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Performance measures have long been a topic of interest in higher education although no consensus on the best way to measure performance has been achieved. This paper examines the extent and effectiveness of service efforts and accomplishment reporting by public and not-for-profit U.S. colleges and universities using survey data provided by the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Effectiveness is evaluated using the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) suggested criteria. Regression analysis suggests an association between the extent of disclosure and size, leverage, level of education provided, and regional accreditation agency. Private institutions rate themselves as more effective communicators. Effectiveness of communication is also associated with the extent of disclosure, level of education provided and accreditation region.

This paper aims to explore social enterprise accountability with respect to their dual social and financial objectives. Drawing on theories of accountability, stakeholders and institutional logics, this paper examines to whom and how social enterprises are accountable, focusing on the potential differences in accountability where social enterprises have a dominant versus a diversified commercial customer base.

Case studies on four work integrated social enterprises are analysed. Primary data include interviews with general managers of each social enterprise. Secondary data include social media, websites and internal and external reports.

Findings reveal accountability is largely influenced by dominant stakeholders (dominant commercial customers and parent organisations). Further, a connection between to whom and how social enterprises are accountable was noted, with formal accountability directed to the main stakeholders of the social enterprises, while less formal types of accountability were directed to less powerful stakeholders.

The integrated nature of the social enterprises facilitated complementarity rather than conflict among their commercial and social logics. While formal accountability was directed to those with power, expectations of these stakeholders ensured social and commercial logics were balanced, highlighting the importance of powerful stakeholders supporting both logics for social enterprises to effectively manage their hybridity. Conclusions consider the importance of social enterprises’ reporting practices.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the evolution of greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting quality and to determine whether the evolution of reporting quality is linked with the type of information reported based on the “search”, “experience”, and “credence” typology.

The method is based on the content analysis of GHG reporting in 245 sustainability reports by 45 oil and gas companies between 1998 and 2010. The content analysis disclosure index developed links GHG reporting requirements with seven quality dimensions. The information associated with each item on the content analysis index is classified as “search”, “experience” or “credence”. Statistical analysis is used to determine whether any significant change occurred in either overall GHG reporting quality or in the quality of reporting in any of the individual dimensions of quality over the period of the study.

GHG reporting quality has not improved significantly between 1998 and 2010. The quality of reporting is not the same in each of the seven dimensions of quality and this can be explained by information typology.

This paper provides the first longitudinal analysis of the quality of GHG reporting. The methodology developed advances current measures of reporting quality by linking reporting requirements with particular quality dimensions. The results show that the type of information is important in terms of quality evolution and that this can dictate the measures required to improve quality.

This paper aims to provide researchers and practitioners with an overview of how organisation behaviour research (OBR) helps to understand and resolve patient safety problems in health care.

The paper describes psychological, sociological and other social science theories and research which help to understand the causes of patient safety problems, how to implement change effectively and how to create an organisational culture of safety.

Social science perspectives and organisational behaviour research are beginning to show why improvements in patient safety are slow, and how to make lasting and effective change.

Social sciences and OBR have already helped make healthcare safer, but could make a greater contribution. Progress could be faster with greater awareness of the findings of this research and understanding of social science research paradigms.

Better implementation and safer care could result from providing implementers and decision makers with more knowledge and access to social science research. More useful social science research could be developed by research funders and proposal reviewers gaining a greater understanding of social science methods and potential, and by including this research in a field made up largely of traditional experimental medical research methods.

This paper provides an overview of the scientific and practical contributions of social sciences to patient safety and shows where future studies could assist understanding of current challenges and speed implementation of change.

The purpose of this study was to identify the transformation disclosures in the publicly available annual reports of South African public universities and to establish the extent to which universities account to their stakeholders about how they have discharged their transformation obligations.

This exploratory qualitative study involves a thematic content analysis of publicly available annual reports using ATLAS.ti software to identify and categorise transformation interventions disclosed by South African public universities.

This empirical study identifies several interventions that universities have introduced to facilitate access to and successful completion of tertiary studies by students. Some of the disclosed mechanisms include the provision of financial aid, student support and counselling, tutoring and mentoring and ICT enhancements and the introduction of language policies. The results also highlighted several challenges to sustainable transformation including funding, social and academic barriers and infrastructural challenges experienced by universities.

According to the authors’ knowledge, this study represents one of the first studies to use the public disclosures in the annual reports of public universities to identify interventions introduced to facilitate transformation of the student body. Despite its South African orientation, the observations have implications for universities worldwide experiencing similar challenges, especially in developing countries.

Quality programmes have become an increasingly popular arena for organizational and managerial practice. Some attribute this growing focus to the notion that quality programmes are, and will be, key competitive determinants of the 1990s. Yet, relatively little scientific knowledge can be found in the literature. Reviews and summarizes nine quality programmes. The comparative review of the studies supports the notion that while diverse visions, guiding philosophies, and implementation practices are utilized, the key features that seem fundamental to quality programmes are their strategic character and structural configuration. Identifies and discusses directions for future research.

Despite the well-known positive effects of fruits and vegetables, their consumption in many countries is lower than those recommended. This study aims to systematically examine the effects of community-based interventions on fruits and vegetables consumption in adults.

To collect relevant publications, the authors searched electronic databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science from January 2000 to July 2021. Considering random models, this study analyzed the data using weighted mean differences (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Among 1,621 retrieved publications, 21 articles met the inclusion criteria. The overall effect size demonstrated that, at the end of the trials, the educational interventions increased the consumption of aggregated fruits and vegetables (WMD: 0.55 serving/day, 95%CI: 0.34, 0.77), and vegetables (WMD: 0.15, 95%CI: 0.09, 0.21, I2: 33.2%; p = 0.103) in the intervention groups, compared to the control groups.

The subgroup analyses that were based on the type of interventions (face-to-face education compared to online interventions), location (home-based compared to the other types of interventions) and duration (24 weeks and higher) of interventions, and accompanied financial support reduced between-group heterogeneity. An efficient interventional program on increasing fruits and vegetables consumption should be part of a multi-component project.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no systematic review and meta-analysis has provided a summary of the effects of community-based interventions on fruits and vegetables consumption in adult populations, and there is no fixed conclusion that could be drawn in this regard.

By responding to scholarly calls, this study examines the environmental reports of LVMH and Kering. The study extends legitimacy theory to ascertain the credibility of the aforementioned luxury conglomerates' commitment to environmental sustainability.

A corpus-assisted discourse analysis centred upon the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines is used to examine the environmental disclosures of LVMH and Kering.

The findings show inconsistencies due to the lack of brand-level reporting and reporting quality falls short of comparable sustainability reporting within each conglomerate and with one another. Selective and unbalanced reporting along with symbolic management undermines the legitimacy of sustainability efforts by LVMH and Kering.

Despite the increased attention paid to sustainable luxury, few studies critically analyse how luxury brands formally report on sustainability.

This paper aims to examine the development and evolution of sustainability reporting and assurance practices in Malaysia to identify the current practice and trend of reporting and the level of awareness on assurance on sustainability reporting in Malaysia.

Interviews and questionnaire surveys were used to obtain respondents' perceptions on issues related to sustainability reporting and assurance practices among the ACCA‐MeSRA (Malaysian Environmental and Social Reporting Award) participants in 2007 coupled with content analysis of corporate annual reports and other standalone reports.

Results from the study provide evidence that most of the information relating to sustainability disclosure reported is integrated in the annual report and with no assurance statement due to low level of awareness and the absence of legislative pressure to commission the practice. The study indicates that companies applied selective reporting on issues relating to monetary contribution predominantly due to minority shareholders' insistence on better return for their investment.

The nature of this study is exploratory and focuses on the evolution of sustainability reporting from the current state of corporate responsibility reporting and the availability of assurance practices in Malaysia. Findings in the study revealed several issues that require further analysis to identify significant factors that would influence sustainability reporting and assurance practices.

This study creates interest in the sustainability reporting and assurance practices in the Asian developing countries as its adaptation is far from developed.

This paper presents preliminary insights of the current trend and future direction of sustainability reporting and assurance in Malaysia.

This paper aims to explore how a Malaysian palm oil company responded to the pressure for change towards sustainability in their sustainability reporting of negative incidents and in actual sustainability practices.

The study used qualitative methodology through an interpretive case study of a palm company. The study gathered primary and secondary data via semi-structured interviews with key organisational members and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), informal conversations, focus groups, document/annual report content analyses and observations. Symbolic and substantive management was used as the theoretical lens to explain the findings.

After experiencing a series of negative events regarding their social and environmental performance, the case company responded by using selective disclosure and a symbolic/legitimising strategy to address the majority of recurring negative events. In actual practice, the company changed structurally but policy-implementation gaps remain despite these changes. Strategically, the company changed in terms of its expansion policy but remained unchanged in traceability issues. The increased awareness of sustainability in the company’s culture appeared to suffer in favour of profit and cost/efficiency considerations that remain prominent. Both substantive and symbolic changes were found in both reports and practice but were more inclined to be symbolic.

The study provides guidelines for companies changing towards sustainability in both practice and reporting, in their effort to contribute to sustainable development goals.

The study provides evidence of symbolic and substantive changes as complementing activities instead of a dichotomy, which was mostly assumed in previous literature and suggests companies adopt a combination of these depending on the severity of sustainability-related issues, level of scrutiny and cost/efficiency considerations.