shed light on the mechanisms involved in, and consequences of, developing a sustainability report in a small to medium enterprise.

Action research is used to provide insights into the initial stages of the development of the sustainability report and its consequences. “Mike” is an Italian small organisation with a sustainability orientation selling products and services about wellness and health. It decided to develop a sustainability report in 2013.

The authors find that the organisation’s initial aim to report on its sustainability later extended beyond disclosure to using the information to enhance its sustainable development approach and awareness, consider long-term planning, support strategy-making based on the sustainable development concept and establish and enhance its reputation.

This research is limited to the analysis of only one small Italian organisation and as such cannot claim generalisability of its findings.

The findings indicate that the sustainability initiative of this organisation, while originally focussed on reporting, evolved into strategy and planning. Managers in similar organisations may learn from this experience to focus on strategy-making and social and environmental value creation.

The study examines sustainability reporting in the previously overlooked area of small and medium enterprises.

The paper aims to study and compare the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) annual (AR) and intellectual capital reports (ICR) with an earlier study. The paper seeks to analyse the reporting practices of intellectual capital (IC) within this organisation.

The case study organisation is an Australian not‐for‐profit (NFP) organisation and the study took place over three years. A content analysis of ARCBS AR and ICR between 2002 and 2005 was conducted. Several interviews were conducted with a number of key ARBCS staff during 2006 to identify why and how they reported IC information.

The findings indicate a greater focus on internal and external capital with less focus on human capital. The frequency with which certain internal, external and human capital elements occur in ARCBS reports can be explained by macro, meso and micro factors which affect the organisation and influence the information it provides to its stakeholders. It was found that the AR addressed the concerns of multiple stakeholder groups, whereas the ICR are more targeted towards specific audiences.

This paper examines ICR and IC frameworks in the context of the NFP sector. Few prior studies consider this sector.