Natalia Semenova and Lars G. Hassel
Industries differ in their environmental impacts, such as emissions, water and energy use, fuel consumption and hazardous wastes, which will have implications for how…
Abstract
Purpose
Industries differ in their environmental impacts, such as emissions, water and energy use, fuel consumption and hazardous wastes, which will have implications for how environmental performance translates to operating performance and market value at company level. By incorporating industry-specific differences of environmental impacts, this paper includes industry-level environmental risk as a moderating factor on the relationship between two indicators of corporate environmental performance (CEP) (management and policy) and corporate financial performance (profitability and market value). The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Using panel data of US companies across all industries, the paper empirically tests a regression model, which includes an interaction effect representing both the form and strength of dependency of CEP on the environmental risk of the industry. The paper adopts the natural resource based theory to argue that financial returns are a decreasing function of CEP in high environmental impact industries, where environmental spending beyond compliance is costly and there is not much opportunity for consumer orientation.
Findings
The results show that environmental management has different impacts on operating performance at high and low environmental risk of the industry (form of relationship) while environmental policy (reporting) has a stronger signal on market premium in industries with low rather than high environmental risk (strength of relationship). Differences in both form and strength of moderating effects are demonstrated.
Research limitations/implications
Further research can introduce other industry-specific moderating factors, such as the disclosure maturity of the industry and the institutionalization of environmental disclosures across boarders in the industries, in order to explore the complexity of the relationship.
Practical implications
The results of the paper are relevant to investors, company managers and a broad group of stakeholders when considering both industry- and company-level environmental risks.
Originality/value
Previous studies have relied on controlling for industry membership. This paper uses an industry-specific environmental variable, environmental risk of the industry, to examine the form and strength of moderating effects.
Details
Keywords
Jean-Claude Mutiganda, Giuseppe Grossi and Lars Hassel
This paper aims to analyse the role of communication in shaping the mechanisms of accountability routines.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyse the role of communication in shaping the mechanisms of accountability routines.
Design/methodology/approach
Conceptual elements of the theory of communicative action and the literature on routines were used to conduct a field study in two hospital districts in Finland, from 2009 to 2015. Data were based on interviews, document analysis, observed meetings and repeated contact with key informants.
Findings
The findings explain how accountability routines take different forms – weak or strong – in different organisations and at different hierarchical levels. Differences depend on the generative structures and mechanisms of the communicative process – relational and normative – used to give and ask information to and from organisation members involved in accountability relationships. An explorative finding is that discourse-based communication plays an important role in bridging the gap between weak and strong accountability routines. The main theoretical contribution is to conceptualise and show the role of communicative rationalities in shaping the mechanisms of accountability routines.
Practical implications
The implication for practitioners and policymakers is to show to what extent the organisation policies and communicative rationalities used in accountability have potential to improve or not to improve the practices of accountability routines. Mutual understanding, motivation and capacity of organisation members to do as expected and agreed upon without pressure improve accountability routines.
Originality/value
The value of this study is to explain how accountability routines take different forms in practice (weak or strong) in different organisations and at different hierarchical levels, depending on the generative structures of the communicative process used in practicing accountability routines.
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Thomas Carrington and Gustav Johed
The aim of this paper is to investigate how top management is constructed as a good steward of its company at the annual general meeting (AGM) and how accounting is used in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to investigate how top management is constructed as a good steward of its company at the annual general meeting (AGM) and how accounting is used in the course of this process.
Design/methodology/approach
To meet these aims the authors attended 36 AGMs of Swedish listed companies. The interactions that occurred at the AGMs were analysed, using the theory of translation.
Findings
One‐third of all questions dealt with financial accounting issues, while the majority of the questions concerned non‐financial aspects of stewardship, i.e. company's efforts regarding environmental, equality and ethical issues.
Research limitations/implications
There is some concern that the complexity of accounting information may make shareholders feel remote from the company. However, AGMs provide a setting where the financial accounts can be complemented with verbal explanations and visual aids. This contextualizes the financial accounts and makes them understandable to an audience that includes many private investors. This contributed to the fact that accounting was discussed, questioned and referred to. Hence, accounting enables the stewardship function of the AGM.
Practical implications
Although AGMs have been the subject of criticism, they are still an important part of the corporate governance system. Since AGMs are live events, shareholders are able to pursue a topic with further questions, an option that is not available to other modes of corporate communication.
Originality/value
Whereas the AGM has been in the foreground in government inquiries and codes of conduct, it has been largely neglected in accounting research.
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Institutions underpin the operation of national economies. These differ significantly between countries reflecting varying historical paths, policy choices and national cultures…
Abstract
Institutions underpin the operation of national economies. These differ significantly between countries reflecting varying historical paths, policy choices and national cultures. Moreover, they need to be understood systemically as an ensemble of relations between their component parts: financial systems, corporate governance, industrial relations, patterns of state intervention, etc., have evolved together so that their operation and effects tend to reinforce each other. Different countries faced by common exogenous changes will tend to evolve along different lines rather than converge. National institutions matter: they significantly affect economic performance and distribution.
This paper proposes a revised analytical model for accounting professionals that can be used to evaluate the financial well being of innovative companies that rely on earnings…
Abstract
This paper proposes a revised analytical model for accounting professionals that can be used to evaluate the financial well being of innovative companies that rely on earnings management practices (EM) for their growth. Through an analysis of corporate governance, financial reporting standards, and ratio analysis this paper reaches the conclusion that Enron extended previously researched earnings management practices that could have been detected in early 2000. Results of the analysis indicate that by using price book, price earnings multiple, net margin percentage, and return on assets, and taking into consideration the so‐called risk management activities which seemed to disguise highly volatile speculative derivative‐based activities, Enron was headed for implosion at least one year before its collapse.
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Keywords
So far as the various British Food and Drugs Acts are concerned, the meaning of “sophistication” or “adulteration,” which includes “substitution,” is now very wide.
The Milk Order of 1922, issued by the Minister of Health in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Section 3 of the Milks and Dairies (Amendment) Act of 1922, which came…
Abstract
The Milk Order of 1922, issued by the Minister of Health in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Section 3 of the Milks and Dairies (Amendment) Act of 1922, which came into operation on the 1st January, 1923, provides a scheme whereby Milk may be graded and supplied under certain conditions of comparative bacteriological purity. The sale of ordinary milk will be unaltered by this new order and its distribution will remain subject to such regulations as may have been in operation prior to the Act of 1922. The object of the new Order is to ensure the production of certain grades of Milk under more or less strict supervision, and when the grave lack of sanitary conditions which is to be found on many of the farms where milk is produced, is remembered, it will be admitted that there exists a wide scope for improvement in the direction indicated.
In reading many recent articles on this subject, the writer has been struck with the fact that nowhere is there any reference to the vast amount of pioneer work done in this…
Abstract
In reading many recent articles on this subject, the writer has been struck with the fact that nowhere is there any reference to the vast amount of pioneer work done in this country during the last ten or twelve years by certain Public Analysts acting on behalf of the Health Committees of their local authorities. In the City of Hull, continuous attention has been given to this question since 1909, following the example of Chester (1906; Public Analyst, Mr. W. F. Lowe, F.I.C.)
Xuzhong Qin, Zongshui Wang, Hong Zhao and Lars Bo Kaspersen
This paper aims to help scholars know about the focus and frontier in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Although related research in CSR started 60 years ago…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to help scholars know about the focus and frontier in the field of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Although related research in CSR started 60 years ago, there is not much systematical literature review on CSR in recent years. This paper applies scientometric method, especially co-word analysis, to explore the frontier and focus of CSR in the twenty-first century, based on the articles from 2001 to 2014 in SSCI database.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors first use the scientometric method and co-word analysis for keywords filtering and apply social network methodology to investigate the networks of high-frequency keywords and high-frequency authors.
Findings
The authors summarize the current state of CSR research in two aspects. By co-word analysis of high-frequency keywords, the findings show that the focus and frontier are highly related to CSR. Based on the findings of social network analysis, this paper concludes four important research directions and possible future research of CSR.
Originality/value
The findings in this paper will help scholars of CSR or other related fields to realize the focus and frontier of CSR and provide some guidance for their future research.