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1 – 8 of 8Gunnar Rimmel and Kristina Jonäll
The purpose of this article is to provide an account of the quantity, location and intentions behind companies' biodiversity disclosure.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to provide an account of the quantity, location and intentions behind companies' biodiversity disclosure.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applies a mixed methods approach to the examination of the quantity and location of biodiversity disclosure. The research focuses on a study of corporate websites and corporate reports over a five‐year period. Interviews with company representatives were also conducted regarding company intentions behind biodiversity disclosure.
Findings
The findings of this study show that few of the companies studied have a record of providing continuous biodiversity information. Those companies that provide the most biodiversity information are in the lower‐risk sector. The interview respondents identify social environmental reporting frameworks as catalysts for biodiversity disclosure. A reason for this low level of biodiversity disclosure may be the infrequency of interaction with pressure groups. However, the respondents also state, as increasingly their companies have paid more attention to sustainability reporting in recent years, more detailed biodiversity disclosure has resulted.
Research limitations/implications
The research in this study, which is explorative and descriptive, is limited to a study of the quantity and location of biodiversity disclosure by 29 companies listed on the OMXS30 and the preparers' reasons for such disclosure.
Originality/value
This is an original study that attempts to go beyond mere reporting of biodiversity disclosure by examining the motivations for such disclosure using interviews with company representatives.
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Kristina Jonäll and Gunnar Rimmel
The purpose of this paper is to describe and interpret the CEO letter in the annual reports of three multinational Swedish companies. This study focuses on the CEOs' comments on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe and interpret the CEO letter in the annual reports of three multinational Swedish companies. This study focuses on the CEOs' comments on accounting principles and rules, on company decisions and actions, and on external events. Examination of CEO letters reveals how CEOs make themselves accountable to readers and establish their own and their companies' legitimacy.
Design/methodology/approach
A strategic design was used to select the three companies;.the three criteria used in making the selection were company nationality, age, and stock market listing. A fourth criterion was that the company had been a nominee in the Stockholm Stock Exchange “Best Annual Report” contest. Based on a social constructivist approach, with inspiration from the field of discourse psychology, a discursive action model (DAM) is applied in this research.
Findings
The analysis shows that the CEO letters at two of the three companies do not emphasize numbers and text. In the third company's CEO letters, the numbers are an important component and are balanced with text. It was found that one explanation of the CEO letter format is the CEO's wish to persuade readers of the company's legitimacy, excellence, and future survival. The CEO letter is intended to strengthen readers' confidence in the company.
Originality/value
This paper provides insight into how CEOs use CEO letters in annual reports to craft a corporate image for readers.
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Gunnar Rimmel, Johan Dergård and Kristina Jonäll
The purpose of this paper is to examine the human resources disclosure in Danish Intellectual Capital Statements to determine if these disclosures enhance the comparability of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the human resources disclosure in Danish Intellectual Capital Statements to determine if these disclosures enhance the comparability of business model performance among companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper applies the Danish Intellectual Capital Statements Analysis Model to five Danish companies' intellectual capital statements. This analysis reveals the extent to which these companies report human resources in their disclosures. The analysis also reveals how such disclosures can be used to make internal comparisons year‐to‐year as well as to make comparisons among companies. The five companies were analysed systematically using the same methodology.
Findings
The paper shows that it is feasible to analyse intellectual capital statements systematically and to compare corporate business models. In addition, the paper shows that intellectual capital statements, which convey company‐specific information on human resources, play a role in corporate value creation.
Practical implications
The paper shows that intellectual capital statements guidelines can be useful in the description of business models and in the analysis of the role of human resources disclosure in corporate value creation.
Originality/value
The contribution of the paper is its use of intellectual capital statements guidelines as a methodology for analysing the role of human resources disclosure in corporate value creation. This methodology has application in the development of the integration of business model measurement performance with traditional corporate financial reporting.
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Gudrun Baldvinsdottir, Andreas Hagberg, Inga‐Lill Johansson, Kristina Jonäll and Jan Marton
The purpose of this paper is to provide a structured overview of literature in the nexus of trust and accounting. This can serve as a basis for future research, and thus provide a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a structured overview of literature in the nexus of trust and accounting. This can serve as a basis for future research, and thus provide a framework for asking more precise and focused research questions.
Design/methodology/approach
All papers published in prominent accounting journals during a 15‐year period were examined. Papers pertaining to the field of trust and accounting were categorized and analyzed in more detail, and qualitatively classified in accordance with selected dimensions. The review focused on papers explicitly exploring the link between accounting and trust.
Findings
A large proportion of the papers is in the field of management accounting (MAN). The majority of published papers in the field are based on sociological theory, but there are some economics‐based papers. Sociologically based analysis seems to provide more structure, but is also less paradigmatic in nature than economic theory. Only a small number of papers have an explicit definition of the concept of trust. The authors' conclusion is that the state of research has been developing to become more paradigmatic in recent years.
Originality/value
This is the only literature review that provides a comprehensive overview of research on trust and accounting. Thus, it is an aid to future research in the area.
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Gennaro Maione, Corrado Cuccurullo and Aurelio Tommasetti
The paper aims to carry out a comprehensive literature mapping to synthesise and descriptively analyse the research trends of biodiversity accounting, providing implications for…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to carry out a comprehensive literature mapping to synthesise and descriptively analyse the research trends of biodiversity accounting, providing implications for managers and policymakers, whilst also outlining a future agenda for scholars.
Design/methodology/approach
A bibliometric analysis is carried out by adopting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses protocol for searching and selecting the scientific contributions to be analysed. Citation analysis is used to map a current research front and a bibliographic coupling is conducted to detect the connection networks in current literature.
Findings
Biodiversity accounting is articulated in five thematic clusters (sub-areas), such as “Natural resource management”, “Biodiversity economic evaluation”, “Natural capital accounting”, “Biodiversity accountability” and “Biodiversity disclosure and reporting”. Critical insights emerge from the content analysis of these sub-areas.
Practical implications
The analysis of the thematic evolution of the biodiversity accounting literature provides useful insights to inform both practice and research and infer implications for managers, policymakers and scholars by outlining three main areas of intervention, i.e. adjusting evaluation tools, integrating ecological knowledge and establishing corporate social legitimacy.
Social implications
Currently, the level of biodiversity reporting is pitifully low. Therefore, organisations should properly manage biodiversity by integrating diverse and sometimes competing forms of knowledge for the stable and resilient flow of ecosystem services for future generations.
Originality/value
This paper not only updates and enriches the current state of the art but also identifies five thematic areas of the biodiversity accounting literature for theoretical and practical considerations.
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This paper explores the historical roots of accounting for biodiversity and extinction accounting by analysing the 18th-century Naturalist's Journals of Gilbert White and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores the historical roots of accounting for biodiversity and extinction accounting by analysing the 18th-century Naturalist's Journals of Gilbert White and interpreting them as biodiversity accounts produced by an interested party. The authors aim to contribute to the accounting history literature by extending the form of accounting studied to include nature diaries as well as by exploring historical ecological accounts, as well as contributing to the burgeoning literature on accounting for biodiversity and extinction accounting.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors’ method involves analysing the content of Gilbert White's Naturalist's Journals by producing an 18th-century biodiversity account of species of flora and fauna and then interpretively drawing out themes from the Journals. The authors then provide a Whitean extinction account by comparing current species' status with White's biodiversity account from 250 years ago.
Findings
This paper uses Gilbert White's Naturalist's Journals as a basis for comparing biodiversity and natural capital 250 years ago with current species' status according to extinction threat and conservation status. Further the paper shows how early nature diary recording represents early (and probably the only) forms of accounting for biodiversity and extinction. The authors also highlight themes within White's accounts including social emancipation, problematisation, aesthetic elements and an example of an early audit of biodiversity accounting.
Research limitations/implications
There are limitations to analysing Gilbert White's Naturalist's Journals given that the only available source is an edited version. The authors therefore interpret their data as accounts which are indicative of biodiversity and species abundance rather than an exactly accurate account.
Practical implications
From the authors’ analysis and reflections, the authors suggest that contemporary biodiversity accounting needs to incorporate a combination of narrative, data accounting and pictorial/aesthetic representation if it is to provide a rich and accurate report of biodiversity and nature. The authors also suggest that extinction accounting should draw on historical data in order to demonstrate change in natural capital over time.
Social implications
Social implications include the understanding gleaned from the authors’ analysis of the role of Gilbert White as a nature diarist in society and the contribution made over time by his Journals and other writings to the development of nature accounting and recording, as well as to one’s understanding and knowledge of species of flora and fauna.
Originality/value
To the authors’ knowledge this is the first attempt to analyse and interpret nature diaries as accounts of biodiversity and extinction.
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Syarifuddin Syarifuddin and Ratna Ayu Damayanti
This study aims to reveal the impression which is delivered in the biodiversity report of local governments in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. It is crucial since the region…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to reveal the impression which is delivered in the biodiversity report of local governments in South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. It is crucial since the region has biodiversity that seems to get no specific attention in preserving its sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
Discourse analysis was used as a method to reveal fact and developing discourse. Analysis method to be developed was Eder cognitive discourse analysis, which was conducted by observing the narration in the biodiversity report.
Findings
The findings of this study indicate that the informant's impression of the biodiversity report was made to attract investors by showing information related to local natural resources, thus allowing investors to exploit nature as needed. Nature and humans in the view of policymakers cannot be separated.
Research limitations/implications
The implication of this research for further research is to focus more on the neutralization motives of the biodiversity reports preparers and the implications of community participation to save the environment.
Practical implications
This study shows practice and policy of accounting in the organizational biodiversity as written in its report. Discourse and impression which are stated to the stakeholders need to be changed to show the seriousness of the region in biodiversity conservation.
Originality/value
Many types of research studies have been conducted related to biodiversity accounting so far, but this paper views it from a different aspect. This paper discusses the intention and purpose of the report to show its spirit.
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