Study on the environmental management strategies and environmental disclosure practices of various corporate enterprises in India, Singapore and Malaysia.

Includes the papers that discuss different aspects of sustainability, environmental performance, and environmental disclosures. This title analyzes what firms do about environmental issues and how these activities and their impact on the environment are disclosed in the financial statements.

Given the increased social and environmental problems in China, this book looks into the social and environmental (environmental) disclosure practices of socially responsible Chinese listed firms by constructing a stakeholder-driven, three-dimensional, disclosure index. The book contains a three-part study: the first part explores the current status of social and environment disclosure practices. The second part empirically examines the relationship between corporate social and environmental disclosure and various influencing factors (i.e. stakeholders’ power and corporate characteristics). The third part empirically examines the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting (i.e. publishing a CSR report and the quality of the CSR report) and socially responsible reputation. The book finds that the CSR report provided more stakeholder-relevant social and environmental disclosure than the annual report. It also finds that corporate characteristics such as firm size, profitability and industry classification are all statistically significant factors influencing social and environmental disclosure of the Chinese firms studied. Shareholders significantly influenced firms’ social and environmental disclosure, and creditors significantly influenced firms’ disclosure related to their environmental performance. The final part of the study reports that publishing a CSR report and CSR reporting quality had a positive influence on firms’ socially responsible reputation and that the CEO/chairman duality negatively influenced firms’ socially responsible reputation. The book also highlights that financial performance and firm size were the two corporate characteristics that had a positive influence on corporate socially responsible reputation. This book will be of interest to those who are keen to learn more about corporate social responsibilities in the context of Chinese firms.

This book is a first step towards understanding the complexity of corporate environmental strategy while explaining the relationships between the numerous dimensions of the concept. When we think of corporate environmental strategy, we usually have in mind a dull and stereotypical statement issued by the CEO, addressing aspects such as pollution reduction, stakeholder dialogue, and unfailing care for the environment. However, genuine environmental protection relies on proactive policies, managerial commitment, cleaner technologies, and advanced management procedures. The author identifies a series of environmental strategy dimensions, some of which have been thoroughly researched in the literature, whereas others have only emerged in recent years. The main dimensions presented in this book include corporate environmental performance; environmental accounting and disclosure; environmental management practices; greening the supply-chain; environmental values and responsibility; green entrepreneurship and innovation; environmental training, culture and policies; and environmental legitimacy and reputation. For each dimension, the author develops a discussion framework, which provides the necessary operational definitions, methodological implications, and practical situations in which these constructs can be used. Each section contains a visual representation of the relationships between the dimensions of corporate environmental strategy and the actions of decision-makers and relevant stakeholders.

This book provides a critical analysis of the evolution of corporate disclosure. Building upon prior academic literature, it assesses the most important changes in mandatory corporate disclosure, the growing relevance of social and environmental disclosure, and revolutionary new forms of corporate communication, in particular social media. It also includes empirical analyses that shed further light on the impact of voluntary communication, i.e. social and environmental reporting and corporate social media communication, on managerial and investment decisions. Lastly, it discusses new directions for accounting and corporate governance research on the theoretical and empirical challenges of corporate disclosure. Offering a wealth of relevant and timely advice, the book will help regulators design policies that allow businesses to overcome current and emerging economic, social, and technological challenges.