Purpose This paper aims to explore the nature of responsible investment (RI) practices in Zimbabwe from the point of view of the institutional asset owners by investigating not only how they incorporate the ESG criteria when selecting investee companies but also the elements of greenwashing and impression management. Design/methodology/approach Based on semi-structured interviews conducted with Pension Fund Entities, Mutual Funds and Life Assurance companies, the authors used interpretive methodological approach to derive the symbolic RI techniques used. Findings This study discovered many symbolic acts of “greenwashing” and impression management as opposed to genuine concerns for ESG issues which are at the core of RI practice. RI is used as not only a systematic risk management instrument but also a symbolic marketing tool due to weak regulatory environment. Contrary to the significantly high public communication on RI, the actual links of the asset owners with the environmental impacts in investee companies is insignificant. The authors also found that there are clear distinctions between how foreign and local firms operating in the local economy engage on ESG matters. Practical implications This is likely to have practical implications for stewardship practices in developing jurisdictions where RI practices are puerile. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature on RI dialogue by demonstrating the peculiarity of ESG engagement in a developing economy.

This exploratory work investigates the burgeoning integration of ‘cradle to cradle’ practices into primary strategic activities of procurement, production and sales by ten London based fashion businesses, analysing how profits are derived from offsetting the high costs of sustainable inputs against savings from innovative strategic choices in the production value chain. This research was influenced by the background knowledge that in the global fashion industry, less than 1 per cent of the recycled textiles are converted into new wearable materials, and even more of these textiles end up in landfills. However, this unsustainable tradition in the fashion industry may gradually give way to a mainstream circular economic best practice in the fashion industry, even as the Mckinsey Report found that sustainability will be a significant factor for consumer purchasing mass market apparels by 2025. Based on the semi-structured interview of the ten fashion business owners and the analyses of internal strategic policy documents including budgets, we adopted Garret Hardin’s ‘Tragedy of the Commons’ and Ulrich Beck’s risk society as the lens view through which the qualitative data derived from these fashion businesses were discussed in order to bring out the illustrative extracts and sub-themes. Through the application of interpretive methodological approach, we were able to generate the themes suggesting the ‘Becksian’ reflexive modernization and dis-embedding mechanisms in analysing the issue of trust in luxury fashion environment. We were able to demonstrate the multidisciplinary and multifaceted nature of the use of modern technology in achieving a closed-loop circular economy in luxury fashion business(es) and its interconnectedness within the concentric layers of the value-chain, which is part of the economy, which is in turn a subset of the society and the environment. As businesses are expected to adapt their strategies to the changing environment, we argue that dematerialization in fashion is still at its infancy, and some deliberate actions on the part of economic policy-makers may be required in due course as this is connected to social sustainability amongst others. This article contributes new empirical data to the understanding of luxury fashion business in a circular economy, which is a departure from the linear economy with its attendant externalities. The adoption of a sustainable fashion business model may be pivotal to combating the inefficiency costs built into the fashion industry, and if successful, may be replicated in other jurisdictions in due course.

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Businesses, government agencies (including transport departments) face an evolving landscape of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)related risks that can impact their success and survival. In order to effectively cope with greater and widespread uncertainty, organizations must manage risk efficiently. This is particularly relevant for organizations in the transport sector, especially, as the nature of their operations is by default challenged by a diverse set of hazards and risks. Accordingly, this research proposes the development of a sustainable Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) framework that is specific in nature for the transport sector in the Global South (GS). Sustainable transport has a key part to play in fostering inclusive growth and expanding access to essential services, it is a vital driver of economic and social development linking people to jobs, education, health care, etc. Given the current attention on sustainable development, it is essential to identify the status of the transport sector in GS and the challenges to the development of a sustainable transport system. Academic and practice literature in the public domain have noted very limited literature focusing on aspects such as Agency, Program and Project risk management for strategic alignment, asset management and performance measure in the transport sector. Aside, various organisational and institutional challenges (such as poor policy and regulatory framework, understanding of the benefits and challenges of implementing ERM, Consideration of Transport Organisations (Internal and External) Context, Risk awareness culture, ERM alignment with key strategies and objectives, Coordination with different stakeholders; Lack of proper industry-specific guidance material; keeping up with the technology, budget constraints, lack of leadership commitment etc.) has been reported. It has also been established that Organizational resilience starts at the top with an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) paradigm. However, despite several ERM frameworks developed, many organizations still face challenges in aligning ERM with their key strategies and objectives. This is because most of the existing frameworks lack implementation guidance and were often criticised for failing to consider the specificity of the organisations. Managing the complexity inherent in transport and logistics based on context has therefore, become a continuous test even for experienced managers. This research focuses on the phenomena of ERM paradigm and its alignment with the requirements of GS transport organisations. The research proposes to approach the complexity of the design of the proposed SERM framework through the conjoint application of Contingency and Institutional theories. The nature of this research problem is defined in terms of an organisational phenomenon and the aim and objectives of this research determine the adoption of the Interpretivism paradigm concerned with exploring reality as a social construction. A Case study (Nigeria's transport sector) strategies ...

This chapter investigates the challenges faced by sell-side analysts in engaging with companies with material stranded assets through the lens of Becksian risk society theory. The research unravels the usefulness of sustainability reports in deriving the intrinsic value of energy companies in the UK, and whether they take Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) factors into consideration in doing so. Qualitative data were collected via dual methods comprising longitudinal participant observation at IR meetings and interview of sell-side analysts and institutional shareholder. Findings indicate dissatisfaction with the existing risk reporting system is a key factor in divestment decisions and asset stranding. The growing Responsible Investment (RI) awareness notwithstanding, the inadequate risk reporting system continues to represent a major source of agitation amongst shareholders and analysts, making the overhaul of the current financial reporting system inevitable.