International Perspectives On Sustainability Reporting

As global concerns grow surrounding the environment, climate, and sustainability, International Perspectives on Sustainability Reporting presents business case studies from different sectors across different regions, highlighting the changing institutional contexts and laws in each country regarding sustainability reporting.

This book explores the concepts of sustainability and governance in relation to the governance of corporations – hence the ubiquity of the term corporate governance – and other bodies. It examines how these concepts are regularly used by politicians and by the media. The two concepts are however largely treated as being separate and discrete, and given equal coverage. The argument in this book is that the two concepts are inter-related and that good governance is a prerequisite for sustainability. The focus of the book therefore is different from most, as it seeks to integrate these two important issues. The approach used in this book is based on the tradition of the Social Responsibility Research Network – a worldwide body of scholars that, over its 20-year history, has sought to broaden the discourse and to treat all research as inter-related and business-relevant. The book examines diverse aspects of the changes to corporate and institutional behaviour that have recently manifested by focusing on these two aspects of sustainable development. Thus, the authors explore engagement and partnership between organisations, in order to consider the extent to which the focus has changed so much that we need to think about new approaches to our understanding of sustainability and differing effects in practice. The international mix of authors makes this an original contribution, sharing some of the best ideas from around the world.

In the wake of the 1987 Brundtland Report, sustainable development has become key to the management systems within businesses, and a means by which companies can increase their long-term value. Being a ‘sustainable company’ increasingly means ‘staying alive in business’ and has become a necessity for all kinds of enterprises, from the micro-sized to global corporations. In more recent years, many companies, and indeed governments, have looked at sustainability as a means to combat the multiple challenges of environmental accidents, global warming, resource depletion, energy, poverty and pollution. However, being sustainable or maintaining sustainability is not an easy task for a company’s management function. It needs continuous support and engagement from the board, the executive management, staff and other stakeholders alike. Additionally, it brings extra costs to the company in terms of hiring trained staff, organising continuous training in the company, publishing sustainability reports and subscribing to a rating system. Sustainability must be nourished by a company’s board as well as by all of its departments, such as accounting, marketing and human resources. By the same token, it is not enough for a company simply to declare itself a ‘sustainable business’ or rely on past measures and reputation; sustainability is an ongoing activity and one which has to be proved by periodically disclosing sustainability reports, according to international rating systems. In Sustainability and Management: An International Perspective, Kıymet Çalıyurt and Ülkü Yüksel bring together international authors from a variety of specialisations to discuss the development, aspects, problems, roadmap, trends and disclosure systems for sustainability in management. The result is a lively, insightful exposition of the field.

As global concerns grow surrounding the environment, climate, and sustainability, International Perspectives on Sustainability Reporting presents business case studies from different sectors across different regions, highlighting the changing institutional contexts and laws in each country regarding sustainability reporting.

Sustainability reporting provides nonfinancial and financial indicators of an organization's environmental, economic, and social dimensions of its operations. The globalization of corporations and widely publicized corporate misdeeds (e.g., Nike's child labor problems) has increased public scrutiny of corporate behavior. As pressure grows from a variety of stakeholders (e.g., investors, creditors, customers, and NGOs) for corporate transparency, sustainability reports provide vital information to meet the demand for disclosures about environmental, economic, and social impacts. In addition to addressing stakeholders' demands, this reporting enhances internal decision-making. Managers are better able to assess risks, monitor company resources, establish competitive advantage, create employee loyalty, and engage stakeholders. This book is intended for MBA students, executives, and managers who want to learn about the value of sustainability reporting. In this book, they will discover the internal and external benefits of sustainability reporting, the basics of existing reporting frameworks, and the reaction of the investment community. Detailed examples of sustainability metrics from numerous organizations are provided to illustrate the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Reporting Guidelines. This book will enable readers to assess how reporting can add value for his or her own organization.

This collection of expert articles highlights the standards and practices concerning sustainability reporting among companies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Due to the growing interest in corporate social responsibility issues, sustainability reporting has become increasingly common among businesses that claim to adhere to certain social, environmental and economic standards. While it can be observed that sustainability reporting is widely practiced in Western and Northern European countries, only few studies have been conducted on this topic in the CEE region. Drawing on a major empirical study involving researchers from 10 different CEE countries, this book addresses the status quo of sustainability reporting, outlines future prospects and provides essential recommendations for practitioners.

This book critically examines the implementation and adoption of integrated reporting (IR) in organizations and corporations. A relatively new area of policy and practice, IR has rapidly gained considerable prominence since the formation of the International Integrated Reporting Committee in 2010. The book analyzes the outcomes and benefits as well as the shortfalls of integrated reporting. It offers an introduction to the foundations of IR and a comprehensive overview of its use through a number of detailed case studies. Lastly, it discusses the outlook for further developments in sustainability accounting and reporting.