Purpose-The purpose of this study is to explore the contributing barriers to corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSER) practices. In particular, this study focuses on non-managerial stakeholders' perceptions of the barriers to CSER practices in a developing country context. The study also investigates the current initiatives undertaken by the different stakeholders, such as, government, NGOs, and regulators. Design/methodology and approach-The study takes a qualitative approach, undertaking semi-structured indepth interviews with 26 participants from NGOs, the media, regulatory authorities, government departments, shareholders, trade union leaders and customers. Findings-The views of stakeholder groups were analysed to identify the contributing barriers to CSER practices. The findings of the study reveal that corruption and politics, lack of coordination, lack of government initiatives and unsatisfactory implementation of laws are perceived as the major barriers that hinder CSER practices in Bangladesh. The study also found that a lack of awareness among various stakeholder groups regarding the influential role CSER plays in promoting sustainable development. The current initiatives undertaken by various stakeholders to improve CSER practices found limited but growing. Research implications-The research utilises stakeholder theory to examine the role of stakeholders, rather than managers, in relation to CSER practice in Bangladesh. The findings may provide impetus for mitigating CSER barriers in a developing country context. Originality/Value-This paper is one of the few engagement-based studies to explore the non-managerial stakeholders' views on CSER in a developing country context.

PurposeThrough its impact on both demand and supply, the outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has profoundly disrupted supply chains throughout the world. The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying drivers of the supply chain vulnerability exposed by COVID-19 and considers potential future directions for global supply.Design/methodology/approachThis paper adopts a case study approach, reviewing the automotive manufacturing sector in Australia to illustrate how neoliberal globalisation policy settings have shifted large tracts of manufacturing from the global north to the global south.FindingsThe authors demonstrate the way that neoliberal globalisation policies, facilitated by certain accounting rhetorics and technologies, have consolidated manufacturing in China and Southeast Asia in ways that embed vulnerabilities in global supply chains. The authors present three scenarios for post-COVID-19 supply chains and the accounting techniques likely to garner stronger attention as a result of the pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper illustrates how certain accounting rhetorics and technologies facilitate neoliberal globalisation, embedding supply chain vulnerability that has been exposed by COVID-19. It also suggests how supply chain accounting may develop more robust supply chains in a post-COVID-19 world and sets out an agenda for future research in this area.Practical implicationsA number of practical supply chain accounting and planning technologies are suggested to facilitate more robust supply chains.Originality/valueThis paper draws attention to the neoliberal globalisation policies that have shaped global supply chains as well as how COVID-19, in concert with other geopolitical trajectories, may represent a watershed moment for global supply chains.

Design/methodology/approach -In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 senior managers of companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE). Publicly available annual reports of these companies were also analysed.Findings -The results indicate that senior managers perceive CSER reporting as a social obligation. The study finds that the managers focus mostly on child labour, human resources/rights, responsible products/services, health education, sports and community engagement activities as part of the social obligations. Interviewees identify a lack of a regulatory framework along with socio-cultural and religious factors as contributing to the low level of disclosures. These findings suggest that CSER reporting is not merely stakeholder driven, but rather country specific social and environmental issues play an important role in relation to CSER reporting practices.Research limitations/implications -This paper contributes to engagement based studies by focusing on CSER reporting practices in developing countries and are useful for academics, practitioners, and policy makers in understanding the reasons behind CSER reporting in developing countries.Original value -This paper addresses a literature 'gap' in the empirical study of CSER reporting in a developing country, such as Bangladesh. This study fills a gap in the existing literature to understand managers' motivations for CSER reporting in a developing country context. Managerial perceptions on CSER issues are largely unexplored in developing countries.

This study examines corporate social responsibility reporting practices in the rapidly growing mobile telecommunications industry in Bangladesh. This industry sector is one of the fastest growing in the world making it an attractive global investment. Using content analysis we reviewed and analysed the annual reports of four major mobile companies between 2008 and 2011. The findings reveal that mobile telecommunications companies in Bangladesh disclose social and environmental responsibility information across a range of categories. We find that these mobile companies provide significant benefits to education and health in Bangladesh and that their focus on community and development disclosures are motivated in part by seeking to maintain legitimacy in an extremely competitive industry.

This qualitative study explores whether the impact of the introduction of the legally enforceable Australian Auditing Standards (ASAs) differs between audit firms based on their size. It complements and extends the Australian Government's pre‐implementation April 2006 Regulation Impact Statement ( AUASB 2006 ) and Hecimovic et al.'s (2009) study exploring the perceptions of key stakeholders. The results of the current study, based on data from extensive interviews with auditors from small, medium and large audit firms, suggest that compliance with the legally enforceable ASAs does not appear to increase perceived audit quality or public confidence. The study also finds that the costs/benefits to small audit firms and their clients differ to those of medium and large firms, raising questions about the viability of smaller firms remaining in the audit market.