Accounting for Society and the. Rob Gray, Carol A. Adams and Dave Owen

Transcription

1 Accountability, Social Responsibility and Sustainability Accounting for Society and the Environment Rob Gray, Carol A. Adams and Dave Owen PEARSON Marlow, England London New York Boston San Francisco Toronto Sydney Auckland Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo Seoul Taipei New Delhi Cape Town Säo Paulo Mexico City Madrid Amsterdam Munich Paris Milan

2 Contents Preface xj 1 Introduction, issues and context I I. I Introduction 1.2 What is social accounting? Is social accounting important? Why? Crisis? What crisis? Sustainability and the State of the world Economics, civil society, State and markets I I 1.6 Summary and structure of the book Ways of seeing and thinking about the world: systems thinking and world views Introduction Systems thinking and general systems theory Using the GST framework Liberal economic democracy The failings of liberal economic democracy Capitalism and corporations Reformism or radical change? A neo-pluralist vision of the world Democracy and Information Summary and conclusions Corporate social responsibility and accountability Introduction Why is (corporate) (social) responsibility important? What is CSR - can it be defined? Views of the world and views of CSR Clarifying responsibility in the interests of sustainability? Why does so much confusion remain on CSR? Accountability A model of accountability Some practica! components of accountability Defining corporate social responsibilities 54

3 viii Contents 3.11 Social responsibility and sustainability 3.12 Conclusions and implications for accountability and responsibility Appendix: Some limitations and extensions of accountability Description, development and explanation of social, environmental and sustainability accounting and reporting Introduction The diversity of social accounting A brief history of social responsibility A brief history of social accounting Some theory for social accounting Social accounting and system-level/meta-theories Increasing resolution - sub-system level/meso-theories Micro-level/theories of social accounting and organisations Social accounting inside the Organisation (micro-theory II) Individual-Ievel theories (micro-level III) Summary and conclusions 93 Appendix: Study tips Social and Community issues Introduction Society? Social issues? Stakeholders? Developments and trends in social reporting and disclosure From the organisation's point of view I Stakeholders' views I Community involvement and philanthropy Accountability, MNCs and LDCs Indigenous people, repressive regimes, child labour and human rights Extensions, Community and the social Employees and unions Introduction Reporting employment Information Accounting for human resources Reporting to employees Accountability for equality in employment Some conclusions, reflections and possibilities 154, er 7 Environmental issues 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Background and stakeholders 7.3 Environmental reporting 7.4 Environmental management systems 7.5 Environmental management accounting and capital budgeting / 6 Financial accounting and the environment Conclusions and concluding comments

4 Contents ix 8 Finance and financial issues Introduction A brief glimpse into the world of finance A cautionary note about numbers, measurement and remoteness Shareholders, Investors and Investment The profit-seeking Investor, CSR and Performance The emergence of the socially responsible Investor? Financial Performance of the funds: how socially responsible is SRI? SRI, disclosure and accountability? Extending the nature of social Investment Summary and conclusions Seeking the Holy Grail: towards the triple bottom line and/or sustainability? Introduction Fully monetised accounts Integrated accounts Multiple accounts - TBL, GRI + the UN Global Compact So what is this sustainability we wish to account for? Accounting for sustainability? Accounting for social justice? Summary and conclusions The social audit movement Introduction 237 (0.2 Early developments in externa! social audit Local authority social audits Involving internal participants in the social audit exercise: a false dawn? Contemporary approaches to external social audit The external social audits: where to now? Conclusion I I Governance, attestation and institutional issues Introduction CSR and corporate governance 260 I 1.3 Stakeholder engagement and the issue of empowerment 263 I 1.4 Civil regulation and institutional reform 266 I 1.5 A very British example: the case of the Operating and Financial Review Strengthening civil regulation: a role for sustainability assurance? Summary and conclusions CSR and accountability in other organisations: the public and third sectors, not-for-profit organisations and social business Introduction and background Structure + parameters of the public and third sectors (and beyond) 283

5 x Contents 12.3 Multilateralism and intergovernmental - beyond the nation State Government and the public sector Universities Civil society organisations: NGOs and charities Cooperatives and social business Summary and conclusions Accounting and accountability for responsibility and sustainability: some possible ways forward? Introduction and background Management control for responsibility and un-sustainability Stakeholders and closeness Social accountability to society Accountability and un-sustainability Ways forward? Conclusions? And the need for shadow accounts? What next? A few final thoughts Introduction Education Engagement, experimentation and challenge Activism and counter-narratives Glossary Index