Questioning the Role of Stakeholder Engagement in Social and Ethical Accounting, Auditing and Reporting

Recent years have witnessed a remarkable resurgence of academic, professional and corporate interest in the area of social and ethical accounting, auditing and reporting (SEAAR). One striking common feature of the myriad of initiatives taking place lies in an apparent concern to address the information needs of organisational stakeholders via the promotion of dialogue and engagement. Drawing on a programme of short interviews with corporate managers, representatives of the ‘big five’, consultants and NGOs active in the field, this paper suggests that despite seemingly endorsing active stakeholder engagement current SEAAR practice amounts to little more than corporate spin. An overwhelming concern with promoting the ‘business case’ in developing SEAAR together with a profound reluctance to address the issue of corporate governance largely removes any potential for enhancing the accountability and transparency of powerful economic organisations. Most fundamentally, failure to address the crucial dimension of corporate power robs current SEAAR of a much needed radical edge.