Do corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports provide shareholders Essay - 2

Do corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports provide shareholders and stakeholders with useful information on corporate soci - Essay Example Similarly, disclosure of the information related to these CSR activities have become an important part of the CSR activities of the organizations. Importance of CSR Reports This trend has made its mark due to the lack of reliance on the information which is voluntarily given out by the companies as compared to the real contribution to the society. From the perspectives of academics, there is an accepted theory which widely discusses the reasons which motivates the companies to disclose their CSR information. Majority of the information provided in the CSR reports were previously considered to be the decisions or activities belonging to the private domain of these organizations. The theoretical explanation states that the organizations provide CSR performance related information to general public for satisfying their primary needs and portraying themselves as very responsible members of the society. This legitimacy enables the organizations in pursuing the primary purpose of attaining sustainable profitability which is the most important goal of all the business activities. Although the corporate sector provides huge economic benefits to the society, yet there is an increasing concern regarding the abuse or wastage in terms of utilization of the resources of the society. The society provides higher benefits to the corporate sector. It is due to this reason that it possesses the right to seek information related to the return that these organizations are providing to the society. In brief, the increasing public awareness of the public resources decides the legitimacy of the companies, thereby increasing the requirement of disclosure of CSR information in the community. CSR Reports: Providing Useful Information to the Stakeholders The term ‘corporate social responsibility’ revolves around a number of issues concerning the organizations and their interactions with the society. These issues cover governance, ethics and various other social activities li ke, community development, philanthropy, product safety, human rights, equal opportunities to all employees and other environmental activities. Consideration of the CSR activities, from the aspect of accounting, has necessary linkages with the social reporting (Brennan and Merkl-Davies, 2013). The disclosure related to social and environmental responsibilities of the organizations increase the importance of CSR reports. The social and environmental accounting forms an important part of the CSR reports (Mahoney, et al., 2013; Merkl-Davies and Brennan, 2011). The communication of the environmental and social effects of the organizational activities to the stakeholders increases their reliability towards the transparency of their operational activities (Hooghiemstra, 2000). This extends the requirement as well as performance of accountability of all the organizations. Maintenance and presentation of CSR reports have become one of the global initiatives of the governments where they hav e recognized it to be the standard for sustainability reporting. It has provided a framework which disclosed much substantial and contextual information, rather than just presenting their financial performances. This framework has also ensured the fact that the organizations provide meaningful and appropriate information to the stakeholde