The human capital for value creation and social impact: The interpretation of the ir’s hc definition

The paper aimed at assessing and identifying in a comparative way the potentiality and suitability of the Integrated Reporting (IR)’s definition of human capital (HC) within a selection of companies and social cooperatives. Employing in-depth interviews, the qualitative study analyzed the points of view of a selection of human resources managers to firstly check and test the connection between human capital, value creation, and social impact. The contribution of human capital to value creation is not easily recognized, especially by smaller-sized companies. The results suggested that the HC definition of the IR in the for-profit sector seems to be more applicable to the top management than to the whole workforce, while it appears as “fitting” for the managers of social cooperatives because of its explicit focus on ethical values, loyalty, and motivation. This allowed opening possible channels of dialogue between the profit and not-for-profit sectors. The paper proposed practical recommendations to operationalize the IR’s HC definition

A multiple criteria approach to map ecological-inclusive business models for sustainable development

The paper presents the first attempt to apply a multiple criteria approach to map ecological-inclusive business models and to structure their main features, in terms of sustainable development. Ecological-inclusive business models are presented in this study, and 15 cases pertaining to agro-food organisations located in Sub-Saharan Africa are considered. These companies simultaneously deliver positive social and environmental value, and confirm a well-established market presence. As far as social value is concerned, the companies included in the sample use a Bottom-of-Pyramid approach, involving low-income customers and/or low-income business partners. As for environmental value, all the analysed companies implement frugal innovation or sustainable exploitation of natural resources in the afro-food sector. One of the results that has been achieved is that of disentangling the complexity behind a triple bottom-line business model through a multidimensional analysis framework that identifies the aspects that play a fundamental role in ecological-inclusive business models. An evaluation model and the application of a multiple criteria outranking method are proposed as examples of how some criteria, such as the extent of socio-environmental concerns, strategy orientation and value of partnerships can be used to compare, rank and/or select business models to facilitate decision makers. This work presents the results of an interdisciplinary study on the social entrepreneurship field of knowledge

Formal networks: the influence of social learning in meta-organisations from commons protection to commons governance

The governance of shared resources through collective actions to prevent \u201cthe tragedy of the commons\u201d has long been a controversial topic in management studies. Hampered by a lack of formal organisational structures, small locally-governed commons are usually managed through informal networks and, hence, largely studied in this context. However, Italy\u2019s formalised network contracts initiative provides a unique and relatively rare opportunity to study how the business-led collective action of a formal meta-organisation influences the use of commons. Using a mixed-methods qualitative approach, this paper reveals how particular organisational features, especially collaborative and social learning, can play a critical role in driving formal meta-organisations towards positive outcomes in three progressive stages: commons protection, commons stewardship, and commons governance. The analysis is framed by two different streams of literature\u2013meta-organisation theory and sustainability science\u2013with implications for the theory and praxis of both

Student perceptions of university social responsibility: Implications from an empirical study in France, Italy and Russia

This article analyses student perceptions of university social responsibility (USR) across three cultures (France, Italy and Russia). USR is needed to strengthen civic commitment and active citizenship by university members to the communities they serve (Vasilescu et al., 2010). Insufficient empirical evidence currently exists to describe perceptions of key stakeholders as to what this should entail. Understanding such mind-sets is crucial to ensure effective learning adapted to the host environment (Dana, 2001). A descriptive-empirical approach combined with a factor and multivariate analysis from an online survey of 426 students enabled a comprehensive understanding of student opinions on the role of universities within their communities. Findings suggest that French and Italian students see USR as a more individual commitment compared to their Russian counterparts. From this, a specific approach to the education of future managers on issues of US and ethics may be developed. This also provides implications for higher education policy makers. Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd

Sustainability Reporting and Interactive Storytelling: A Genre Approach for Humanising Business

In recent years, financial accounting has seen a trend toward reporting in the form of narratives, while sustainability disclosures are increasingly falling under the influence of numerical reductionism. An all-pervasive mantra of succinctness and investor-oriented messaging is dominating communications on sustainability through all but a few of the international reporting frameworks, and stakeholders are being removed from a discourse that is itself disappearing. This chapter sets out one possible ending to Freeman et al.’s (Bus Soc, May 2018) quest to bring stakeholders back to the core of accounting narratives. Grounded in the literature on sustainability accounting and relevant studies in the field of human-data interactions, this chapter explores how interactive storytelling can be a way to overcome excessive succinctness and engage stakeholders as both readers and actors in sustainability reporting. Interactive storytelling applied to sustainability reporting creates a new literary genre. It establishes personal engagement and allows the reader to explore data and discover information, making sustainability reports a fruitful tool for humanizing business communications

Non-financial Disclosure and Materiality: Exploring the Role of CFOs

The attention to corporate sustainability has brought non-financial disclosure (NFD) into widespread use. With the rise of NFD, companies face the challenge of determining what information is material. To date, there is a shortage of qualitative studies that investigate how nonfinancial materiality gets defined and implemented in practice. To fill the gap, through a case analysis of two Italian listed companies, this chapter explores the following research questions: Who participates and which is the role of the CFO/controller in the materiality determination process? Whose information needs are primarily addressed when determining what is material or not? The findings show that the key organizational actors involved in the materiality determination process and their roles (including the CFO and the Chief Audit Executive) are different between the two companies and the related materiality assessment is mainly driven by the information needs of capital providers. Instead, the relevant implications for the materiality process to remark are the complexity of the stakeholder audience, the CFO’s skills, and the extension of managerial proxies to the CFO

LA RENDICONTAZIONE SOCIALE DEGLI ISTITUTI SCOLASTICI DOCUMENTI DI RICERCA N. 13

Nell\u2019anno scolastico 2014/2015 \ue8 stata avviata l\u2019attivazione del Sistema Nazionale di Valutazione (SNV) in materia di istruzione e formazione, sul- la base di quanto stabilito dal DPR 28 marzo 2013, n. 80. Tale Sistema pre- vede, in particolare, che tutte le istituzioni scolastiche (statali e paritarie) realizzino un\u2019attivit\ue0 di analisi e di valutazione interna e definiscano un in- sieme di obiettivi ed azioni di miglioramento secondo il percorso delineato dal Rapporto di Autovalutazione (RAV). Al termine dell\u2019anno scolastico 2016-2017 le istituzioni scolastiche do- vranno pubblicare nel portale \u201cScuola in chiaro\u201d un rapporto di rendiconta- zione sociale \u201cgrazie al quale si diffonderanno i risultati raggiunti, in rela- zione agli obiettivi di miglioramento individuati e perseguiti negli anni pre- cedenti, sia in una dimensione di trasparenza sia in una dimensione di con- divisione e promozione al miglioramento del servizio con la comunit\ue0 di appartenenza\u201d. Con questa pubblicazione, il GBS propone una riflessione che si inseri- sce in un processo di crescita nell\u2019ambito della valutazione e rendiconta- zione sociale degli istituti scolastici, fornendo un proprio contributo frutto degli studi delle buone prassi e delle professionalit\ue0 nazionali e internazio- nali in materia di accountability. Nel documento si evidenzia, in particolare, la differenza tra un approc- cio di accountability amministrativa, in cui la rendicontazione sociale \ue8 im- posta centralmente e in modo uniforme a tutti gli istituti secondo schemi rigidamente prestabiliti a fini di controllo e comparabilit\ue0, ed un approccio di accountability cooperativa, in cui la rendicontazione sociale recupera una fondamentale dimensione di condivisione, caratterizzandosi come un pro- cesso volontario che nasce dalla consapevolezza del dovere di render conto ai portatori di interessi (stakeholder) circa l\u2019uso che viene fatto dell\u2019autonomia scolastica. \uc8 quest\u2019ultimo approccio che \ue8 stato adottato per la proposta di rendi- contazione sociale di un istituto scolastico di seguito esposta; una proposta 7 che va vista come migliorativa rispetto agli obblighi amministrativi e in- formativi cogenti. Il bilancio sociale valorizza, infatti, tutte le informazioni previste dal rapporto di autovalutazione, integrandole con altre informazio- ni che ne agevolano la fruizione, consentendo alla scuola un maggior coin- volgimento e una maggiore partecipazione negli ambiti in cui opera: una nuova forma di comunicazione inter-istituzionale. Il presente documento, seguendo il percorso di approfondimento intra- preso dal GBS \u2013 Gruppo di studio per il bilancio sociale1 a partire dal 2001, introduce e illustra i principi e le indicazioni procedurali ritenuti essenziali per la redazione del bilancio sociale negli istituti scolastici, in quanto stru- mento capace di rendere pi\uf9 trasparente e comprensibile la loro complessa funzione educativa, favorendo un dialogo interattivo per la collaborazione fra tutti i soggetti coinvolti. Ha cos\uec lo scopo di definire principi e indica- zioni per: \u2012 guidare gli istituti scolastici (pubblici e privati) nella redazione del bi- lancio sociale o comunque nella realizzazione di processi di rendiconta- zione sociale, descrivendone il significato ed il contenuto informativo essenziale; \u2012 consentire agli stakeholder di conoscere il complesso di risorse, attivit\ue0 e risultati degli istituti scolastici e (per quanto possibile) degli effetti sul contesto di riferimento. Tali principi e indicazioni, in parte desunti dall\u2019esperienza e dalla dot- trina, sono stati messi a punto attraverso la discussione e il confronto con i modelli di accountability accreditati a livello internazionale. Il presente documento \ue8 suddiviso in due parti: \u2012 la prima (Motivi di fondo e caratteri essenziali) espone gli obiettivi e i principi che devono presiedere la costruzione e la redazione del bilancio sociale; \u2012 la seconda (Lineamenti di struttura e contenuti) illustra i contenuti delle sezioni nelle quali \ue8 stato suddiviso il bilancio