1. Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting
Vol. 1, No. 1 June 2007
Pp 1-25
Extended Performance Reporting:
Evaluating Corporate Social Responsibility
And Intellectual Capital Management
James Guthrie
Faculty of Economics and Business
University of Sydney, Australia
Suresh Cuganesan
Macquarie Graduate School of Management
Macquarie University, Australia
Leanne Ward
St George Bank, Australia
Abstract
Recent corporate scandals have resulted in heightened attention towards the shortcomings of
traditional financial reporting frameworks. Concurrently, the rise of the corporate social re-
sponsibility imperative has led to criticisms that financial reports present an incomplete account
of a firm’s activities. In addition, growing acknowledgement of the importance of a firm’s in-
tangibles and intellectual capital has been associated with increased commentary about the need
for extra disclosures if a more complete picture of the firm’s value is to be provided to external
stakeholders. This paper responds to these concerns by developing an extended performance
reporting framework to the Australian Food and Beverage Industry, which is characterised by
both corporate social responsibility and intellectual capital issues. In relation to the latter, this
framework presents a novel attempt to develop an industry-customised framework as called for
by both industry bodies and researchers in the area.
Keywords: extended performance reporting, corporate social performance, intellectual corpo-
rate management, corporate social responsibility
James Guthrie is Professor of Accounting and Chair of Discipline of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business,
University of Sydney, Australia, email: j.guthrie@econ.usyd.edu.au. Suresh Cuganesan is Associate Professor in Man-
agement and Associate Dean Research, Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University, Australia,
email: suresh.cuganesan@mgsm.edu.au. Leanne Ward is currently the Head of Finance Products of St. George Bank
where she is responsible for the product revenue management for the Retail Bank division, email:
wardl@stgeorge.com.au
2. 2 J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25
INTRODUCTION limitation. Thus, it is argued that there
is a need for a reporting framework that
Recent accounting scandals (such as combines the developments of these two
those involving Ansett, Enron, HIH, relevant literatures, to produce an inte-
One.Tel and Worldcom) have drawn grated model that will sufficiently ad-
increasing attention to the shortcomings dress the two major limitations of the
of Traditional Financial Reporting TFR framework. This leads to the first
(TFR) (Brennan & Connell, 2000). objective of this paper, which is to de-
Concurrently, recent developments in velop an EPR framework that integrates
the context in which companies operate, frameworks from the ICR and CSR lit-
such as the rise of the knowledge-based eratures.
economy and the importance of intellec-
tual capital in influencing competitive Further, this paper argues that there is a
advantage on the one hand, and the need for such a framework to address
movement towards sustainable develop- industry-specific variables. A problem
ment together with corporate social re- with the existing ICR and CSR frame-
sponsibility imperatives on the other, works is that they tend to be of a gener-
have led to criticisms that the TFR alised nature and do not address specific
framework presents an incomplete pic- company or industry issues. Despite the
ture of a firm’s value (Brennan & Con- effect of industry-specific variables be-
nell, 2000), and provides an incomplete ing an important consideration in devel-
account of a firm’s activities respec- oping a reporting framework (GRI,
tively (Elkington, 1997; Gray et al, 2002; 2005; DEH, 1999), few studies to
1993). date have incorporated industry vari-
ables in their reporting frameworks
This paper attempts to address these (Guthrie et al., 2005). Further, accord-
growing concerns in relation to the limi- ing to Guthrie et al. (2004), the general-
tations of the TFR framework. It argues ised nature of most disclosure instru-
for the need for an extended perform- ments is a limitation on the accuracy of
ance reporting (EPR) approach that inte- the results of empirical studies, and that
grates frameworks from the Intellectual introducing greater situational specific-
Capital Reporting (ICR) and Corporate ity into the coding process represents an
Social Responsibility (CSR) literatures. avenue for improvement. However, few
As previously indicated, the TFR frame- studies to date have modified the coding
work is subject to two major limitations. instrument in an effort to control size
These relate to the TFR framework pre- and industry effects across a sample of
senting an incomplete account of a companies. This paper attempts to ad-
firm’s value and an incomplete account dress this limitation by incorporating
of a firm’s business activities. The ICR industry-specific variables into the EPR
and CSR literatures both aim to resolve framework developed. Hence, the sec-
some of the limitations of the TFR ond objective of this paper is to incorpo-
framework. However, they tend to focus rate industry-specific variables for a spe-
on different aspects of the limitations, cific industry into the EPR framework.
that is, the ICR literature attempts to
address the first limitation and the CSR The paper is structured as follows. The
literature attempts to address the second next section reviews the intellectual
3. J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25 3
capital and corporate social responsibil- resources that are increasingly important
ity literatures and the criticisms raised in the knowledge-based economy
by each for TFR. This is followed by a (Brennan & Connell, 2000; Roslender &
section that discusses the various phases Fincham, 2001; Guthrie, 2001; Mourit-
of developing the EPR for the Australian sen, 2004). The often substantial differ-
Food and Beverage Industry. The paper ence that exists between a firm’s market
concludes with a synthesis of its contri- and book values suggests that the TFR
butions. framework presents an incomplete ac-
count of a firm’s value. Brennan &
Connell (2000) indicate that many of the
INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL AND differences can be explained by IC items
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSI- that are not recognised under the TFR
BILITY framework. According to Hope & Hope
(1998), between 50 and 90 percent of the
Over the last several decades, there has value created by a firm is estimated to
been a shift from the industrial age to the come from the management of IC, rather
information age. In the industrial era, a than from the management of traditional
company’s intangible assets, such as physical assets. Thus, the TFR frame-
buildings, machinery, and plant and work has been criticised in that many
equipment, were the source of economic strategically important intangible re-
strength. Currently, intellectual assets, sources (such as employee knowledge
such as competencies, processes and and expertise, trademarks and informa-
people are the hidden sources of current tion systems) that are increasingly im-
and future wealth (Guthrie, 2001; Kap- portant in the rise of the knowledge-
lan & Norton, 1996; Petty & Guthrie, based economy, are not accounted for in
2000). the traditional balance sheet and finan-
cial statements.
Commensurate with the decline in tradi-
tional industries and the concurrent The incomplete view of firm value pro-
growth in knowledge-based industries, vided by the traditional balance sheet is
the management, measurement and re- an important issue because it can lead to
porting of Intellectual Capital (IC) has problems such as misallocation of capi-
gained importance. As a result of the tal and under-investment in IC-creating
shift to the information age, the ability activities (Carroll & Tansey, 2000).
of a company to mobilise and exploit its With the important role IC plays in cre-
intangible, or invisible, assets has be- ating a firm’s sustainable competitive
come far more decisive than investing advantage, information on the firm’s
and managing physical, tangible assets activities for integrating, creating, trans-
(Kaplan & Norton, 1996). Thus, in the ferring and applying IC can provide us-
knowledge economy, organisations need ers with a more forward-looking view of
to manage their IC effectively, and to the firm (Ballow et al., 2004). Informa-
leverage it for the benefit of their stake- tion on IC enables information users to
holders. understand how the firm’s value is cre-
ated or diminished, which in turn allows
The TFR framework has been criticised them to better assess viability and the
for ignoring many strategic intangible ‘true’ value of the firm.
4. 4 J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25
The ICR literature has thus developed in ternative approaches to reporting of so-
an attempt to resolve some of the limita- cial and environmental issues in order to
tions of the TFR framework. This litera- account for the social and environmental
ture provides a range of performance impacts that organisations have on soci-
management, measurement and report- ety (Deegan, 2005). Within the CSR
ing frameworks. literature, a range of reporting ap-
proaches has been developed which
`Concurrently, CSR has been growing in seeks to incorporate a firm’s social and
importance owing to the increasing in- environmental performance as well as its
terest in the ‘sustainable development’ financial performance. The next section
concept, which is regarded as of this paper briefly discusses the gaps
“development that meets the needs of in the existing literature and summarises
the present without compromising the the objectives of this paper.
ability of future generations to meet their
own needs” (WCED 1987, p. 43). For For the purposes of this paper, the Aus-
example, the issue of climate change and tralian Food and Beverage Industry
global warming is being recognised by (AFBI) is used to illustrate the process
business leaders as one of the most im- of identifying and incorporating indus-
portant issues they face. At the 2000 try-specific indicators into the EPR
World Economic forum in Davos, Swit- framework.
zerland, business leaders from around
the world overwhelmingly voted climate
change as the most significant issue fac- DEVELOPMENT OF THE EPR
ing twenty-first century business FRAMEWORK
(Deegan, 2005).
The development of the industry-
The movement towards sustainable de- specific EPR framework involved three
velopment has given rise to the criticism major steps. The first step involved inte-
that the TFR framework gives an incom- grating reporting frameworks from the
plete account of business activities ICR literature and the CSR literature.
(Elkington, 1997; Gray et al., 1993; The second step involved identifying
Gray et al., 1996; Mathews, 1997) as it industry-specific items relevant to the
precludes information about an entity’s AFBI. The third step involved summa-
social and environmental activities. Tra- rising and refining the final industry-
ditional financial accounting has treated specific EPR framework. These devel-
environmental goods (for example, air opment steps are outlined in Figure 1.
and water) as being in infinite supply This is followed by a detailed explana-
and free, with the consequence that the tion of each step.
use or abuse of the environment is not
reflected in accounting performance in-
dicators such as ‘profits’. Additionally, 3.1 Framework Integration
traditional financial accounting ignores
many social costs that an entity might The first step involved integrating
have imposed upon the community frameworks from the ICR and CSR lit-
within which it operates. It has been ar- eratures into an EPR framework. Step
gued that there is a need to develop al- 1.1 involved the selection of an ICR
5. J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25 5
Figure 1. Process for developing the industry-specific EPR framework
Step 1: The Integration of frameworks from the ICR and CSR literature
1.1 Selection of an ICR framework.
1.2 Selection of CSR framework.
1.3 Integration of the two frameworks to form a combined EPR framework
Step 2: The Identification of industry-specific items
2.1 Review of publicly available reports from various AFBI associations, councils
and government.
2.2 Review of available industry-specific indicators by a sustainability ranking or-
ganization.
2.3 Review of publicly available reports of companies within the food and beverage
industry that have been internationally recognised for ‘best practice’ in sustain-
ability reporting
Step 3: Development of final industry-specific EPR framework
3.1 Integrate industry-specific indicators into the draft disclosure instrument.
3.2 Summarise and refine and remove duplications.
3.3 Make appropriate adjustments and finalise the industry-specific EPR framework
framework. Several previous studies (2000) framework has since been used
have employed various ICR frameworks by several studies conducting research
in an attempt to assess and explain dif- into the reporting of IC information in
ferences in the amount of information annual reports (see, for instance, April et
disclosed in company annual reports, the al., 2003; Brennan, 2001; Bozzolan et
most popular of which have been vari- al., 2003).
ous modified versions of the Intangible
Asset Monitor (for example, Brennan, Guthrie et al. (2004) later re-modified
2001; Guthrie et al., 1999; Guthrie & the Guthrie & Petty (2000) framework
Petty, 2000; Guthrie et al., 2004; Guthrie which was derived from Sveiby (1997,
& Ricceri, 2004). pp. 8–11) and integrated several profes-
sional pronouncements on ICR (see
In Australian studies, using the Intangi- IFAC 1998) to produce a slightly modi-
ble Asset Monitor framework, Guthrie et fied structure. The framework is pro-
al. (1999) and Guthrie & Petty (2000) vided in Table 1.
examined how companies reported their
IC. They conducted content analyses of The framework is composed of three
the annual reports of the top 19 compa- main parts or dimensions: internal capi-
nies (in terms of market capitalisation) tal, external capital, and human capital.
and one Australian ‘best practice’ com- Internal capital includes the systems,
pany in ICR. The Guthrie & Petty policies, culture and other
6. 6 J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25
Table 1: ICR Framework
1. INTERNAL CAPITAL 2. EXTERNAL CAPITAL 3. HUMAN CAPITAL
1. Intellectual property 7. Brands 14. Employees
2. Management philosophy 8. Customers 15. Education
3. Corporate culture 9. Customer satisfaction 16. Training
4. Management processes 10. Company names 17. Work-related knowledge
5. Information/networking 11. Distribution channels 18. Entrepreneurial spirit
systems
6. Financial relations 12. Business collaborations
13. Licensing agreements
Source: Guthrie et al. (2004, p. 286)
‘organisational capabilities’ developed velop and disseminate globally applica-
to meet market requirements. External ble Sustainability Reporting Guidelines.
capital covers the connections that peo- The GRI was launched in 1997 as a joint
ple outside the organisation have with it, venture between the US non-government
and human capital includes the know- organisation Coalition for Environmen-
how, capabilities, skills, and expertise of tally Responsible Economies and the
the employees. United Nations Environment Program,
with the goal of enhancing the quality,
The ICR framework provided by Guth- rigour, and utility of sustainability re-
rie et al. (2004) is chosen as a starting porting. The initiative has had the active
point in the development of the EPR support and engagement of representa-
framework. tives from business, non-profit advocacy
groups, accounting bodies, investor or-
Step 1.2 of the development of the EPR ganisations, trade unions, and many
framework involved the selection of a more. Together, these different constitu-
CSR framework. Several CSR frame- encies have worked to build a consensus
works have been released by govern- around a set of reporting guidelines with
ments and industry bodies throughout the aim of achieving worldwide accep-
the world. One source of reporting guid- tance.
ance that has assumed a dominant posi-
tion in the CSR domain is the Global The guidelines are for voluntary use by
Reporting Initiative’s (GRI) organisations for reporting on the eco-
‘Sustainability Reporting Guidelines’ nomic, environmental and social dimen-
(GRI, 2002). The GRI released its first sions of their activities, products and
version of its Sustainability Reporting services. The aim of the guidelines is to
Guidelines in June 2000 and launched its assist reporting organisations and their
modified version in 2002. The GRI is a stakeholders in articulating and under-
long-term, multi-stakeholder, interna- standing contributions of the reporting
tional process whose mission is to de- organisations to sustainable develop-
7. J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25 7
ment. 1127).
Major criticisms of the guidelines are The GRI (2002) consists of 97 separate
that they do not address IC items indicators. Fifty are designated ‘core’
(ICAEW) and the indicators they pro- indicators and are deemed to be of rele-
vide are too broad and need to be indus- vance to most organisations. The re-
try-specific (GRI, 2002). Nonetheless, maining 47 indicators are deemed to be
many organisations are using the GRI additional, and therefore only expected
Guidelines as the basis for their CSR, to be used when indicated by the charac-
and various industry codes that require teristics of the organisation. Examples
periodic reporting also refer signatories of indicators are provided in Table 2.
to the GRI Guidelines (Deegan, 2005, p.
Table 2: Sustainability Reporting Guidelines categories of indicators
Category Element Examples of indicators
General CSR strategies, Organisation’s objectives and actions on CSR
management & sys- issues
tems
Organisational pro- Major products including brands
file
Governance Percentage of directors that are independent
Stakeholder engage- Approaches to stakeholder consultation
ment
Economic Customers Market share
Perform- Suppliers Cost of goods, materials and services purchases
ance
Employees Total payroll and benefits broken down by
country or region
Providers of capital Increase/decrease in retained earnings at end of
period
Public sector Total sum of all taxes of all types paid broken
down by country
Environ- Materials Total materials used other than water by type
mental Per- Energy Direct energy use segmented by primary source
formance
Water Total water use
Biodiversity Location and size of land owned, leased, or
managed in biodiversity-rich habitats
Emissions, effluents Quantity of greenhouse gas emissions
and waste
Products and ser- Significant environmental impacts of principal
vices products and services
Compliance Incidence of fines for non-compliance with all
applicable international environmental regula-
tions
8. 8 J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25
Table 2 (Continued)
Social Per- Employment Breakdown of workforce by region/country,
formance: status, employment type and employment con-
Labour tract
Practices Labour/ Percentage of employees represented by inde-
and Decent Management rela- pendent trade unions
Work tions
Health and safety Practice on recording and notification of occu-
pational accidents and diseases
Training and educa- Average hours of training per year per employee
tion by category of employee
Diversity and op- Description of equal opportunity policies or pro-
portunity grams as well as monitoring systems
Social Per- Strategy and man- Description of policies, guidelines, corporate
formance: agement structure and procedures to deal with all aspects
Human of human rights relevant to operations
Rights Non-discrimination Description of global policy and procedures pre-
venting all forms of discrimination
Freedom of associa- Description of freedom of association policy and
tion and collective extent to which this policy is universally applied
bargaining as well as description of procedures to address
the issue
Child labour Description of policy excluding child labour as
defined by the ILO convention 138
Forced and compul- Description of policy and procedures to prevent
sory labour forced and compulsory labour and extent to
which this policy is visibly stated and applied
Social Per- Community Description of policies and procedures to man-
formance: age impacts on communities in areas affected by
Society activities
Bribery and corrup- Description of the policy, procedures/
tion management systems and compliance mecha-
nisms for organisations and employees address-
ing bribery and corruption
Political contribu- Description of the policy, procedures/
tions management systems and compliance mecha-
nisms for managing political lobbying and con-
tributions
Social Per- Customer health and Description of policy, procedures and monitor-
formance: safety ing systems for preserving customer health and
Product safety during use of products and services
Responsi-
bility
9. J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25 9
Table 2 (Continued)
Products and ser- Description of the policy, proce-
vices dures/management systems and com-
pliance mechanisms related to prod-
uct information and labelling
Respect for privacy Description of the policy, proce-
dures/management systems and com-
pliance mechanisms for consumer
privacy
From Table 2, the elements and indica- frameworks selected in steps 1.1 and
tors are grouped under three major cate- 1.2. A mapping of the categories from
gories: economic, environmental and the original frameworks to the new EPR
social performance. combined framework is provided in Fig-
ure 2.
While it is acknowledged that there is no
conceptual framework for CSR, the From Figure 2, the three dimensions in
GRI’s (2002) Guidelines have assumed the combined EPR disclosure instrument
a dominant position and thus the GRI follow the contemporary classification
(2002) Guidelines are chosen for incor- scheme for intangibles derived from
poration into the EPR framework. Sveiby’s (1997) ICR framework: inter-
nal capital, external capital, and human
Step 1.3 in the development of the EPR capital.
framework involved combining the
Figure 2: Process for combining the ICR and CSR frameworks
ICR FRAMEWORK COMBINED (EPR) FRAMEWORK CSR FRAMEWORK
Internal Capital Internal Capital General
Intellectual property Intellectual property
Infrastructure capital Infrastructure capital Economic performance
External Capital External Capital Environmental performance
Customers Customers
Other stakeholders Other stakeholders Social performance
Environment Labour practices and decent Work
Human Capital Social Human rights
Employee competence Product responsibility Society
Product responsibility
Human Capital
Employee competence
Labour practices and decent Work
Human rights
The ‘environmental performance’, mension. The ‘labour practices and de-
‘society’ and ‘product responsibility’ cent work’ and ‘human rights’ catego-
categories from the GRI (2002) were ries from the GRI (2002) were collapsed
included within the external capital di- into the human capital dimension.
10. 10 J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25
This resulted in three main dimensions, holders. The economic indicators from
namely, internal capital, external capital the GRI (2002) were excluded, as the
and human capital. Internal capital in- area of interest is voluntary disclosure of
cludes two categories: ‘intellectual prop- EPR items.
erty’ and ‘infrastructure capital’. Exter-
nal capital includes five categories: The EPR framework, after combining
‘customers’, ‘other stakeholders’, the two frameworks from the ICR and
‘environment’, ‘social’ and ‘product re- CSR literatures, is provided in Table 3.
sponsibility’. Human capital includes
three categories: ‘employee compe- The EPR framework has three dimen-
tence’, ‘labour practices and decent sions: internal capital, external capital
work’ and ‘human rights’. and human capital; and ten categories:
intellectual property, infrastructure capi-
Only the ‘core’ indicators from the GRI tal, customers, other stakeholders, envi-
(2002) were included in the combined ronmental performance, social, product
EPR framework. Core indicators are responsibility, employee competence,
those relevant to most reporting organi- labour practices and decent work, and
sations and of interest to most stake- human rights.
Table 3: The Extended Performance Reporting framework
INTERNAL CAPITAL EXTERNAL CAPITAL HUMAN CAPITAL
Intellectual Property Customers Employee Competence
Brands Employees
Infrastructure Capital Customers Education
Management philosophy Customer satisfaction Training
Corporate culture Company names Work-related knowledge
Management processes Distribution channels Entrepreneurial spirit
Information/networking systems
Financial relations Other Stakeholders Labour Practices and Decent Work
Business collaborations Employment
Licensing agreements Labour/management relations
Health and safety
Environmental Performance Diversity and opportunity
Materials
Energy Human Rights
Water Strategy and management of human rights
Biodiversity Non-discrimination
Emissions, effluents and waste Freedom of assoc. & collective bargaining
Products and services Child labour
Compliance Forced and compulsory labour
Society
Community
Bribery and corruption
Political contributions
Product responsibility
Customer health and safety
Products and services
Respect for privacy
11. J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25 11
3.2 Industry Specificity and Customi- leases from various industry associa-
sation tions, councils and government bodies.
These included sources such as the Aus-
The second step in the development of tralian Food and Grocery Council
the EPR framework involved supple- (AFGC), the Alcohol and Other Drugs
menting the combined EPR framework Council of Australia (AODCA), The
as provided in Table 3 with industry- Department of Agriculture, Fisheries
specific items. and Forestry (DAFF) and New South
Wales Agriculture. A summary of the
As the focus of the research is on the items identified are provided in Table 4.
provision of information on EPR per-
formance, the selection of industry- Source 2: Sustainability ranking organi-
specific issues was based on this con- sations
cept. The three major sources of indus-
try-specific information included: As demonstrated in Figure 1, step 2.2 in
the process of developing the custom-
• publicly available reports from vari- ised EPR framework involved the re-
ous AFBI associations, councils and view of several sustainability ranking
government bodies; bodies to identify any industry-specific
• industry-specific indicators identi- indicators for the AFBI. The findings
fied by well recognised sustainabil- from this review were that, although a
ity ranking organisations; and need for industry-specific indicators is
• publicly available reports of compa- generally acknowledged, with the excep-
nies within the food and beverage tion of RepuTex, there was a lack of in-
industry that have been internation- dustry-specific indicators relating to the
ally recognised for best practice in AFBI provided by sustainability ranking
sustainability reporting. bodies.
The processes used to obtain the indus- The RepuTex Social Responsibility Rat-
try-specific information from each of the ing is an assessment of the extent to
three major sources are discussed sepa- which an organisation is performing in a
rately below. socially responsible manner in terms of
its corporate governance, environmental
Source 1: AFBI associations, councils impact, social impact and workplace
and government bodies practices. RepuTex criteria are divided
into three bands. Band one comprises
As demonstrated in Figure 1, step 2.1 in general (global) criteria. These broadly
the process of developing the custom- defined criteria remain consistent across
ised EPR framework consisted of con- all industries. Band two comprises re-
ducting a review of the significant and gional (local) criteria, and band three
important EPR issues and challenges comprises sector and industry-specific
facing the AFBI. This involved the ex- criteria (RepuTex website, accessed 1st
amination of annual reports and other November 2004).
publicly available information such as
environmental and social reports, web- The focus of this study is on band three
sites, government reports and media re- which comprises sector-specific criteria.
12. 12 J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25
Table 4: Summary of Industry-specific issues identified from a review of AFBI
associations, councils and government bodies
Industry-specific Issue Example Indicators
Food safety • Quality controls on food safety
Obesity and diet-related disease • Healthy product options (e.g. reduced
energy, reduced fat, reduced salt, high
fibre)
• Energy and nutritional labelling on food
and beverage packaging
Genetically modified food • Use of GM ingredients
• Regulatory compliance of GM products
• Labels on food containing GM ingredi-
ents
Environmental policy and • Environmental policy and management
management strategies strategies
• Use of eco-efficiency indicators
• Environmental audits, processes and
reporting
Water and waste water • Quantity of water used
Discharges • Quantity of water discharged
• Waste discharge management (organic
and chemical pollutants)
Greenhouse gas emissions • Energy consumption
• Form of energy used
• Emissions (carbon dioxide, methane,
nitrous oxide)
Packaging • Reduced weight of packaging
• Recycling and recovery of packaging
Solid waste and recycling • Quantity of solid waste
• Recycling of solid waste
Alcohol abuse • Low-alcohol content product options
Responsible advertising and promo- • Responsible advertising and promotion
tion of products of products
• Engagement in consumer education
Alcohol labelling • Accurate labelling of alcohol content
and health warnings
Animal welfare • The humane use and care of animals
Livestock and crop exotic disease • Livestock identification system
controls • Bio-security systems
• Other disease and pest controls
Natural resource management and • Programs to prevent soil salinity and
biodiversity acidity
• Tree planting
13. J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25 13
The industry-specific criteria identified Included in the Top 50 reports are seven
by RepuTex for the AFBI included: best practice companies from the food
and beverage industry. These include
• The organisation assists consumers South African Breweries, Kirin Brew-
to make informed purchasing deci- ery, Chiquita, Kesko, Unilever, TESCO
sions. and Danone (UNEP 2002, p. 39). The
• Where relevant, the organisation is a annual reports and other publicly avail-
signatory to environmental cove- able reports (that is, environmental and
nants. social reports) were examined for each
• The organisation complies with of these companies to offer insights into
publicly available codes and guide- ‘best practice’ in EPR. The reports were
lines governing responsible promo- specifically examined for items that are
tion of its products. considered to be significant and impor-
• The organisation demonstrates a tant to the food and beverage industry.
commitment to best practice meth- A list of the items identified from this
ods of quality control for all prod- review is provided in Table 6.
ucts, services and distribution sys-
tems.
3.3 Development of the final industry-
RepuTex identified examples of indica- specific EPR framework
tors that may be considered to meet
these criteria. A summary of the criteria The third and final step in the develop-
and the example indicators are provided ment of the industry-specific EPR
in Table 5. framework involved the integration of
the industry-specific issues identified
Source 3: Internationally recognised from all three information sources into
‘best practice’ companies in sustainabil- the EPR framework. This required col-
ity reporting lating, summarising and refining the list
of items into a final customised industry-
As provided in Figure 1, step 2.3 in the specific EPR framework. This involved
process of developing the customised the collapsing of some categories, the
EPR framework involved the examina- combining of some items and the elimi-
tion of publicly available reports of com- nation of duplicated items.
panies within the food and beverage in-
dustry that have been internationally The integration of the industry-specific
recognised for ‘best practice’ in sustain- issues into categories and elements of
ability reporting. ‘Trust Us’, produced the industry-specific EPR framework is
in 2002, is an international benchmark illustrated in Appendix A. The industry-
survey produced by SustainAbility for specific issues were summarised by
the United Nations Environment Pro- eliminating duplicated items and com-
gram (UNEP, 2002). It identified the bining some similar items. In some cases
top 50 reports from around the world new elements were created to accommo-
(the ‘Top 50’). These reports are re- date the industry-specific issues. For
garded as ‘best practice’ in sustainability example, new elements were created for
reporting. food safety, customer health and well-
being, responsible marketing, packaging
14. 14 J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25
Table 5: RepuTex Social Responsibility Ratings Sector Specific Criteria and
Indicators for the Food and Beverage Industry
Criteria Examples of Indicators
a. The organisation assists con- • The provision of information relating to:
sumers to make informed purchas- • accurate labelling of sources;
ing decisions • accurate labelling of content; and
• disclosure of genetically modified content
and regulatory compliance
b. Where relevant, the organisation • Demonstrated participation in appropriate
is a signatory to environmental environmental codes and covenants
covenants
c. The organisation complies with • Evidence that the organisation is a signa-
publicly available codes and tory to relevant codes
guidelines governing responsible • Demonstration of the use of strategies to
promotion of its products mitigate the potential negative impacts of
products
• Demonstrated engagement in consumer
education
• Processes to mitigate potential negative
impacts of products
• Alteration of product range to improve con-
sumer choice
• Involvement of companies in awareness
raising for potential negative impacts of
products
d. The organisation demonstrates a • The adoption and maintenance of recog-
commitment to best practice meth- nised quality control standards relating to
ods of quality control for all prod- food safety
ucts, services and distribution sys- • The adoption and maintenance of recog-
tems nised quality control standards relating to
other emerging requirements such as assur-
ances on environmental management
• Animal welfare
• Full traceability throughout the supply
chain
Source: RepuTex website (accessed 1st November 2004)
management, supply chain management example, the element ‘food safety’ was
and animal welfare. broken down into the sub-elements
‘product safety and quality controls on
In some cases where an element was food safety’, ‘supply chain management
regarded to be of significant importance and value chain’, and ‘livestock and
to the AFBI, the element was further crop exotic diseases and pest control’.
broken down into sub-elements. For This further dissection more appropri-
15. J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25 15
Table 6: EPR items identified by ‘best practice’ companies
Issue EPR Category
Environmental awards Environment
Environmental programs Environment
Energy reduction targets Environment
Renewable energy Environment
Waste water purification Environment
Recycling waste water Environment
Preservation of water sources Environment
Programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions Environment
Lighter packaging Environment
Solid waste Environment
Hazardous and non-hazardous waste Environment
Recycling waste Environment
Animal welfare Social
Animal testing Social
Food safety Product responsibility
Health supplements Product responsibility
Reduced fats and sugar content Product responsibility
Healthy product options Product responsibility
Innovative products and consumer choice Product responsibility
Food allergies and intolerances Product responsibility
Organics Product responsibility
Use of fertilisers, chemicals and pesticides Product responsibility
Cultural considerations Product responsibility
Genetically modified foods Product responsibility
Nutritional labelling Product responsibility
Responsible advertising and marketing Product responsibility
ately reflects the importance of product the mapping of the categories from the
responsibility for the AFBI. The results ICR and CSR frameworks, as well as the
are provided in Table 7 which summa- integration of the industry-specific ele-
rises the industry-specific issues into 17 ments from Table 7.
elements and 17 sub-elements.
The final customised framework, after
It is possible to develop a customised integrating the industry-specific issues,
EPR framework for the AFBI by incor- is provided in Appendix A. It consists
porating the industry-specific issues pro- of 52 elements classified under three
vided in Table 7 into the EPR frame- dimensions and ten categories.
work. Figure 4 presents a summary of
16. 16 J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25
Table 7: Summary of industry-specific issues
Category Element Sub-element (where relevant)
Environment Environment policy and
management strategies
Environmental compliance
Environmental awards
Environmental programs
Materials
Energy
Water
Biodiversity
Emissions
Effluents
Waste
Packaging management of
environmental issues
Social Product Animal Welfare
Responsibility Food safety Product safety and quality controls on food
safety
Supply chain management and value chain
Livestock and crop exotic disease and pest
control
Customer health and well- Variety of products for consumer choice
being Healthy and low-far product options
Energy and nutritional labeling
Food allergies and intolerances
Cultural considerations
Use of GM ingredients
Health Supplements and nutrition and
benefits
Organics
Accurate labeling of sources of ingredients
Use of fertilizers, chemicals and pesticides
Low-alcohol content product options
Appropriate labeling of alcohol products
Responsible marketing Responsible promotion of products, en-
gagement in consumer education, aware-
ness raising of potential negative impacts
of products of products
Signatory to codes and guidelines on re-
sponsible promotion of products
4 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION ing on both fronts. However, this has
taken many and varied forms. In relation
In light of the growing need for corpora- to CSR, ‘corporate social responsibility
tions to disclose the extent to which they reports’ and ‘triple-bottom line state-
are discharging their CSR and managing ments’ are produced by many companies
their IC, there has been increased report- while others provide supplementary
17. J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25 17
Figure 4: Mapping of categories to the EPR framework
INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL CORPORATE SOCIAL-
FRAMEWORK COMBINED FRAMEWORK RESPONSIBILITY FRAMEWORK
Internal Capital Internal Capital General
Intellectual property Intellectual property
Infrastructure capital Infrastructure capital Economic Performance
External Capital External Capital Environmental Performance
Customers Customers
Other stakeholders Other stakeholders Social Performance
Environment Labour practices and decent work
Human Capital Social Human rights
Employee competence Product responsibility Society
Product responsibility
Human Capital
Employee competence
Labour practices and decent work
Human rights
INDUSTRY SPECIFIC ITEMS
Environment
Social
Product Responsibility
qualitative and quantitative information should take an integrated perspective. As
within their annual reports. However, at outlined in this paper, both CSR and IC
this stage, popular CSR reporting frame- are focused on ameliorating argued defi-
works such as the GRI reporting frame- ciencies in TFR; namely, the ability to
work, remain voluntary, and govern- disclose a complete picture of a firm’s
ments have avoided the mandating of activities and its true value. In addition,
triple-bottom line reporting. Similarly, in however, there is convergence between
relation to IC, ICR is prevalent in Scan- IC and CSR concerns, with both CSR
dinavia but is less so outside this region. and IC interested in issues of sustainabil-
Although studies that find performance ity (Cuganesan, 2006). IC focuses more
benefits for better disclosers (for exam- on the sustainability of future economic
ple, Linstock Consultants, 2004; Petty & cash flows through innovation and
Cuganesan, 2005) support arguments for knowledge flows, while CSR empha-
voluntary disclosure regimes, the hetero- sises questions of the environment, soci-
geneity in current disclosure practices ety and broader stakeholder groups. This
suggests that greater consistency in re- overlap strengthens the case for integra-
porting practice is required if compara- tion in reporting on these aspects of or-
bility across organisations is to be at- ganisational performance, an agenda that
tained. As such, the development and this paper seeks to take on and address
testing of frameworks for the reporting through the development of an EPR.
of IC and CSR is required.
Finally, addressing industry specificity
Importantly, this paper argues that any and customising EPR to particular in-
frameworks for reporting IC and CSR dustry sectors is paramount. A growing
18. 18 J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25
trend among industry associations and _________ (2004), Annual Report 2003-
organisations working towards enhanced 04, ACT.
corporate reporting is the acknowledg- April, KA., Bosma, P. & Deglon, D.
ment that generic reporting frameworks (2003) “Intellectual capital
provide little benefit. Indeed, as reported measurement and reporting: Es-
by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI tablishing a practice in South
2002, p. 10) in their 2002 Sustainability African mining” Journal of Intel-
Guidelines, “The GRI recognises the lectual Capital, Vol. 4, No. 2,
limits of a one-size-fits-all approach and pp. 165-180.
the importance of capturing the unique Australian Federal Government website
set of issues faced by different industry 2004 “Australian health minis-
sectors.” The process developed by this ters endorse childhood obesity
paper in developing a customised EPR initiatives”, viewed on 1st No-
for the AFBI represents a novel attempt v e m b e r , h t t p : / /
and a first attempt at achieving the ob- www.health.gov.au
jective of industry relevant corporate Australian Food and Grocery Council
reporting of both CSR and IC. Future (AFGC) 2001, Environment Re-
research avenues include the application port 2001, ACT.
of the process described to other indus- _________ 2003, Environment Report
tries and its ongoing refinement. 2003, ACT.
_________ 2003, Annual Report 2003,
This paper attempts to address two ma- ACT.
jor limitations of the TFR framework, _________ 2003, “Submission to Envi-
that is, that it provides an incomplete ronment Protection Authority
picture of a firm’s value and an incom- New South Wales in response to
plete account of a firm’s business activi- Extended Producer Responsibil-
ties. It argues that there are benefits in ity Consultation Paper”, April,
combining reporting frameworks from Sydney.
two literatures, that is ICR and CSR lit- _________ media release 2004, “Food
eratures, into an integrated EPR frame- industry welcomes $116m obe-
work. Further, this paper argues the sity commitment”, 29th June,
benefits of incorporating industry- Sydney.
specific variables into the EPR frame- _________ media release 2004, “New
work. The process for developing an environment report reveals sur-
industry-specific EPR framework is then prising findings”, Sydney, 16th
described using the AFBI as an example. February.
_________ website 2004, viewed on 1st
November 2004, <http://
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tual capital in annual reports: ability: An Investor Perspective
Evidence from Ireland”, Ac- – The Mays Report”, Canberra.
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ability Journal, Vol. 14, No. 4, (DHAC) 2001, “Alcohol in Aus-
pp. 423-436. tralia: Issues and Strategies”,
________ & Connell, B. (2000) background paper to the National
“Intellectual Capital: Current Alcohol Strategy: A Plan for Ac-
Issues and Policy Implications”, tion 2001 to 2003/04, Common-
paper presented at the 23rd An- wealth of Australia, Canberra.
nual Congress of the European _________ 2000, Submission to the
Accounting Association, Munich, House of Representatives Stand-
29-31 March 2000. ing Committee on Family and
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Corporate Sustainability Report- survey”, UNEP – SustainAbility
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23. J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25 23
Appendix A – The Extended Performance Reporting Framework for the Austra-
lian Food and Beverage Industry
Dimension/Category/Element Sub-element (where relevant)
INTERNAL CAPITAL
Intellectual Property
Infrastructure capital
Management philosophy, strategy and vision
Corporate culture
Management system and processes
Information systems
Networking systems
Financial relations
EXTERNAL CAPITAL
Customers
Brands
Customer relationships/satisfaction
Customer loyalty
Company names
Distribution channels
Market share
Other Stakeholders
Stakeholder engagement
Business collaborations/strategic alliances
Licensing and franchising agreements, joint ven-
tures & mergers
Favourable contracts
Supply chain management
Environment
Environmental policy and management strategies
Environmental compliance
Environmental awards
Environmental programs
Materials
Energy
Water
Biodiversity
Emissions
Effluents
Waste
Packaging management
Supply chain management of environmental issues
24. 24 J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25
Social
CSR policies, management and systems
CSR committee
Community programs, initiatives and spon-
sorships
Bribery and corruption
Political contributions
Animal welfare
Respect for privacy
Product responsibility
Food safety
Product safety & quality controls on
food safety
Supply chain management and value
chain
Livestock and crop exotic diseases and
pest control
Customer health and wellbeing
Variety of products for consumer
choice
Healthy and low fat product options
Energy and nutritional labelling
Food allergies and intolerances
Cultural considerations
Use of GM ingredients
Health supplements & nutrition &
benefits
Organics
Accurate labelling of sources of ingre-
dients
Use of fertilisers, chemicals & pesti-
cides
Low alcohol content product options
Appropriate labelling of alcohol prod-
ucts
Responsible marketing
Responsible promotion of products,
engagement in consumer education,
awareness raising of potential negative
impacts of products
Signatory to codes and guidelines on
responsible promotion of products
25. J. Guthrie, S. Cuganesan, L. Ward / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 1 (2007) 1-25 25
HUMAN CAPITAL
Employee competence
Work-related knowledge
Education and training
Entrepreneurial spirit
Labour Practices and Decent Work
Employment
Labour/management relations
Health and Safety
Diversity and opportunity
Human Rights
Strategy and management
Non-discrimination
Freedom of association and collective bargaining
Child labour
Forced and compulsory labour
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