GHG Reporting and Impression Management: An Assessment of Sustainability Reports from the Energy Sector
The objective of this study was to analyze the quality of climate information disclosed by companies and the impression management strategies they have developed to justify or conceal negative aspects of their performance. The study is based on a qualitative content analysis of the sustainability re...
| Главные авторы: | ; |
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| Формат: | Электронный ресурс Статья |
| Язык: | Английский |
| Проверить наличие: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Загрузка...
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| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Опубликовано: |
2018
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| В: |
Journal of business ethics
Год: 2018, Том: 147, Выпуск: 2, Страницы: 367-383 |
| Другие ключевые слова: | B
Global Reporting Initiative
B Counter-accounting B Impression Management B Climate Change B Opacity B GHG reporting |
| Online-ссылка: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Итог: | The objective of this study was to analyze the quality of climate information disclosed by companies and the impression management strategies they have developed to justify or conceal negative aspects of their performance. The study is based on a qualitative content analysis of the sustainability reports of 21 energy-sector companies that use the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) with A or A+ application levels over a period of 5 years (n = 105). It contributes to the literature on climate disclosure by demonstrating the ineffectiveness of the external assurance process in ensuring the quality and representativeness of the data. Significant non-compliance with GRI standards was identified in 86 of the 93 reports audited by a third party. In addition, six of the 21 companies surveyed were found to disclose increasingly opaque information over time, concealing information on the measurement and methodology used. Through this study, four impression management strategies were identified. These are employed either to justify certain information (by minimizing impacts, excuses and commitment) or to conceal it (through strategic omissions and manipulation of figures). In exposing the high incidence of non-compliance in GRI reporting and the use of impression management strategies by companies, this study shows that it will be difficult or impossible for stakeholders to reasonably assess, monitor and compare companies’ climate performance on the basis of these reports. |
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| ISSN: | 1573-0697 |
| Второстепенные работы: | Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2979-4 |
