IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/crpeac/v74y2021ics1045235419301248.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainability performance reporting: A technocratic shadowing and silencing

Author

Listed:
  • Journeault, Marc
  • Levant, Yves
  • Picard, Claire-France

Abstract

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines have become the most relevant institution in sustainability reporting standards, highly adopted by organizations worldwide. However, much criticism has been raised about these standards’ ability to further sustainable development within organizations and render their sustainability performance more accountable and transparent. Using a case study of Hydro-Québec, an important hydro-electricity provider in Quebec, Canada, and its relationship with the Cree, an Indigenous community, the purpose of this study is to provide theoretical and empirical insights on the subject by showing how GRI guidelines, legitimized and reinforced through their institutionalization, tend to create a limited scope and an incomplete picture of the organization’s sustainability performance reporting. More specifically, this paper highlights two main problems arising from the use of these standards. First, drawing on the ideology of numbers of Chelli and Gendron (2013), this paper examines how GRI technocratic guidelines frame the sustainability reporting discourse, thereby contributing to leaving aspects of organizational sustainability performance in the shadows. Second, drawing on the ontological typology of Descola (2013), this study examines how these guidelines are ontologically driven by a Western view of nature. This contributes to silencing alternative ontologies in organizational sustainability performance reporting.

Suggested Citation

  • Journeault, Marc & Levant, Yves & Picard, Claire-France, 2021. "Sustainability performance reporting: A technocratic shadowing and silencing," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:74:y:2021:i:c:s1045235419301248
    DOI: 10.1016/j.cpa.2019.102145
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1045235419301248
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.cpa.2019.102145?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Markus Milne & Rob Gray, 2013. "W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 13-29, November.
    2. Klaus Dingwerth & Margot Eichinger, 2010. "Tamed Transparency: How Information Disclosure under the Global Reporting Initiative Fails to Empower," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 10(3), pages 74-96, August.
    3. Kent Walker & Fang Wan, 2012. "The Harm of Symbolic Actions and Green-Washing: Corporate Actions and Communications on Environmental Performance and Their Financial Implications," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 109(2), pages 227-242, August.
    4. Carl‐Johan Hedberg & Fredrik von Malmborg, 2003. "The Global Reporting Initiative and corporate sustainability reporting in Swedish companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(3), pages 153-164, September.
    5. Marie-Jeanne S. Royer & Thora Martina Herrmann, 2013. "Cree Hunters' Observations on Resources in the Landscape in the Context of Socio-Environmental Change in the Eastern James Bay," Landscape Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 443-460, August.
    6. Sonja Gallhofer & Jim Haslam & Elizabeth Monk & Clare Roberts, 2006. "The emancipatory potential of online reporting: The case of counter accounting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 19(5), pages 681-718, September.
    7. Sumit Lodhia & Kerry Jacobs, 2013. "The practice turn in environmental reporting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(4), pages 595-615, May.
    8. Olivier Boiral, 2013. "Sustainability reports as simulacra? A counter-account of A and A+ GRI reports," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(7), pages 1036-1071, September.
    9. Julia Lackmann & Jürgen Ernstberger & Michael Stich, 2012. "Market Reactions to Increased Reliability of Sustainability Information," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(2), pages 111-128, May.
    10. Preston, Alistair M., 2006. "Enabling, enacting and maintaining action at a distance: An historical case study of the role of accounts in the reduction of the Navajo herds," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 559-578, August.
    11. Mohamed Chelli & Yves Gendron, 2013. "Sustainability Ratings and the Disciplinary Power of the Ideology of Numbers," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 187-203, January.
    12. Shona L. Russell & Ian Thomson, 2009. "Analysing the role of sustainable development indicators in accounting for and constructing a Sustainable Scotland," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 225-244, September.
    13. Roberts, John, 2009. "No one is perfect: The limits of transparency and an ethic for 'intelligent' accountability," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 957-970, November.
    14. Markus J. Milne & Helen Tregidga & Sara Walton, 2009. "Words not actions! The ideological role of sustainable development reporting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(8), pages 1211-1257, October.
    15. Cormier, Denis & Magnan, Michel, 2003. "Environmental reporting management: a continental European perspective," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 43-62.
    16. Bebbington, Jan & Brown, Judy & Frame, Bob, 2007. "Accounting technologies and sustainability assessment models," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 224-236, March.
    17. Sonja Gallhofer, 2018. "Going beyond western dualism: towards corporate nature responsibility reporting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(8), pages 2110-2134, July.
    18. John Dumay & James Guthrie & Federica Farneti, 2010. "Gri Sustainability Reporting Guidelines For Public And Third Sector Organizations," Public Management Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(4), pages 531-548, July.
    19. José M. Moneva & Pablo Archel & Carmen Correa, 2006. "GRI and the camouflaging of corporate unsustainability," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 121-137, June.
    20. Matias Laine, 2010. "Towards Sustaining the Status Quo: Business Talk of Sustainability in Finnish Corporate Disclosures 1987-2005," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 247-274.
    21. Al-Tuwaijri, Sulaiman A. & Christensen, Theodore E. & Hughes, K. II, 2004. "The relations among environmental disclosure, environmental performance, and economic performance: a simultaneous equations approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(5-6), pages 447-471.
    22. Rob Gray & Jan Bebbington, 2007. "Corporate Sustainability: Accountability or Impossible Dream?," Chapters, in: Giles Atkinson & Simon Dietz (ed.), Handbook of Sustainable Development, chapter 23, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    23. Helen Tregidga & Markus J. Milne, 2006. "From sustainable management to sustainable development: a longitudinal analysis of a leading New Zealand environmental reporter," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 219-241, July.
    24. Neu, Dean & Graham, Cameron, 2006. "The birth of a nation: Accounting and Canada's first nations, 1860-1900," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 47-76, January.
    25. Dror Etzion & Fabrizio Ferraro, 2010. "The Role of Analogy in the Institutionalization of Sustainability Reporting," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(5), pages 1092-1107, October.
    26. David Owen, 2008. "Chronicles of wasted time?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 240-267, February.
    27. Jan Bebbington & Colin Higgins & Bob Frame, 2009. "Initiating sustainable development reporting: evidence from New Zealand," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(4), pages 588-625, May.
    28. Bebbington, Jan & Larrinaga, Carlos, 2014. "Accounting and sustainable development: An exploration," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 395-413.
    29. Russell, Shona L. & Thomson, Ian, 2009. "Analysing the role of sustainable development indicators in accounting for and constructing a Sustainable Scotland," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 225-244.
    30. Joseph, George, 2012. "Ambiguous but tethered: An accounting basis for sustainability reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 93-106.
    31. Jan Bebbington & Carlos Larrinaga & Jose M. Moneva, 2008. "Corporate social reporting and reputation risk management," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 337-361, March.
    32. Deegan, Craig & Blomquist, Christopher, 2006. "Stakeholder influence on corporate reporting: An exploration of the interaction between WWF-Australia and the Australian minerals industry," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(4-5), pages 343-372.
    33. Hines, Ruth D., 1988. "Financial accounting: In communicating reality, we construct reality," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 251-261, April.
    34. Gray, Rob, 2010. "Is accounting for sustainability actually accounting for sustainability...and how would we know? An exploration of narratives of organisations and the planet," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 47-62, January.
    35. Simone de Colle & Adrian Henriques & Saras Sarasvathy, 2014. "The Paradox of Corporate Social Responsibility Standards," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 177-191, December.
    36. Christine Byrch & Kate Kearins & Markus Milne & Richard Morgan, 2007. "Sustainable “what”? A cognitive approach to understanding sustainable development," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(1), pages 26-52, March.
    37. Jan Bebbington, 2001. "Sustainable development: a review of the international development, business and accounting literature," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 128-157, June.
    38. Matias Laine, 2005. "Meanings of the term ‘sustainable development’ in Finnish corporate disclosures," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 395-413, December.
    39. Preston, Alistair & Oakes, Leslie, 2001. "The Navajo documents: a study of the economic representation and construction of the Navajo," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 39-71, January.
    40. Erin M. Reid & Michael W. Toffel, 2009. "Responding to public and private politics: corporate disclosure of climate change strategies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(11), pages 1157-1178, November.
    41. Erin Marie Reid & Michael W. Toffel, 2008. "Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-019, Harvard Business School, revised Jun 2009.
    42. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2008. "Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 303-327.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hammed Afolabi & Ronita Ram & Gunnar Rimmel, 2022. "Harmonization of Sustainability Reporting Regulation: Analysis of a Contested Arena," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-26, May.
    2. Katerina Zdravkova, 2023. "Personalized Education for Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-13, April.
    3. Oluyomi A. Osobajo & Adekunle Oke & Ama Lawani & Temitope S. Omotayo & Nkeiruka Ndubuka-McCallum & Lovelin Obi, 2022. "Providing a Roadmap for Future Research Agenda: A Bibliometric Literature Review of Sustainability Performance Reporting (SPR)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Hackett, Franki & Janský, Petr, 2023. "Incremental improvement: Evaluating the emancipatory impact of public country-by-country reporting," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    5. Miseldra Gil-Marín & Alejandro Vega-Muñoz & Nicolás Contreras-Barraza & Guido Salazar-Sepúlveda & Sandra Vera-Ruiz & Analia Verónica Losada, 2022. "Sustainability Accounting Studies: A Metasynthesis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, August.
    6. Štěpánka Hronová & Miroslav Špaček, 2021. "Sustainable HRM Practices in Corporate Reporting," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-34, May.
    7. Guo, Jianan & Islam, Muhammad Azizul & Jain, Ameeta & van Staden, Chris J., 2022. "Civil liberties and social and environmental information transparency: A global investigation of financial institutions," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(1).
    8. Amal Fadhil Akho Bashah Al Kaab & Asaad Mohammed Ali Wahhab, 2023. "Evidence from Iraqi Banks on the Reporting of Sustainability Determinants and Their Impact on Market Returns," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 44(1), pages 79-102, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michelon, Giovanna & Pilonato, Silvia & Ricceri, Federica, 2015. "CSR reporting practices and the quality of disclosure: An empirical analysis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 59-78.
    2. Charles H. Cho & Matias Laine & Robin W. Roberts & Michelle Rodrigue, 2018. "The Frontstage and Backstage of Corporate Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Bill," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 865-886, October.
    3. Cho, Charles H. & Laine, Matias & Roberts, Robin W. & Rodrigue, Michelle, 2015. "Organized hypocrisy, organizational façades, and sustainability reporting," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 78-94.
    4. Markus Milne & Rob Gray, 2013. "W(h)ither Ecology? The Triple Bottom Line, the Global Reporting Initiative, and Corporate Sustainability Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 118(1), pages 13-29, November.
    5. María Luisa Pajuelo Moreno & Teresa Duarte-Atoche, 2019. "Relationship between Sustainable Disclosure and Performance—An Extension of Ullmann’s Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-33, August.
    6. Jane Andrew & Max Baker, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: The Last 40 Years and a Path to Sharing Future Insights," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 56(1), pages 35-65, March.
    7. Michelon, Giovanna & Rodrigue, Michelle & Trevisan, Elisabetta, 2020. "The marketization of a social movement: Activists, shareholders and CSR disclosure," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    8. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & David Talbot, 2022. "Comparing the uncomparable? An investigation of car manufacturers' climate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2213-2229, July.
    9. Gray, Rob, 2013. "Back to basics: What do we mean by environmental (and social) accounting and what is it for?—A reaction to Thornton," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 459-468.
    10. Gray, Rob & Brennan, Andrew & Malpas, Jeff, 2014. "New accounts: Towards a reframing of social accounting," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 258-273.
    11. Passetti, Emilio & Cinquini, Lino & Marelli, Alessandro & Tenucci, Andrea, 2014. "Sustainability accounting in action: Lights and shadows in the Italian context," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 295-308.
    12. Olivier Boiral, 2016. "Accounting for the Unaccountable: Biodiversity Reporting and Impression Management," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(4), pages 751-768, June.
    13. Qian, Wei & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2017. "Revisiting carbon disclosure and performance: Legitimacy and management views," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 365-379.
    14. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    15. Bouten, Lies & Everaert, Patricia, 2015. "Social and environmental reporting in Belgium: ‘Pour vivre heureux, vivons cachés’," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 24-43.
    16. Nicolas Garcia‐Torea & Belen Fernandez‐Feijoo & Marta De La Cuesta, 2020. "CSR reporting communication: Defective reporting models or misapplication?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 952-968, March.
    17. de Villiers, Charl & Alexander, Deborah, 2014. "The institutionalisation of corporate social responsibility reporting," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 198-212.
    18. Ismail N.B. & Sébastien Alcouffe & Galy N & Ceulemans K, 2020. "The impact of international sustainability initiatives on Life Cycle Assessment voluntary disclosures: The case of France’s CAC40 listed companies," Post-Print hal-03082800, HAL.
    19. Silvia Romero & Silvia Ruiz & Belen Fernandez‐Feijoo, 2019. "Sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement in Spain: Different instruments, different quality," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 221-232, January.
    20. Tregidga, Helen & Milne, Markus & Kearins, Kate, 2014. "(Re)presenting ‘sustainable organizations’," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 477-494.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:crpeac:v:74:y:2021:i:c:s1045235419301248. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/critical-perspectives-on-accounting/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.