Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Conceptualize sustainability
Analysis of sustainability
Conceptualize sustainability
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Conceptualize sustainability
1 Introduction
This introduction section presents background information on the emergence of sustainability reporting and sustainability issues. Research problem discussion is also included that leads to the research objectives and research questions around which this research is proposed to be built. Further on the significant of the research and the target group that the research is aimed at are presented.
1.1 Background
Nowadays, there are a lot of social, environmental and economic issues arise for instance global warming, economic fluctuations, climates changes, child labour, gender discrimination and also other problems that are widely discussed by the society at all levels. The discussion has led to demand for solutions of problems and to find ways to conserve also preserve the available scarce resources. This is to ensure the achievement of healthy ecosystems, equitable societies and overall sustainable future through sustainable development.
A classic definition of sustainability as defined by Brundtland (1987), is:
“Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”
The demands are not only being directed to individual but especially to companies and businesses as they are the main users of resources. Companies are increasingly demanded by societies to take responsibility for their economics, environmental and social impacts (Nakabiito & Udechukwu, 2007). It has been found that companies are now under greater external pressure to become stakeholder-oriented (Waddock, Bodwell, & B. Graves, 2002). The increasing stakeholder influence might be due to globalisation, expansion of the internet and societies ability to gain ...
... middle of paper ...
.... (2004). Refinements to legitimacy theory in social and environmental accounting. Commerce Research Paper, 6.
Ullman, A. A. (1985). Data in search of a theory: A critical examination of the relationship among social performance, social disclosure and economic performance. Academy of Management Review, 10(3), 540–577.
Waddock, S. A., Bodwell, C., & B. Graves, S. (2002). Responsibility: The new business imperative. Academy of Management Executive, 16(2), 132–148.
Wartick, S. L., & Mahon, J. F. (1994). Toward a substantive definition of the corporate issue construct: a review and synthesis of the literature. Business & Society, 33(3), 293–311.
Zainal, D., Zulkifli, N., & Saleh, Z. (2013). Corporate social responsibility reporting in Malaysia : A comparison between Shariah and non-Shariah approved firms. Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research, 15(7), 1035–1046.
In conclusion, theories and practices in CSR reporting are multi-faceted while systems perspectives embodied in the assumptions are acknowledged through political economy dynamics. The research in corporate social disclosure utilizes legitimacy goals and questions the viability and ethical nature of the process. The critique is an outcome of the application of CSR principles through the assumption that organizations perceive threats to their legitimate status. In the development and broadening of the CSR scope and disclosure expectations, firms introduce comprehensive forms of corporate social reporting. In such a case, issues of voluntary corporate social reporting are exercised as accountability responses to stakeholders and part of a legitimating process.
PwC also offers services on sustainability reporting. They will asses any existing process/ procedures and reporting mechanisms of an organization, then give guidance in achieving more effective reporting on internal and external sustainability issues. They believe that effective reporting to stakeholder is crucial. Reports are created to show environmental, social, ethical and economic performances of the organization. PwC also provides a service of independent assurance on the quality of these reports.
Evan, W. M., & Freeman, R. E. (1988). A stakeholder theory of the modern corporation: Kantian
Corporate social responsibility is becoming a key initiative and an essential tool in the growth of multinational corporations and the development of third world countries throughout the globe. The two concepts can work hand in hand to provide benefits for all; however difficulties in regulating and implementing corporate social responsibility need to be overcome before effective changes can be made.
Stakeholders are those groups or individual in society that have a direct interest in the performance and activities of business. The main stakeholders are employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, financiers and the local community. Stakeholders may not hold any formal authority over the organization, but theorists such as Professor Charles Handy believe that a firm’s best long-term interests are served by paying close attention to the needs of each of these stakeholders. The modern view is that a firm has responsibilities to all its stakeholders i.e. everyone with a legitimate interest in the company. These include shareholders, competitors, government, employees, directors, distributors, customers, sub-contractors, pressure groups and local community. Although a company’s directors owes a legal duty to the shareholders, they also have moral responsibilities to other stakeholder group’s objectives in their entirely. As a firm can’t meet all stakeholders’ objectives in their entirety, they have to compromise. A company should try to serve the needs of these groups or individuals, but whilst some needs are common, other needs conflict. By the development of this second runway, the public and stakeholders are affected in one or other way and it can be positive and negative.
Covey & Brown (2001) “the role of business in society has progressed over the years, from being primarily concerned with profit for sharehold¬ers to a stakeholder and community approach with a focus on corporate social responsibility”
Sustainability is a concept with a diverse array of meanings and definitions – a widely used glamorous, ambiguous, ambivalent and vague concept that is used by different stakeholder groups in various ways. Presumably to avoid noodling over a terminology or to avoid the confrontation with a definition, most widely the concept is broken down a planning process (c.f. e.g. Döring & Muraca, 2010). That is why most common sustainability is understood as sustainable development.1
Stakeholders are those that have an interest in the business and are directly or indirectly affected by the success of the company’s objectives. In any one strategic decision, the interests of one stakeholder group can conflict with those of another. Analysis of the company’s relations with its stakeholders, provides conclusions based on how Byte engages in corporate social responsibility. Specific stakeholders of focus are on employees, customers, government, suppliers, shareholders, community, and competitors.
Stakeholders want to be associated with socially responsible companies, and as such expect them to adhere to a certain standard of behaviour in order to gain their trust. Companies are under strong pressure to behave ethically. They have to earn a ‘license to operate’.
Sustainability is being considered by an increasing number of businesses due to the increase in environmental awareness, which is the concern for the conservation and improvement of the environment. By definition, sustainability “is a business strategy that drives long-term corporate growth and profitability by mandating the inclusion of environmental and social issues in the business model.” (DWDG). Not to be confused with corporate social responsibility, which ...
There are several beneficial qualities that corporations should have, including ethics, morals and values. These qualities can make a corporation more valuable, especially when they involve helping others. It is important for organizations to establish ethics, and improve society. There are several ways in which an organization can assist with improving humanity. In the business world this is referred to as Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR. This concept will be defined, and discussed in the summarization of a CSR article. The importance of the article will also be discussed.
Despite the fact that it has been proposed that assimilated financial records contained ecological and social data, it was evident in the article that the genuine mix merits consideration among the stakeholders. Sustainability segments in yearly reports among numerous cases were isolated, albeit incorporated; similarly, applies to corporate administration segments in connection to sustainability. At the same time, when the corporate administration and sustainability turn out to be truly connected and reported together, these offered new doors for integrative methodologies in expansion to the bookkeeping
As a result of modern corporate scandals and rapid development of international business environments, social responsibility (SR) has become a key aspect of corporate competitive contexts. (Brammer, Williams and Zinkin, 2007). Businesses are under increasing pressure to incorporate SR amongst their profit-driven aims and have become increasingly accountable for their social and environmental actions. Increased interest in CSR developed in the mid 1990s as consumers began to lack their former trust in companies due to both environmental and financial scandals and it became noticeable that society was moving towards values incorporating harmony, quality of life and environmental conservation (Carrasco, 2007) Additionally, major corporate failures over the past two decades have resulted in increased demand for stronger, corporate governance (CG) rules. (Sui, Wright & Evans, 2007). Superior CG rules are needed in order to preserve the integrity of corporations, financial institutions and markets and the health and stability of world economies. (OECD Website)
‘Development that meets the needs of the present with the ability for the future generation to meet their own needs.’ (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) Sustainable development requires three key components: economy, society and environment, sustainable development can be success through striking balance in those factors. These three components are indispensible, they compel to depend on each other. On the other words, we can only gain a decent and energetic environment and society if the economy is strong with a healthy a stable growth rate.
Corporations that place an importance on corporate social responsibility usually have an easier experience when dealing with politicians and government regulators. In compare, businesses that present an irresponsible disregard for social responsibility tend to find themselves fending off various reviews and probes, often brought on at the assertion of public service organizations. The more positive the public insight is that a corporation takes social responsibility seriously; the less likely it is that innovative groups will launch public campaigns and claim government inquiries against it.