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No 2009:155:
Sustainability assurance and accountability: the stakeholder perspective
Angela Pinilla Urzola
()
Additional contact information
Angela Pinilla Urzola: International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, Postal: Nottingham University Business School, Jubilee Campus, Wollaton Road, Nottingham, NG8 1BB,
Abstract: Purpose: The aim of the research was to canvass the views of key stakeholders as to the current and potential role of sustainability assurance in promoting accountability to stakeholders.
Research Method: The analysis was undertaken conducting thematic analysis using NVIVO 8 Software. The data was derived from semi-structured interviews conducted with eight representatives of civil society organisations.
Findings: The paper provides empirical evidence on the sustainability assurance exercises and stakeholders’ views on the achievement of accountability. There was a general perception of sustainability assurance as a vacuous process of verification or a tool to enhance the integrity of companies’ actions. Actual models of sustainability assurance that promote accountability to stakeholders are those where stakeholders directly seek for answers and rectifications. All the stakeholders perceived a coalition of issues within the sustainability assurance world that prevent the achievement of accountability: for example, the accounts given are not an accurate or true representation of the actual situation; there is no independence between the accountee and the accountable organisation; there is no redress by the companies, nor do they accept these concerns. In the view of stakeholders more fundamental issues were related to the tendency to use financial or market driven approaches. The main problems are associated with corporate law, liability and the governance system in the sustainability assurance world, and with the non existence of legitimacy in that domain.
Contributions: The paper contributes to the field work in sustainability assurance literature called for by O’Dwyer and Owen (2007) in order to gain a more in-depth understanding of stakeholder inclusion in sustainability assurance exercises. This paper provides empirical results on stakeholders’ views on sustainability assurance exercises using qualitative data in the United Kingdom.
Keywords: Sustainability; Assurance; Corporate sustainability reporting; Accountability; Stakeholders; perspectives
Language: English
23 pages, October 10, 2009
Note: Conference paper submission for the Easy-Eco Conference “Evaluating Sustainability: The Stakeholders Perspective". Budapest, Oct. 16-18, 2009. Work-in-progress, Nov 2009: Please do not quote without permission from authors
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