Personal values and attitudes toward societal and environmental accountability: A study of MBA students

Efforts to promote corporate societal and environmental accountability (SEA) should be informed by an understanding of stakeholders’ attitudes toward enhanced accountability standards. However, little is known regarding current attitudes on this subject or the determinants of these attitudes. To address this issue, this study examines the relationship between personal values and support for social and environmental accountability for a sample of Indian MBA students. Selected contemporary social and environmental issues were used to assess the students’ support for social and environmental accountability. Principal component analysis was used to explore the underlying dimensions or factors that shape social and environmental beliefs and attitudes. Multiple regression models were run for each of the SEA dimensions to test the hypotheses and the relationship between the values and support for SEA

Corporate social and environmental responsibility in an emerging economy: Through the lens of legitimacy theory

Efforts to promote Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility (CSER) require an understanding of stakeholder attitudes toward enhanced responsibility. However, little is known about current attitudes on this subject, or the determinants of these attitudes. This study presents a survey of the attitudes of Indian managers, toward 18 social and 16 key contemporary environmental management issues. The findings indicate that respondents are concerned about a range of issues surrounding social responsibility. With respect to environmental responsibilities, Indian respondents were also strong in their support, and identified a select few issues to be more important over other environmental factors. Results indicated a positive attitude of Indian managers towards CSER. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed three distinct social and environmental factors for the respondents and provided a model of managerial attitudes towards CSER

Learning accounting in globalised Australian universities: Challenges and way out

In designing appropriate learning activities, learning problems need to be considered, and suitable teaching and learning strategies need to be identified to resolve these problems. This study reports on the major problems encountered by international students studying accounting in an Australian university, particularly those related to differences in cultural background, learning approach, English language fluency, and local accents etc. whereby some solutions can be offered. Twenty students were asked to identify the main problems they face in learning accounting in Australia, and to describe their expectations and needs during their study. Based on the findings, the author suggests eight actions which might go a long way to resolve the problems currently being faced:(a) Getting students to explicitly workshop and negotiate issues around culture, language and learning, and how best to respond to their needs,(b) Taking individual care to give them confidence,(c) Going slowly in classes so that they can understand concepts,(d) Extensive use of a white board and Power point slides during lectures,(e) Providing lecture notes prior to the lecture,(f) Encouraging students to form informal study groups,(g) Making greater efforts to understand the culture and their learning approaches and,(h) Meeting the students in a tutorial session at least once a week

Factors associated with the social and environmental reporting of Australian companies

Purpose: The objective of this study is twofold. Firstly, to examine the extent of social and environmental reporting in Australia, selected Global Reporting Initiative (GRI, 2002) social and environmental reporting guidelines were used to determine the extent; secondly, to analyse the association between firm characteristics and Levels of Social and Environmental reporting (SER), regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. Design/methodology/approach: This study investigated SER practices of 47 small and large Australian companies drawn from five industries. Using seventeen social and eighteen environmental disclosure indicators, the study evaluates disclosure information presented in annual reports. Regression analysis was used to empirically examine the determinants of SER. Findings: The results indicated that the extent of SER by Australian Companies was fairly low and the extent of total disclosure was significantly higher for large organisations in the Industrial Transport industry. Companies with negative return on total assets reported significantly higher social information. The extent of total disclosure was unrelated to an organisation’s age and external auditor size. Originality/value: The study provided a detailed analysis of the SER from the developing economy perspective using GRI social and environmental performance indicators. Research limitations/implications: The study was limited by the use of selected GRI social and environmental indicators. Practical and Social implications: The paper argues for greater social and environmental accounting researcher engagement with SEA practice. The study showed the gap and challenge still lies ahead in improving the quantity and quality of SEA from a developed economy perspectiv

Corporate environmental performance evaluation: A cross-country appraisal

This study scrutinises cross-country neutral evaluation of corporate environmental performance (CEP) using a multidimensional model. The study compares Australian and Indian CEP measurement and tests a model to explore whether that model can be effectively implemented in both countries. The model consist of four managerial performance (MP) and two operational performance (OP) indicators. Factor analysis with varimax rotation along with ordinary least squares regression were untaken to analyse the relationship and individual contribution of PM and OP to CEP. Two models were confirmed using AMOS Version 18 software. Results indicated that environmental managerial performance and environmental operational performance are two separate constructs of CEP and are mutually dependent and that a single model could not be effectively implement in different cultural locations. The results als

Enhancing accounting learning of the international students: Strategies and their effectiveness

Chinese students constitute the single largest group of overseas students in Australian universities. The prior learning experiences and academic traditions of countries from which international students are drawn can significantly impact on learning experiences and outcomes in new learning environments. In designing appropriate learning activities, we need to consider their learning problems and identify suitable teaching strategies to resolve these problems. The purpose of the current study was to develop such theoretical understandings by conducting an empirical investigation into students’ needs and expectations during their study of accounting, for improvement to evaluate teaching strategies applied to overcome the problems they face and to provide suggestions. This paper seeks to highlight the initial problems faced by Chinese international students in terms of learning styles and how they strive to overcome these difficulties through discussions and practice. This paper tried to enhance the learning experience of International accounting students by adopting various teaching and learning strategies and reports research which investigates the effectiveness and way in which some of these students learn

Managerial attitude and support for social responsibility through the lens of legitimacy theory: A cross country comparison

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is threefold; first, to examine the Australian and Indian managerial attitudes towards social responsibility (SR) and assess their support for SR; second, to explore the underlying factors that shape beliefs and attitudes; and third, to explore whether respondents from these countries, characterised by differing levels of development, differ in their attitudes towards SR. Design/methodology/approach – It investigates attitudes and support for SR of 318 Australian and Indian managers drawn from three industries. Eighteen social issues, principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) procedures were undertaken to explore and confirm the underlying factors of SR. The paper used legitimacy theory as theoretical framework

Barriers to professional development among contingent academic employees: An Australian case study

Description The international higher education sector is increasingly reliant on precariously employed academic staff who deliver a significant proportion of teaching load. Although this is increasingly viewed as a risk to the quality of teaching and learning, there is little research that tests the proposition. We take up this challenge by analysing and comparing student course evaluations and the results of an online survey of sessional academics. Results show that the risk derives not from the sessionals themselves nor their teaching but from inadequate institutional support for and management of sessional academics

Mandatory CSR expenditure and firm performance

India has recently mandated corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure under section 135 of the Indian Companies Act 2013 – the first national jurisdiction to do so. In line with the “shareholder value maximization” concept, we document the positive impacts of CSR expenditure on firm performance measured by return on asset and cash flow from operations. Additionally, we find that, despite the regulatory requirement, mandated CSR legislation is a significant but not the sole determinant of actual CSR spending by firms; rather, firm-specific economic factors such as size, level of cash balance and cash flow from operations have a moderating effect. We also observe that CSR expenditure contributes to firm performance irrespective of the level of actual CSR expenditure relative to the level of mandatory CSR expenditure. Our findings potentially reconcile conflicting results presented in the literature and

Values, gender, and environmental responsibility: A study of future managers

This study examines the role of gender in determining personal value priorities and environmental attitudes of future manager in developing social context. While previous studies focus on developed markets and only on personal values of individuals, we focus on gender effect on personal values and pro-environmental attitudes of MBA students of an emerging economy. This study is on India since India is characterised as a male-dominated society and a producer of larger number of MBA graduates. Overall, our results shows that personal values and attitude towards environmental responsibility do not vary significantly based on the participants’ gender difference. However, work experience of male MBA students has a significant negative impact on attitudes towards environmental responsibility. Our findings can be used to operationalize the pro-environmental recruitment policy of organisations. The result will also be handy to formulate strategies to improve female participation in MBA cohorts of business schools. Keywords: Values, gender, environmental attitudes, MBA student