Research Paper 1
Karen in his article “Corporate accountability in the Samarco chemical sludge disaster” has majorly focused on the corporate accountability during the time of disasters. The author has discussed this topic by taking the example of the Samarco chemical sludge disaster that took place in Brazil, in the year 2015. The author has identified the national efforts taken during the time of disaster and the international guidelines that make organizations liable towards their corporate accountability. This article can be utilized by the businesses that find themselves stuck in such situations that demand their responsibility towards corporate accountability during the time of disasters. The author has further mentioned about the different chemical tragedies that have taken place worldwide apart from the Samarco incident. After providing the facts related to the disaster, the author went ahead to describe the term disaster used in this context. Disaster can be understood as an event that has negatively impacted a society, which can be prevented in future with the adoption of right efforts (Perry, 2007). The author has drawn a clear link between the expectations from the “states” at the time of such disasters, and the “non-state actors” like organizations that are not expected to show any responsibility towards such disasters (Bantekas & Oette, 2016). But, it is believed that when the activities of these organizations pose harm over the society, then it should be their responsibility as well to take the accountability of such mishap and try to compensate to the society. Since last few decades’ efforts are being taken at international level to make organizations perform their corporate social responsibility towards the society in order to improve the society’s position. This case study has mentioned that how along with the national efforts Samarco has also taken efforts towards the affected communities to provide them relief (Telesetsky, 2015). According to the guidelines of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the organizations apart from voluntary commitments are obliged towards the protection of human rights and environment. The CSR norms adopted by organizations are largely voluntary in nature. On the other hand, corporate accountability deals with the responsibility towards the human beings and society as a whole. The guidelines released by OECD are the most promising international standards in the field of corporate accountability, which includes about human rights, environment, labour standards, etc. (Amao, 2011). In the end, the author has concluded by suggesting that these international norms can be used in order to reflect the responsibilities of businesses at the time of disasters that have taken place because of their mistake (Costa, 2017).
Research Paper 2
Kathyayini and others in their article “Corporate governance and environmental reporting: an Australian study” has discussed about the relationship between the environmental reporting and corporate governance of the Australian firms. The authors have included the regulators of organizations in Australia as well as the strategies adopted by the organizations towards the protection of the environment. The authors in this article has discussed about the corporate governance principles released by the Australian Stock Exchange, which is mandatory to be followed by the Australian organizations. This is so because the authors have revealed that the composition of the board of directors, which is an important principle of the corporate governance by ASX, has a direct impact on the environmental information being disclosed by the companies. This is important because today almost every organization across the globe is providing environmental information related to their social or environmental activity (Gibson & O’Donovan, 2007). Corporate governance is a very wide concept and it extends to involve the interest of shareholders as well as stakeholders because of which, the organizations accountability as well as responsibility both increases (Jamali, Safieddine, & Rabbath, 2008). The author has discussed that when the corporate governance is effective, then the environmental information is reflected in the company’s statements whether it is mandatory or voluntary improving the disclosing behaviour of the organizations (Laidroo, 2009). Hence, this reveals that there is a positive relationship between the corporate governance and the environmental disclosures done by the organizations. The authors in the end have concluded that 96 out of the 100 Australian companies selected showcased a strong and positive relationship between corporate governance and environmental reporting. Hence, this reveals that the Australian organizations are very much enlightened about the fact that protection of environment is an important concerns for the organizations as well and hence, the efforts towards this is being reflected in the annual statements of the organizations. Though, it has been mentioned that there is a need for explicitly mentioning the role of the organizations towards environmental reporting in order to make this mandatory. This article has taken large Australian organizations into consideration, leaving scope for future research which may include small and medium Australian organizations, in order to draw a link between corporate governance and environmental reporting (Rao, Tilt, & Lester, 2011).
Craig and others in their article “An examination of the corporate social and environmental disclosures of BHP from 1983-1997 A test of legitimacy theory” has discussed about the social and environmental disclosures within a stipulated time of BHP, one of the well reputed Australian organizations. This article has focused on how there has been a change in the reflection of environmental information in the annual statements of the company with time. The article has also focused on the impact of different factors on the disclosure of environmental and social information by the company. The authors have focused on proving the legitimacy theory with the example of BHP ltd. Legitimacy theory is believed to take place when there is congruence between the society’s expectations from the organization and the belief that the organization is fulfilling those expectations. It has been mentioned in the article that, there are different factors that have an impact on the perceptions developed by the community. On the basis of these factors, it is decided that whether the organization is complying with the expectations or not (Solomon & Lewis, 2001). It has been mentioned in the article that as a response to the communities’ expectations, the organizations tend to disclose their corporate social and environmental information. The authors have also included a different view in this article that covers the role played by media in shaping the concerns of the community with the help of media agenda and media framing. Media has given a direction to the communities to think in a specific direction. This has enlarged their knowledge about the corporate social responsibilities and the role organizations need to perform towards the society and environment as a whole. Media has increased awareness among people which have resulted in increased expectation from them, because of which, organizations need to take necessary steps in order to remain competitive enough in the market (McCombs, 1995). The authors have concluded that the legitimacy theory is directly linked with the survival of organizations. It has also concluded that the higher the level of awareness among the communities the higher is the level of social and environmental disclosures among the organizations. Hence, a positive relationship is developed between community awareness and environmental disclosures (Deegan, Rankin, & Tobin, 2002).
Research Paper 3
Gary in his article “Environmental disclosures in the annual report: Extending the applicability and predictive power of legitimacy theory” has discussed about the disclosure of environmental information in the annual reports as a result of the outcome of legitimacy theory since 1980’s. According to this theory, organizations act in the boundary framed by the society on the belief that the organizations should act within its limitations. On the basis of the interview, it has been found that the legitimacy theory is one of the most influential factors for the environmental disclosures by organizations. Legitimacy theory has helped to draw a direct link between the society, its expectations and the organization fulfilling its role. This article has included the gaps that may arise in the legitimacy theory because of the reasons such as increased expectation from customers and no change from the organization; change in the organization but no change in the expectation of the customers. This gap has a strong negative impact on the organizational performance and is reflected in the annual reports of the organization. This article has covered about the legitimation tactics that are used by the organization either to extend their legitimacy or to repair their legitimacy (Ashforth & Gibbs, 1990). The author has also mentioned that in order to immediately save the legitimacy of the organization, the corporations should make use of media releases or advertising in order to reach the customers and should not wait for the annual reports to publish. The organization’s annual report is analyzed by the shareholders as well as the stakeholders of the organization. Hence, it has become a trend to reflect the social as well as environmental information in the annual reports of the organization. The author has disclosed the fact that the organizations find the need to disclose environmental information in the annual reports, in order to reflect a positive image of the company in the society. Disclosing the information in annual reports is a legitimacy tactic that is used by the organizations in order to change the perception of the community. Hence, it is believed that annual reports are considered as a public relations document, which is used by the managers of the organization to showcase the social and environmental performance progress achieved by the company (Merkelsen, 2011). This article has focused on only the legitimacy factor as an explanation behind the disclosure of the environmental information. Hence, it has left a scope for future studies to investigate other factors that have an impact on the environmental disclosures (O’Donovan, 2002).
Research Paper 4
In order to disclose the social and environmental information, organizations have moved towards the publication of sustainability report apart from annual report. Sustainability report is wholly dedicated to the social and environmental efforts and contributions taken by an organization. The BHP sustainability report 2017 aims to reflect the social and environmental contribution made by the organization that has helped in making a positive difference in the society. In the sustainability report, BHP has focused on disclosing the sustainability achievements of the organization, how the organization manages its sustainability, organizations efforts to improve safety and efforts towards well-being of workforce, acts towards community building, etc. The organization has revealed in its report that they have successfully reduced the rate of injuries taking place within the organization, which reflects that the organization has taken efforts towards the safety of their employees. The organization has mentioned that 1 per cent of the pre tax profits are invested by the organization towards the community benefit. The organization has adopted sustainability in its corporate governance standards and principles so that sustainability can be practiced in everything done by the organization. Sustainability committee is developed by the company to monitor the sustainable performance of the company. The organization has included facts that reflect that how the organization is setting international sustainable targets since a decade. Ethics and integrity are one of the most important factors that are required in the organization to run the business smoothly. In order to ensure this, the organization has adopted Code of Business Conduct as well as anti corruption compliance so that the company does not deviate from its track and a check is maintained. In order to ensure sustainability in supply chain, risk- based approach is adopted by the company to assess their suppliers. With respect to the environmental considerations that company has adopted “Our Requirements for Environment and Climate Change standard”. This provides necessary guidelines to the company towards the protection of the environment. Hence, it can be said that the sustainability report of BHP Company has included all the relevant points and sections that will help the company to have a positive influence over the community and to build trust of people over the operations of the company (BHP, 2017).
References
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Ashforth, B. E., & Gibbs, B. W. (1990). The double-edge of organizational legitimation. Organization Science, 1(2), 177-194.
Bantekas, I., & Oette, L. (2016). International human rights law and practice. Cambridge University Press.
BHP. (2017). BHP Sustainability Report 2017. BHP.
Costa, K. d. (2017). Corporate accountability in the Samarco chemical sludge disaster. Disaster Prevention and Management, 26(5), 540-552.
Deegan, C., Rankin, M., & Tobin, J. (2002). “An examination of the corporate social and environmental disclosures of BHP from 1983-1997 A test of legitimacy theory”. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 15(3), 312-343.
Gibson, K., & O’Donovan, G. (2007). Corporate governance and environmental reporting: An Australian study. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 15(5), 944-956.
Jamali, D., Safieddine, A. M., & Rabbath, M. (2008). Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility synergies and interrelationships. Corporate Governane An International Review, 16(5), 443-459.
Laidroo, L. (2009). Association between ownership structure and public announcements’ disclosures. Corporate Governance An International Review, 17(1), 13-34.
McCombs, M. (1995). The agenda-setting role of the mass media in the shaping of public Opinion. Retrieved from www.infoamerica.org: https://www.infoamerica.org/documentos_pdf/mccombs01.pdf
Merkelsen, H. (2011). The double?edged sword of legitimacy in public relations. Journal of Communication Management, 15(2), 125-143.
O’Donovan, G. (2002). Environmental disclosures in the annual report: Extending the applicability and predictive power of legitimacy theory. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 15(3), 344-371.
Perry, R. W. (2007). What Is a Disaster? Handbook of Disaster Research, 1-15.
Rao, K. K., Tilt, C. A., & Lester, L. H. (2011). Corporate governance and environmental reporting: an Australian study. Corporate Governance, 12(2), 143-163.
Solomon, A., & Lewis, L. (2001). Incentives and disincentives for corporate environmental reporting. Semantic Scholar.
Telesetsky, A. (2015). Beyond Voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility: Corporate Human Rights Obligations to Prevent Disasters and to Provide Temporary Emergency Relief. Vanderbilt Journal of Trasnational Law, 48, 1003-1028.
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