Managing and resisting ‘degeneration’ in employee-owned businesses: a comparative study of two large retailers in Spain and the UK

Employee-owned businesses have recently enjoyed a resurgence of interest as possible ‘alternatives’ to the somewhat tarnished image of conventional investor-owned capitalist firms. Within the context of global economic crisis, such alternatives seem newly attractive. This is somewhat ironic because, for more than a century, academic literature on employee-owned businesses has been dominated by the ‘degeneration thesis’. This suggested that these businesses tend towards failure – they either fail commercially, or they relinquish their democratic characters. Bucking this trend and offering a beacon - especially in the UK - has been the commercially successful, co-owned enterprise of the John Lewis Partnership (JLP) whose virtues have seemingly been rewarded with favourable and sustainable outcomes. This paper makes comparisons between JLP and its Spanish equivalent Eroski – the supermarket group which is part of the Mondragon cooperatives. The contribution of this paper is to examine in a comparative way how the managers in JLP and Eroski have constructed and accomplished their alternative scenarios. Using longitudinal data and detailed interviews with senior managers in both enterprises it explores the ways in which two large, employee-owned, enterprises reconcile apparently conflicting principles and objectives. The paper thus puts some new flesh on the ‘regeneration thesis’

Developing a regulatory framework for the financial, management performance and social reporting systems for co-operatives in developing countries: A case study of South Africa

PURPOSE : This report is on a team effort to advise the Department of Trade and Industry on the development of a regulatory framework for the auditing of Financial, Management. Performance and Social Reporting Systems for co-operatives. ORIENTATION : There was no framework in place prescribing requirements for reporting on financial, management and social performance of co-operatives. As a result, the team assisted the Department of Trade and Industry with the development of a proposed reporting framework with reference to international best practices and existing financial reporting frameworks. FINDINGS : The research performed showed that existing reporting frameworks and practices do not meet the reporting requirements of co-operatives in all aspects because of the different nature of co-operatives as opposed to shareholder-owned entities.http://www.actacommercii.co.za/am2016Business Managemen

Sustainability assurance on the biggest cooperatives of the world: an analysis of their adoption and quality

© 2015 The Authors Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics © 2015 CIRIECSustainability Assurance (SA) is increasing worldwide. Cooperatives are highly susceptible to CSR but there is an interesting research gap regarding SA in them. We use mixed research methods (statistical and content analysis) to study SA practices of the top 300 cooperatives worldwide. Paradoxically, our results show scarce or late SA adoption, and country-level and sector sensibility do not affect SA adoption significantly. Conversely, country-level and sector sensibility influence the choice of the assurance provider. Finally, findings reveal that country-level and industry factors, and also the assurance provider, do affect assurance statements’ quality.Seguí Mas, E.; Bollas Araya, HM.; Polo Garrido, F. (2015). Sustainability assurance on the biggest cooperatives of the world: an analysis of their adoption and quality. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics. 86(2):363-383. doi:10.1111/apce.12073S363383862Adams, C. A. (2004). The ethical, social and environmental reporting‐performance portrayal gap. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 17(5), 731-757. doi:10.1108/09513570410567791Adams, C. A., & Evans, R. (2004). Accountability, Completeness, Credibility and the Audit Expectations Gap. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 2004(14), 97-115. doi:10.9774/gleaf.4700.2004.su.00010Ball, A., Owen, D. L., & Gray, R. (2000). External transparency or internal capture? The role of third-party statements in adding value to corporate environmental reports1. Business Strategy and the Environment, 9(1), 1-23. doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-0836(200001/02)9:13.0.co;2-hBebbington, J. (1997). Engagement, education and sustainability. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 10(3), 365-381. doi:10.1108/09513579710178115Carrasco, I. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility, Values, and Cooperation. International Advances in Economic Research, 13(4), 454-460. doi:10.1007/s11294-007-9110-2COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 2001 Green Paper- Promoting a European Framework for Corporate Social ResponsibilityCornelius, N., Todres, M., Janjuha-Jivraj, S., Woods, A., & Wallace, J. (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility and the Social Enterprise. Journal of Business Ethics, 81(2), 355-370. doi:10.1007/s10551-007-9500-7Deegan, C. (2002). Introduction. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 15(3), 282-311. doi:10.1108/09513570210435852Deegan, C., Cooper, B. J., & Shelly, M. (2006). An investigation of TBL report assurance statements: UK and European evidence. Managerial Auditing Journal, 21(4), 329-371. doi:10.1108/02686900610661388Deegan, C., & Rankin, M. (1999). THE ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTING EXPECTATIONS GAP: AUSTRALIAN EVIDENCE. The British Accounting Review, 31(3), 313-346. doi:10.1006/bare.1999.0102Rhianon Edgley, C., Jones, M. J., & Solomon, J. F. (2010). Stakeholder inclusivity in social and environmental report assurance. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 23(4), 532-557. doi:10.1108/09513571011041615Emanuele, R., & Higgins, S. H. (2000). Journal of Business Ethics, 24(1), 87-93. doi:10.1023/a:1006215031400Belé, N. A., Ferná, n, Feijó, ndez, Sou, o, Romero, S., & Blanco, S. R. (2012). Measuring quality of sustainability reports and assurance statements: characteristics of the high quality reporting companies. International Journal of Society Systems Science, 4(1), 5. doi:10.1504/ijsss.2012.045371Fonseca, A. (2010). How credible are mining corporations’ sustainability reports? a critical analysis of external assurance under the requirements of the international council on mining and metals. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 17(6), 355-370. doi:10.1002/csr.230GLOBAL REPORTING INITIATIVE (GRI) 2011 GRI Sustainability Reporting Statistics http://www.globalreporting.org/resourcelibrary/GRI-Reporting-Trends-2011.pdfHasan, M., Maijoor, S., Mock, T. J., Roebuck, P., Simnett, R., & Vanstraelen, A. (2005). The Different Types of Assurance Services and Levels of Assurance Provided. International Journal of Auditing, 9(2), 91-102. doi:10.1111/j.1099-1123.2005.00262.xHodge, K., Subramaniam, N., & Stewart, J. (2009). Assurance of Sustainability Reports: Impact on Report Users’ Confidence and Perceptions of Information Credibility. Australian Accounting Review, 19(3), 178-194. doi:10.1111/j.1835-2561.2009.00056.xILLIA L. ROMENTI S. ZYGLIDOPOULOS S. 2010 CSR CommunicationINTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE ALLIANCE (ICA) 1995 Statement on the Cooperative IdentityIAASB 2003 International Standard on Assurance Engagements (ISAE) 3000Kolk, A. (2004). A decade of sustainability reporting: developments and significance. International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 3(1), 51. doi:10.1504/ijesd.2004.004688Kolk, A. (2007). Sustainability, accountability and corporate governance: exploring multinationals’ reporting practices. Business Strategy and the Environment, 17(1), 1-15. doi:10.1002/bse.511Manetti, G., & Becatti, L. (2008). Assurance Services for Sustainability Reports: Standards and Empirical Evidence. Journal of Business Ethics, 87(S1), 289-298. doi:10.1007/s10551-008-9809-xManetti, G., & Toccafondi, S. (2011). The Role of Stakeholders in Sustainability Reporting Assurance. Journal of Business Ethics, 107(3), 363-377. doi:10.1007/s10551-011-1044-1MOCK, T. J., STROHM, C., & SWARTZ, K. M. (2007). An Examination of Worldwide Assured Sustainability Reporting. Australian Accounting Review, 17(41), 67-77. doi:10.1111/j.1835-2561.2007.tb00455.xMoroney, R., Windsor, C., & Aw, Y. T. (2011). Evidence of assurance enhancing the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures: an empirical analysis. Accounting & Finance, 52(3), 903-939. doi:10.1111/j.1467-629x.2011.00413.xO’Dwyer, B. (2003). Conceptions of corporate social responsibility: the nature of managerial capture. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 16(4), 523-557. doi:10.1108/09513570310492290O’Dwyer, B., & Owen, D. L. (2005). Assurance statement practice in environmental, social and sustainability reporting: a critical evaluation. The British Accounting Review, 37(2), 205-229. doi:10.1016/j.bar.2005.01.005O’Dwyer, B., & Owen, D. (2007). Seeking Stakeholder-Centric Sustainability Assurance. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 2007(25), 77-94. doi:10.9774/gleaf.4700.2007.sp.00009O’Dwyer, B., Owen, D., & Unerman, J. (2011). Seeking legitimacy for new assurance forms: The case of assurance on sustainability reporting. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 36(1), 31-52. doi:10.1016/j.aos.2011.01.002Perego, P., & Kolk, A. (2012). Multinationals’ Accountability on Sustainability: The Evolution of Third-party Assurance of Sustainability Reports. Journal of Business Ethics, 110(2), 173-190. doi:10.1007/s10551-012-1420-5Pflugrath, G., Roebuck, P., & Simnett, R. (2011). Impact of Assurance and Assurer’s Professional Affiliation on Financial Analysts’ Assessment of Credibility of Corporate Social Responsibility Information. AUDITING: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 30(3), 239-254. doi:10.2308/ajpt-10047Power, M. (1991). Auditing and Environmental Expertise: Between Protest and Professionalisation. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 4(3). doi:10.1108/09513579110141751Sierra, L., Zorio, A., & García-Benau, M. A. (2012). Sustainable Development and Assurance of Corporate Social Responsibility Reports Published by Ibex-35 Companies. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 20(6), 359-370. doi:10.1002/csr.1303Sierra-García, L., García-Benau, M. A., & Zorio, A. (2014). Credibilidad en latinoamérica del informe de responsabilidad social corporativa. Revista de Administração de Empresas, 54(1), 28-38. doi:10.1590/s0034-759020140104Simnett, R., Vanstraelen, A., & Chua, W. F. (2009). Assurance on Sustainability Reports: An International Comparison. The Accounting Review, 84(3), 937-967. doi:10.2308/accr.2009.84.3.937Simnett, R. (2012). Assurance of sustainability reports. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 3(1), 89-98. doi:10.1108/20408021211223570Zorio, A., García-Benau, M. A., & Sierra, L. (2012). Sustainability Development and the Quality of Assurance Reports: Empirical Evidence. Business Strategy and the Environment, 22(7), 484-500. doi:10.1002/bse.176

Co-operative financial institutions and local development in China

In recent decades the Chinese financial system has undergone dramatic restructuring, which has substantially altered the country's mutual and co-operative financial institutions. This paper aims to contribute to our understanding of the process, practice and consequences of these developments by systematically charting the trajectory and dynamics of the co-operative financial landscape in China, and by analysing the role that these financial institutions have played in China's socioeconomic change. It is argued that China's financial co-operatives have been de-localised through processes of consolidation and centralisation. They have also been increasingly commercialised within a system based on 'market logic', which has changed their developmental role in the Chinese economy. At the same time, however, recent policy has sought to reinstitute locally-focused financial and farmer co-operatives in rural areas. Moreover, local informal and semi-formal modes of co-operative organisation and action have continued to be widespread across the country