Assurance statement practice in environmental, social and sustainability reporting: a critical evaluation

O’Dwyer, Brendan; Owen, David

doi:10.1016/j.bar.2005.01.005

Cited by 490 publications

(652 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…However, the effectiveness and impact of the external assurance process for sustainability reports has not been clearly demonstrated and has been robustly criticized in the literature (e.g., Perego and Kolk 2012;Boiral 2013;Dando and Swift 2003;O'Dwyer and Owen 2005). For example, in their longitudinal study of third party assurance of sustainability reports, Perego and Kolk (2012) found that many multinationals ''project a decoupled or symbolic image of accountability through assurance, thereby undermining the credibility of these verification practices' ' (p. 173).…”

Section: Limitations and Avenues For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing Biodiversity Through Stakeholder Involvement: Why, Who, and for What Initiatives?

Boiral¹,

2015

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The increasing pressures to conserve biodiversity-particularly for industries based on the exploitation of natural resources-have reinforced the need to implement specific measures in this area. Corporate commitment to preserving biodiversity is increasingly scrutinized by stakeholders and now represents an important aspect of business ethics. Although stakeholder involvement is often essential to the management of biodiversity, very few studies in the literature have focused on the details of this involvement. The objective of this paper is to analyze how mining and forestry companies can manage biodiversity issues through stakeholder involvement based on a content analysis of 430 sustainability reports using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. The paper elucidates the reasons for such involvement, the nature of stakeholders involved, and the types of measures employed to manage biodiversity. Stakeholders' motives for becoming involved revolve around four main issues: complexity and knowledge management; self-regulation and relationships with public authorities; legitimacy and social responsiveness; and commercial and strategic objectives. The stakeholders involved in biodiversity initiatives are essentially non-governmental organizations, experts and universities, public authorities, and coalitions of companies. In the end, the initiatives identified can be grouped into three categories: management practices, socio-political actions, and research and conservation measures. The paper provides various examples of these initiatives and shows how they can be implemented in collaboration with different stakeholders depending on the company's objectives. The contributions the study makes to the literature on biodiversity management and the managerial implications of the study are analyzed in the discussion section.

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Section: Limitations and Avenues For Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Managing Biodiversity Through Stakeholder Involvement: Why, Who, and for What Initiatives?

Boiral¹,

2015

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“…Besides being the first scheme in the world, the ACCA U.K. Award has also been used as an example for later, similar awards (Ball et al 2000). Thus, reports short-listed by these schemes can be reasonably expected to be the leaders of the reporting practice (O'Dwyer and Owen 2005), at least in the British and North American perspectives. Since this study aims at drawing conclusion on the success of sure.…”

Section: The Objective Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to the same survey by KPMG, the amount rose from 30 percent in 2005 to 40 percent in 2008 (KPMG 2008). It is proposed that this is driven by stakeholders' increasing demand for credibility in reporting and the assumed association between the third-party assurance and the credibility (O'Dwyer and Owen 2005). Thus, in spite of its voluntary nature, the demand for this particular audit service is rising (Power 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Academic studies on corporate social and environmental reporting can be traced back to the 1970s. Furthermore, the number of companies worldwide producing stand-alone reports on their social and environmental performance has experienced stable growth since 1993 (O'Dwyer and Owen 2005). One of the most comprehensive studies of this reporting practice is the KPMG's tri-annual survey, which covers the top 250 companies of the Global Fortune 500 and the largest 100 companies in 22 countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a concern about management control over the assurance process, which results in doubts concerning the success of assurance in holding corporations accountable to their constituencies (Adams 2004;Ball et al 2000;Belal 2002;Brorson and Park 2004;Chua et al 2009;Dando and Swift 2003;O'Dwyer and Owen 2005;O'Dwyer and Owen 2007;Power 1991;Maltby 1995;Zadek 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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