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The Italian experience in social reporting: an empirical analysis
Author(s) -
Secchi Davide
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
corporate social responsibility and environmental management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.519
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1535-3966
pISSN - 1535-3958
DOI - 10.1002/csr.96
Subject(s) - stakeholder , empirical research , corporate social responsibility , phenomenon , common ground , business , public relations , marketing , sociology , political science , epistemology , philosophy , communication
This analysis tries to discover an empirical validation to back up the hypothesis that the Italian phenomenon of social reporting has changed with regard to the past and is growing in importance. After considering the evolution of Italian literature on the issue, the paper tries to find connections between this literature and social reporting practices. Empirical findings are based on 62 Italian social reports. The paper tries to answer three questions: (a) what kind of organization publishes social reports; (b) what are the main differences, if any, between different reports belonging to diverse organizations; (c) which are the leading models. Social reports have been sorted according to three main issues: report objectives, emerging models and stakeholder mapping. Collected data suggest that there is a common ground for organizations in socially responsible behaviour, but also that this common ground fits the need of every single organization. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.