How do firms comply with international sustainability standards? Processes and consequences of adopting the global reporting initiative

This paper addresses the issue of the influence of global governance institutions, particularly international sustainability standards, on a firm’s intra-organizational practices. More precisely, we provide an exploratory empirical view of the impact of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) on a multinational corporation’s (MNC) corporate social responsibility (CSR) management practices. We investigate standard compliance by comparing the stated intention of the use of the GRI with its actual use and the consequent effects within the firm. Based on an in-depth case study, our findings illustrate the processes and consequences of the translation of the GRI within the organization. We show that substantive standard adoption can lead to unintended consequences on CSR management practices, specifically it can influence the management structure and CSR committee function; the choice of CSR activities, the relationships between subsidiaries, the temporal dimension of CSR management, and the interpretation of CSR performance. We also highlight the need to look at the relationship dynamics (or lack of) between standards. Finally we illustrate and discuss the role of reporting and its influence on management in order to better understand the internal issues arising from compliance with standards

Sustainability reporting and assurance: a historical analysis on a world-wide phenomenon

Sustainability reporting and assurance of sustainability reports have been used by organizations in an attempt to provide accountability to their stakeholders. A better understanding of current practices is important to provide a base for comparative and trend analyses. This paper aims to consolidate and provide information on sustainability reporting, assurance of sustainability reports and types of assurance providers. Another aim of this paper is to provide a descriptive analysis of these practices for a global sample, comparing results with previous studies, and suggesting opportunities for future research. To accomplish these objectives, a literature review was performed, an analysis of the organizations included in the Fortune Global 500 2010 was completed, and results were presented and consolidated by country. These results demonstrate that all organizations analysed provided some type of information in relation to their social or environmental performance in their official website. The percentage of organizations issuing a sustainability report has been increasing in the last few years. However, the percentage of organizations assuring their sustainability report has stagnated. Types of assurance engagements include those performed by accountants and non-accountants, and new practices have emerged, namely the 'mixed approach' and the 'stakeholder or specialist review'. The analysis also shows that the practices of issuing sustainability reports and having them assured have become a world-wide phenomenon, occurring in developed, and emerging economies around the world

The Value Relevance of Financial and Non-Financial Environmental Reporting

Environmental disclosures, Compulsory standards, Value relevance, Ohlson,

Authentic CSR

The “missing link” between the theory and practice of CSR and sustainability in the daily life of companies can be attributed to the lack of coherent and authentic leadership models and styles which should be consistent to a sustainability orientation and based on a moral and ethical construct. Adhering to these lines of thought, authentic CSR orientation can be considered a step in the business strategy (Schmidpeter 2014) that rests on a coherent leadership model. The latter incorporates transformational, charismatic, servant, spiritual, or other forms of positive leadership (Avolio and Gardner 2005). Proactive entrepreneurial and managerial behaviors nurtured by authenticity contribute to orient businesses’ strategies and actions toward effective stakeholder orientation, transparency, and sustainable growth (Walker and Salt 2006). Running a company that is genuinely oriented toward CSR and sustainability requires a consistent leadership model based on values (such as justice and integrity), in directing the corporation so as to ensure its prosperity based on transparency, accountability, and responsibility (Von Ahsen 2015; Oreg and Berson 2011). A common trait of authentic CSR rests on the moral construct of entrepreneurs and managers, which generates the capacity to communicate the vision and strengthen a cohesive organizational culture, thus inspiring in others the will to emulate their choices (Hoivik von Weltzien 2014). Accordingly, a challenging approach Visser (2011) rests on the notion that business survival depends on a continuous striving for sustainability and that moral leadership is a key driver to implementing authentically CSR and sustainability-driven strategies

Ethics, Social Responsibility and Tax Aggressiveness. Can a Code of Ethics Absolve a Company?

The aim of the paper is to contribute to the debate on the relationship between ethics, socially responsible behaviour and tax aggressiveness through the analysis and discussion of a case study.The case presented in this paper concerns a famous Italian fashion house, well known all over the world, which in recent times was tried in court for a tax inversion operation. D&G Group was involved in a long legal trial, whose outcome has given rise to many discussions. The story definitely ended, and after the final trial the Group was judged innocent. However, this case raised a fervent debate that is still ongoing, and it gives the opportunity to discuss some important issues: What is the boundary between legality and ethics in tax behaviour? Can a company claim to adhere to ethical principles if it adopts aggressive tax practices? Can aggressive tax behaviours be acceptable from an ethical point of view?The case also opens questions related to the boundaries between the responsibilities of directors/managers and institutional responsibilities, at both national and supranational level