How accounting and accountants may contribute in sustainability?

Constructing CSR student self-consciousness through university social responsibility implementation: evidence in Indonesia

Purpose

The role of higher education institutions is paramount in creating social and cultural conditions for sustainability. Several studies show universities play an important role in promoting public understanding and awareness about sustainability. The purpose of this study is to analyze the application of university social responsibility (USR) on green and nongreen campuses and how it affects the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of students' self-consciousness (SSC), especially in accounting undergraduate programs by looking at how the undergraduate programs shape their curriculum and can build student awareness related to CSR.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 704 accounting undergraduate programs students from eight different universities in Indonesia were surveyed to test the CSR SSC. Eight participating universities were included in the green campus based on Universitas Indonesia Green Metric (UI GreenMetric) and nongreen campus. Each university was analyzed regarding the application of USR.

Findings

The results of this study show that universities included in the green campus at the UI GreenMetric do not necessarily have a higher USR than the nongreen campus. Overall, there is evidence that graduates from universities with high USR implementation have better CSR SSC than graduates from universities with low USR implementation. Furthermore, the findings of this study show that there is a high value of ethic and CSR knowledge coming from university students with high USR implementation but not so with character. The findings show the same results from students between the two university groups.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to examine the effect of USR implementation on CSR SSC in Indonesia, by putting students’ CSR knowledge as a part of CSR SSC.

Green Intellectual Capital as a Support for Corporate Environmental Development—Polish Company Experience

Green intellectual capital (GIC) is a distinctive intangible asset that may assist organizations in pursuing sustainable development strategies. In Polish organizations, interest in this new concept is low. Analysis of the literature showed a lack of research regarding the implementation of GIC practices or their impacts on the sustainable development of organizations in Polish enterprises. In order to fill the detected research gap, the study covered 150 randomly selected Polish enterprises. The purpose of the research was to determine the impact of activities fostering GIC on the environmental development of companies in Poland and to identify major practices supporting GIC development. In addition, the author attempted to establish a correlation between the impact of individual practices oriented at GIC formation and their practical implementations in the analyzed enterprises. The first stage of the analysis focused on identification of activities leading to the accumulation of GIC implemented in Polish organizations. The second stage involved an assessment of the level of impact of actions contributing to GIC formation on the environmental development of the studied enterprises. During the third stage, the author investigated the relationship between the impact of individual practices oriented at GIC formation and their practical implementation in the analyzed organizations. The study demonstrated that actions supporting GIC formation have an uneven impact on corporate environmental development. Among the key factors identified by the author were environmental attitudes of employees in the working environment (such as paper and energy saving), environmental knowledge, and the implementation of innovative environmental projects. Furthermore, the author established a correlation between the impact assessments of activities leading to GIC accumulation and their practical implementations. The research demonstrated that activities assessed by respondents as more important are more often implemented in practice. The findings of the research may stimulate interest in GIC development and extend the scope of application of GIC-fostering practices over organizations operating in the energy sector.

A Structured Literature Review about the Role of Management Accountants in Sustainability Accounting and Reporting

Management accountants have proven to be pivotal for introducing new forms of accounting and reporting in companies to support managers in their decision-making process. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the role management accountants play in sustainability accounting and reporting to understand how research is progressing, point out its focus, critique its developments, and finally, identify future research avenues. Results reveal that, to date, management accountants’ level of involvement is lower than that of non-accountants and that there is a consensus in academia and practice that a more significant involvement of management accountants is needed for promoting homogenization of sustainability accounting and reporting in companies and its more widespread diffusion and use among managers, thus embedding sustainability in corporate strategy and practices. Our findings show that more active involvement of management accountants depends, among other things, on their ability to broaden their competencies to include other domains of expertise and on the role of accounting education in improving their sustainability knowledge. Therefore, we call for more research on the competencies, skills, and roles that management accountants should play in order to promote the adoption and improvement of sustainability accounting and reporting.

Gender and Age as Determinants of Job Satisfaction in the Accounting Profession: Evidence from Poland

One of the aspects of sustainable social and economic development is providing the public with the opportunity to conduct economic activity. This requires the proper development of information systems, identification of the determinants of performance, and development of the accounting profession. The aim of our study was to assess the sense of job satisfaction and prestige of the accounting profession in Poland, as seen by accountants themselves, depending on factors such as gender, age, and others. The background for the research was a country located in Central and Eastern Europe, which had just been through a political and economic transition. The study used questionnaire surveys and was based on nonparametric statistical methods: Chi-square, U Mann–Whitney, and the Kruskal–Wallis test. Herein, we provided evidence that strong feminization of the profession can be observed in Poland, and that women’s financial satisfaction with their profession was lower than that of men, in small companies as well as in companies without any foreign equity investment. We confirmed that age is more important than gender in differentiating perceived job satisfaction. The findings indicated that the assessment of the accounting profession should be considered when creating legislative solutions for sustainable social and economic development.

Sustainability KPIs for integrated reporting

Purpose

The framework of the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) is principles-based and does not provide specific key performance indicators (KPIs) for integrated thinking and reporting. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to propose KPIs for integrated reporting which decipher a firm’s sustainability through empirical analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

As a proxy of firms’ sustainability, the authors focus on firms that have survived for more than 100 years and that have already achieved sustainability, and analyze these firms to reveal the financial features that distinguish sustainable firms from the other firms.

Findings

The study found two distinguishing facts: the value added that is distributed to stakeholders other than shareholders is significantly larger, and the stability of profitability and the profitability itself are significantly higher in sustainable firms.

Practical implications

The study proposes a value-added distribution and the stability of profitability as sustainability KPIs for integrated reporting.

Originality/value

First, this study provides the first evidence that value added distribution and the stability of profitability distinguish a firm’s sustainability. Second, it provides a new perspective in the search for sustainability KPIs. Third, as the empirical data consist of all listed firms in 136 countries, the results should be robust and general.