IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/halshs-00712598.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The sustainable development reporting: a new organizational practice in higher education institutions ?

Author

Listed:
  • Stéphanie Chatelain-Ponroy

    (LIRSA-CRC - LIRSA. Centre de recherche en comptabilité - LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM] - HESAM - HESAM Université - Communauté d'universités et d'établissements Hautes écoles Sorbonne Arts et métiers université)

  • Sophie Morin-Delerm

    (LIRSA - Laboratoire interdisciplinaire de recherche en sciences de l'action - CNAM - Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers [CNAM] - HESAM - HESAM Université - Communauté d'universités et d'établissements Hautes écoles Sorbonne Arts et métiers université)

Abstract

Purpose : The main aim of the present article is to study the adoption and diffusion of a recent practice : sustainable development reporting by (and within) French universities. Theoretical background, approach taken and methods of analysis : To better understand and analyse this organisational practice, we draw on contributions from three complementary theoretical frameworks: (1) stakeholder theory, (2) new institutionalism (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) and legitimacy theory (Suchman, 1995), and (3) innovation diffusion theory (Rogers, 1962, 1995; Zaltman, Duncan, & Holbeck, 1973). Backed by these three frameworks, two common themes (adaptability and recursivity, Jarzabkowski, 2004) and two dimensions (fidelity and extensiveness (Ansari et al, 2010) allow us to analyze the adoption and diffusion of sustainable development reporting. We have conducted archival search both in the establishments concerned and within their institutional field. Our empirical study is based on a comparative analysis (intergroup, intragroup and longitudinal) of the contents of the sustainable development reporting of pioneer universities. Findings : The "pioneer" universities in terms of sustainable development reporting - consisting of the innovators and early adopters - appear to adopt and diffuse the practice faithfully but on a limited scale. Specifically, we observe that the "innovators" perform better in terms of fidelity than they do in terms of extensiveness. In the same time, the "early adopters" also perform well in fidelity but make less effort in extensiveness. This can probably be explained by the weak political congruence combined with an equally weak cultural congruence between the practice of sustainable development reporting and the universities. Implications : Future research incorporating the study of sustainable development reporting among the "majority" and the "late adopters" should show how these "follower" universities implement this recent organisational practice. Originality/value : To our knowledge, there is very little research that examines the adoption and diffusion of sustainable development reporting by (and within) French universities. Moreover, we have synthesised, for each institution and each period, the data that sum up the practice of sustainable development (extensiveness as well as fidelity) into grids of analysis. These grids, backed on the works of Ansari & al. (2010) and on those of Jarzabkowski (2004), allow comparison but also constitute a tool for analyzing the practice of sustainable development of the next studied institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Stéphanie Chatelain-Ponroy & Sophie Morin-Delerm, 2012. "The sustainable development reporting: a new organizational practice in higher education institutions ?," Post-Print halshs-00712598, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00712598
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00712598
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00712598/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Laurent Pierre, Jean Magne, 2007. "Aller Au Cœur Des Pratiques De Cca Et Desciences De Gestion : Proposition D'Uneapproche Technologique," Post-Print halshs-00151240, HAL.
    2. Shona L. Russell & Ian Thomson, 2009. "Analysing the role of sustainable development indicators in accounting for and constructing a Sustainable Scotland," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(3), pages 225-244, September.
    3. repec:dau:papers:123456789/2497 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Dror Etzion & Fabrizio Ferraro, 2010. "The Role of Analogy in the Institutionalization of Sustainability Reporting," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(5), pages 1092-1107, October.
    5. Laurent Magne, 2007. "Aller Au Coeur Des Pratiques De Cca Et De Sciences De Gestion : Proposition D'Une Approche Technologique," Post-Print halshs-00544936, HAL.
    6. Russell, Shona L. & Thomson, Ian, 2009. "Analysing the role of sustainable development indicators in accounting for and constructing a Sustainable Scotland," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 225-244.
    7. Richardson, Alan J., 1987. "Accounting as a legitimating institution," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 341-355, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Journeault, Marc & Levant, Yves & Picard, Claire-France, 2021. "Sustainability performance reporting: A technocratic shadowing and silencing," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Max Baker, 2010. "Re‐conceiving managerial capture," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(7), pages 847-867, September.
    3. David Collison & Colin Dey & Gwen Hannah & Lorna Stevenson, 2010. "Anglo‐American capitalism: the role and potential role of social accounting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(8), pages 956-981, October.
    4. Thomson, Ian & Grubnic, Suzana & Georgakopoulos, Georgios, 2014. "Exploring accounting-sustainability hybridisation in the UK public sector," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 453-476.
    5. Madlen Sobkowiak, 2023. "The making of imperfect indicators for biodiversity: A case study of UK biodiversity performance measurement," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 336-352, January.
    6. Thomson, Ian, 2015. "‘But does sustainability need capitalism or an integrated report’ a commentary on ‘The International Integrated Reporting Council: A story of failure’ by Flower, J," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 18-22.
    7. Patrick O’Keeffe, 2018. "Creating a governable reality: analysing the use of quantification in shaping Australian wheat marketing policy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(3), pages 553-567, September.
    8. Spence, Laura J. & Rinaldi, Leonardo, 2014. "Governmentality in accounting and accountability: A case study of embedding sustainability in a supply chain," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 433-452.
    9. Chiba, Soumaya & Talbot, David & Boiral, Olivier, 2018. "Sustainability adrift: An evaluation of the credibility of sustainability information disclosed by public organizations," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 328-340.
    10. Alessandro Lai & Silvia Panfilo & Riccardo Stacchezzini, 2019. "The governmentality of corporate (un)sustainability: the case of the ILVA steel plant in Taranto (Italy)," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 23(1), pages 67-109, March.
    11. Ferry, Laurence & Funnell, Warwick & Oldroyd, David, 2023. "A genealogical and archaeological examination of the development of corporate governance and disciplinary power in English local government c.1970–2010," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    12. Franck Aggeri & Morgane Le Breton, 2016. "Que signifie être transparent ? La régulation de la transparence : la matérialisation d’un idéal en technologie de gouvernement," Post-Print hal-01901216, HAL.
    13. Bebbington, Jan & Larrinaga, Carlos, 2014. "Accounting and sustainable development: An exploration," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 395-413.
    14. Bebbington, Jan & Russell, Shona & Thomson, Ian, 2017. "Accounting and sustainable development: Reflections and propositions," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 21-34.
    15. Bianca Alves Almeida Machado & Lívia Cristina Pinto Dias & Alberto Fonseca, 2021. "Transparency of materiality analysis in GRI‐based sustainability reports," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 570-580, March.
    16. Mia Kaspersen & Thomas Riise Johansen, 2016. "Changing Social and Environmental Reporting Systems," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(4), pages 731-749, June.
    17. Eduardo Ortas & Igor Álvarez & Ainhoa Garayar, 2015. "The Environmental, Social, Governance, and Financial Performance Effects on Companies that Adopt the United Nations Global Compact," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-25, February.
    18. Olivier E. Malay, 2021. "How to Articulate Beyond GDP and Businesses’ Social and Environmental Indicators?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(1), pages 1-25, May.
    19. Florian Überbacher, 2014. "Legitimation of New Ventures: A Review and Research Programme," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(4), pages 667-698, June.
    20. Jodi L. Short & Michael W. Toffel & Andrea R. Hugill, 2016. "Code Contingencies: Designing Monitoring Regimes to Promote Improvement in Supply Chain Working Conditions," Harvard Business School Working Papers 17-001, Harvard Business School, revised Mar 2019.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00712598. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.