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Global Reporting Initiative (global + reporting_initiative)
Selected AbstractsCommunication via responsibility reporting and its effect on firm value in FinlandCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2010Hannu Schadewitz Abstract n this paper, we first analyzed the responsibility reporting literature with an emphasis on the linkage between responsibility reporting and a firm's performance and valuation. Based on the literature review, we developed a research question: How does communication via responsibility reporting affect firm value? We analyzed the market valuation of listed Finnish firms through a conventional valuation model combined with responsibility reporting. The starting point for our valuation was the Ohlson model. We expanded upon the conventional valuation by studying whether communication via responsibility reporting is related to firm valuation. Our research question is linked to the broader academic question of whether earnings worth as an information source has been erased over the last few years. In addition, we contribute to the literature that tries to understand the link between corporate social responsibility and firm performance/share performance. Specifically, we focused on responsibility reporting according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and especially on whether the existence of these reports provides a further explanation for firm value. Our sample was a population type that covered all listed Finnish firms that have adopted GRI. No other responsibility reporting practice was used by listed firms in their responsibility reporting communication during the years 2002,2005. The other necessary information for valuation models was obtained from Thomson Financial Services (commercial database). The applied model supported the conclusion that communication via GRI responsibility reporting is an important explanatory factor for a firm's market value. The result indicates that responsibility reporting is a part of a firm's communication tools in order to decrease information asymmetry between managers and investors. In other words, GRI responsibility reporting is called for in order to produce a more precise market valuation of a firm. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Sustainability quotients and the social footprintCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2008Mark W. McElroy Abstract We argue that most of what passes for mainstream reporting in corporate sustainability management fails to do precisely the one thing it purports to do , which is make it possible for organizations to measure and report on the sustainability of their operations. It fails because of the lack of what the Global Reporting Initiative calls sustainability context, a shortcoming from which it, too, suffers. We suggest that this missing context calls for a new notion of sustainability (the binary perspective), which can be conceptualized in the form of sustainability quotients. We provide specifications for such quotients in ecological and social contexts, and suggest that sustainability is best understood in terms of the impact organizations can have on the carrying capacity of non-financial capital, or what in the social case we call anthro capital. We conclude by introducing a quantitative quotients-based method for measuring and reporting on the social sustainability of an organization, the social footprint method. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] The use of economic, social and environmental indicators as a measure of sustainable development in SpainCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2006Isabel Gallego Abstract In recent years the concept of corporate social responsibility has gained prominence among academics from a wide range of disciplines. According to the Green Paper issued by the Commission of the European Communities in July 2001, corporate social responsibility is defined as a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. The problem is how firms have made known the information on corporate social responsibility. With this in mind, we undertook the present work in an attempt to verify empirically how certain Spanish firms present their economic, social and environmental information, how they use the indicators proposed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) that are accepted in all countries and how this information can affect sustainable development. To perform this study we examined some Spanish firms that present economic, social and environmental information according to the GRI framework. Certain relevant conclusions indicate that in Spain in the last few years there has been an increase and an improvement in the information given by firms on economic, social and environmental concerns and that the information most presented by firms has to do with the social indicators related to labour, practices and decent work, strategy and management, non-discrimination, freedom of association, child labour and forced and compulsory labour as well as the environmental indicators related to energy, water, biodiversity and emissions, effluents and waste. This information reveals the great importance afforded in Spain to social and environmental information for sustainable development. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] The Global Reporting Initiative and corporate sustainability reporting in Swedish companiesCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2003Carl-Johan Hedberg With empirical evidence from Swedish companies, this paper analyses the phenomenon of corporate sustainability reporting (CSR) in general and the use of CSR guidelines developed by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) in particular. The main questions at issue are why companies have chosen to use the GRI guidelines and how this has affected corporate social responsibility and environmental management. From interviews with all Swedish companies that use the guidelines, we have found that companies produce CSRs mainly to seek organizational legitimacy, and that the main reason for use of the GRI guidelines is an expectation of increasing credibility of the CSR, but also that it provides a template for how to design a report. Moreover, we have found that the CSR report and the GRI guidelines are of more help for internal than external communication at this stage of development. It could help corporations to learn about themselves and to see what has actually been done in the organization. In all, the GRI guidelines would have the potential for gaining visibility and control of the triple bottom line on a corporate level, but they are in need of further development, not least in relation to the issue of verification. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] A decade of mandatory environmental reporting in DenmarkENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 6 2005Jette Egelund Holgaard Abstract In Denmark, the first law on green accounts was passed in July 1995. The law instructed a selected sample of Danish companies to prepare a green account. In 2002 the government strengthened the law, as the official evaluation showed that expectations for the delivered green accounts concerning content, form and reach were not met. One of the new initiatives was that the companies should describe their environmental policy, goals and results , if any. In this paper the potentials of the revised law will be discussed in relation to experiences with the first law and best practice in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). This discussion is pursued in a broader European context to elaborate on the perspectives of mandatory environmental reporting and leads to some amendments for a future revision of the Danish law on green accounts. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] Environmental reporting in Australia: current practices and issues for the futureBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 6 2002Dr. Roger L. Burritt This briefing addresses a number of current practices in environmental reporting in Australia. It is limited to consideration of mandatory and voluntary initiatives at the national level (rather than state or territory levels). Three initiatives are explored. Two of these are mandatory requirements,section 299 corporate disclosures required under the 2001 Corporations Act and section 516 disclosures by Commonwealth government organizations under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. One other initiative is voluntary,Public Environmental Reporting,and is aimed at all organizations. Links with the Global Reporting Initiative are considered, followed by a brief comment on incentives and users of environmental reports. The briefing concludes by raising three issues that need to be addressed in the future,sustainable development; education, training and communication; and environmental accounting. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment [source] |