Increased business complexities coupled with enhanced global transformation have propelled corporations to behave as responsible citizens to drive the sustainability agenda. Many corporations incorporate their affirmative commitment to sustainable business practices into their corporate identities and give evidence for this in their sustainability reports. This paper examines the role of the board of directors in sustainability reporting quality (SRQ) in the Asia‐Pacific region. Based on a cross‐sectional study of 113 companies from 12 countries in the region, we find that the SRQ in the region leaves much room for improvement. However, we find that the institutionalization of the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in an organization provides a sound foundation for enhancing SRQ. We find that the value of CSR anchored in the vision and/ or mission statement and strategic alliances fostered with non‐governmental organizations are positively associated with SRQ.This study contributes to strengthening the understanding, promoting discussion on the state of sustainability reporting in the Asia‐Pacific context and laying a solid foundation for more aggressive efforts to enhance SRQ. The study identifies the significant drivers currently associated with SRQ. The weak role of the board of directors in upholding the sustainable development agenda through the reporting process is highlighted. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

PurposeThis paper seeks to investigate the influence of government and foreign affiliates, particularly; multinational companies on corporate social reporting (CSR) development in an economy, where CSR awareness is low coupled with weak pressure group activism.Design/methodology/approachThis is a cross sectional study that focuses on the information contained in the annual reports for year 2002/2003. This research uses content analysis as method to measure the extent CSR.FindingsBased on regression analysis, the study evidences on the impact of government influence. However, the impact of foreign affiliation variables is not evident. Institutionalisation of the government's aspirations and commitment to CSR is perhaps the most appropriate description for Malaysian CSR practice.Research limitations/implicationsThere are two main limitations of this study. Firstly, this study examines the annual reports for one year. Secondly, this study is annual reports centric. It does not examine any other stand alone reports that the respondents might have produced on the subject of society and the environment.Practical implicationsThis study provides justification for government's role in promoting CSR practice. The impact is evidenced although there are no direct concerted efforts at that time by the government in respect of CSR policy implementation. The significant role is attributed to the unique Malaysian socio economic structure.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the CSR literature particularly in the context of economies where governments play a significant role in promoting economic development. It provides empirical evidence of the influence of government and foreign affiliates. It also adds to the literature by explaining the phenomenon from the Institutional perspective and its relevance to a developing economy.

Current development in social accounting presents an interesting phenomenon. Companies are increasingly engaging in sustainability initiatives and reporting their activities in annual reports, company websites and other media of communication. Unlike previous studies, which have mainly used ex post content analysis of annual reports or other published data to study the relationship between disclosure and possible determinants, this study starts with an interview with the local preparer before the data is triangulated to determine the signifi cant possible determinants. The interview fi ndings are interpreted through institutional theory for possible identifi cation of determinants. Initially, the interview fi ndings indicate that all three mechanisms of isomorphism, the coercive, the normative and the mimetic, contribute to Malaysian company sustainability reporting. However, the regression results prove that only a government linked company in the plantation industry, which is large in size, has a signifi cant amount of sustainability reporting. Copyright

The hotel industry is growing rapidly in developing countries due to an increase in the tourism industry; however, on the other hand, the hotel industry is one of the sectors largely increasing the burden on the environment. Therefore, due to the massive number of environmental issues that hotel industry has encountered, there is an increasing force to pay a correct reaction to environmental issues and executing sustainable business practices such as the adoption of green human resource management (HRM) practices provide a win–win situation for the organization and its stakeholders. It, therefore, signals the need to examine how green HRM practices will enhance the environmental performance in the hotel industry. Grounded by resource-based view theory, this study utilized a research model examining the relationship between green HRM practices (green recruitment and selection, green training and development, green performance appraisal, and green compensation) and environmental performance in Malaysia’s hotel industry. Questionnaires were distributed to human resource (HR) managers/ executives in 3-, 4- and 5-star hotels in Malaysia. A total of 206 hotels participated in the study. The data collected were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling. Based on the analysis, the study revealed that green recruitment and selection, green training and development, and green compensation have a meaningful relationship with environmental performance, while green performance appraisal did not have a significant relationship with environmental performance. Our results extend previous research by not only highlighting the importance of green HRM practices in driving environmental performance but also indicating how each dimension of green HRM practices either enhances or inhibits environmental performance. This is the first empirical research that investigates the relationship between green HRM and environmental performance in the hotel industry literature.

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