The Identification of Institutional Factors Affecting Sustainability Reporting in the Iranian Oil Industry

Document Type : Applied Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Management & Accounting, College of Farabi , University of Tehran, Qom, Iran

2 Professor, Faculty of Management & Accounting, College of Farabi , University of Tehran, Qom, Iran

3 PhD Student of Public Management, College of Farabi , University of Tehran, Qom, Iran

Abstract

The contemporary world faces many environmental, social, and economic challenges, the proper management of which depends on the attention and commitment of industries to sustainability reporting. The present study tried to identify the factors affecting sustainability reporting in the Iranian oil industry using qualitative content analysis method and relying on the institutional theory. Data were collected through taking notes of the relevant texts and semi-structured interviews with 10 social responsibility experts of the Iranian oil industry. Findings showed that coercive and normative factors affect sustainability reporting and mimetic factors do not affect this reporting. In other words, the structures, rules, and regulations of sustainability reporting by government and industry are coercive pressures for sustainability reporting. However, lack of the governmental oversight of reporting and the industry executives’ negligence of it reduce the role of these pressures. Professional and scientific institutions exert normative pressures for sustainable reporting in the industry, but inattention of audit firms to this reporting moderates this pressure. Various reasons cause mimetic pressure not to affect the sustainability reporting in the Iranian oil industry, including its national structure. Therefore, it is recommended to pay attention to the type of organization in the assessment of mimetic pressures on sustainability reporting in various industries and countries and to develop audit criteria to evaluate the sustainability performance of oil companies and serious monitoring of sustainability reporting by policymakers and regulatory bodies.

Keywords

References

Adams, C.A. & McNicholas, P. (2007). “Making a difference: sustainability reporting”, accountability and organizational change, Vol. 20, pp. 382-402.
Adams, C.A. (2002). “Internal organizational factors influencing corporate social and ethical reporting: Beyond current theorizing”, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 15(2), pp. 223-250.
Akbari, M., Ebrahimpour, M., & Hooshmand Ch., M. (2016). “Influence of Institutional Factors on Sustainable performance of Firms”, journal of Business Management, Vol. 28, pp. 81-100. (in Persian)
Asaolu, T. O., Agboola, A. A., Ayoola, T. J., & Salawu, M. K. (2012). “Sustainability reporting in the Nigerian oil and gas sector”, COLERM Proceedings, Vol. 1, pp. 61-84.
Ball, A. & Grubnic, S. (2007). “Sustainability accounting and accountability in the public sector”, Sustainability Accounting and Accountability, Routledge, UK, pp. 243-265.
Bebbington, J. Higgins, C., & Frame, B. (2009). “Initiating sustainable development reporting: evidence from New Zealand”, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 588-62.
De Villiers, C. & van Staden, C.J. (2006). “Can less environmental disclosure have a legitimising effect? Evidence from Africa”, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Vol. 31, Issue 8, November 2006, pp. 763-781.
Delmas, M.A., & Toffel, M.W. (2004), Stakeholders and environmental managements practices: An institutional framework, Business Strategy and the environment, Vol. 13, Issue 4, Special Issue: Innovating for Sustainability, pp. 209-222.
Dobbs, S. & van Staden, C. (2016). “Motivations for corporate social and environmental reporting: New Zealand evidence”, Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 449-472.
Fazeli, M. (2015). The Role of Transparency Factor in the fulfillment of Oil and Gas Resources' Sustainability Development, (Conference Article), Fars News Agency/Views/ Economic and Law, Webpage Link: farsnews.com/news/1393/0402000021.
Findik, M. & Beduk, A. (2014). “Organizational isomorphism in the context of institutional theory, IJSES, pp. 27-33.
Goswami, K & Lodhia, S. (2014). Influences on sustainability reporting practices in selected South Australian local councils: An explanatory case study. 11th A-CSEAR Conference. Australia: Adelaide.
Guthrie, J. & Farneti, F. (2008). “GRI sustainability reporting by Australian public sector organizations”, Public Money & Management, 28(6), pp. 361–366.
Hutchins, M. J. & Sutherland, J.W. (2008). “An Exploration of Measures of Social Sustainability and Their Applications to Supply Chain Decisions”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 16, pp. 1688-1698.
Jones, H. (2010). Sustainability reporting matters: What are national governments doing about it? Association of Certified Chartered Accountants (London), pp. 1-36.
Junior, F.H., BarbaraGalleli, B., Gallardo-Vázquez, D., & M. Sánchez-Hernández, M. (2017). “Strategic aspects in sustainability reporting in oil & gas industry: The comparative case-study of Brazilian Petrobras and Spanish Repsol”, Ecological Indicators, Vol. 72, pp. 203-214.
Kordlou, M., Rahimzadeh, A., & Mohammadi, B. (2017). “The Necessity of Sustainability Reporting; Principles and its Structure”, Journal of New Researches in Management and Accounting, No. 2, pp. 167-176. (in Persian)
Leonidas, P., Geitona Mary, G., Theofilos, P., & Amalia, T. (2012). “Managers’ Perceptions and Opinions towards Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Greece”, Procedia Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, pp. 311–320.
Liang, H., Saraf, N., Hu, Q., & Xue, Y. (2007). “Assimilation of Enterprise Systems: The Effect of Institutional Pressures and the Mediating Role of Top Management”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 59-87.
Nwobu, A., Iyoha, F., & Owolabi, A. (2018). “Managerial perceptions of corporate sustainability reporting determinants in Nigeria”, Journal of Business and Retail Management Research (JBRMR), Vol. 12(2), pp. 72-82.
Pedersen, E. R, Neergaard, P., Pedersen, J. T., & Gwozdz, W. (2013). “Conformance and Deviance: Company Responses to Institutional Pressures for Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting”, Business Strategy and the Environment, Vol. 22, Issue6, pp. 357-373.
Rahmati, M., Khanifar, H., & Fayyazi-Azad, A. (2017). “Modeling the Influencing Factors on Social Responsibility of National Iranian Oil Company”, Journal Of Social Capital Management, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 181-197. (in Persian)
Scott, W.R. (2008). “Institutions and Organizations: Ideas and Interests”, 3rd ed, Sage Publications, Los Angeles, CA.
Solomon, A. & Lewis, L. (2002). “Incentives and Disincentives for Corporate Environmental Disclosure”, BusinessStrategy and the Environment, Vol. 11, pp. 154–169.
Soltanzadeh, V., Gholavandi, H., & Seyyedabbaszade, M. (2015). “Simple and Multiple Relationship between Organizational Socialization and Social Responsibility (A Case Study of Staff of Urmia University)”, Journal of New Approaches in Educational Administration, Vol. 6, No. 1 (21), pp. 167-189. (in Persian)
Tavares, M. (2018). Analysis of GRI Sustainability Reports Issued by Portuguese Public Sector Entities, University of Aveiro, Portugal, pp. 1-41.
Uwaoma, Ironkwe, Ordu, & Promise, A. (2016). “Environmental Reporting in the Oil and Gas Industry in Nigeria”, International Journal of Research in Business Studies and Management, Vol. 3(11), pp. 1-21.
Vinke, J. (2014). “Sustainability Reporting in the United Arab Emirates: Institutional Insights”, DBA Thesis, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh Business School.
Zahedi, SH. & Najafi, Gh. (2006). “Sustainable Development, AConceptual Framework”, Journal of Human Sciences, Vol. 10, No. 4 (TOM 49), pp. 43-76. (in Persian)
Zunker, B. (2011). “Determinants of the Voluntary Disclosure of Employee Information in Annual Reports: An Application of Stakeholder Theory, Doctoral Thesis”, Bond University, Australia.
Organizational Culture Management
Volume 18, Issue 4
January 2021
Pages 703-721

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics