Alan S. Gutterman

Sustainability Reporting and Communications (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

In order to know whether or not the corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative and its related commitments are actually improving the company's performance it is necessary to have in place procedures for reporting and verification, each of which are important tools for measuring change and communicating those changes to the company's stakeholders. Sustainability reporting should be broadly construed and has been described as communicating with stakeholders about a firm's economic, environmental and social management and performance. Verification, often referred to as "assurance", is a related concept that involves measurement made through on-site inspections and reviews of management systems to determine levels of conformity to particular criteria set out in sustainability codes and standards to which the company may have agreed to adhere.

The scope and sophistication of CSR reporting has come a long way since the idea first came up in the mid-1990s, when only a handful of companies reported on social responsibility issues and activities in addition to their regular financial reports. Today almost all of the largest global companies produce reports on their environmental policies and activities, often providing interested parties with a whole range of documents that can be accessed in a separate yet highly visible section of the company website. Other international standards, such as the UN Global Compact, explicitly incorporate reporting as a fundamental requirement for demonstrating a commitment to sustainability.

While certain CSR and corporate sustainability disclosures have now become minimum legal requirements in some jurisdictions, in general such disclosures are still a voluntary matter and companies have some leeway as to the scope of their disclosures and how they are presented to investors and other stakeholders. Some companies continue to limit their disclosures to those are specifically required by regulators; however, most companies have realized that they need to pay attention to the issues raised by institutional investors and other key stakeholders and make sure that they are covered in the disclosure program. At the other extreme, there are companies that have embraced sustainability as integral to their brands and have elected to demonstrate their commitment by preparing and disseminating additional disclosures that illustrate how they have woven sustainability into their long-term strategies and day-to-day operational activities.

Companies have taken different approaches to formatting and presenting the information in their sustainability reports and CSR communications strategies have evolved beyond reports to include certifications and rating systems and other means of describing and assessing organizational performance with respect to CSR.

This book is intended to be a practical introduction to sustainability reporting and communications that begins by discussing material legal and regulatory considerations and the some of the major sustainability reporting frameworks and then continues with detailed illustrations of how companies might create and distribute their sustainability reports and develop and implement their CSR communications strategies.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Sustainable Entrepreneurship Project
• Erscheinungstermin: 11. August 2019
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781386137030
• Artikelnr.: 57493473

Autorenporträt

This book was written by Alan S. Gutterman, whose prolific output of practical guidance for legal and financial professionals, entrepreneurs and investors has made him one of the best-selling individual authors in the global legal publishing marketplace. His cornerstone work, Business Transactions Solution, is an online-only product available and featured on Thomson Reuters' Westlaw, the world's largest legal content platform, which includes almost 200 book-length modules covering the entire lifecycle of a business. Alan has also authored or edited over 80 books on sustainable entrepreneurship, leadership and management, business transactions, international business and technology management for a number of publishers including Thomson Reuters, Practical Law, Kluwer, Oxford, Quorum, ABA Press, Aspen, Euromoney, Business Expert Press, Harvard Business Publishing and BNA. Alan has extensive experience as a partner and senior counsel with internationally recognized law firms counseling small and large business enterprises in the areas of general corporate and securities matters, venture capital, mergers and acquisitions, international law and transactions and strategic business alliances, and has also held senior management positions with several technology-based businesses including service as the chief legal officer of a leading international distributor of IT products headquartered in Silicon Valley and as the chief operating officer of an emerging broadband media company. He has been an adjunct faculty member at several colleges and universities, including Berkeley Law, Santa Clara University and the University of San Francisco, teaching classes on corporate finance, venture capital and law and economic development, He has also launched and oversees projects relating to sustainable entrepreneurship and ageism. He received his A.B., M.B.A., and J.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, a D.B.A. from Golden Gate University, and a Ph. D. from the University of Cambridge. For more information about Alan and his activities, please contact him directly at [e-mail], follow him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/alangutterman/) and visit his website at alangutterman.com.