New Approaches to CSR, Sustainability and Accountability, Volume I

Table of Contents

1. Frontmatter

2. Overview

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Chapter 1. Introduction: Why Do We Need to Talk About Climate Change Risk as Accountants and Auditors Urgently?

      Kıymet Tunca Çalıyurt

3. New Approaches in Sustainability

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Chapter 2. Sustainable Development in India: A Case Study of Vedanta

      Renu Jatana, Mehjabeen Barodawala

      Abstract

      From the time of barter system to the modern era of plastic money, the mankind has travelled an impressively long journey. Undeniably, “profitability” has been the major source behind all the efforts being made by the business in particular and society in general. This profit motive has not only benefited in the form of growth and development of present and future generation but has also supported the growth of cut throat competition and business rivalries which has threaten the peaceful co-existence of business and society. Hence, business houses have realized that they would have to raise over and above the profitability and take care of all those associated with their survival in the society directly or indirectly. This realization resulted in the evolution of the concept of Sustainable Development. This research paper moves around developing an understanding about the Sustainability, exploring into its concept and finding out its scope taking the case study of the Vedanta which has demonstrated the sense of responsibility towards the upliftment of common masses and protection of the environment and sustainable development of the nation for today as well as tomorrow.

   3. Chapter 3. Implementation of Lean Management: Sustainability in the Construction Industry: The Case of Brazilian Companies

      Alberto Eduardo Besser Freitag, Osvaldo L. G. Quelhas, Sergio Luiz Braga França, Marcelo Jasmim Meiriño

      Abstract

      The purpose of this paper is the development of a conceptual framework for integration of practices of the lean management philosophy in the construction industry, known as lean construction, with the lean tools that contribute to sustainability and their deployment phases. A mixed research strategy was used: at the qualitative phase, a systematic review of the literature was conducted correlating lean, construction, and sustainability; at the quantitative phase, 140 professionals involved with the civil construction sector of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, were interviewed between September and December 2015, and 60 responses were obtained. The results showed that most of the respondents have more than 20 years of market experience, 51.7% with graduate degrees. Despite this, only 43.3% of the companies know the concept of lean construction and only 28.8% adopt it, which reinforces the importance of dissemination of lean construction and sustainability themes in technical schools, universities, and in the labor market. The practical and academic implications of this study are the diffusion of both themes among the construction industry. The study is also useful for researchers, who can explore several gaps from the results found, in particular the lack of information which unfolds on slow technological diffusion. The originality of this study is the integration of practices of lean construction, with the lean tools that contribute to sustainability and their deployment phases.

   4. Chapter 4. The Importance of Sustainability and Sustainability Reporting

      Zeynep Şahin, Fikret Çankaya

      Abstract

      In the 1980s, voluntary and compulsory social and environmental reports began to be prepared. Thus, it was understood that the global market needed reports that included not only financial information but also non-financial information. The economic and technological contributions of business have been criticized for causing social and environmental problems over time. Issues such as environmental pollution, resource consumption, waste materials, product quality and safety, employee rights, and social responsibility have gained importance. The necessity of establishing sustainability culture in the businesses was born. Following the business scandals, corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability have become important along with corporate governance principles. The concept of corporate social responsibility has gradually been replaced by the concept of sustainability, and instead of corporate social responsibility reports, sustainability reports have been published. In the sense of sustainability, business activities need to be reported with social, economic, and environmental consequences. Corporate sustainability, which is called business sustainability, deals with economic, environmental, social, and managerial issues. Developments related to corporate sustainability are also followed by sustainability reports. The episode consists of two subheads. In the first subhead of the study, information was given on the concepts of sustainability, sustainable development, and corporate sustainability. Under these heads, the dimensions of sustainable development, the elements and theories that contributing to corporate sustainability and the principles of corporate sustainability are explained. In the second subhead of the study, information was given about sustainability reporting in small- and medium-sized businesses, sustainability reporting applications, sustainability and accounting relations, and sustainability measures.

   5. Chapter 5. Sustainable Development and Industry Revolutions

      Meltem Okur Dinçsoy

      Abstract

      The Industrial Revolutions are mainly divided into four groups which are Industry 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0. It is obvious that the previous revolution triggers the new one and the process of entering the Industrial Revolutions differs from country to country. The importance of sustainability has systematically emerged for all nations, and 17 basic goals have been identified by the United Nations for leaving a better world for future generations. Therefore, the process of Industrial 4.0 revolution will make better contributions in achieving SDGs with more efficient use of natural resources, human power and the advance technology.

   6. Chapter 6. Sustainability Officer in Indonesia’s Palm Oil Companies

      Elvia Ivada, Hasan Fauzi

      Abstract

      The purposes of this study are to investigate the role of Sustainability Officer (SO) and to evaluate the effectiveness of SO function in Indonesian palm oil corporations. Using 15 palm oil companies listed in Indonesia Stock Exchange as a sample, this study is conducted using electronic mail survey using Google Forms and then followed by content analysis of companies’ annual reports and sustainability reports. Based on Miller and Serafeim (2014) sustainability categorization, we develop our own framework on sustainability classification to determine the sustainability stage. Since we employ different method, we only used three of their five categories to build our sustainability classification, namely SO’s authority, organizational characteristic-related sustainability and SO’s roles. Using the score we get from previous step, we determine in which sustainability stage Indonesian Palm Oil Company is. Most of Indonesian Palm Oil companies have hired SO. Five of the companies do not have SO or personnel especially given authority to conduct sustainability-related work. The SO can be found in the middle management level to top management level of company’s hierarchy. The educational background and experience of the SO are varied. To sum up, Indonesian palm oil industries are in the stage of compliance. In other words, the majority of them are still in the early stage of sustainability. Most of them engage with SO to fulfil the legal requirement especially the sustainability certification, ISPO (Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil) and RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil).

   7. Chapter 7. The Effects of Leadership Styles on Organizational Trust and Disclosure of Unethical Behaviors (Whistleblowing): A Practical Research

      Feyza Çağla Oran, Agah Sinan Ünsar

      Abstract

      Today, the enterprises can hold sustainable competitive advantage only through proper guidance of human capital movement. While management is merely regarded as a medium, leadership also appears as a form of administration, which leads organizations to success, increases productivity, directs the employees toward positive psychology while they are carrying out their duties, and ensures that there is a harmonious flow (Csikszentmihalyi in Akış - Mutluluk Bilimi. Buzdağ Yayınevi, Ankara, 2017). Within the social context, the leader’s behavioral pattern that he adopts while dealing with his team shapes his style. Trust acts as a bond that connects the leader with his followers and that increases the sphere of influence and success of the leader through organizational success and increasing productivity. Thus, it is regarded as a medium that will increase the leader’s power of influence for success and to guide his followers more easily, and that ensures better control of the followers. The disclosure of unethical behavior in workplace (whistleblowing) will take shape as a reflection of the leadership style and the way the human capital behaves when the organizational codes of conduct and legal ethical rules are violated. For these reasons, these three subjects are included in this study.

4. New Approaches in CSR

   1. Frontmatter

   2. Chapter 8. Corporate Social Responsibility in Bulgaria: Perspectives and Possibilities

      Diana Kopeva, Nikolay Sterev, Dimitar Blagoev

      Abstract

      Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an element of business contribution to the sustainable development. The corporate social responsibility is a new socio-economic phenomenon, especially for Bulgaria, and its applied introduction by Bulgarian business is important and not fully researched topic yet. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has forcefully and irreversibly become a part of the corporate actions of a growing number of Bulgarian companies in the last decades, but CSR’s effects on regional level is not enough recognized neither by the regional authorities nor by the local societies. The paper aims to examine the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a tool not just for improving the organizational performance but for regional development as well. So, it explores the theoretical framework of the corporate social responsibility, as well as some strategic CSR’s activities to outline the need of it for enforcing some key affects for regional development. For us, these key effects on the development of the regions are: unemployment rate, population growth, raising the level of education, etc. Further, the paper describes the linkages between these key aspects of business’ CSR and regional socio-economics development. Finally, the authors make an overview of some good practices showing the implementation of corporate social responsibilities in selected Bulgarian enterprises and demonstrating the possible improvements in the understanding the matters of corporate responsibility inside the Bulgarian companies. According to the given aim paper includes five parts: Introduction outlines the importance of corporate social responsibility today and its link to regional development. Here it is given the main aim and tasks based on the topic of the paper, research methods and information database. A brief literature preview of different points of view about corporate social responsibility, main characteristics of CSR in Bulgarian firms and classification of results of previous research studies are provided in the second part. Third part presents some aspects and directions of CSR implementation by companies in Bulgaria, methods, forms, etc., that are typical for the Bulgarian business in recent years. They are classified according to the degree of utilization and the degree of efficiency from the business, not social, point of understanding. The fourth part covers the effects of CSR on the development of regions in Bulgaria (by presenting examples from selected regions). The focus of the survey is on the status quo and the trends of CSR implementation that is carried out by business organizations operating on the Bulgarian market. Their impact on the regional development, based on selected socio-economic and demographic indicators is also presented. For this purposes, the following research methods are used: data collection and processing of statistical information, data comparison method, diagnostic analysis, etc. Finally, the main conclusions are presented and the next steps of the authors’ research in the area of CSR in Bulgaria are outlined.

   3. Chapter 9. Property Inheritance by Women in Kosovo

      Simeana Beshi

      Abstract

      One of the most important challenges in Kosovo remains the rule of law. In Kosovo society, women are discriminated against in terms of the division of inheritance in relation to males; although, legally the property should be divided equally. In Kosovo, there are still barriers in that direction. Today in Kosovo, there is a weak rule of law in general, since it still shows the dominance of patriarchal practices, especially in rural areas, where inheritance is not shared as defined by the law, as well as property created during matrimony is not recorded as property of both partners. Lack of proper realization of women’s rights in general and insufficient existence of property rights on property acquired during the marriage life, in particular, is a major obstacle to the development and empowerment of women in Kosovo. Gender equality in our country is very controversial. Tradition is considered one of the key factors that made women in Kosovo more reluctant in search of the right for inheritance. Some people see the request of the inheritance of women as a risk of weakening or total termination of relations of the woman with her family. The number of proceedings initiated in the courts for heritage profit is only 10% of them are initiated by women, making 90% of them are initiated by men. Although Kosovo is still rather traditional, it is still raising awareness of the equal right to property, for both genders, compared with the past. The mentality has changed in urban areas of Kosovo, while in rural areas still it is dominated by traditional mentality. Through the treatment of this topic, I will aim at increasing respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms by women’s rights in Kosovo.

   4. Chapter 10. Women Rights for Sustainable Business and Entrepreneurship: Case from Balkan Area

      Kıymet Tunca Çalıyurt

      Abstract

      The first step in the protection of women’s rights is to be recognized as human rights. For women to live happily and confidently in daily life, they have to be in economic growth, have educational reasons and have a profession. Today, the competence of countries regarding women’s rights is measured not only by legislation but indices. This study examined the rights of women living in the Balkan countries in the business world. As a result, it has been understood that it is necessary to increase the proportion of women in the business world where they are standard and to remove the obstacles to the rise of women in management. It is recommended that the Balkan Business Women and Women Academician Initiative Group are established to protect the rights of women in the business world to decrease gender inequality in Balkan Countries.

   5. Chapter 11. The Relationship of Public Banks in Turkey with Sustainable Macroeconomic Factors

      Başak Oktay Akın, Enver Erdinç Dinçsoy

      Abstract

      Public banks in Turkey importantly took a part in providing supervision, balancing the commercial affairs and developing the industry to prevent economic problems after The Great Depression in 1929. Newly, for sustainability-focused growth, public banks should possess financial policies to support the real sector by covering of financial needs of municipalities, public institutions, SMEs, tradesmen, and corporate firms. Also, for a functionally sustainable macroeconomic structure, public banks should bring fluidity to the financial system structurally, manage a rational physical asset, transform short-term funds to long-term funds, create deposit money, develop trade, and especially contribute to the distribution of income. In this point, governments can make some interventions on the economy by using public banks. Therefore, macroeconomic structure supported by the public banks has vital importance from many aspects such as budget, financial system, the balance of payments and borrowing, interest rates and financial markets, and employment resulting in the development of the country and establishing a sustainable growth path.

   6. Chapter 12. Cultural Profiles and Assertiveness of Women in Bulgarian Business Environment

      Milen Baltov, Diana Sabotinova Mladenova

      Abstract

      Professional women today face competing expectations. As professionals, many are expected to behave assertively and effectively in their relationships with others in their organizations. Yet, perhaps unconsciously, our culture still expects them to behave as the gentler, more supportive and more cooperative gender. Each woman has a unique personality, and some might genuinely have those gentler, more cooperative traits expected by our culture, while others might not. It is important that women remain true to their nature while meeting both cultural and organizational expectations.

   7. Chapter 13. Investing in Women’s Entrepreneurship: Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth

      Arzu Özyol

      Abstract

      An important part of capitalizing on human potential lies in fostering entrepreneurship, which is essential to economic growth and employment creation. A Global Entrepreneurship Monitor study of 18 economies from 2002 to 2010 suggests that women’s entrepreneurial activity is lower than that of their male counterparts at different stages of development. Although, women’s entrepreneurship is large, diverse, and of great economic significance to achieve sustainable development, women-owned businesses comprise between one-quarter and/or one-third of businesses worldwide. It is almost certainly understated because available data do not always distinguish by gender, and women are more likely to run businesses in the informal economy where data are hard or impossible to capture. Societal attitudes and norms inhibit some women from even considering starting a business, while systemic barriers mean that many women entrepreneurs stay confined to very small businesses often operating in the informal economy. Exclusion of land rights and other gender-specific patterns of the property make it difficult for women to acquire physical assets for chain activities. Further, gender differences in literacy and education reduce their ability to communicate with buyers and suppliers and thus limit their bargaining power. Women experience greater constraints on their economic actions relative to men. This means that women tend to different needs than men regarding entrepreneurship due to the different roles and responsibilities of women which are assigned by society. However, governmental policies and programs must address the various constraints acting on the abilities of women to succeed. International networks are very important concerning capacity and business development of women entrepreneurs through the development of gender-sensitive public policies, supply chain, and marketing practices besides the promotion of women’s entrepreneurship. Through networks, the information should be attractive to women and should advertise programs matching the assistance they need. Otherwise, it could be harder to recruit women into entrepreneurship in cases when women do not believe they are able to take on the challenge. The purpose of this paper is to examine women’s entrepreneurship support programs which are critical to strengthen the weakest links in the chain and assure inclusive upgrading of quality and growths. This paper also addresses how women’s entrepreneurship can be supported through international networks.

   8. Chapter 14. The Relationship Between Sustainable Economic Development and Tourism in Turkey: Panel Data Analysis

      Dilek Tandoğan

      Abstract

      Economic growth is one of the most important targets of economic policy. Policy-makers should protect the environment while ensuring economic growth. This process is defined as sustainable economic development. Many concepts have been used in the literature to measure sustainable economic development. One of these concepts is employment. Tourism sector is important for sustainable economic development due to its share in economy. Moreover, tourism contributes sustainable economic development via creating employment. For this reason, in this study, the relations between tourism sector and employment have been employed by the period of 2004–2017 in level 2 subregions of Turkey. For this purpose, the panel causality method developed by Holtz-Eakin et al. (in Econometrica 56(6):1371–1395, 1988) has been used. According to the empirical findings obtained from the estimations, there are bidirectional causality relations between tourism sector and total woman employment and a unidirectional causality from tourism sector to total employment. The importance of these empirical findings is that regional tourism increases regional employment. Moreover, tourism contributes sustainable economic development via creating employment. Consequently, the study suggests the development of regional tourism.

5. Backmatter