Business Development: Summary of Academic Articles Assignment

This assignment provides a concise summary of three academic articles focusing on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social and environmental accounting (SEA) within the context of business development. The first article, by Brown and Fraser (2006), explores different approaches to CSR and SEA, emphasizing the importance of accountability to stakeholders. The second article, by Cooper and Owen (2007), examines the missing link between corporate social reporting and stakeholder accountability, highlighting the need for organizations to be responsive to stakeholder interests. The third article, by Deegan (2002), discusses the role of social and environmental reporting in maintaining organizational legitimacy. The summaries highlight key concepts such as stakeholder accountability, managerialist theoretical paradigms, and the motivations behind social and environmental reporting practices, offering insights into the evolving landscape of business responsibility and its impact on corporate decision-making and performance. The articles collectively underscore the need for organizations to integrate social and environmental considerations into their core business strategies and reporting practices.

Running head: SUMMARY OF ACADEMIC ARTICLES
SUMMARY OF ACADEMIC ARTICLES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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In the article written by Judy Brown and Michael Fraser, the importance of “corporate
social responsibility (CSR)” and “social and environmental accounting (SEA)” has been
highlighted. CSR and SEA have been the topics of interest among businesses, governments,
investors, policymakers and environmentalists too for instance (Brown and Fraser 2006). They
speak about how the business case approach, stakeholder-accountability approach and critical
theory approach differ. Organisations should be held accountable for the impact that they have
on the economic and social environment. Accountability is an obligation to provide an account
that may or may not be financial. It is a way in which organisations are made to be answerable to
the stakeholders, as the reports do not provide proper information. It helps them portray the ideas
and take decisions with the stakeholders that would otherwise have been a difficult job to do.
Thus, accountability needs the organisations to be responsive and help increase the corporate
performance along the way (Brown and Fraser 2006). The employees, consumers and the
communities have the right to know before they can apply for rewards and sanctions.
Accountability can only be effective when the stakeholders are empowered that they can hold the
accountors liable.
In addition to being accountable financially, organisations should be held socially and
environmentally accountable as well. This helps in producing outcomes that can be debated.
Thee interests of all the stakeholders should be taken into account. Every organisation should be
invested in compulsory reporting as well as independently auditing the economic, social and
environmental aspects (Cooper and Owen 2007). Though environmental and social reporting are
certainly new concepts when compared to financial reporting, a lot of issues have been raised
that include the end-result, the goal of the organisation, the quality of information and the
audience. Instead of being accountable and transparent, the managements should focus the

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process of accountability that makes it possible to include the stakeholders in making strategic
decisions and distribution of information while keeping a perfect corporate image. The article by
Craig Deegan focuses on the role of “social and environmental reporting (SAR)” in maintain
organisational legitimacy. It also provides a discussion on how social audits, triple bottom-line
reporting and sustainable reporting are increasing now-a-days (Deegan 2002). These practices
occur voluntarily and that has made many researchers to consider the reasons for their
occurrence. Managers may willingly volunteer to take undertakings for specific activities and
that may include their decision to give their views on the environmental as well as social
information as well (Cooper and Owen 2007). The motivation that drives these managers to take
such decisions may include their willingness to conform to the legal requirements, willingness to
adhere to borrowing requirements, and to fulfill with the expectations of the society. Overall, the
social as well as environmental accounting is not a trade-off against profits and neither is it a
managerial distraction. The “managerialist theoretical paradigm” is seen to support the concept
that the managing an organisation requires the thorough assessment of the social environments in
their business activities (Brown and Fraser 2006). It is therefore important that every
organisation includes the social considerations in their decision making process.

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References
Brown, J. and Fraser, M. 2006, ‘Approaches and perspectives in social and environmental
accounting: an overview of the conceptual landscape’, Business Strategy and the Environment,
vol. 15, no. 2, pp.103-117.
Cooper, S. and Owen, D. 2007, ‘Corporate social reporting and stakeholder accountability: The
missing link’, Accounting, Organizations and Society, vol. 32, no. 7-8, pp.649-667.
Deegan, C. 2002, ‘Introduction’, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 15, no. 3,
pp.282-311.