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Management Roles and Sustainability Information. Exploring Corporate Practice
Author(s) -
Schaltegger Stefan,
Burritt Roger,
Zvezdov Dimitar,
Hörisch Jacob,
TingeyHolyoak Joanne
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
australian accounting review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.551
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1835-2561
pISSN - 1035-6908
DOI - 10.1111/auar.12102
Subject(s) - sustainability , sustainability organizations , sustainability reporting , business , contingency , balanced scorecard , corporate sustainability , perception , contingency theory , set (abstract data type) , knowledge management , accounting , empirical research , process management , psychology , computer science , ecology , biology , philosophy , linguistics , epistemology , neuroscience , programming language
Little empirical research has been conducted on perceptions of the types of sustainability information dealt with by different managers in internal company processes. In this study the roles of different managers are distinguished based on contingency theory and using the categorisation in the sustainability balanced scorecard concept. Expected sustainability information types are identified for these roles and hypotheses are derived and tested about perceptions of the types of sustainability information in different management roles. Interviews identified 116 roles involved with sustainability information in a set of leading German and UK sustainability reporting companies. Results from analysing sustainability information types contingent upon different management roles contribute to the understanding of sustainability accounting systems and practices and how companies can best support different management roles with appropriate sustainability information.