Investors' and consumers' understandings of business sustainability and implications

Abstract

Legitimacy and stakeholder theories have been prominently used in sustainability accounting research to offer critical analyses of corporate sustainability (in) actions and reporting disclosures. There has been a generalised approach towards stakeholders and their expectations as if these are unified and informed from a sustainability perspective. This article aims at addressing the meaning of business sustainability from the perspective of two dominant stakeholders: customers and investors. Specific examples in Australia and the United States are used to demonstrate the meaning of business sustainability to these dominant stakeholders. It is found that the prevalent approach towards business sustainability does not support the intended conceptualisation of the meaning of sustainability and sustainable development. Instead the stakeholders either ignore the concept altogether or consider it from a purely business and individual strategic and accounting perspective