Geoffrey R. Frost

Integrating sustainability reporting into management practices

Abstract This paper examines the process of developing key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring sustainability performance and the way in which sustainability KPIs are used in decision-making, planning and performance management. Interviews were conducted with personnel from four British and three Australian companies. The findings indicate that the organisations are integrating environmental indicators, and increasingly also social indicators, into strategic planning, performance measurement and decision-making including risk management. However, the sustainability issues on which our sample focus and the management operations on which they impact vary considerably. This has implications for the development of practice, voluntary guidelines and legislation.

The Introduction of Mandatory Environmental Reporting Guidelines: Australian Evidence

: Disclosure ; Environment ; Regulation ; Reporting. Geoff rey R. Frost ( g.frost@econ.usyd.edu.au ) is an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Accounting at The University of Sydney. Copyright (c) 2007 The Authors Journal compilation (c) 2007 Accounting Foundation, The University of Sydney.

Adoption of Environmental Reporting and Management Practices: An Analysis of New South Wales Public Sector Entities

This paper analyses the level of environmental disclosure and the corresponding adoption of environmental management practices by New South Wales public sector entities in 1996. From the analysis of 35 entities, it was found that the development of environmental management practices and the level of environmental disclosure were significantly associated. The results suggest that entities were responding to increased political visibility through higher levels of environmental disclosure, however they were also responding through the development of environmental management practices.

The Adoption of Environment‐related management accounting: an analysis of corporate environmental sensitivity

This paper examines environmental sensitivity of the industry as a factor associated with the adoption of environment-related management accounting and control procedures. The results indicate that although environmental reporting is more likely to occur in environmentally sensitive firms, the adoption of environment-related management accounting procedures does not appear to be driven solely by the environmental sensitivity of the industry. The paper concludes that further research is needed to identify what causes organisations to adopt environment-related management accounting procedures.

The internet and change in corporate stakeholder engagement and communication strategies on social and environmental performance

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to examine the use of the web as a means of stakeholder engagement and as part of a strategy for communicating to stakeholders particularly on social and environmental performance.Design/methodology/approach – A postal questionnaire was sent to over one hundred companies in Australia, Germany and in the UK and interviews were conducted with six companies (two British, one German and three Australian) identified as adopting best practice.Findings – A key finding was the limited understanding of the advantages of using the web as part of a communication strategy on all aspects of corporate performance. The study also found that the lack of resources made available for web‐based communication limited its potential.Research limitations/implications – Web technologies provide the possibility of communicating on performance with a broad group of stakeholders. This is particularly relevant to reporting on social and environmental performance which is of interest to a broader...

CSR disclosure and financial performance revisited: A cross-country analysis:

The relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate financial performance (CFP) has been the subject of intensive research. However, limitations with this literature include the use of localised samples, poorly specified control variables and self-constructed CSR disclosure measures that may not represent a firm’s actual CSR performance. Answering the call for ‘better’ CSR research in this field, as well as extending research to a cross-country analysis, this study examines the relationship between corporate CSR engagement (measured by diversity in voluntary disclosure practices) and financial performance across three reporting jurisdictions: Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. We use the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework to rate companies on their CSR engagement and control for actual CSR performance using the Vigeo-Eiris CSR sustainability ratings as the proxy measure. Based on a sample of 116 large public companies, we find evidence that CSR engagement can be indicative of actual CSR performance. We also find evidence of a significant relationship between CSR engagement and financial performance, even after controlling for the CSR performance proxy, firm size, industry-level fixed effects, financial risk and type of assurer. The results appear to be robust across national reporting jurisdictions and alternative CSR metrics constructed from the CSR engagement measure. JEL classification: M41, M14