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The objective of this essay is to examine the extent to which social, environmental and sustainability accounting and reporting (SEA) can or should contribute to shareholder value and, correspondingly, to consider the challenge that SEA can offer to the conventional views of “value” that underpin traditional financial accounting. The essay is then used as a vehicle to introduce some relatively new data about sustainable development that has implications for our consideration of “value”.

Although drawing from a wide range of secondary contextual data, the paper is primarily argumentative and seeks to challenge a number of implicit assumptions within both conventional and more “critical” accounting.

Substantive social and environmental reporting and, especially, high quality reporting on (un)sustainability will demonstrate that modern international financial capitalism and the principle organs which support it are essentially designed to maximise environmental destruction and the erosion of any realistic notion of social justice. This paper seeks to demonstrate this contention and the powerful and fundamental implications that this has for conventional financial reporting and for the superficial and cosmetic adjustments to that reporting through “new models of organisational reporting”.

The paper questions whether any research which is not either cognisant of or directed towards sustainability and/or sustainable development makes any real sense in the context of current data about the planet. More especially, the paper asks whether any notion of “value” employed in the accounting (and wider) literature can be anything other than self‐delusional and empty if it ignores a crucial wider context.

Apart from taking debates about “value” and, especially “shareholder value” into another dimension, the paper is one of the first (at least in accounting as far as I am aware) to formally introduce and confront data about planetary sustainability.

A recent contribution entitled Global Responsibility and the King Reports was made to the literature that represents a significant advancement in the understanding of how standards of good governance are practised. The corpus revealed key insights about macro-institutional governance regimes, yet, extraordinarily little about meso-organisational and even less so, micro-individual corporate governance practice. This study aims to shed light on the micro-individual level of corporate governance practice which has remained obscured by drawing pragmatic insights from the landmark South African King Code experience that may be applied to other governance jurisdictions for global organisational responsibility.

To unearth micro-individual corporate governance code practices, a phenomenological exploration of corporate governance practitioners’ (CGPs) perceptions was conducted. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with senior board members of securities-exchange listed companies were conducted with 10 directors of leading multinational South African corporations listed on Africa’s largest formal financial market; the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Recursive analysis of the qualitative data revealed key attributes that render a corporate governance code “fulfilling” as a consequence of being perceived as subjectively valuable by practitioners who are the ultimate end-users of the King Codes for advancing good corporate governance practice in each of their respective companies.

Two categories of fulfilling micro-perceived value attributes (MPVAs) of corporate governance codes emerged, namely, internal and external MPVAs. The three internal MPVAs are, namely, (I1) Meaningful innovation, (I2) Ethical pragmatism and (I3) Cultural transformation. The three external MPVAs are, namely, (E1) Governance legitimacy, (E2) Societal licencing and (E3) Risk mitigation. From these six attributes, two testable corporate governance code development propositions are advanced, namely, (P1) a corporate governance code with a higher constitution of MPVAs will fulfil CGPs more than one with less. (P2) A more fulfilling corporate governance code will enjoy higher adoption, application and/or compliance rates.

Illumining the subjective experiential perceptions that constitute the fulfilment of a corporate governance code deepens the pragmatic understanding of the “demand-side” or consumption of such codes in practice. Knowing these fulfilling MPVAs may also result in the development of codes that enjoy wider adoption and compliance rates thereby enhancing global corporate responsibility pragmatism through enhanced good governance. This study sheds light on the nexus where normative corporate governance principles and the enactment thereof meet at the coalface of organisational activity with an emphasis on those attributes that render them valuable to practitioners.

Two sets of questions animate this discussion: (1) What is corporate social responsibility? Why is it desirable? How can it be assessed? (2) Why should public relations practitioners be interested in corporate social responsibility?can public relations do to promote corporate social responsibility globally? Drawing on a variety of literature, the authors argue that corporations out of their own self‐interest must embrace a global approach in fulfilling their social responsibility and that public relations professionals have an obligation to carry out that responsibility by recognising in their practices that the most important “corporate” stakeholder is society itself.

The initial rationale for developing integrated reporting included addressing the failures of traditional reporting to address sustainability issues. Subsequently, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) modified its stated objectives to emphasise integrated thinking and value creation. There has been debate on whether the IIRC’s process for developing its integrated reporting framework was subject to regulatory capture by the accounting profession (Flower, 2015; Adams, 2015; Thomson, 2015). This paper aims to provide additional evidence on the extent to which this regulatory capture occurred, with an update on current developments.

Data from interviews with key participants in the integrated reporting framework’s development and the IIRC’s Council and Working Group meeting minutes were analysed to identify to what extent the change in the IIRC’s focus can be explained by regulatory capture theory.

The findings show that the integrated reporting framework’s development was subject to regulatory capture by accountants. However, the extent of capture was mitigated to some extent by processes adopted in its development. This is consistent with regulatory capture theory.

This paper critically examines the debate on the extent to which the sustainability message has been lost as a result of regulatory capture. It provides an in-depth analysis of the IIRC’s treatment of sustainability which explores the application of regulatory capture theory and examines evidence not considered in previous studies.

This study aims to examine the uptake of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the Asia Pacific region and to explore the extent to which countries in the region are transitioning towards a sustainable enterprise economy (SEE) and the links between the two, thereby connecting the uptake of CSR at the organisational level to the configuration and transformation of societies.

In order to examine the uptake of CSR in the Asia Pacific region and assess the extent to which countries are transitioning towards the SEE, this study compiles data from a selection of CSR‐related indicators that are globally harmonised and globally recognised as well as national performance indicators that not only set the operational context for organisations but also help to measure the ultimate impacts of policies, practices and activities by organisations on national conditions.

Based on the preliminary study undertaken into global national indicators in the Asia Pacific region, there is a need for more comprehensive indicators that capture key elements of a SEE. The study envisages the creation of a “Global SEE dashboard” of actual, real‐time key performance indicators that can help facilitate stewardship by societies towards the Global SEE.

By underscoring the needs, opportunities and challenges for CSR capacity‐building in the Asia Pacific region and for countries to transition effectively towards the SEE, this study adds value to the efforts of public and private policy makers concerned with CSR, sustainability and governance as well as practitioners and members of civil society interested in responsible global citizenship.

Ascientific consensus has emerged indicating that the global climate is changing due to anthropogenic (i.e., human induced) driving forces. Our previous research reformulated the well‐known I=PAT (environmental Impacts equal the multiplicative product of Population, Affluence, and Technology) model into stochastic form, named it the STIRPAT model, and used it to assess the effects of population and affluence on carbon dioxide loads. Here we extend those findings by examining the impacts of population, affluence and other factors on the emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), as well as the combined global warming potential of these two gases. We also assess the potential for “ecological modernization” or an “environmental Kuznets curve” (EKC) effect to curb GHG emissions. Our findings suggest that population is a consistent force behind GHG emissions, that affluence also drives emissions, that urbanization and industrialization increase emissions, and that tropical nations have lower emissions than non‐tropical nations, controlling for other factors. Contrary to what ecological modernization and EKC theorists predict, we find that to date there is no compelling evidence of a decline in emissions with modernization. These results support both the “treadmill of production” thesis and the “metabolic rift” thesis.

Provides an overview of ecological feminism (ecofeminism) and discusses the implications for marketing. Shows how ecofeminist perspectives demand that we question not only the destruction of the environment but also our fundamental social relations and structures. Illustrates marketing’s contribution to ecopatriarchy with examples from the marketing academy and the advertising world. Concludes by asking marketers to rethink certain basic marketing principles.

In Canada, community engagement and accountability are a political imperative, resulting in an omnipresent program with varied opportunities for public participation. The purpose of this paper is to promote leadership and commitment for health system transformation that truly benefits communities.

This paper is based on the author’s experience with many engagement and accountability activities, applied in varied settings, for purposes such as evaluation, planning, policy making and system transformation. The specific context is generalized with international experiences and references.

The “lessons learned” are based on practical considerations with relevance for both novice and experienced practitioners: clarifying principles, processes and purposes at the outset; using effective leadership to achieve the desired impact; using a variety of methods to engage communities; clarifying engagement and accountability roles precisely; measuring things that are meaningful; and consulting with internal as well as external communities. Also, community leaders should recognize effort as well as results.

Commitment to engagement and accountability is commendable – but is it enough? The paper concludes by looking beyond health system impacts to propose a broader systems perspective. If clinical governors want to use engagement and accountability to achieve “total value” for their communities, they will need to demonstrate as leaders that they are committed to long-term thinking and broad social goals.

Too much focus on the process of care may mask accountability for reporting outcomes or systemic impact. The sustainable development goals highlight the need for systems thinking and public expectations include corporate social responsibility. As shown in the examples cited, a deeper commitment to engagement and accountability requires looking beyond care delivery to social determinants and to systemic impacts of the health care industry itself.

The purpose of this paper is to account for, and conceptualize, the internal and external forces that influence higher education business schools as they strive to integrate sustainability issues into their curricula in the effort to achieve a more sustainable (yet capitalist) world.

A case study approach is used for the research, which is grounded in the relevant literature, to investigate sustainable development issues in the context of a Swedish business school (university level). The empirical data consists of a review of internal documents plus e-mail surveys and interviews and discussion seminars with university teachers/researchers and key administrators.

Two tentative models are presented that map the various internal and external forces behind business schools’ curriculum change. One important finding describes how supply and demand influences business schools and recruiters of business students.

Because this research is based on a single case study, the analysis and the mapping in the paper are somewhat limited in their general applicability. However, the research context of the business school permits drawing conclusions that may apply to a broad class of colleges or departments in higher education. In addition, because the research is supported by significant ideas from the literature, general inferences may be drawn about business school curricula.

The two tentative models provide a holistic framework that adds to the understanding of the composition and interrelationship of influential forces on business schools when major changes in curricula and their management are contemplated.

This study aims to furnish the systematic literature review on integrated reporting (IR) and answer three research questions: How has the IR concept been developed recently across the different countries? How can the literature of IR be allocated among different focus areas/themes? What are the future opportunities available for IR?

The methodology involves selection, classification and categorization of 110 articles on IR into their focus areas, journals, time distribution, continent-wise distribution, research methodologies and keywords analysis.

The findings of the study suggest that there is a need of the following: increasing the case studies and empirical research in developing assurance models, analysis of the perception of shareholders in Asian countries, harmonization of financial and non-financial standards, research on the IR of non-listed companies.

It provides insights to practitioners regarding the challenges faced by the economies and internal organization. It might help researchers and academics to focus on developments of IR in different countries. It might also help regulators to develop some policies, models and frameworks for its future implementation.

It furnishes the outline of 110 articles published in eminent journals from the year 2011 to beginning of 2020.