Stakeholder Requirements for
Date
2011-03-31
Authors
Coetzee, Tjaart Petrus
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Abstract
Over the course of the 20th century, corporate social and environmental
reporting (CSR), also referred to as sustainability reporting, has increased
dramatically in its extent and importance.
The research study documents the relative importance of aspects of corporate
social and environmental reporting to stakeholders. It also documents the
views that various stakeholder groups hold regarding the effectiveness of
reporting. These views were obtained by following a process of focused
interviews with senior executives and managers of organisations representing
eight different stakeholder groups.
The main findings that emerged reveal that stakeholders such as
shareholders, financial analysts and providers of finance, attach a high level
of importance to the economic performance of companies. However, they
indicated that they have a very limited interest in the social and environmental
performance of companies and make very little use of the information
contained in CSR. Employees, customers, communities, NGOs and
regulators have a high interest in the social and environmental performance
and reporting, although they realise that sound economic performance is
essential for the continuing existence of companies. All stakeholder groups
indicated that engagement by companies regarding CSR is very limited and
that there is a perception amongst stakeholders that reporting is positively
biased.
CSR in South Africa is not meeting the requirements of many stakeholder
groups. A structured process of proactive engagement with stakeholders is
required to improve the relevance of CSR. Such a process of engagement
could, over time, revise the perception that CSR is not an accurate reflection
of company performance.
Description
MBA - WBS
Keywords
Corporate social reporting, Corporate environmental reporting