C. de Villiers

Environmental reporting in South Africa from 1994 to 1999 : a research note

The content of the annual reports of listed South African mining companies from 1994 to 1999 was analysed to determine how many disclose certain environmental information. This number, expressed as a percentage, was compared with the corresponding percentage disclosure among the Financial Mail Top 100 industrial companies for the same years. A greater number of mining companies, when compared to other large companies, disclose environmental information. This finding is consistent with legitimacy, which is the notion that an organisation will not continue to prosper if its aims and methods are in conflict with that of society. Mining companies have a greater need to legitimise their operations by means of environmental disclosure, because their environmental impact is extensive and obvious.

Why do South African companies not report more environmental information when managers are so positive about this kind of reporting

Previous research has highlighted a contradiction in regard to environmental reporting in South Africa. Managers, who can influence decisions regarding disclosure, express the view that more environmental reporting is needed, yet very little such reporting is done. A questionnaire was sent to every company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) with the request that the financial director should complete it. The questionnaire set out to establish whether managers are still as positive about environmental reporting as reported in previous research findings and, furthermore, to determine the reasons for the dearth of environmental reporting. Managers are still as positive as before about environmental reporting. The reasons for not reporting range from the contention that data is not available, that there are no legal requirements and that there is no demand for the data to the contention that it is not applicable to the particular industry and that costs exceed benefits. Most respondents do not regard the fear of liability to be a very important reason for non-disclosure. The most important reason for non-disclosure is that there is no legal requirement in respect of disclosure. This reason, together with the positive attitude of directors towards environmental reporting in general and towards reporting on a compulsory basis in particular, makes a strong case for the introduction of legislation in this regard. The introduction of legislation could be achieved by amending the Fourth Schedule of the Companies’ Act or the introduction by The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) of a statement of Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP) on environmental disclosure. continued

Trends in South African corporate environmental reporting : a research note

The contents of the annual reports of listed mining companies as well as of the Top 100 industrial companies in South Africa were analysed to determine how the disclosure of environmental information has changed over time. Disclosure of general environmental information increased until 1999 and then stabilised at that level. The initial increase in the disclosure of specific environmental information, such as measurable objectives and environmental performance, was followed by a decrease from 1998 onwards. A possible explanation could be that the lack of legal requirements with regard to the reporting of environmental information enables companies to decide what to report and what the extent of the reporting should be. They can therefore elect not to report specific and sometimes sensitive information, because stakeholders could perceive such information to be negative and it could therefore have a negative impact on the corporate image.

Industry differences in respect of corporate environmental reporting in South Africa: A research note

Previous research has revealed industry differences in respect of environmental reporting in South Africa. However, these studies concentrated on particular types of environmental reporting and therefore precluded many other types of environmental reporting in the annual reports surveyed. Past surveys also awarded equal credit to any reference to a particular type of environmental information, whether it comprised a single sentence or several pages. The annual reports of the top 100 companies, in terms of market capitalisation, were analysed and a sentence count of environmental disclosure was done with the use of the Hackston & Milne (1996) methodology. The group of energy companies was defined as comprising companies in energy‐intensive industries or companies that are producers of energy carriers. The survey revealed that these companies disclosed significantly more environmental information than other companies, in total and in each category These findings are consistent with the notion of legitimacy, which holds that companies cannot prosper if their aims and methods are not perceived to be in line with that of society. For this reason, companies that have the most obvious environmental impact tend to disclose more environmental information than other companies in an effort to legitimise their aims and methods in the eyes of society.

Ethical arguments regarding corporate environmental reporting

The environment is an important business issue and it will be even more so in future. Environmental reporting nowadays features increasingly in annual reports and elsewhere. It is however not compulsory and corporate decision makers must therefore make a decision for or against such reporting. Ethics is at stake in any decision involving right or wrong. Ethical theory is therefore examined in an effort to establish whether environmental reporting should be done. It is concluded that corporate environmental reporting constitutes the ethical high road.

An analysis of the international discourse about women in information technology

Currently there is a declining participation of women in Information Technology (IT) education and profession. In this article a critical interpretive analysis of the international discourse about women in IT is performed. The aim is to understand why women experience such a low level of career satisfaction in IT by taking their experiences and the context of the IT industry into consideration. The authors will critically analyse the results from the interpretive analysis and challenge the reasons identified as the cause for the under-representation of women in the IT industry. This study can be used to gain more insight into and understanding (reflection) of the current situation, but it can also contribute to communities such as feminists or governments in the creation of an emancipation theory or a series of interventions to improve the situation for women in IT.

Employee‐related disclosures in corporate annual reports and the King II Report recommendations

The recommendations of the King II Report on corporate governance regarding employee‐related disclosures by listed companies were identified. The annual reports of the Top 100 industrial companies as well as of the mining companies listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange were furthermore analysed to establish the percentage of companies that comply with the King II recommendations. It transpired that few of them comply fully with these recommendations.

Social responsibility disclosure by South African industrial holding companies: a research note

The disclosure of social responsibility in the 1982, 1987, 1992 and 1997 annual reports of ten companies listed in the industrial holdings section of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was analysed. Information on employee-related matters is disclosed most often, followed by community-related information and environment-related information. Descriptive statements (as opposed to monetary or quantitative non-monetary disclosures) predominate, as does good news (as opposed to bad news or neutral disclosures). Disclosures increased over the years, with a dramatic increase from 1992 to 1997.The disclosure of social responsibility in the 1982, 1987, 1992 and 1997 annual reports of ten companies listed in the industrial holdings section of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange was analysed. Information on employee-related matters is disclosed most often, followed by community-related information and environment-related information. Descriptive statements (as opposed to monetary or quantitative non-monetary disclosures) predominate, as does good news (as opposed to bad news or neutral disclosures). Disclosures increased over the years, with a dramatic increase from 1992 to 1997.

The effect of attribution on perceptions of managers' performance

Managers can influence the evaluation of their performance by advancing various reasons for or making attributions regarding their financial achievement or the financial achievement of their divisions. In this study, an experimental design is used to determine the effect that the advancing of controllable reasons versus uncontrollable reasons, of which evaluators are either aware or not aware, has on the evaluation of managers’ performance in conditions in which they had recorded financial results that are lower or higher than the budgeted figures. The experiment reveals that performance evaluations are higher when variances are explained by means of controllable reasons in the abovebudget setting, whereas higher evaluations result in the below‐budget setting when variances are explained by means of uncontrollable reasons. Furthermore, the evaluator’s prior knowledge of these reasons results in a difference in the performance evaluation rating. Specifically, known reasons result in higher manager evaluation ratings. The experiment reveals that managers that record above‐budget performance are given higher evaluation ratings than managers that record below‐budget performance, even when variances are explained by means of reasons that the managers cannot control. This is known as the outcome effect. However, the findings indicate that the outcome effect is smaller when the evaluator has independent knowledge of the reason(s) advanced.

Collaborative Learning for the Net Generation: Using Social Networks in an Undergraduate Course

Educating learners is a challenging task for academics. Many challenges arise because of the unique learning preferences of today’s learners, known as the Net Generation, who have grown up with technology. For academic communities, these students provide an opportunity for Faculties to adapt and enhance the learning process. This paper explores the implementation of Web 2.0 technologies at an undergraduate level for an introductory business-driven technology course. These Web 2.0 technologies were selected specifically for their collaborative nature and ability to support large numbers of students. This paper summarises the experiences of undergraduate students in the context of group work and social networking within a computer supported collaborative learning environment. The findings are based on a questionnaire, completed by 890 first year students of their experiences. Through this questionnaire, the authors determine whether the students found the introduction of new learning and teaching tools to be effective. The findings of this paper indicate that group work can be significantly enhanced through the use of Web 2.0 technologies and social networks.