Contemporary Accounting Theory Assignment 2022

CONTEMPORARY
ACCOUNTING THEORY

Executive Summary
The organisations engage in wide range of the corporate social responsibility
practices, through the partner agencies or on their own in light of the regulatory compliance
or to improve the image. It is imperative to note that as per the industry and region of
operation of an enterprise, various guidelines have been issued for the amount and manner of
the corporate social responsibility activities. The ethical theories also support the sustainable
reporting principles. The report engages in the theoretical research of the various facets of
corporate social responsibility and sustainable reporting in the modern businesses. The report
further engages in the application of the theoretical knowledge to the practical scenario in
terms of the evaluation of the CSR activities and reporting of the Spark New Zealand
Limited, in light of the GRI principles.

Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Significance of corporate social responsibility..........................................................................3
Sustainable Reporting representing the holistic view of the corporate social responsibility.....4
Theories representing the essence of sustainable reporting.......................................................5
Overview of the company..........................................................................................................6
Sustainability reporting (disclosure) scoring index according to the Global Reporting
Initiative (GRI) guidelines.........................................................................................................7
Extent and Quality of Sustainable Reporting of the company Spark New Zealand Limited....8
Conclusion................................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................13

Introduction
With the increased complexities in the business environment and the corporate
scandals and collapses coming into light, there has been placed an enhanced responsibility on
the entities to be considerate of the welfares of the stakeholder groups and not just
concentrate on the revenue earning objectives. The term corporate social responsibility
denotes the accountability of the company towards the society and various associated
members in the light of the environmental, economic and social responsibilities (Schwartz,
2011).
The following assignment is aimed at examining the various aspect of the corporate
social responsibility in light of the case study of the company Spark New Zealand Limited
(SPK, formerly Telecom Corporation of New Zealand Limited). The concept of the
sustainability reporting and corporate social responsibility would be studied in detail with the
aid of the literature and the theories. Further, the report would involve the application of the
insights gained from the literature to the financial statements of the said company to conclude
on the extent and quality of the social responsibility fulfilment by the company.
Significance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Bowen (1953), had stated the meaning of the corporate social responsibility in the
book “Social Responsibilities of the Businessman”, as the framework of the obligations
required to be adhered to by the enterprises, which included the designing of the policies and
undertaking decisions that extend the goals and values of the society of the wellbeing of
various members of society (Moon, 2014). As per the work of Chaffee (2017), the evolution
of the social responsibility principles can be traced back to the earlier Roman laws and
English laws as well that regarded the corporations as an tool for societal development.
Gradually over the years, the concept of the corporate social responsibility has been widened
considerably to include aligning the aspirations of the stakeholders with the corporate
objectives (Tricker, 2015). Some of the societal concerns that have formed the part of the
corporate social responsibility principles are that of rapid population growth, pollution, and
issue of the resource depletion, which are a matter of concern for almost every nation. The
growing significance of the corporate social responsibility can be traced in the fact that
numerous international and national organisations have been formed to address the various
societal concerns (Zientara, 2017). Some of the organisations are the “UN Global Compact,”