Past literature documenting the relationship between board diversity and organizational sustainability performance resulted in inconclusive findings. The study draws on the resource dependency theory to investigate how board gender diversity and age diversity influence the corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of organizations. The qualitative data were collected through in-depth interviews of 19 board directors from 14 organizations operating in Australia. Data were analyzed following the six-phase process of thematic analysis. The findings indicate that board gender and age diversity enhance CSR investment and approach decisions, and, in turn, they improve the CSR performance of organizations. The effectiveness of these relationships depends on the number of women directors, organizational culture, industry regulations, and organizational life-cycle stage. This study provides insights into the "black box" of boardroom dynamics. The findings suggest that efforts need to be made at the organizational and policy levels to increase board gender and age diversity for a sustainable performance.

Integrated Reporting (IR) stands for organizational reporting which is prepared for public disclosure and includes both financial and important non-financial information. Existing financial reporting standards are inadequate to address issues like the importance of intangible assets, corporate impacts on the environment, human health, societal conditions and corporate influence on the political process. Thus, the concept of IR emerged to deal with these issues that affect corporate success. The traditional reporting model focuses on a relatively narrow account of historical financial performance of the value-creation process. Keeping this in mind, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has developed an International Integrated Reporting Framework, the core objective of which is to guide organizations in communicating the broad set of information needed by investors and other stakeholders to assess the organization's long-term prospects in a clear, concise, connected and comparable format. The IIRC shares the view that the evolution of corporate reporting should be led by the communication of value creation by the corporate entities. This paper focuses on the degree of disclosure of Integrated Reporting requirements by the top eleven multinational companies of Bangladesh as per market capitalization. Using annual report content analysis, the findings show that the companies have lately started providing non-financial information regarding environment, society and governance along with financial figures. But it is prominent that they are still providing these information in disconnected strands and as a part of Corporate Governance or CSR disclosures instead of linking these to financial information and providing it as an integrated report.

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Purpose This study aims to provide an understanding of how directors perceive the relationship between board independence and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance which has remained under-researched. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews of 19 directors from 14 organisations operating in Australia. Data were analysed following the six-phase process of thematic analysis. Findings The findings indicate that independent directors contribute to board CSR decisions in two major ways: they bring an outsider view to the board, and they monitor managers in taking decisions that consider the interests of the broader stakeholder groups. Research limitations/implications The in-depth analysis of director independence and CSR highlights the structural and behavioural aspects of director independence and CSR playing out in board rooms. Propositions are offered which can be tested to advance the research in this arena. Practical implications The findings suggest that efforts are required at organisational policy level to ensure the effectiveness of director independence for CSR. Originality/value This study provides insights into the “black box” of boardroom dynamics highlighting important contextual factors influencing director independence and CSR decisions previously under-explored.