Is Sustainability Performance Comparable? A Study of GRI Reports of Mining Organizations

Business and Society

Volumn 56, Issue 2, 2017, Pages 283-317

  Boiral, Olivier ^a   Henri, Jean François ^a  

^a UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL   (Canada)

Author keywords

comparability; content analysis; GRI; measurability; postmodernism; reporting; sustainable development

Indexed keywords

EID: 85009193413     PISSN: 00076503     EISSN: 15524205     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0007650315576134     Document Type: Article

References (61)

1. Adams C. A., (2004). The ethical, social and environmental reporting performance portrayal gap. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 17, 731-757.
2. Ambec S., Lanoie P., (2008). Does it pay to be green? A systematic overview. Academy of Management Perspectives, 22(4), 45-62.
3. Anglo American. (2012). Sustainable Development Report 2012. AngloAmerican.
4. Anglogold. (2012). Sustainability Report 2012. AngloGold Ashanti.
5. Aragón-Correa J. A., Rubio-López E., (2007). Proactive corporate environmental strategies: Myths and misunderstandings. Long Range Planning, 40, 357-381.
6. Aras G., Crowther D., (2009). Corporate sustainability reporting: A study in disingenuity? Journal of Business Ethics, 87, 279-288.
7. Baudrillard J., (1988). The ecstasy of communication. New York, NY: Semiotext(e).
8. Baudrillard J., (1994). Simulacra and simulation. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
9. Boiral O., (2012). ISO certificates as organizational degrees? Beyond the rational myths of the certification process. Organization Studies, 33, 633-654.
10. Boiral O., (2013). Sustainability reports as simulacra? A counter-account of A and A+ GRI reports. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 26, 1036-1071.
11. Boiral O., Gendron Y., (2011). Sustainable development and certification practices: Lessons learned and prospects. Business Strategy and the Environment, 20, 331-347.
12. Boisot M., McKelvey B., (2010). Integrating modernist and postmodernist perspectives on organizations: A complexity science bridge. Academy of Management Review, 35, 415-433.
13. Brown H. S., de Jong M., Levy D. L., (2009). Building institutions based on information disclosure: Lessons from GRI’s sustainability reporting. Journal of Cleaner Production, 17, 571-580.
14. Chen S., Bouvain P., (2009). Is corporate responsibility converging? A comparison of corporate responsibility reporting in the USA, UK, Australia and Germany. Journal of Business Ethics, 87, 299-317.
15. Cho C. H., Roberts R. W., Patten D. M., (2010). The language of U.S. corporate environmental disclosure. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35, 431-443.
16. Cooper R., Burell G., (1988). Modernism, postmodernism and organizational analysis: An introduction. Organization Studies, 9, 91-112.
17. Dando N., Swift T., (2003). Transparency and assurance: Minding the credibility gap. Journal of Business Ethics, 44, 195-200.
18. Daub C. H., (2007). Assessing the quality of sustainability reporting: An alternative methodological approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 15, 75-85.
19. Deegan C., Blomquist C., (2006). Stakeholder influence on corporate reporting: An exploration of the interaction between WWF-Australia and the Australian minerals industry. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 31, 343-372.
20. Deegan C., Cooper B. J., Shelly M., (2006). An investigation of TBL report assurance statements: UK and European evidence. Managerial Auditing Journal, 21, 329-371.
21. Déjean F., Gond J.-P., Leca B., (2004). Measuring the unmeasured: An institutional entrepreneur strategy in an emerging industry. Human Relations, 57, 741-764.
22. Delmas M., Blass V., (2010). Measuring corporate environmental performance: The trade-offs of sustainability ratings. Business Strategy and the Environment, 19, 217-219.
23. Devinney T. M., (2009). Is the socially responsible corporation a myth? The good, the bad, and the ugly of corporate social responsibility. Academy of Management Perspectives, 23(2), 44-56.
24. Dillard J., (2007). Legitimating the social accounting project. In Unerman J., Bebington J., O’Dwyer B., (Eds.), Sustainability, accounting and accountability (pp. 37-53). New York, NY: Routledge.
25. Dragomir V. D., (2012). The disclosure of industrial greenhouse gas emissions: A critical assessment of corporate sustainability reports. Journal of Cleaner Production, 29, 222-237.
26. Figge F., Hahn T., (2004). Sustainable value added—Measuring corporate contributions to sustainability beyond eco-efficiency. Ecological Economics, 48, 173-187.
27. Fonseca A., McAllister M. L., Fitzpatrick P., (2014). Sustainability reporting among mining corporations: A constructive critique of the GRI approach. Journal of Cleaner Production, 84, 70-83.
28. Global Reporting Initiative. (2005). GRI mining and metals supplement. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Author.
29. Global Reporting Initiative. (2006). Sustainability reporting guidelines. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Author.
30. Global Reporting Initiative. (2013a). G4: Frequently asked questions. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Author.
31. Global Reporting Initiative. (2013b). G4 Sustainability reporting guidelines. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Author.
32. Gond J.-P., Herrbach O., (2006). Corporate social reporting as a learning tool? A theoretical framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 65, 359-371.
33. Gray R., (2006). Social, environmental and sustainability reporting and organisational value creation? Whose value? Whose creation? Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 19, 793-819.
34. Gray R., (2010). Is accounting for sustainability actually accounting for sustainability.. and how would we know? An exploration of narratives of organisations and the planet. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 35, 47-62.
35. Gumb B., (2007). What is shown, what is hidden: Compulsory disclosure as a spectacle. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 18, 807-828.
36. Günther E., Hoppe H., Poser C., (2007). Environmental corporate social responsibility of firms in the mining and oil and gas industries: Current status quo of reporting following GRI guidelines. Greener Management International, 53, 7-25.
37. Hahn T., Figge F., (2011). Beyond the bounded instrumentality in current corporate sustainability research: Toward an inclusive notion of profitability. Journal of Business Ethics, 104, 325-345.
38. Holder-Webb L., Cohen J. R., Nath L., Wood D., (2009). The supply of corporate social responsibility disclosure among US firms. Journal of Business Ethics, 84, 497-527.
39. Hopwood A. G., (2009). Accounting and the environment. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 34, 433-439.
40. Igalens J., Gond J.-P., (2005). Measuring corporate social performance in France: A critical and empirical analysis of ARESE data. Journal of Business Ethics, 56, 131-148.
41. International Labour Office. (2005). Eliminating child labour in mining and quarrying. Geneva, Switzerland: Author. Retrieved from http://www.ilo.org/public/portugue/region/eurpro/lisbon/pdf/minas.pdf
42. KPMG. (2011). International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2011. Zurich, Switzerland: Author. Retrieved from http://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/corporate-responsibility/Documents/2011-survey.pdf
43. Krippendorff K., (2004). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
44. Laufer W. S., (2003). Social accountability and corporate greenwashing. Journal of Business Ethics, 43, 253-261.
45. Macintosh N. B., Shearer T., Thornton D. B., Welker M., (2000). Accounting as simulacrum and hyperreality: Perspectives on income and capital. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 25, 13-50.
46. Milne M. J., Gray R., (2007). Future prospects for corporate sustainability reporting. In Unerman J., Bebington J., O’Dwyer B., (Eds.), Sustainability, accounting and accountability (pp. 184-208). New York, NY: Routledge.
47. Milne M. J., Kearins K., Walton S., (2006). Creating adventures in wonderland: The journey metaphor and environmental sustainability. Organization, 13, 801-839.
48. Moneva J. M., Archel P., Correa C., (2006). GRI and the camouflaging of corporate unsustainability. Accounting Forum, 30, 121-137.
49. Morgan G., (1980). Paradigms, metaphors and puzzle solving in organizational theory. Administrative Science Quarterly, 25, 605-622.
50. Morrison E. W., Millike F., (2000). Organizational silence: A barrier to change and development in a pluralistic world. Academy of Management Review, 25, 706-725.
51. Neu D., Warsame H., Pedwell K., (1998). Managing public impressions: Environmental disclosures in annual reports. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 23, 265-282.
52. Okyere S., (2013). Are working children’s rights and child labour abolition complementary or opposing realms? International Social Work, 56, 80-91.
53. Owen D., Swift T., Humphrey C., Bowerman M., (2000). The new social audits: Accountability, managerial capture or the agenda of social champions? European Accounting Review, 9, 81-98.
54. Peck P., Sinding K., (2003). Environmental and social disclosure and data richness in the mining industry. Business Strategy and the Environment, 12, 131-146.
55. Rahman N., Post C., (2012). Measurement issues in environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR): Toward a transparent, reliable, and construct valid instrument. Journal of Business Ethics, 105, 307-319.
56. Rasche A., Esser D. E., (2006). From stakeholder management to stakeholder accountability. Journal of Business Ethics, 65, 251-267.
57. Schwartz M. S., Carroll A. B., (2008). Integrating and unifying competing and complementary frameworks: The search for a common core in the business and society field. Business & Society, 47, 148-186.
58. Singh R. K., Murty H. R., Gupta S. K., Dikshit A. K., (2012). An overview of sustainability assessment methodologies. Ecological Indicators, 15, 281-299.
59. Springett D., (2003). Business conceptions of sustainable development: A perspective from critical theory. Business Strategy and the Environment, 12, 71-86.
60. Unerman J., Bebington J., O’Dwyer B., (2007). Sustainability, accounting and accountability. New York, NY: Routledge.
61. Waddock S., (2008). Building a new institutional infrastructure for corporate responsibility. Academy of Management Perspectives, 22(3), 87-108.