Sustainability management accounting system (SMAS): towards a conceptual design for the manufacturing industry

[Abstract]: The study reported in this paper aims to identify an effective management accounting system using sustainability accounting concept for environmental and social cost measurement to add value to organizations. The motivation for undertaking this research is driven by the current practice of activity based costing (ABC), which has not identified and allocated costs of environment and social impacts to a single production activity. This has resulted in inaccuracies in cost accounting information when preparing environmental and social performance disclosures for internal management decisions, as well as external disclosures. This study therefore develops a conceptual model for a Sustainability Management Accounting System (SMAS) to improve the identification and measurement of environmental and social impact costs. A SMAS also provides sustainable organizations with a way to enhance cost allocation and analysis efficiently, thus creating more accurate cost accounting information for management decisions and reporting disclosure purposes. This paper describes preliminary work undertaken to date. Currently, it would appear that most Australian firms fail to report on their environmental performance, however, social indicators make it increasingly important for organisations to embrace corporate social reponsibility in their financial reporting and disclosure. Further, the results of quantitative data anlaysis will be used to identify an effective management accounting of sustainable organizations while supporting the development of a SMAS conceptual model

Measuring social, economic and environmental sustainability at the enterprise level: a case study of an Australian Utility Corporation’s Sustainability Report

The debate on a sustainable future for Australia has focused enterprises on developing triple bottom line or sustainability reports. Enterprises now commonly provide reports to their stakeholders on sustainability. However it is argued in this paper that shortcomings in current reporting practices are limiting the measurement of sustainability. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the most commonly applied consistent framework for enterprises, recommends the application of indicators that consider the inter-relations between the economy, society and the environment. However, these recommendations are not generally being translated into practice by firms. The environmental aspects of enterprise sustainability reports tend to be privileged over the social and economic components. Indicators of the social and economic impact of an enterprise generally draw upon productivity and human relation measurements rather than measures directly relevant to the impact of enterprise actions on the community. To illustrate these arguments we offer a case study of the Australian Gas Light Company, (AGL), 2004 Sustainability Report, and a critique of the GRI. AGL is a large Australian energy company. We argue that inter-related indicators tend not to be considered within enterprise sustainability reports. It is argued that social and economic externalities of enterprises have an impact on surrounding communities and hence should be measured and reported in conjunction with environmental factors. Moreover, these reports should to be developed in a manner that enables the context of sustainability to be adequately explored

The Natural Capital Indicator Framework (NCIF): A framework of indicators for national natural capital reporting

It is now widely recognised that components of the environment play the role of economic assets, termed natural capital, that are a foundation of social and economic development. National governments monitor the state and trends of natural capital through a range of activities including natural capital accounting, national ecosystem assessments, ecosystem service valuation, and economic and environmental analyses. Indicators play an integral role in these activities as they facilitate the reporting of complex natural capital information. One factor that hinders the success of these activities and their comparability across countries is the absence of a coherent framework of indicators concerning natural capital (and its benefits) that can aid decision-making. Here we present an integrated Natural Capital Indicator Framework (NCIF) alongside example indicators, which provides an illustrative structure for countries to select and organise indicators to assess their use of and dependence on natural capital. The NCIF sits within a wider context of indicators related to natural, human, social and manufactured capital, and associated flows of benefits. The framework provides decision-makers with a structured approach to selecting natural capital indicators with which to make decisions about economic development that take into account national natural capital and associated flows of benefits.Comment: 26 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, 1 graphical abstrac

Environmental Accounting and Reporting in Fossil Fuel Sector : A Study on Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla)

Petrobangla is the sole responsible organization to maintain the fossil fuel sector in Bangladesh. It is accountable to next generations for oil, gas and other natural resources. It is necessary to ensure optimum use of these resources. Development activities cannot be sustained if these resources are depleted through wasteful use. This study indicates that Petrobangla takes many initiatives to provide environment-friendly energy in the economy. Environmental Accounting and reporting is the emerging concept in Bangladesh, although many countries in the world, either developed or developing, are practising environmental accounting and reporting in their fossil fuel sector. Since the need for fossil fuel is likely to increase, especially in developing countries [where the supply of these resources insufficient], the accounting and reporting of these resources have become inevitable.Environmental Accounting, Fossil Fuel, Environmental Reporting

The sweet spot in sustainability: a framework for corporate assessment in sugar manufacturing

The assessment of corporate sustainability has become an increasingly important topic, both within academia and in industry. For manufacturing companies to conform to their commitments to sustainable development, a standard and reliable measurement framework is required. There is, however, a lack of sector-specific and empirical research in many areas, including the sugar industry. This paper presents an empirically developed framework for the assessment of corporate sustainability within the Thai sugar industry. Multiple case studies were conducted, and a survey using questionnaires was also employed to enhance the power of generalisation. The developed framework is an accurate and reliable measurement instrument of corporate sustainability, and guidelines to assess qualitative criteria are put forward. The proposed framework can be used for a company’s self-assessment and for guiding practitioners in performance improvement and policy decision-maki

The ambitions and challenges of SROI (social return on investment)

With the growing interest in measuring the social impact of third sector activities, there have been a range of approaches developed. One of these, social return on investment (SROI) has received particular attention and is being promoted by third sector organisations, as well as public and private bodies. This paper examines this approach in detail and identifies a series of issues that require further investigation. These include technical and methodological issues related to this adjusted cost-benefit analysis such as quantifying the value of social benefits, and attribution; the judgement involved in setting indicators; whether projects deemed successful based on an SROI analysis can provide the basis for replicability and scaling up; and the ways in which SROI is being used by stakeholders. Through examining these challenges in detail, the approaches to measuring social impact can be strengthened, standardised and made more rigorous. While the issues raised here are essential to developing SROI further, they are also valid for more general discussions regarding the proving and improving of the value added by the UK third sector

The ambitions and challenges of SROI.

With the growing interest in measuring the social impact of third sector activities, there have been a range of approaches developed. One of these, social return on investment (SROI) has received particular attention and is being promoted by third sector organisations, as well as public and private bodies. This paper examines this approach in detail and identifies a series of issues that require further investigation. These include technical and methodological issues related to this adjusted cost-benefit analysis such as quantifying the value of social benefits, and attribution; the judgement involved in setting indicators; whether projects deemed successful based on an SROI analysis can provide the basis for replicability and scaling up; and the ways in which SROI is being used by stakeholders. Through examining these challenges in detail, the approaches to measuring social impact can be strengthened, standardised and made more rigorous. While the issues raised here are essential to developing SROI further, they are also valid for more general discussions regarding the proving and improving of the value added by the UK third sector

MCA4climate: A Practical Framework for Planning Pro-Development Climate Policy

MCA4climate is a major new UNEP initiative providing 1 Introduction practical assistance to governments in preparing their climate change mitigation and adaptation plans and strategies. It aims to help governments, particularly in developing countries, identify policies and measures that are low cost, environmentally effective and consistent with national development goals. It does this by providing a structured approach to assessing and prioritizing climate-policy options, while taking into consideration associated social, economic, environmental and institutional costs and benefits. In doing so, it seeks to counter the widely held perception that tackling climate change is costly, highlight the potential developmental benefits of addressing climate change and encourage action to that end

SUSTAINABILITY IN ACCOUNTING – BASIS: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

This paper motivation is to introduce a few guidelines of a model in search for aconceptual framework for sustainability reporting. We are presenting the levels of informationreliability witch are derived mainly from accounting conceptual frameworks, and Global ReportingInitiative (GRI) Guidelines. As the study methodology we are using an inductive approach: weanalyze the qualitative characteristics of specific environmental indicators, in order to assess thedegree of relevance and reliability of each particular provision. We will finally make an attempt toderive the objective of sustainability reporting, while evaluating the degree of usefulness of this typeof documents that closely follow the more formalized process of financial reporting. We concludethat there are a number of reasons for not reporting; most of these are related to internal datareliability. Hence, stakeholders cannot distinguish between different types of data unreliability; andthe GRI does little on this matter.Sustainability, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines, conceptual framework, inductiveapproach

Measuring Shared Value: How to Unlock Value by Linking Social and Business Results

Measuring shared value allows companies to maximize opportunities for innovation, growth, and social impact at scale. This article explains the specific purpose of shared value measurement and offers a step-by-step process and pragmatic approaches to measurement with examples from leading companies