Search results

This study aims to examine the influence and behaviour of the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG)/European Commission, and the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation/International Sustainability Standards Board in the standardisation of sustainability reporting arena and their implications for the Global Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) current position.

This paper draws on the arena concept, particularly the work of Renn (1992) and Georgakopoulous and Thomson (2008), to explore the EFRAG and the IFRS Foundation’s behaviour towards the standardisation of the sustainability reporting arena and their implications for the GRI’s current position. Further, the documents and public releases pertinent to the activities and output of the GRI, the EFRAG/European Commission and the IFRS Foundation are used. The documents are screened and analysed based on the key elements of arena concept that emerged, which includes “agenda, claims, network of bodies and group engaged, interaction and behaviour with arena issues (audience, materiality, scope and core priorities, purpose of reporting and relevance to sustainable development)”.

This study reveals the source of motivation and influence of the new standard setters in the sustainability reporting arena and documents the relevance of their behaviour as an actionable strategy to change the arena rule. Particularly, this paper demonstrates the perceived fall away from driving business behaviour towards the pursuit of sustainable development if the GRI and its standards cease to exist.

The pathway to achieve sustainable development and improve sustainability impact disclosure remains a debatable issue among policymakers and users of sustainability reporting standards. This study reconstructs the awareness of different dynamics at play inhibiting the harmonisation of sustainability reporting standardisation and the importance of the GRI in pursuing global sustainable development.

The pattern of behaviour and agenda of sustainability institutions and influential standard setters harnessed in this paper are aimed at enabling the existence of the rules that can uphold the primary focus of the sustainability reporting arena, particularly in achieving global sustainable development.

This paper furthers the understanding of the importance of the GRI in upholding the key tenets and traditional agenda of sustainability reporting and sustainable development.

The authors explore the behaviour and perspectives of SMEs' owners towards a greener economy and its implications for net zero carbon emissions target.

The authors draw on the mirroring concept and 26 semi-structured interviews with SMEs' owners and managers to provide insights and explore the misalignment between SMEs' actions and perceptions and the technical architecture (and requirements) of achieving net zero carbon emissions in the UK.

The authors find that SMEs lack trust and are sceptical about the government's net zero emissions agenda. The authors also find that lack of understanding and perceived benefits, and supply chain complexities (end-to-end emissions) are the key factors hindering SMEs interests in engaging with better carbon emissions management and environmental management system (EMS). Moreover, pressure from external stakeholders, particularly banks and customers, is a strong driver to draw SMEs more effectively with sustainability and environmental impact disclosure.

The sample is limited to 26 SMEs' owners operating in seven industries. Future research could explore the result in other industries. Further research could also investigate how the sustainability reports produced by SMEs are useful for different user groups' decision-making. This study reinforces the social constructionist approach to advance our understanding of SMEs' actions towards carbon emission management and EMS.

This study shows how government policies and SMEs' interests can be aligned to achieve the net zero carbon emissions target.

This is the first study to examine the perceptions and behaviour of SMEs towards the ongoing pursuit of a greener economy in the UK, including the key factors driving their actions and reasoning.

The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of two green leafy vegetables (Gongronema latifolium and Celosia argentea) on the hepatic biomarkers [Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) and Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST)], cardiac biomarkers [Creatine Kinase (CK) and Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH)] and histopathology of the heart of high-fat diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats, with the aim of evaluating the vegetables as functional foods.

Experimental diets consisted of Control Diet (CD), High-Fat Diet (HFD), High-Fat Diet with Blanched Celosia argentea (HCB), High-Fat Diet with Unblanched Celosia argentea (HCU), High-Fat diet with Blanched Gongronema latifolium (HGB) and High-Fat Diet with Unblanched Gongronema latifolium (HGU). Seventy-five albino male rats (weighing 180–200 g) were used. The animals were divided into 15 groups of five albino rats each. Animals in Groups 1, 2 and 3 were fed with CD, HFD only and HFD with Atorvastin (5 mg/kg b.w), respectively. Animals in Groups 4, 5 and 6 were fed with 5, 10 and 15% HCB, respectively. Animals in Groups 7, 8 and 9 were fed with 5, 10 and 15% HCU, respectively, whereas animals in Groups 10, 11 and 12 were fed with 5, 10 and 15% HGB, respectively, and animals in Groups 13, 14 and 15 were fed with 5, 10 and 15% diet-inclusion of HGU, respectively.

The incorporation of the vegetal matter into the diet brought about a significant reduction (p = 0.05) in the activities of ALT, AST, CK and LDH when compared with HFD. However, the histological examination showed no pathological lesion, only at 15% inclusion of the vegetables.

The paper established that the incorporation of Celosia argentea and Gongronema latifolium into diet, most especially at 15% inclusion, may serve as functional food in the management of hyperlipidemia and associated complications.

The construction sector has a global reach, and construction professionals worldwide often encounter challenges in delivering a project on time and within the assigned budget. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the preproject factors that most affect the performance of construction projects.

A literature review was conducted to identify these factors from previous research, after which a questionnaire was developed and distributed to construction industry professionals worldwide. The response data were collected and analyzed using several methods, including Cronbach’s alpha, Relative Importance Index (RII), Kruskal–Wallis test, and Spearman’s and Pearson correlations.

The results highlight four categories of significance, namely design, stakeholder, engineering, and procurement, with 31 factors being assigned to these categories. The relationships between each factor based on the categories established in the survey are then presented. With the help of data analysis, focusing on these significant preproject factors will help management teams to evaluate and improve the preconstruction process to achieve a higher project success rate.

This study differs from other studies in the literature by gathering all relevant preconstruction success factors by an extensive literature review. Finally, highly ranked factors are studied in detail for a better understanding of the impact of preconstruction factors on project performance. This study is supported by powerful tests such as Kruskal–Wallis test and Spearman’s correlation to study the perception of different groups on preconstruction factors. Furthermore, the data analysis will help in identifying and avoiding the failure part of the previous projects and will improve the planning and/or forecasting of the new projects.