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Can sustainability report assurance be a collaborative process and practice beyond the ritual of verification?
Author(s) -
Channuntapipat Charika
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
business strategy and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.123
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1099-0836
pISSN - 0964-4733
DOI - 10.1002/bse.2653
Subject(s) - sustainability reporting , sustainability , business , framing (construction) , conceptualization , process management , transformational leadership , public relations , knowledge management , corporate social responsibility , political science , computer science , engineering , ecology , structural engineering , artificial intelligence , biology
Abstract This study examines the role of assurance for sustainability reporting whether it has the role beyond a verification mechanism for corporate sustainability reporting. This paper looks beyond the discourse about managerial and professional capture in sustainability report assurance practice. Drawing on the in‐depth interviews with assurance practitioners for sustainability reporting in the United Kingdom from different professional backgrounds, it provides an evidence‐based illustration on how sustainability report assurance service can contribute to more corporate sustainable actions. The findings also highlight the potential influences of the assurance providers on the assurance process and corporate decision‐making. The conceptualization of the assurance from the service perspective and of the assurance providers as transformational leaders enables this paper to challenge the current framing of the assurance services as a verification ritual that constraint its impacts and contributions to sustainable development.