BOOK
Accountability, Social Responsibility and Sustainability: Accounting for Society and the Environment
Rob Gray | Carol Adams | Dave Owen
(2014)
Additional Information
Book Details
Abstract
Accountability, Social Responsibility and Sustainability addresses the broad and complicated interactions between organisational life, civil society, markets, inequality and environmental degradation through the lenses of accounting, accountability, responsibility and sustainability. Placing the way in which organisations are controlled and the metrics by which they are run at the heart of the analysis, this text also explores how this system opposes the very concerns of societal well-being and environmental stewardship that form the basis of civilised society.
Gray, Adams and Owen offer an in-depth and nuanced guide to this theory, recognising the crucial role played by scholars and practitioners in approaching these central tensions. The theory is extensively supported by analysis of developments in practice and in a real-world context.
Aimed principally at undergraduate and postgraduate Accounting students, Accountability, Social Responsibility and Sustainability will prove invaluable to any student, teacher or practitioner with an interest in the central role accounting, finance, accountability, CSR and sustainability play in the future of society and the planet.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover | Cover | ||
| Cover2 | Cover2 | ||
| Half Title page | i | ||
| Title page | iii | ||
| Copyright page | iv | ||
| Brief contents | v | ||
| Contents | vii | ||
| Preface | xi | ||
| Blurb + Short Bios | xv | ||
| About the authors | xvii | ||
| Publisher’s Acknowledgments | xix | ||
| Chapter 1: Introduction, issues and context | 1 | ||
| 1.1 Introduction | 1 | ||
| 1.2 What is social accounting? | 3 | ||
| 1.3 Is social accounting important? Why? | 7 | ||
| 1.4 Crisis? What crisis? Sustainability and the state of the world | 8 | ||
| 1.5 Economics, civil society, state and markets | 11 | ||
| 1.6 Summary and structure of the book | 13 | ||
| References | 14 | ||
| Chapter 2: Ways of seeing and thinking about the world: systems thinking and world views | 16 | ||
| 2.1 Introduction | 16 | ||
| 2.2 Systems thinking and general systems theory | 17 | ||
| 2.3 Using the GST framework | 18 | ||
| 2.4 Liberal economic democracy | 20 | ||
| 2.5 The failings of liberal economic democracy | 23 | ||
| 2.6 Capitalism and corporations | 26 | ||
| 2.7 Reformism or radical change? | 28 | ||
| 2.8 A neo-pluralistvision of the world | 29 | ||
| 2.9 Democracy and information | 31 | ||
| 2.10 Summary and conclusions | 33 | ||
| References | 33 | ||
| Chapter 3: Corporate social responsibility and accountability | 37 | ||
| 3.1 Introduction | 37 | ||
| 3.2 Why is (corporate) (social) responsibility important? | 39 | ||
| 3.3 What is CSR – can it be defined? | 40 | ||
| 3.4 Views of the world and views of CSR | 42 | ||
| 3.5 Clarifying responsibility in the interests of sustainability? | 47 | ||
| 3.6 Why does so much confusion remain on CSR? | 48 | ||
| 3.7 Accountability | 50 | ||
| 3.8 A model of accountability | 51 | ||
| 3.9 Some practical components of accountability | 53 | ||
| 3.10 Defining corporate social responsibilities | 54 | ||
| 3.11 Social responsibility and sustainability | 55 | ||
| 3.12 Conclusions and implications for accountability and responsibility | 57 | ||
| Appendix: Some limitations and extensions of accountability | 58 | ||
| References | 61 | ||
| Chapter 4: Description, development and explanation of social, environmental and sustainability accounting and reporting | 66 | ||
| 4.1 Introduction | 66 | ||
| 4.2 The diversity of social accounting | 67 | ||
| 4.3 A brief history of social responsibility | 71 | ||
| 4.4 A brief history of social accounting | 73 | ||
| 4.5 Some theory for social accounting | 74 | ||
| 4.6 Social accounting and system-level/meta-theories | 77 | ||
| 4.7 Increasing resolution – sub-systemlevel/ meso-theories | 81 | ||
| 4.8 Micro-level/theories of social accounting and organisations | 85 | ||
| 4.9 Social accounting inside the organisation (micro-theory II) | 90 | ||
| 4.10 Individual-leveltheories (micro-level III) | 92 | ||
| 4.11 Summary and conclusions | 93 | ||
| Appendix: Study tips | 94 | ||
| References | 95 | ||
| Chapter 5: Social and community issues | 105 | ||
| 5.1 Introduction | 105 | ||
| 5.2 Society? Social issues? Stakeholders? | 106 | ||
| 5.3 Developments and trends in social reporting and disclosure | 107 | ||
| 5.4 From the organisation’s point of view | 113 | ||
| 5.5 Stakeholders’ views | 115 | ||
| 5.6 Community involvement and philanthropy | 117 | ||
| 5.7 Accountability, MNCs and LDCs | 121 | ||
| 5.8 Indigenous people, repressive regimes, child labour and human rights | 123 | ||
| 5.9 Extensions, community and the social | 126 | ||
| References | 127 | ||
| Chapter 6: Employees and unions | 134 | ||
| 6.1 Introduction | 134 | ||
| 6.2 Reporting employment information | 137 | ||
| 6.3 Accounting for human resources | 143 | ||
| 6.4 Reporting to employees | 147 | ||
| 6.5 Accountability for equality in employment | 152 | ||
| 6.6 Some conclusions, reflections and possibilities | 154 | ||
| References | 155 | ||
| Chapter 7: Environmental issues | 160 | ||
| 7.1 Introduction | 160 | ||
| 7.2 Background and stakeholders | 161 | ||
| 7.3 Environmental reporting | 164 | ||
| 7.4 Environmental management systems | 170 | ||
| 7.5 Environmental management accounting and capital budgeting | 172 | ||
| 7.6 Financial accounting and the environment | 176 | ||
| 7.7 Conclusions and concluding comments | 178 | ||
| References | 179 | ||
| Chapter 8: Finance and financial issues | 185 | ||
| 8.1 Introduction | 185 | ||
| 8.2 A brief glimpse into the world of finance | 186 | ||
| 8.3 A cautionary note about numbers, measurement and remoteness | 188 | ||
| 8.4 Shareholders, investors and investment | 191 | ||
| 8.5 The profit-seekinginvestor, CSR and performance | 193 | ||
| 8.6 The emergence of the sociallyresponsibleinvestor? | 199 | ||
| 8.7 Financial performance of the funds: how socially responsible is SRI? | 203 | ||
| 8.8 SRI, disclosure and accountability? | 204 | ||
| 8.9 Extending the nature of social investment | 205 | ||
| 8.10 Summary and conclusions | 207 | ||
| References | 207 | ||
| Chapter 9: Seeking the Holy Grail: towards the triple bottom line and/or sustainability? | 213 | ||
| 9.1 Introduction | 213 | ||
| 9.2 Fully monetised accounts | 215 | ||
| 9.3 Integrated accounts | 218 | ||
| 9.4 Multiple accounts – TBL, GRI + the UN Global Compact | 220 | ||
| 9.5 So what is this sustainability we wish to account for? | 225 | ||
| 9.6 Accounting for sustainability? | 228 | ||
| 9.7 Accounting for social justice? | 230 | ||
| 9.8 Summary and conclusions | 231 | ||
| References | 232 | ||
| Chapter 10: The social audit movement | 237 | ||
| 10.1 Introduction | 237 | ||
| 10.2 Early developments in external social audit | 238 | ||
| 10.3 Local authority social audits | 241 | ||
| 10.4 Involving internal participants in the social audit exercise: a false dawn? | 243 | ||
| 10.5 Contemporary approaches to external social audit | 245 | ||
| 10.6 The external social audits: where to now? | 253 | ||
| 10.7 Conclusion | 255 | ||
| References | 255 | ||
| Chapter 11: Governance, attestation and institutional issues | 258 | ||
| 11.1 Introduction | 258 | ||
| 11.2 CSR and corporate governance | 260 | ||
| 11.3 Stakeholder engagement and the issue of empowerment | 263 | ||
| 11.4 Civil regulation and institutional reform | 266 | ||
| 11.5 A very British example: the case of the Operating and Financial Review | 268 | ||
| 11.6 Strengthening civil regulation: a role for sustainability assurance? | 270 | ||
| 11.7 Summary and conclusions | 278 | ||
| References | 278 | ||
| Chapter 12: CSR and accountability in other organisations: the public and third sectors, not-for-profitorganisations and social business | 282 | ||
| 12.1 Introduction and background | 282 | ||
| 12.2 Structure + parameters of the public and third sectors (and beyond) | 283 | ||
| 12.3 Multilateralism and intergovernmental – beyond the nation state | 287 | ||
| 12.4 Government and the public sector | 289 | ||
| 12.5 Universities | 295 | ||
| 12.6 Civil society organisations: NGOs and charities | 297 | ||
| 12.7 Cooperatives and social business | 303 | ||
| 12.8 Summary and conclusions | 304 | ||
| References | 306 | ||
| Chapter 13: Accounting and accountability for responsibility and sustainability: some possible ways forward? | 312 | ||
| 13.1 Introduction and background | 312 | ||
| 13.2 Management control for responsibility and un‑sustainability | 314 | ||
| 13.3 Stakeholders and closeness | 316 | ||
| 13.4 Social accountability to society | 317 | ||
| 13.5 Accountability and un‑sustainability | 320 | ||
| 13.6 Ways forward? Conclusions? And the need for shadow accounts? | 320 | ||
| References | 321 | ||
| Chapter 14: What next? A few final thoughts | 324 | ||
| 14.1 Introduction | 324 | ||
| 14.2 Education | 325 | ||
| 14.3 Engagement, experimentation and challenge | 327 | ||
| 14.4 Activism and counter-narratives | 327 | ||
| References | 328 | ||
| Glossary | 329 | ||
| Index | 331 |