Features affecting the quality of Sustainability Reporting: Theoretically informed insights and empirical evidence from the Global Fortune 100 (2011-2015)

Sound Corporate Governance (CG) requires business entities to take responsible regard for the equitable interests of all stakeholders and appropriately align their individual concerns. Given that society generally is one significant stakeholder, it then becomes relevant to determine how such entities take regard for and report upon the social and environmental issues that currently threaten the sustainability of our globe. Accordingly, this research focuses on such sustainability issues and how they are reported, through Sustainability Reporting (SR). Verifying corporate social and environmental activities to stakeholders through Sustainability Reporting (SR) tends to gain and maintain corporate social Legitimacy and continuity in the market. This is because, SR is an effective and efficient tool for measuring and communicating the corporate social and environmental performance, in conjunction with its economic performance to stakeholders. Despite the critical importance of Sustainability Reporting, academics and professionals claim that the Quality of Sustainability Reporting is poor. Given this poor quality, it is recognized that several Sustainability Reports do not fulfill the needs of stakeholders. Consequently, based on the theoretical foundation of Legitimacy Theory and relevant literature, this research aims at hypothesizing and testing the effect of four features on the Quality of Sustainability Reporting (QSR). These features are Adherence to Regulation (ATR), External Assurance of Report (ASR), Independence of Board (IOB) and Type of Information (TOI). QSR is determined via the Index of the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI). The GRI is regarded as the international proxy for Sustainability Reporting. Its Index identifies the performance indicators that should be included within the Sustainability Report, in order to fulfill the needs of stakeholders. The relationship between these features and QSR are tested/evaluated within 500 reports. These 500 are the Sustainability Reports of the Global Fortune 100 (G100) companies over the five-year period 2011-2015. Employing an ordinal dependent variable (QSR), the research applies an Ordinal, Logistic Regression (OLS) to statistically test hypothesized relationships. The SPSS statistical software package is used to implement that regression and to statistically analyze the collected data. The research concludes that Adherence To Regulations, External Assurance of Report, Independence of Board and Type of Information significantly affect, (representing 37.1% - 41% of the change in) the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. It also concludes that, Adherence to Regulations and External Assurance of Report have an Extremely Significant and Positive, relationship with the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Moreover; there is a Significant and Positive, relationship between the Type of Information and Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Regarding the Independence of Board, two main phenomena are identified from the empirical results. The results identify that, there is a Non-significant relationship between Independence of Board Members and the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. However; there is a Significant, Positive, relationship between the Independence of Board Chair and the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Therefore, Adherence to Regulations, External Assurance of Report, Independence of Board Chair and Type of Information are significant influencing factors that should be seriously considered by reporting firms in order to improve the Quality of Sustainability Reporting

Features Affecting the Quality of Sustainability Reporting: Theoretically-Informed Insights and Empirical Evidence from the Global Fortune 100 (2011-2015)

Sound Corporate Governance (CG) requires business entities to take responsible regard for the equitable interests of all stakeholders and appropriately align their individual concerns. Given that society generally is one significant stakeholder, it then becomes relevant to determine how such entities take regard for and report upon the social and environmental issues that currently threaten the sustainability of our globe. Accordingly, this research focuses on such sustainability issues and how they are reported, through Sustainability Reporting (SR). Verifying corporate social and environmental activities to stakeholders through Sustainability Reporting (SR) tends to gain and maintain corporate social Legitimacy and continuity in the market. This is because, SR is an effective and efficient tool for measuring and communicating the corporate social and environmental performance, in conjunction with its economic performance to stakeholders. Despite the critical importance of Sustainability Reporting, academics and professionals claim that the Quality of Sustainability Reporting is poor. Given this poor quality, it is recognized that several Sustainability Reports do not fulfill the needs of stakeholders. Consequently, based on the theoretical foundation of Legitimacy Theory and relevant literature, this research aims at hypothesizing and testing the effect of four features on the Quality of Sustainability Reporting (QSR). These features are Adherence to Regulation (ATR), External Assurance of Report (ASR), Independence of Board (IOB) and Type of Information (TOI). QSR is determined via the Index of the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI). The GRI is regarded as the international proxy for Sustainability Reporting. Its Index identifies the performance indicators that should be included within the Sustainability Report, in order to fulfill the needs of stakeholders. The relationship between these features and QSR are tested/evaluated within 500 reports. These 500 are the Sustainability Reports of the Global Fortune 100 (G100) companies over the five-year period 2011-2015. Employing an ordinal dependent variable (QSR), the research applies an Ordinal, Logistic Regression (OLS) to statistically test hypothesized relationships. The SPSS statistical software package is used to implement that regression and to statistically analyze the collected data. The research concludes that Adherence To Regulations, External Assurance of Report, Independence of Board and Type of Information significantly affect, (representing 37.1% - 41% of the change in) the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. It also concludes that, Adherence to Regulations and External Assurance of Report have an Extremely Significant and Positive, relationship with the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Moreover; there is a Significant and Positive, relationship between the Type of Information and Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Regarding the Independence of Board, two main phenomena are identified from the empirical results. The results identify that, there is a Non-significant relationship between Independence of Board Members and the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. However; there is a Significant, Positive, relationship between the Independence of Board Chair and the Quality of Sustainability Reporting. Therefore, Adherence to Regulations, External Assurance of Report, Independence of Board Chair and Type of Information are significant influencing factors that should be seriously considered by reporting firms in order to improve the Quality of Sustainability Reporting

Hydrological modelling of ungauged arid volcanic environments at upper Bathan catchment, Madinah, Saudi Arabia

Hydrological modelling of ungauged catchments is still a challenging task especially in arid regions with a unique land cover features such as highly fracture volcanic basalt rocks. In this study, upper Bathan catchment (103 km2) in Madinah, western of Saudi Arabia is selected. The aim of this paper is to simulate the hydrological responses of volcanic catchment to daily design storm events. The weighted areal average of two daily design rainfall depth scenarios are computed, which are 50 years and 100 years return period and correspondent predicted rainfall are 80.6 mm and 94.1 mm, respectively. SCS Type II temporal synthetic distribution of daily rainfall is selected to disaggregate the daily rainfall into smaller time interval. Excess rainfall is computed using Soil Conservation Services Curve Number (SCS-CN) method based on Land Cover and Land Use (LCLU) and hydrological soil groups (HSG) maps, while direct runoff hydrograph is developed using Soil Conservation Services dimensionless unit hydrograph (SCS-UH) method using lag time equation. HEC-HMS software is used, and it showed that the runoff volumes of the two rainfall scenarios are 50% and 54% of the total rainfall depth, and the peak discharges are 123 m3/sec and 158 m3/sec. This study provided an indication of the hydrograph characteristics of basaltic catchments and the result of this paper can be used for further flood studies in arid ungauged volcanic catchments

Evaluasi Program Pengendalian Penyakit Kusta Di Wilayah Kerja Puskesmas Lompentodea Kecamatan Parigi Barat Kabupaten Parigi Moutong

Penyakit kusta merupakan salah satu penyakit menular yang menimbulkan masalah yang sangat kompleks. Dimana prevalensi penyakit kusta di Kabupaten Parigi Moutong pada tiga tahun terakhir mengalami peningkatan yaitu pada tahun 2012 sebesar 2,6%, pada tahun 2013 sebesar 4,8% , dan 5,7% pada tahun 2014. Salah satu penyebab tingginya angka penemuan penderita kusta karena tidak adanya pelaksanaan penyuluhan kelompok. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui pelaksanaan Program Pengendalian Penyakit Kusta di Wilayah Kerja Puskesmas Lompentodea Kecamatan Parigi Barat Kabupaten Parigi Moutong. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif. Jumlah informan keseluruhan adalah 6 informan yang terdiri 1 informan kunci (key informan), 1 Informan biasa, dan 4 Informan tambahan. Pengolahan data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan pendekatan analisa isi (content analisis) dengan teknik matriks. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa dari aspek input yakni program bisa berjalan dengan baik meskipun adanya keterbatasan SDM, dana dan fasilitas, Process dalam pelaksanaan program sudah sesuai dengan SOP yang sudah di tentukan oleh Dinas Kesehatan, output pada monitoring dan evaluasi pelaksaan program sudah berjalan baik dengan pelaporan yang dilakukan tiga bulan sekali. Diharapkan Dinas Kesehatan terkait untuk memaksimalkan dana untuk pelaksanaan program kusta sehingga input, process yang belum maksimal bisa teratasi dengan efektif dan efesien

Experimental results on the shear behaviour of steel fibre self-compacting concrete (SFSCC) beams

This paper presents an experimental test program that was carried out to investigate the shear performance of steel fibre self-compacting concrete (SFSCC) beams. In this paper, the mechanical performance of results from all mixtures used to cast normal concrete (NC), self-compacting concrete (SCC) and steel fibre self-compacting concrete (SFSCC) were also investigated. In total, 27 cubes, 9 cylinders, 9 prisms and 9 beams were prepared for the assessment of mechanical properties of three different mixtures. Four beams (125 mm × 250 mm × 2200 mm) were tested and cast using three different concrete mixtures, having two different spacing of stirrups as a result of 50% reduction of the stirrups amount. Three beams with different mixtures having similar stirrups spacing 125mm while the fourth beam with SFSCC mixes having 250mm stirrups spacing. The results show that the mechanical properties were positively affected with steel fibres inclusion. The addition of steel fibres showed an increment up to 40% in the shear load capacity for B-SFSCC125 compared to B-NC125 and B-SCC125. In addition, the crack pattern of B-SFSCC was found better than B-NC and B-SCC

APLIKASI PENGELOLAAN DATA MASTER TRANS METRO BANDUNG

v ABSTRAK Trans Metro Bandung adalah bus rapid transit di kota Bandung yang diresmikan pada tanggal 22 Desember 2008. Trans Metro Bandung terdiri dari 10 buah armada serta 19 shelter yang tersebar di beberapa ruas jalan di kota Bandung. Aplikasi Pengelolaan Trans Metro Bandung adalah sebuah aplikasi berbasis web yang dibangun menggunakan bahasa pemrograman PHP, HTML, Java Script serta menggunakan Notepad++ danMySQL. Aplikasi ini dibuat untuk membenahi proses pengelolaan data master dari Trans Metro Bandung yang mengalami beberapa permasalahan, seperti sistem pengelolaan data master dengan masih menggunakan buku dan Microsoft Excel.Sehingga data-data kurang tersusun dengan rapi, teratur, dan tidak ter back updengan baik.Serta kaidah database tidak dapat diterapkan. Meskipun Aplikasi Pengelolaan Data Master Trans Metro Bandung masih memerlukan beberapa pengembangan lagi agar lebih sempurna sistemnya, akan tetapi dengan adanya aplikasi ini, Dinas Perhubungan kota Bandung dapat mengelola data master pengawai dan bus Trans Metro Bandung dengan lebih rapi, teratur dan baik. Kata Kunci: Trans Metro Bandung, Aplikasi, Pengelolaan, Data Master. vi ABSTRACT Trans Metro Bandung is a bus rapid transit in Bandung which was inaugurated on December 22, 2008. Trans Metro Bandung consists of 10 pieces of fleets and 19 shelters scattered across Bandung\u27s road. Aplication of Trans Metro Bandung Management is a web-based application that is built using the PHP programming language, HTML, Java Script and using Notepad ++ and MySQL. This application was created to restructure the master data management processesfrom Trans Metro Bandung that have some problems, such as master data management system are still using books and Microsoft Excel, so the data not arranged neatly, orderly, and not backed up properly. And database\u27s rules can not be applied. Although the Application of Master Data Management on Trans Metro Bandung still need some development to make the system more perfect, however with this application, the Department of Transportation in Bandung can manage master data of employee and bus Trans Metro Bandung with more neatly,orderly and well. Keywords: Trans Metro Bandung, Applications, Management, Master Data

Measuring consumer perception in respiratory mask product based on affective evaluation

Haze has been an annual problem in the Southeast Asian region, especially in Malaysia where its neighbouring country Indonesia’s forest fires are the main cause for this phenomenon. It has caused skies to be obscured, air to be clogged, lowered visibility and most importantly it severely affects humans’ health. The objective of this study is to identify the consumer perception in mask design used during haze. The focused mainly on using the affective data to redesign the mask products. The online questionnaires about the awareness of the public regarding haze, positive and negative reviews of different types of respiratory masks were randomly sent to respondents. The data was then analyzed quantitatively using affective evaluation. Results showed the most commonly used product against haze were surgical masks and the N95. However many were reluctant users of the masks as they were uncomfortable. Results also showed that masks had to have ergonomic features to provide comfort and supported the view that the current respiratory mask designs had to be more aesthetic as well

Shipper liability for cargo

This research is important for the determination of the basis of shipper liability, in particular whether the fault of the shipper is taken into account or whether the shipper’s liability is strict. The research question asks to what extent the mental element of the shipper is relevant to the determination of the shipper’s liability for cargo. The researcher seeks to prove that although the rules seek to distinguish between liabilities which are fault-based and those which attract strict liability, considerations made in the determination of liability results in an unclear line being drawn between the two. The minimal application and the limited existence of fault-based rules would be consistent with the overall nature of the strict contractual liabilities of the shipper

Mathematical modeling of fructose production by immobilised glucose isomerase as a function of temperature and pH variations

Production of fructose from glucose isomerisation process using commercial immobilized glucose isomerase (IGI) was conducted in a batch type of stirred tank bioreactor. A mathematical model was developed to describe the effect of temperature and pH on the kinetic parameters of fructose production. Modified Santos model known as MM3 was used to describe this phenomenon. The influence of temperature and pH was investigated and quantified. The results showed that, even though the highest R2 was at 70°C but based on the IAE of 0.843 and ISE of 0.978, it proved that for enzymatic reaction, it should be carried out below 65°C. Effect of pH for various models have shown that, the IAE and ISE were less than one whereas the R2 were greater than 0.95. This indicates that the model, MM3 is acceptable.Keywords: Batch reactor, fructose, glucose isomerisation, mathematical modeling, pH, temperatur