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This study seeks to collaborate with the discussions on the usefulness of the narrative approach in accounting. In this context, this study aims to elaborate small collective stories, developed from interviews, to expose the population’s perception of the social and environmental impact (positive and negative externalities) resulting from iron ore mining in the city of Congonhas-Minas Gerais (MG).

This research, using counternarratives, aims to elaborate small collective stories, developed from 52 interviews, to expose the population’s perception of externalities resulting from the exploitation of iron ore in the city of Congonhas-MG, Brazil, to give more insight for social and environmental accounting reporting. A qualitative investigation is used with a narrative approach that focuses on a specific event in the participants’ lives.

The authors sought to create a sense of collective experiences of the interviewees through narratives representative of the residents’ perception of externalities in the form of small collective stories. However, it can be observed that the local population recognizes the impact of numerous externalities. Likewise, the use of narratives allows the reader to experience another reality – a reflection on the impact of business activities in a given context. Unlike conventional corporate social reporting, models based on qualitative information can be inclusive, produced by/for the community toward action that transforms the local reality.

This study intends to contribute to the debate on reporting models that are developed by and for external stakeholders. This approach has the potential to improve participants’ both awareness and engagement, supporting transformative social action. This study makes several contributions. It contributes to the literature with a narrative approach, which is not often used in the accounting literature; it brings insights from the Latin American context, which is especially valuable given how the Anglo-American accounting literature includes few papers addressing this context; it presents the view of marginalized communities that are too often overlooked (this narrative approach offers important insights into the lived experience of people at a very granular level).

This research interrogates how the construction of narratives and accounting forecasts contributes to managing the emotional state of actors involved in reporting meetings by promoting discourses of hope in their organization's future, mitigating their anxiety. This study shows how narratives are built from multiple antenarratives and accounting forecasts, which restore and strengthen organizational actors' commitment to their organizations. This study contributes to a better understanding of the role played by narratives and accounting documents in mitigating organizational members' anxiety.

Over eight months, an interventionist research design method gave one of the authors the opportunity to record discussions held during reporting meetings in a business incubator. These recordings captured the production of narratives and forecasts in these meetings.

This study shows how the production of multiple antenarratives and accounting forecasts helps organizational actors who attend reporting meetings mitigate the anxiety triggered by disappointing performance figures and restore collective discourses full of hope for the organization's future. This case highlights how personal antenarratives and successive versions of accounting forecasts contribute to restoring a collective commitment to a failing organization.

This study refines current understanding of the under-explored links between accounting forecasts, narratives and anxiety management. The study provides insight into how accounting practices contribute to the production of narratives that successfully restore organizational members' commitment to working for a failing organization. The study also exemplifies the original insights gained from interventionist research protocols.

This paper aims to investigate the association between negative tone in annual report narratives and future performance in the UK context. Under the principle-based approach in the UK, managers tend to bias the tone of narrative reports upward, as the reporting regime is more flexible than the rule-based approach in the USA. Consequently, any negative disclosure not mandated by regulators conveys credible information about a firm’s prospects.

This paper uses a sample of UK FTSE all-share non-financial companies from 2010 to 2019. The authors use the textual-analysis approach based on Loughran and McDonald (2011)’s wordlist (LM) to measure the negative tone in UK annual reports.

The results show a significant negative association between negative tone and future performance. Moreover, our further analyses suggest that only the negativity in the executive section of the annual disclosures correlates significantly with future performance. In summary, this study suggests that negativity does matter under the principle-based approach and can be used as an indicator of future performance.

In contrast to the literature arguing that only positivity has the power to affect a firm’s outcomes under the principle-based approach, the authors provide new empirical evidence suggesting that negativity also matters within the UK context and can be used as an indicator for future performance. Also, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to identify which section of the annual report is more informative about a firm’s future performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine recovery through lived experience. It is part of a series that explores candid accounts of addiction and recovery to identify important components in the recovery process.

The G-CHIME model comprises six elements important to addiction recovery (growth, connectedness, hope, identity, meaning in life and empowerment). It provides a standard against which to consider addiction recovery, having been used in this series, as well as in the design of interventions that improve well-being and strengthen recovery. In this paper, a first-hand account is presented, followed by a semi-structured e-interview with the author of the account. Narrative analysis is used to explore the account and interview through the G-CHIME model.

This paper shows that addiction recovery is a remarkable process that can be effectively explained using the G-CHIME model. The significance of each component in the model is apparent from the account and e-interview presented.

Each account of recovery in this series is unique and, as yet, untold.

The study aims to determine whether a relationship exists between the potential significance of corporate controversies for stakeholders and how organisations respond to them in their annual and sustainability reports.

This paper employs content analysis on annual and sustainability reports of 48 listed companies from the Refinitiv database. The logit regression was used to estimate the model.

The study revealed that the main factors increasing the probability of a controversial issue being addressed in a corporate report are the controversy’s potential significance, companies’ financial performance and lawsuits.

Our study has three major limitations. These are a relatively small sample of companies and reports, focusing on disclosures made in corporate reports and omitting other channels of communication, for example, social media, and a certain amount of subjectivity in the process of coding information.

Former studies show that corporations face a serious risk of their hypocritical strategies becoming too evident for stakeholder groups. Our findings suggest that the risk is already materialising and may undermine the idea of CSR and sustainability reporting.

Our research focuses on high-profile adverse incidents widely reported in the media, the omission of which from corporate reports seems to constitute a particular case of organised hypocrite. It also demonstrates that companies use an impression management strategy to defuse adverse publicity and that major controversies cause minor ones to be omitted from their reports.

The purpose of this paper is to examine recovery through lived experience. It is part of a series that explores candid accounts of addiction and recovery to identify important components in the recovery process.

The G-CHIME model comprises six elements important to addiction recovery (growth, connectedness, hope, identity, meaning in life and empowerment). It provides a standard against which to consider addiction recovery, having been used in this series, as well as in the design of interventions that improve well-being and strengthen recovery. In this paper, a first-hand account is presented, followed by a semi-structured e-interview with the author of the account. Narrative analysis is used to explore the account and interview through the G-CHIME model.

This paper shows that addiction recovery is a remarkable process that can be effectively explained using the G-CHIME model. The significance of each component in the model is apparent from the account and e-interview presented.

Each account of recovery in this series is unique and, as yet, untold.

This study aims to investigate disclosure of asbestos-related liabilities in corporate accounts and counter-accounts to examine whether and how accounting contributes to corporate accountability for asbestos-contaminated products.

This study uses the Goffmanesque perspective on impression management to examine instances of concealed asbestos-related liabilities in corporate accounts vis-à-vis the revealing of such liabilities in counter-accounts.

The findings show counter-accounts provide significant information on liabilities originating from the exposure of employees and consumers to asbestos. By contrast, the malleability of accounting tools enables companies to eschew accounting disclosures. While the frontstage positive performance of companies served an impression management role, their backstage concealing actions enabled companies to cover up asbestos-related liabilities. These companies used three categories of mechanisms to avoid disclosure of asbestos-related liabilities: concealing via a “cloak of competence”, impression management via epistemic work and a silent strategy of concealment frontstage with strategic reorganisation backstage.

This study has policy relevance as regulators need to consider the limits of corporate disclosures as an accountability tool. The findings may also initiate academic and practitioner conversations about accounting standards for long-term liabilities.

This study highlights the strategies companies use both frontstage and backstage to avoid disclosing asbestos-related liabilities. Through analysis of accounts and counter-accounts, this study identifies the limits of accounting as an accountability tool regarding asbestos-induced diseases and deaths.

The objective of this study is to examine developments in the discursive practice of non-financial reporting in the public healthcare sector. In doing so, the authors investigate how the main reform foci of productivity and quality are represented, with a specific focus on the patient.

Drawing on critical discourse analysis (CDA), the authors conduct a longitudinal study (2007–2018) of healthcare reporting foci across the five administrative regions responsible for public hospitals in Denmark. The study analyses sixty annual reports and draws on contemporary reform documents over this period. CDA enables a micro-textual analysis, combined with macro-insights and discussions on social practice.

The findings show complex webs of presentation strategies, but in particular two changes occur during the period. First, the patient is centred throughout but the framing changes from productivity and waiting lists to quality and dialogue. Second, in the first years, the regions present themselves as actively highlighting financial and quality concerns, which changes to a passive and indirect form of presentation steered by indicators and patient legislation enforced by central government. This enhances passivity and distance in healthcare regional non-financial reporting where the regions seek to conform to such demands. Simultaneously, however, the authors find a tendency to highlight very different local initiatives, which shows an attempt to go beyond a pure automatic mode of reporting found in earlier studies.

Responding to the literature on both healthcare and financial reporting, this study identifies novel links between micro-level texts and macro-level social practices, enabling insights into the potentially intertwined impacts of public-sector reporting. The authors offer insights into the complexity of the construction of non-financial reporting in the public sector, which has a wider impact and different intentions than private-sector reporting.

This paper presents the biography of one of Australia’s earliest female accountants, Miss Evelyn Maude West (aka Eva). The paper uses this history sub-genre to understand the significant impacts Eva West made across several fields. Eva West was not only a pioneer woman accountant but also an active philanthropist with an interest in social issues and a nature lover who promoted and encouraged an appreciation of the environment.

The paper leverages a diverse array of qualitative resources, responding to Carnegie and Napier's (1996) call to expand the concept of the accounting-based archive. Notably, rare nature study diaries and a book detailing camping adventures serve as poignant examples, illustrating Eva West's profound social and environmental engagement. Additionally, personal and business letters, digitised newspapers, pamphlets, annual reports, minute books and even poems contribute to the comprehensive exploration of Eva West's life and impact. Collectively, these varied sources offer a rich tapestry of evidence, facilitating the documentation of this unique narrative.

Throughout her life, Eva West made significant contributions as a pioneering woman in the field of accounting, a dedicated philanthropist and a passionate environmentalist. Together, these offer a multifaceted portrait of a well-rounded individual. With a solid foundation in accounting, Eva utilized her expertise to benefit numerous charitable organisations, leaving a lasting impact on the community. Moreover, her deep love for the environment is illustrated in nature study diaries and books documenting her camping adventures, highlighting the interconnectedness between her accounting pursuits and her commitment to environmental stewardship.

While previous studies briefly mention the additional contributions of early women to various organisations and movements, none provide the depth of insight seen in the portrayal of Miss Eva West. Rather than critiquing these earlier narratives, this observation presents an opportunity for further research to honour pioneering individuals for their multifaceted roles beyond accounting. Future studies could spotlight trailblazers as accountants with diverse interests and societal contributions, whether in social or environmental spheres. Additionally, this paper demonstrates how archives maintained by individuals, such as nature or travel diaries and camping books, can enrich accounting and accountability-based historical research.

Biographical studies in accounting have played a significant role in advancing historical research, yet there remains a call for additional studies to gain deeper insights into specific individuals. Few biographical narratives have explored how accountants integrate their professional careers with other interests, particularly highlighting the well-roundedness of individuals, especially women. Furthermore, this paper contributes to filling the gap in research that examines the intersection of accounting professionals and environmental concerns.

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which using accounting as a multidimensional practice that encompasses technical, social and moral dimensions facilitates the instigation and advancement of a culture of sustainable development.

A qualitative approach was used to analyse the case of Waratah Coal Pty Ltd vs Youth Verdict Ltd – a dispute over a lease to establish a coal mine. The study draws on Carnegie et al.’s (2021a, 2021b) multidimensional definition of accounting and the Carnegie et al.’s (2023) framework for analysis to explore how different parties drew on accounting concepts to support their position over the sustainability of the mining lease proposal.

A multidimensional perspective on accounting appears to have clear transformative potential and can be used to champion a culture of sustainable development. This approach also has broad societal, environmental and moral implications that transcend Western financial metrics. This study shows that relying solely on accounting as a technical practice to pursue economic benefits can result in contested arguments. Overall, this analysis illustrates how the wider public, and notably First Nations communities, might challenge accounting methodologies that marginalise cultural and social narratives.

This paper expands accounting research by demonstrating how fully embracing accounting’s capacities can create a space for hearing multiple voices, including those silenced by Western accounting practices. Specifically, this study presents a unique case in which the authors incorporate the voices and views of those affected by accounting-based decisions.