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This study aims to investigate the influence of collaborative stakeholder relationships (buyers, media, government and top management) on apparel suppliers’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Bangladesh.

“Face to face” and “drop off and collect” survey administration techniques were used to collect a total of 371 questionnaires from middle-level managerial executives of apparel suppliers in Bangladesh. The data were analysed using partial least square structural equation modelling combined with resampling and bootstrapping techniques.

The findings suggest that buyers, the media and top management have a direct and significant influence on the stakeholder network and, in turn, positively impact the CSR of apparel suppliers in Bangladesh. The media and buyer firms work together to provide a combined and salient influence on the top management of supplier firms in Bangladesh to shape CSR practices.

The extent of stakeholder influence varies according to the strength of the network and the mediation within interconnected relationships. Suppliers’ top management could use the study’s findings to improve CSR by focussing on the strongest path of interconnected stakeholders. The Bangladesh Government could take policy initiatives to address CSR-related concerns raised by interconnected stakeholders.

This study contributes to stakeholder and CSR literature by providing valuable insights into the empirical justification of interactive stakeholder influences on suppliers’ CSR.

This study aims to investigate how New Zealand companies use Twitter to communicate and engage effectively with stakeholders during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study proposes a conceptual framework for effective stakeholder engagement by using social media to analyse the themes and emotion of company tweets during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. The engagement of stakeholders with these tweets is also examined. This study argues that companies use selected themes and emotive language to connect with their stakeholders.

The findings show that selective themes and emotions are useful in company COVID-19 tweets to engage with the stakeholders. COVID-19 tweets contained significantly more emotion than non-COVID tweets, with emotions that can convey empathy being the most common. By presenting themselves as real, personable and empathetic towards others through emotive language, companies can engage in more meaningful and ethical way with their stakeholders.

The paper has implications for managing company communications by providing empirical evidence that both the themes and emotion expressed in the messages are important for effective stakeholder engagement in social media.

The conceptual framework for effective stakeholder engagement using social media is novel and can be used to evaluate and investigate stakeholder engagement during a global crisis.

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between gender diversity and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) score/index. Specifically, the study describes extant research on theoretical perspectives, and the impact of women on corporate boards (WOBs) on carbon emission issues in the global perspective.

This study uses the carbon disclosure scores of the CDP from 2011 to 2013 (inclusive). A total observation for the three-year periods is 1,175 companies. However, based on data availability for the model, the sample size totals 331 companies in 33 countries with firms in 12 geographical locations. The authors used a model which is estimated using the fixed-effects estimator.

The outcomes of the study reveal that there is a positive relationship between gender diversity (WOB) and carbon disclosure information. In addition to establishing a relationship between CDP score and other control variables, this study also found a relationship with Board size, asset size, energy consumption and Tobin’s Q, which is common in the existing literature.

The limitations of the study mostly revolve around samples and the time period. To further test the generalizability and cross-sectional validity of the outcomes, it is suggested that the proposed framework be tested in more socially responsible firms.

There are increasing pressures for WOBs from diverse stakeholders, such as the European Commission, national governments, politicians, employer lobby groups, shareholders, Fortune and Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) rankings and best places for women to work lists. The study offers insights to policy makers implementing gender quota legislation.

The study has important implications for putting into practice good corporate governance and, in particular, gender diversity. The outcomes of the analyses advocate that companies that included women directors and had a smaller board size may expect to achieve a higher level of carbon emission performance and to voluntarily disclose the level of carbon information assessment requested by the CDP.

The purpose of this paper is to explore corporate social and environmental reporting (CSER) practices and motivations in Bangladesh.

Using a mixed-methods approach, the paper attempts to understand what corporate social and environmental issues Bangladeshi firms are reporting and why. The paper first explores the motivations for CSER in line with O’Dwyer’s (2003) proposed classifications of proactive and reactive motivations through interviews and frames its findings using stakeholder theory. To provide a more holistic view, content analysis adapted from CSR Asia (2008) categorization (broadly guided by GRI) was conducted to enhance findings from engagement-based interviews with managers.

The paper finds that “community investment and development” and “governance codes and policies” received the highest amount of disclosure, while the least amount of disclosure was found in the “workplace/human rights” category. Although a philanthropic tone was found behind “community investment”, such as poverty alleviation activities, disclosure in this area is mostly motivated by proactive rationales with enlightened self-interest and image-building activities. In terms of reactive motivations underpinning CSER, the paper finds that companies also report reactively to reduce pressure from powerful stakeholders such as international buyers and government agencies. Contrary to other studies regarding reactive motivations, the authors argue that a director’s proactive motivation is the prime determinant of CSER in a developing country. They also argue that low-level disclosures on workplace environment/human rights need to be given more importance by policymakers, management and other relevant stakeholders.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is one of the few engagement-based field studies that uses a mixed-methods approach to seek managerial perspectives in an attempt to understand CSER practices in an emerging country context.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the use of visuals in communicating symbolic sustainability information by the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) listed companies through their standalone sustainability reports.

Using the impression management theoretical framework and Barthes' conceptions of denotation and connotation, the study seeks to examine the way visuals, such as photos, tables and figures, are used to convey symbolic sustainability messages and information. The content analysis method was used to analyse 1,064 visuals from 20 New Zealand Stock Exchange listed companies' standalone sustainability reports for 2017.

The authors observe variations in the use of visuals to convey messages about sustainability and the appeal of these visuals to readers in the process of creating a symbolic sustainability message. While photos focus on emotions as their main method of impression management, tables and figures focus on the logical link between readers and a positive sustainability message.

The study adds to the impression management theory work that companies use a combination of photos, tables and figures in communicating symbolic positive sustainability messages. The insights inform the corporate culture of the use of visuals and the effect of future reporting practices regarding sustainability information in New Zealand and globally.

Unlike other studies on sustainability reporting, we contend that a company uses a combination of visuals to create impressions that include not only positive but also negative and neutral sustainability messages.

This paper aims to investigate the greenhouse gas (GHG)-related disclosure trends, content and strategies of the eight most high GHG-emitting Chinese power companies, over a period when government pressure to manage GHG emissions increased.

Data were collected from the 2000-2009 annual reports, corporate social and environmental responsibility reports and websites of eight Chinese power companies. Content analysis results were supplemented with excerpts from documents written in English or Chinese. Legitimacy theory informed the interpretation of the findings.

GHG-related disclosures increased from 2002 when the Chinese Government ratified the Kyoto Protocol and promulgated stringent environmental regulations. However, some expected types of GHG-related disclosure were absent or rare. Disclosure practices were found to be underpinned by reputation management objectives and reflected a symbolic rather than substantive legitimation strategy.

This study extends the literature on GHG-related disclosures by carbon-intensive firms and points to the need for future research to examine such disclosures in different countries to appreciate the variety in practice.

While the Chinese Government appears to have driven the emergence of GHG-related disclosure practices, companies can effect improvement by expanding the scope and content of what they disclose. Also, the growing emphasis on website disclosures may present challenges in ensuring the reliability and assurance of GHG disclosures.

This is the first study to examine GHG-related disclosure practices by Chinese power-generating companies, a sector crucial to managing the GHG effects of China’s significant economic growth.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the current status and extent of corporate social responsibility reporting (CSRR) in the annual reports of Qatari companies listed on the Qatar Exchange. It seeks to contribute to the meagre descriptive literature on CSRR in emerging economies in general, and in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in particular.

The paper reviews the annual reports of companies from both the financial and manufacturing sectors. The paper uses content analysis and covers five areas of CSR reporting including environment, human resources, product development, community involvement and others relating to inequality and the employment of disabled people.

The paper finds that most companies disclosed information related to human resources and product development, followed by community involvement. However, no companies reported environmental issues in their annual reports.

The research is based on annual reports for the financial year 2007. Hence, the conclusions reached cannot be generalized. A longitudinal analysis is needed to highlight trends in CSRR practices in Qatar. An in‐depth case study would also facilitate our understanding of why companies are making or not making certain types of social and environmental disclosure in Qatar.

Descriptions of CSRR in different parts of the world are still welcome, and arguably CSRR research in GCC in general and Qatar in particular is very limited.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the varied concerns of delegates at an international accounting conference.

The methodology takes the form of a prose article and accompanying fictional poem.

Accounting conferences gather many different voices and points of view, but with a degree of commonality in themes.

The paper encourages the use of creative expression to represent areas of research and enquiry.

A review of some of the proceedings of a major conference is structured in a novel manner, combining the use of the cento (a composite, “found” poem) with prose.