Skip to main content

Sustainability Reporting and Its Impact on the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in Island Economies in Africa: A Comparative Study of Private Sector Organisations in Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Future of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Part of the book series: CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance ((CSEG))

Abstract

This chapter reports on a mixed methods study examining the process and evolution of Sustainability Reporting in companies in three island economies in Africa: Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles. The aim is to extend understanding of the complexity in corporate processes for developing a sustainability report, the challenges faced by organisations and the way the sustainability reporting process has an impact on the implementation of sustainable development goals in the countries under study. Details of the various factors that emerged related to sustainability reporting in organisations in the countries are discussed. These include:

  • The variables in Sustainability Reporting (SR) processes

  • The stakeholders involved in the SR process

  • The impact of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach

  • The drivers, benefits and obstacles of SR

  • The impact of SR on SDGs

This chapter provides a critical analysis of how the companies under study in the three countries integrate SDGs into their business activities. Ultimately, this study aims to evaluate the efficiency of the governments in implementing sustainable development. The focus is therefore on a contribution to the knowledge gap in this field of research with particular attention paid to the influence of context.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Data was collected by the first author in each of the three locations.

  2. 2.

    Data was collected by the first author in Mauritius where there is no requirement for approval by a human research ethics committee. Nevertheless adherence to ethical standards including confidentiality were considered to be central to this research. The second author has not had access to any of the initial data, and conducted analysis on the aggregated data for the development of this chapter.

References

  • Adams, C. A., & McNicholas, P. (2007). Making a difference: Sustainability reporting, accountability and organisational change. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 20(3), 382–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aguilera, R. V., Williams, C. A., Conley, J. M., & Rupp, D. E. (2006). Corporate governance and social responsibility: A comparative analysis of the UK and the US. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 14(3), 147–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alhouti, S., Johnson, C. M., & Holloway, B. B. (2016). Corporate social responsibility authenticity: Investigating its antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Business Research, 69(3), 1242–1249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ali, W., Frynas, J. G., & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Determinants of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in developed and developing countries: A literature review. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management,24(4), 273–294. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1410

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amaeshi, K. M., Adi, A. B. C., Ogbechie, C., & Amao, O. O. (2006). Corporate social responsibility in Nigeria: Western mimicry or indigenous influences?

    Google Scholar 

  • Andrew, S., & Halcomb, E. J. (2009). Mixed methods research for nursing and the health sciences. Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Battersby, J. (2017). MDGs to SDGs–new goals, same gaps: The continued absence of urban food security in the post-2015 global development agenda. African Geographical Review, 36(1), 115–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2016.1208769

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borkowski, S. C., Welsh, M. J., & Kristin, W. (2010). Johnson & Johnson: A model for sustainability reporting. Strategic Finance, 92(3), 29–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouten, L., Everaert, P., Van Liedekerke, L., De Moor, L., & Christiaens, J. (2011, September). Corporate social responsibility reporting: A comprehensive picture? Accounting Forum, 35(3), 187–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brannen, J. (2005). Mixing methods: The entry of qualitative and quantitative approaches into the research process. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 8(3), 173–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breitbarth, T., Harris, P., & Insch, A. (2010). Pictures at an exhibition revisited: Reflections on a typology of images used in the construction of corporate social responsibility and sustainability in non-financial corporate reporting. Journal of Public Affairs, 10(4), 238–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brueckner, M. (2010). The business with the environment: A (different) reader. Cengage Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brundtland, G. H. (1987). Report of the world commission on environment and development: “Our common future”. United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calitz, A. P., Cullen, M. D., & Bosire, S. (2016). Sustainability reporting by South African higher education institutions. In Information technology in environmental engineering (pp. 113–123). Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chen, S., & Bouvain, P. (2009). Is corporate responsibility converging? A comparison of corporate responsibility reporting in the USA, UK, Australia, and Germany. Journal of Business Ethics, 87, 299–317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clayton, A. F., Rogerson, J. M., & Rampedi, I. (2015). Integrated reporting vs. sustainability reporting for corporate responsibility in South Africa. Bulletin of Geography. Socio-economic Series, 29(29), 7–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design.

    Google Scholar 

  • Creswell, J. W., Klassen, A. C., Plano Clark, V. L., & Smith, K. C. (2011). Best practices for mixed methods research in the health sciences (pp. 2094–2103). Bethesda (Maryland): National Institutes of Health.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalal-Clayton, B., & Bass, S. (2002, June). Recent progress and new thinking on strategies for sustainable development (pp. 15–21). Annual Meeting of the International Association for Impact Assessment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Death, C., & Gabay, C. (2015). Doing biopolitics differently? Radical potential in the post-2015 MDG and SDG debates. Globalizations, 12(4), 597–612. https://doi.org/10.1080/14747731.2015.1033172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeSimone, L. D., & Popoff, F. (2000). Eco-efficiency: The business link to sustainable development. MIT press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dienes, D., Sassen, R., & Fischer, J. (2016). What are the drivers of sustainability reporting? A systematic review. Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, 7(2), 154–189. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-08-2014-0050

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dolan, C. S., & Opondo, M. (2005). Seeking common ground: Multi-stakeholder processes in Kenya’s cut flower industry. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 18, 87–98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Doppelt, B. (2009). Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Greenleaf Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Douglas, T. (2007). Reporting on the triple bottom line at cascade engineering. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 26(3), 35–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunning, H., Williams, A., Abonyi, S., & Crooks, V. (2008). A mixed method approach to quality of life research: A case study approach. Social Indicators Research, 85(1), 145–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easterly, W. (2009). How the millennium development goals are unfair to Africa. World Development, 37, 26–35.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, R. G., & Krzus, M. P. (2010). One report: Integrated reporting for a sustainable strategy. Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Egels, N. (2005). CSR in electrification of rural Africa: The case of ABB in Tanzania. The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 18, 75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • EY. (2014). Sustainability reporting – the time is now. Author: London. Retrieved from: https://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/EY-Sustainability-reporting-the-time-isnow/$FILE/EY-Sustainability-reporting-the-time-is-now.pdf

  • Fifka, M. S. (2013). Corporate responsibility reporting and its determinants in comparative perspective–a review of the empirical literature and a meta‐analysis. Business strategy and the environment, 22(1), 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.729

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, R. E. (1994). The politics of stakeholder theory: Some future directions. Business Ethics Quarterly, 4, 409–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frehs, J. (2003). Corporate social responsibility: Lessons learned. Natural Resources Canada.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fulgence, S. E. (2016). Corporate social responsibility in Tanzania. In S. Vertigans, S. O. Idowu, & R. Schmidpeter (Eds.), Corporate social responsibility in sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 111–152). Springer International Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Global Reporting Initiative. (nd). About sustainability reporting [website]. Retrieved from: https://www.globalreporting.org/information/sustainability-reporting/Pages/default.aspx.

  • Global Reporting Initiative (2017) Benefits of reporting [website]. https://www.globalreporting.org/information/sustainabilityreporting/Pages/reportingbenefits.aspx

  • Gray, R., Kouhy, R., & Lavers, S. (1995). Corporate social and environmental reporting: A review of the literature and a longitudinal study of UK disclosure. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 8(2), 47–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grunig, J. E., & Hunt, T. (1984). Managing public relations. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guan, Y. (2014). Reporting on biodiversity and ecosystem services under the GRI—Case study in the global forest sector (Doctoral dissertation). Helsingfors universitet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guthrie, J., & Abeysekera, I. (2006). Content analysis of social, environmental reporting: What is new? Journal of Human Resource Costing and Accounting, 10(2), 114–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guthrie, J., & Parker, L. D. (1989). Corporate social reporting: A rebuttal of legitimacy theory. Accounting and Business Research, 19(76), 343–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guthrie, J., & Parker, L. D. (1990). Corporate social disclosure practice: A comparative international analysis. Advances in Public Interest Accounting, 3, 159–175.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hąbek, P., & Wolniak, R. (2016). Assessing the quality of corporate social responsibility reports: The case of reporting practices in selected European Union member states. Quality & Quantity, 50(1), 399–420. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-014-0155-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, C., Stubbs, W., & Love, T. (2014). Walking the talk (s): Organisational narratives of integrated reporting. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 27(7), 1090–1119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Higgins, C., Milne, M. J., & van Gramberg, B. (2015). The uptake of sustainability reporting in Australia. Journal of Business Ethics, 129(2), 445–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holsti, O. R. (1969). Content analysis for the social sciences and humanities. Addison Wesley: Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2016). The consequences of mandatory corporate sustainability reporting: Evidence from four countries.

    Google Scholar 

  • Islam, M. A., Jain, A., & Thomson, D. (2016). Does the global reporting initiative influence sustainability disclosures in Asia-Pacific banks? Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 23(3), 298–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James, M. L. (2015). The benefits of sustainability and integrated reporting: an investigation of accounting majors’ perceptions. Journal of Legal, Ethical and Regulatory Issues, 18(1), 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Janek, C., Ricceri, F., Sangiorgia, D., & Guthrie, J. (2016). Sustainability and integrated reporting: A case study of a large multinational organisation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, R. B., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Turner, L. A. (2007). Toward a definition of mixed methods research. Journal of Mixed Methods Research, 1(2), 112–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiyanga, B., Wingard, C., & Cronje, C. (2016). Sustainability reporting practices: A comparative study of South African and Botswana listed companies. Studia Universitatis Babes Bolyai-Negotia, 61(2), 43–66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolk, A. (2003). Trends in sustainability reporting by the fortune global 250. Business Strategy and the Environment, 12(5), 279–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolk, A. (2004). A decade of sustainability reporting: Developments and significance. International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 3(1), 51–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolk, A. (2008). Sustainability, accountability and corporate governance: Exploring multinationals’ reporting practices. Business Strategy and the Environment, 17(1), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kolk, A., & Lenfant, F. (2010). MNC reporting on CSR and conflict in Central Africa. Journal of Business Ethics, 93, 241–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • KPMG. (2005). KPMG international survey of corporate responsibility reporting 2005. Amsterdam: KPMG international.

    Google Scholar 

  • KPMG. (2013). KPMG integrity survey 2013. Delaware: Author. Retrieved from: https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2013/08/Integrity-Survey-2013-O-201307.pdf.

  • KPMG. (2015). Currents of Change. KPMG survey of corporate responsibility reporting. Netherlands: Haymarket Network. Retrieved from: https://assets.kpmg.com/content/dam/kpmg/pdf/2015/11/kpmg-international-survey-ofcorporate-responsibility-reporting-2015.pdf.

  • Krippendorff, K. (1980). Content analysis.Beverly Hills. California: Sage Publications, 7, l–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lantos, G. P. (2001). The boundaries of strategic corporate social responsibility. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 18(7), 595–632.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larrinaga-Gonzalez, C., & Bebbington, J. (2001). Accounting change or institutional appropriation?—A case study of the implementation of environmental accounting. Critical Perspectives on Accounting, 12(3), 269–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Laughlin, R. C. (1991). Environmental disturbances and organisational transitions and transformations: Some alternative models. Organisation Studies, 12(2), 209–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lauwo, S. G., Otusanya, O. J., & Bakre, O. (2016). Corporate social responsibility reporting in the mining sector of Tanzania: (Lack of) government regulatory controls and NGO activism. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 29(6), 1038–1074.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leech, N., & Onwuegbuzie, A. (2008). A typology of mixed methods research designs. Quality and Quantity, 43(2), 265–275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liverman, D. M. (2018). Geographic perspectives on development goals: Constructive engagements and critical perspectives on the MDGs and the SDGs. Dialogues in Human Geography, 8(2), 168–185. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043820618780787.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahadeo, J. D., & Soobaroyen, T. (2016). A longitudinal study of the implementation of the corporate governance code in a developing country: The case of Mauritius. Business and Society, 55(5), 738–777.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maignan, I., & Ralston, D. A. (2002). Corporate social responsibility in Europe and the US: Insights from businesses’ self-presentations. Journal of International Business Studies, 33(3), 497–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathews, M. R. (1997). Twenty-five years of social and environmental accounting research: Is there a silver jubilee to celebrate? Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 10(4), 481–531.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCloskey, S. (2015). From MDGs to SDGs: We need a critical awakening to succeed. Policy & Practice: A Development Education Review, 12, 186–194.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mbekomize, C. J., & Wally-Dima, L. (2013). Social and environmental disclosure by Parastatals and companies listed on the Botswana stock exchange. Journal of Management and Sustainability, 3(3), 66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Millar, C., Hind, P., & Magala, S. (2012). Sustainability and the need for change: Organisational change and transformational vision. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 25(4), 489–500.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neuendorf, K. (2002). The content analysis guidebook. California: Sage Publications Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niskanen, J., & Nieminen, T. (2001). The objectivity of corporate environmental reporting: A study of Finnish listed firms’ environmental disclosures. Business Strategy and the Environment, 10(1), 29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Owolabi, F., Akinwumi, T., Adetula, D. T., & Uwuigbe, U. (2016). Assessment of sustainability reporting in Nigerian industrial goods sector.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perez, F., & Sanchez, L. E. (2009). Assessing the evolution of sustainability reporting in the mining sector. Environmental Management, 43(6), 949–961.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radomska, J. (2015). The concept of sustainable strategy implementation. Sustainability, 7(12), 15847–15856.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramdhony, D., & Oogarah-Hanuman, V. (2012). Improving CSR reporting in Mauritius—Accountants’ perspectives. World Journal of Social Sciences, 2(4), 195–207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramos, T. B., Cecílio, T., Douglas, C. H., & Caeiro, S. (2013). Corporate sustainability reporting and the relations with evaluation and management frameworks: The Portuguese case. Journal of Cleaner Production, 52, 317–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rankokwane, B. (2008). An evaluation of the role of supreme audit institutions in promoting environmental accountability—The case of the office of the auditor general, Gaborone–Botswana (Unpublished master of science thesis). East Anglia: University of East Anglia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenbaum, B. (2015). Making the millennium development goals (MDGs) sustainable: The transition from MDGs to the SDGs. Harvard International Review, 37(1), 62.

    Google Scholar 

  • Riro, G. K., Waweru, N. M., & Uliana, E. O. (2016). Quality of corporate reporting: Case studies from an emerging capital market. Afro-Asian Journal of Finance and Accounting, 6(1), 31–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scammon, D. L., Tomoaia‐Cotisel, A., Day, R. L., Day, J., Kim, J., Waitzman, N. J., et al. (2013). Connecting the dots and merging meaning: Using mixed methods to study primary care delivery transformation. Health Services Research, 48(6 pt 2), 2181–2207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schrage, E. J., & Ewing, A. P. (2005). The cocoa industry and child labour. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 18, 99–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silverman, D. (2013). Doing qualitative research: A practical handbook. SAGE Publications Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Steger, U., Ionescu-Somers, A., & Salzmann, O. (2007). The economic foundations of corporate sustainability. Corporate Governance: The International Journal of Business in Society, 7(2), 162–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stubbs, W., & Higgins, C. (2014). Integrated reporting and internal mechanisms of change. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 27(7), 1068–1089. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-03-2013-1279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tashakkori, A., & Creswell, J. W. (2007). Editorial: The new era of mixed methods.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teddlie, C., & Tashakkori, A. (2003). Major issues and controversies in the use of mixed methods in the social and behavioral sciences. In Handbook of mixed methods in social and behavioral research (pp. 3–50).

    Google Scholar 

  • Toppinen, A., & Korhonen-Kurki, K. (2013). Global reporting initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility: A case study of three multinationals in the forest industry. Business Ethics: A European Review, 22(2), 202–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • United Nations (2000). General Assembly resolution 55/2 United Nations Millennium Declaration A/RES/55/2 (18 September 2000). Retrieved from: undocs.org/A/RES/55/2.

  • United Nations (2015). The Millennium Development Goals Report. New York: Author Retrieved from: https://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20rev%20July%201).pdf.

  • United Nations Environment Programme. (2017). Corporate Sustainability Reporting. Retrieved from: https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/resource-efficiency/what-wedo/responsible-industry/corporate-sustainability.

  • Ushad, S. A., & Ramen, M. (2016). Social and environmental accounting: Evidence from the stock exchange of Mauritius.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wahome, J. (2016). An assessment of the practice of social responsibility accounting by firms in Kenya: A case study of Safaricom Kenya. Journal of Accounting, 1(1), 73–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • WCED, U. (1987). Our common future. World Commission on Environment and Development Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wensen, K. V., Broer, W., Klein, J., & Knopf, J. (2011). The state of play in sustainability reporting in the EU. Study for the European Commission by CREM BV and Adelphi Consult.

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis, A. (2003). The role of the global reporting initiative’s sustainability reporting guidelines in the social screening of investments. Journal of Business Ethics, 43(3), 233–237.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wisdom, J. P., Cavaleri, M. A., Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Green, C. A. (2012). Methodological reporting in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods health services research articles. Health Services Research, 47(2), 721–745.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sanjiv Gungadeen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Gungadeen, S., Paull, M. (2020). Sustainability Reporting and Its Impact on the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in Island Economies in Africa: A Comparative Study of Private Sector Organisations in Mauritius, Madagascar and Seychelles. In: Idowu, S., Schmidpeter, R., Zu, L. (eds) The Future of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21154-7_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics