Evidence in development of sustainability reporting: a case of a developing country

Current development in social accounting presents an interesting phenomenon. Companies are increasingly engaging in sustainability initiatives and reporting their activities in annual reports, company websites and other media of communication. Unlike previous studies, which have mainly used ex post content analysis of annual reports or other published data to study the relationship between disclosure and possible determinants, this study starts with an interview with the local preparer before the data is triangulated to determine the significant possible determinants. The interview findings are interpreted through institutional theory for possible identification of determinants. Initially, the interview findings indicate that all three mechanisms of isomorphism, the coercive, the normative and the mimetic, contribute to Malaysian company sustainability reporting. However, the regression results prove that only a government linked company in the plantation industry, which is large in size, has a significant amount of sustainability reporting. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

The Influence of Governance Structure and Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility Toward Sustainability Reporting Quality

Increased business complexities coupled with enhanced global transformation have propelled corporations to behave as responsible citizens to drive the sustainability agenda. Many corporations incorporate their affirmative commitment to sustainable business practices into their corporate identities and give evidence for this in their sustainability reports. This paper examines the role of the board of directors in sustainability reporting quality (SRQ) in the Asia‐Pacific region. Based on a cross‐sectional study of 113 companies from 12 countries in the region, we find that the SRQ in the region leaves much room for improvement. However, we find that the institutionalization of the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in an organization provides a sound foundation for enhancing SRQ. We find that the value of CSR anchored in the vision and/ or mission statement and strategic alliances fostered with non‐governmental organizations are positively associated with SRQ. This study contributes to strengthening the understanding, promoting discussion on the state of sustainability reporting in the Asia‐Pacific context and laying a solid foundation for more aggressive efforts to enhance SRQ. The study identifies the significant drivers currently associated with SRQ. The weak role of the board of directors in upholding the sustainable development agenda through the reporting process is highlighted. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Environmental Management Practices of Hotels in Malaysia: Stakeholder Perspective

This article described the level of hotel participation in environmental management practices (EMPs) in Malaysia. It aimed to identify the level of stakeholder influence on EMP participation and whether EMPs contribute to overall hotel performance. To achieve these objectives, stakeholder theory was selected as the theoretical basis to explicate the proposed hypotheses. The analysis showed that stakeholder influence and the level of participation in EMPs among Malaysian hotels are only at a moderate stage. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Stakeholder Approach: A Sustainability Perspective

This article considers the stakeholder approach (SHA) to organisational management through the lens of what it means for humans to live sustainably on the Earth (that is, for there to be a sustainable world). In particular, the article considers if the SHA, as it is presented in mainstream academic and management literature, is supportive of corporate practices that advance the achievement of a sustainable world. The analysis shows the SHA to have significant failings in this regard when viewed against key sustainable world criteria, with issues of concern evident from the normative core of the SHA through to is practical application in the management setting.     

The balance sheet channel of monetary policy: the panel evidence of Egypt

This paper examines the effects of monetary policy on firms’ investments in Egypt using disaggregated data and generalized method of moments (GMM) technique. It develops the neoclassical investment model by adding the interaction between user cost of capital and cash flow (CF). Therefore, monetary policy affects investment through three effects: user cost of capital, CF and interaction between them. Using a sample of 124 firms, the empirical finding supports the relevance of balance sheet channel (BSC) and the heterogeneous effect of monetary policy on investment. This finding signals that monetary authority should take cognizance of the stability of interest rate to stabilize firm-level investment.     

Foreign and Domestic Shocks: Macroeconomic Responses of ASEAN-3 Countries

Abstract

The study provides new empirical evidence on the relative importance of foreign and domestic shocks on selected ASEAN-3 (Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand) macroeconomic variables. Three structural vector auto regression models are estimated for each country. The focal point is given on the formulation of the sources of foreign factors. The first model uses trade-weighted foreign variables of both US and Japan to represent the foreign factors. The other two models use US and Japan by themselves, respectively, to represent the foreign factors. Two important results are emerged. First, foreign sectors play an important role in influencing macroeconomic variables of each of the ASEAN-3 country, especially in the medium and the long-run horizon. Second, most of the time, the Japanese factors are more dominant than the US factors in influencing domestic output and inflation for each of the ASEAN-3 countries.     

The Impact of Business Strategies on Online Sustainability Disclosures

With increasing attention being paid to corporate sustainability, pressure from stakeholders, especially customers, is forcing companies to implement sustainability strategies and practices that express their commitment to sustainable development, and engage with stakeholders through voluntary sustainability disclosure. To better understand the sustainability disclosure mechanisms from a business strategy perspective, this study investigates the influence of business strategy, formulated by customer groups, on online sustainability disclosure. It provides empirical observation of Malaysian public‐listed companies based on the combined lens of stakeholder and legitimacy theory. Despite the comparatively low level of corporate sustainability disclosure in Malaysia, this content analysis of online sustainability information disclosure reveals that the companies with more diversified product lines disclose more sustainability information, and that the corporate sustainability effort is significantly related to brand name. Hence, companies should be encouraged to proactively improve their sustainability performance and disclose more sustainability information in order to strengthen their brand names. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Conceptualizing and measuring consumer social responsibility: a neglected aspect of consumer research

Despite the availability of extensive research on a wide range of consumer‐related areas, some socially sensitive consumer issues have still remained relatively unexplored. Since literature review revealed a gap in the conceptualization of consumer social responsibilities, this article conceptualized, developed and validated a measurement scale for consumer social responsibility (CnSR), using a rigorous methodology suggested in the scale development literature. The study responded to the scholarly calls for further research in this area. Using a total sample of 491 respondents (53 respondents for pilot, 207 for exploratory survey and 231 for confirmatory survey), the study proposed a six‐dimensional measurement scale for CnSR, including: (1) social impacts, (2) solidarity, (3) critical appraisal, (4) supporting business growth, (5) environmental impacts and (6) action. It is argued that with ever growing impacts of corporate social responsibility on business practices, the validated measurement scale will contribute to the advancement of research in this nascent consumer area.