Different stakeholders are now showing a higher interest in organisations’ social responsibility than ever before, creating an increased pressure on organisations' sustainability performance. Various researchers (e.g. Emerson, 2003; Lingane & Olsen, 2004) stress that in order to meet this pressure and to achieve a true sustainable development, organisations need to fully incorporate social values through social accounting. Although numerous organisations report on their social impacts (Hahn & Kühnen, 2013), it is often said that small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are lagging behind in terms of sustainability performance (Cassells & Lewis, 2011). A few studies have addressed this by investigating difficulties for social enterprises to conduct social accounting but a research gap is evident regarding practical implications for SMEs in the for-profit sector. Through an embedded case study design of a sustainability network of for-profit SMEs on Gotland, we sought to explain SME managers perception of difficulties and benefits associated with social accounting, and how such attitudes relate to their sustainability practices. Through a triangulation design, surveys and qualitative interviews were applied to determine the relationship between attitudes and actions. A theoretical framework by Thomas and Lamm (2012), based on Ajzen’s (2005) theory of planned behaviour and Suchman’s (1995) typology of legitimacies was used for analysis. The SME managers were found to have a neutral attitude towards social accounting and they all engaged in practical actions rather than social impact measurement or social reporting. Thus, the results reflect consistency between attitudes towards social accounting and actions, i.e. the intention to perform social accounting. The SME managers perceived the difficulties of social accounting to outweigh the benefits of it, and were insecure about their abilities to perform social accounting. The findings of this study could confirm previously found implications of social accounting and further found that the SME managers expected additional difficulties for companies in the service sector and for those without employees.

Univ., Diss.--Copenhagen, 2005. / Enth. 7 Beitr.

This paper critically evaluates Transnational Corporations' (TNCs) claimed adherence to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)'s "labour" and "human rights" reporting guidelines and examines how successful the GRI has been in enhancing comparability and transparency. We found limited evidence of TNCs discharging their accountability to their workforce and, rather, we found evidence to suggest that disclosure was motivated more by enhancing their legitimacy. TNCs failed to adhere to the guidelines, which meant that material information items were often missing, rendering comparability of information meaningless. Instead, TNCs reported large volumes of generic/anecdotal information without acknowledging the impediments they faced in practice.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar a estrutura socioeconômica do Estado do Espírito Santo tendo como foco a suposta \"Vocação para o Exterior\" da economia capixaba, o potencial dos \"Grandes Projetos\" como propulsor na geração de emprego e renda, as perspectivas da economia com os investimentos anunciados entre 2008 e 2015 e a participação do governo no fluxo de renda local. Para alcançar tal objetivo foi construída uma matriz de contabilidade social com duas regiões: Espírito Santo e restante do país. Esta matriz foi desagregada em 110 produtos, 55 atividades, 10 categorias de trabalho e de famílias e 6 tipos de impostos. Na desagregação utilizam-se múltiplas fontes de dados, com destaque para os microdados da Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílio (Pnad) e da Pesquisa de Orçamento Familiar (POF) usados para desagregar os tipos de trabalhos e de famílias. Os resultados encontrados sinalizam que os setores com maior multiplicador de produção no Espírito Santo são Alimentos e Bebidas, Produtos de Metal e Alojamento e Alimentação, enquanto Agricultura e Silvicultura, Pecuária e Pesca, Alojamento e Alimentação, e Têxteis e Vestuários são os setores com maior potencial de geração de empregos. O fato de o setor de Alimentos e Bebidas apresentar um multiplicador de produção elevado e a Agropecuária apresentar o maior multiplicador de emprego dentre os setores analisados torna o investimento nesta cadeia produtiva duplamente atrativa para políticas sociais e regionais, uma vez que as principais empresas do ramo encontram-se localizadas no interior, perto das fontes de matéria-prima. No mais, o estado é mais dependente do mercado interno do que do externo e as exportações concentram-se em Celulose, Minério de ferro e Metalurgia, setores pertencentes aos \"Grandes Projetos\". Apesar da importância dos \"Grandes Projetos\" para a economia capixaba, os setores que o constituem não possuem os melhores multiplicadores de produção, apresentando ainda baixos multiplicadores de emprego. Sendo, ainda, setores com elevado percentual de importação de insumos e de exportação, ou seja, com uma cadeia produtiva pouco desenvolvida, estando longe de constituir-se em modelo de desenvolvimento sustentado para a economia do estado. No entanto, os investimentos continuam concentrados nos setores petrolíferos, metalúrgicos e de minério de ferro, que apesar de apresentarem baixo multiplicador de emprego são os que pagam salários mais elevados, o que sugere necessidade de mão de obra qualificada. Ressalta-se que os efeitos induzidos dos investimentos são mais expressivos que os indiretos, ou seja, que os impactos causados pelo consumo das famílias devido ao aumento da mão de obra é maior que o aumento no consumo de insumos. Por fim, ao comparar o Programa Bolsa Capixaba, com o Abono concedido aos funcionários estaduais, observa-se que o mesmo valor aplicado gera percentuais diferentes de retorno na forma de impostos para o governo, 25,60% do valor investido no primeiro programa e 36,36% no segundo programa. No entanto, o percentual de vazamento dos impactos positivos de ambos os programas de transferência é expressivo, atingindo 46,49% dos gastos com o programa Bolsa Capixaba e 40,67% com o Abono. / The objective of this paper is to analyze Espírito Santo\'s socio-economic structure focusing the supposed \"Abroad Vocation\" of capixaba\'s economy, the \"Big Projects\" potential as a propulsive in job and income creation, the economy\'s perspective with the announced investments between 2008 and 2015 and the government participation in the local income flux. To achieve this aim a social accounting matrix was built in two regions: Espírito Santo\'s state and the rest of the country. This matrix has been disaggregated in 110 products, 55 activities, 10 jobs and families categories and 6 taxes types. The disaggregation used multiples data sources, especially the micro-data of National Household Sample Research (Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios - PNAD) and Household Budget Research (Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares - POF) used to desegregate the types of jobs and families. The found results signal that Espírito Santo\'s higher production multipliers are Food and Beverage, Metal Products and Accommodation and Food services while Agriculture and Silviculture, Livestock and Fishing, Accommodation and Food and Textiles and Clothing are the sectors with the highest potential for employment generation. The fact of the Food and Beverage sector shows a high production multiplier and the Agriculture sector the higher employment multiplier among the analyzed sectors make the investments on this productive chain doubly attractive for the social and regional politics since that the main companies are inland located, next to the raw material sources. The state is more dependent on the internal market than the external market and the exportation concentrate in Cellulose, Iron Ore and Metallurgy, \"Big Projects\" belonging sectors. Despite the great importance of the \"Big Project\" for capixaba\'s economy, the compose sectors don\'t have the best production multipliers, showing lower labor multipliers. And, also being sectors with high importing percentages, in other words, an undeveloped productive chain, away from being constituted in a developed model sustained for the state\'s economy. However, the investments still concentrated on the petroleum, metallurgic and iron ore sectors, even though they show lower job multipliers they are the sectors that pay the highest salaries, which suggests the necessity of qualified workforce. It\'s important to note that the investments inducted effects are more expressive that the directs, in other words that the impact caused by the families consumption due the workforce rise is bigger than the rise in input consumption. Finally, by comparing the Capixaba Grant Program (Programa Bolsa Capixaba) with the Allowance (Abono) granted to state\'s employees, it should be noted that the same applied amount brings different return percentages in form of government taxes, 25,60% of the invested amount on the first program and 36,36% on the second program. Nevertheless, the leak percentage of the positive impact in both transference programs is expressive, beating 46,49% of the expends with the Capixaba Grant Program (Programa Bolsa Capixaba) and 40,67% with the Allowance (Abono).

Existe uma polêmica sobre qual deve ser o papel social das empresas. De um lado, considera-se que a responsabilidade de seus gestores é maximizar os resultados em favor de seus acionistas e proprietários e, de outro, que a ação social empreendida pelas empresas traz benefícios à sociedade e também a seus stakeholders. Além disso, alguns autores admitem, inclusive, que não basta seguir as leis e pagar os impostos, mas também ter atitudes éticas e filantrópicas. Essa dissertação é um estudo empírico, de caráter exploratório, que objetiva identificar a existência de relações significativas entre o desempenho financeiro das empresas e o seu nível de investimento em ações de responsabilidade social. A pesquisa envolveu a análise de uma amostra de 897 balanços sociais publicados pelo IBASE no período de 2000 a 2004, por 298 empresas de diversos portes, nacionais e multinacionais, que atuavam no Brasil. Estudos científicos que buscam identificar relacionamentos entre ação social empresarial e seu impacto sobre o desempenho financeiro têm procurado responder, mas ainda não encontraram uma resposta definitiva para essa questão. Algumas dessas pesquisas foram abordadas na revisão bibliográfica demonstrando que o tema ainda carece de mais investigação. O presente estudo avaliou esse relacionamento sob várias condições: influência da situação financeira de lucro ou prejuízo das empresas, setor de atuação, seu porte e a conjuntura econômica e social em que elas operaram, refletida no ano de publicação de seu balanço social. O resultado da análise encontrou significância estatística que confirmou algumas das pesquisas científicas publicadas e também apresentou resultados que responderam questões em aberto de outras pesquisas sobre o mesmo tema. Portanto, apesar da dificuldade natural de percepção integrada dos resultados dos 68 modelos matemáticos envolvidos no estudo, as conclusões são uma oportuna contribuição científica ao tema. / There is a polemic about which should be the social role of companies. At one side, it is considered that the managers\' responsibility is to maximize the results for stockholders and owners, and at the other, the social action undertaken by companies to bring benefits to the society and also to the stakeholders. Besides, some authors admit that is not enough to abide to the laws and to pay taxes, but the firm must also have ethical and philanthropical attitudes. This dissertation is an empiric study, of exploratory nature, aiming at identifying the existence of significant relationships between financial performance of the companies and their investment level in social responsibility. The research involved the analysis of a sample of 897 social accounts published by IBASE in the period of 2000 to 2004, by 298 companies of several sizes, owned by national and multinational capital and operating in Brazil. Scientific studies that seek to identify relationships between managerial social action and their impact on the financial performance have searched to answer this question, but they did not find a definitive answer yet. Some of these researches were mentioned in the bibliographic revision demonstrating that the theme still needs more investigation. The present study evaluated this relationship under several conditions: companies having profit or loss, the business sector where they act, the firm size and the economic and social conjuncture in which they operated, reflected in the year of publication of their social accounting. The result of this analysis found statistical significance that confirmed some of the published scientific researches and also presented original results that answered open matters of other researches about the subject. Therefore, although the natural difficulty of integrated perception of the results of 68 mathematical models involved in the study, the conclusions are an opportune scientific contribution to the theme.

M.Comm. / The central question addressed by this study is how a Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for South Africa can be use to measure the impact of fiscal policy on the well being of South Africa's society and therefore assist fiscal policy makers in the making of Fiscal Policy in South Africa. As a starting point, this study will define the concept of poverty and look at income distribution as a measure of welfare. The questions to be raised in this section are: What is the importance of income distribution? How does South Africa compare in an international perspective and how does the different sources of data in South Africa compare with one another? How can inequality be measured? What does a profile of South Africa's poor looks like and what is the burden of poverty that they have to deal with? The second section of this study describes South Africa's Fiscal Policy in order to understand its impact on societies well being. More specifically, it examines: The failures of recent fiscal policy and its lessons for the future; and The government's GEAR (Growth, Employment and Redistribution) policy. Section three investigates possible fiscal policy interventions for attacking poverty. The following questions are addressed: Which programmes can the government implement in order to address poverty? What is the priorities for action? The fourth and final section of the study looks at the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) as a method for measuring the impact of fiscal policy on the well being of a society. It is discussed from various perspectives in order to arrive at a thorough understanding of its scope and nature, including: o What is a Social Accounting Matrix and does it exists in South Africa? o How can a Social Accounting Matrix assist fiscal policy makers?

The majority of the people in sub-Saharan Africa depend on natural and planted forests for subsistence use and income generation. Despite this, the status of forests and wood-processing industries and their multiple uses are poorly understood. In Ethiopia information on the status and contribution of the forest and wood-processing industries to economic development is scanty and fragmented. The study was designed to contribute to filling this gap by analysing the status of the forest resource, assessing the contribution of the forest and wood-processing industries to the national economy with emphasis on the cost structure, and identifying innovations in the wood-processing industries. The study was further developed scenarios to upgrade wood product supply in Ethiopia. The study focuses on the macro-level analysis complementing same with micro-level data that looks into wood-processing industries of the country. Cluster analysis and innovation systems are frameworks employed in collecting and analysing both primary and secondary data. Secondary data on forests in Ethiopia are generally lacking. The analysis was conducted using data from 2010 as the reference year. The year 2010 was chosen as it is the only year for which the most recent aggregated social accounting matrix table for Ethiopia was available. Primary data were collected from key informant interviews and by undertaking survey in selected wood processing industries. A consultation workshop was conducted with different stakeholders to develop alternative scenarios regarding options to meet national wood demands and to share and validate findings of the study. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, means, and percentages. The qualitative information gathered was summarised, analysed, and interpreted in the form of narratives. The study covered the six major forest types in Ethiopia from which significant wood volume is collected. The volume of wood reported to be harvested from these forests exceeded the annual incremental yield, indicating widening of the gap between supply and demand over time. The estimated wood product gap was 39 million m³ in 2013. The expanding gap between supply and demand of wood products in Ethiopia led to rapid increment in the volume of wood products imported, from 17,750 m3 in 1997 to 128,914 m3 in 2017. The estimated economic contribution of the forest sector and wood-processing industries in 2010 to the GDP was 4.2% and 0.036%, respectively. Regarding labour composition, both forest and wood-processing industries are dependent on unskilled labour with the respective share of 44.6% and 40.4%. The results also show that the forest sector has a strong linkage with the domestic economy, with 99.95% share as the input source. Wood-processing industries are mainly dependent on imported raw materials with a share of 51.6% of inputs. If the multiplier effect of the forest sector is considered, its contribution to the GDP could increase by up to 72%. Thus, a unit increment in the forest and wood-processing industries will have a multiplier effect on household income by 1.35 and 0.43, respectively. It is the non-poor households in small urban settlements that would benefit more in both cases. The strong forward and backward linkages of the forest sector indicated the potential of forests to support the national economic development as compared to the wood processing industries that showed a weak backward linkage due to its dependency on imported raw material, high price of round wood from domestic markets, and underdevelopment of plantation forestry in Ethiopia. Production factors related and supporting sectors, and government supports were found to be the constraining factors that affect the competitiveness of studied wood processing industries. The demand for wood products has a positive influence on the competitiveness of wood processing industries. The cost structure analysis showed variations with the types of wood processing industries. Raw material was the main input cost for the Ethiopian Chip Wood and Furniture Company (43%), and Ethiopian Plywood Enterprise (51%), while the overhead cost was the main costs (76%) for the Arsi Negelle sawmill. Imported chemicals raised the cost of the studied panel industries. However, the Arsi Negelle sawmill incurs a relatively low cost for raw material. This is because the Arsi Negelle sawmill uses its own plantations nearby the industry, which reduces the transportation cost. The analysis of sectoral innovation system actors indicated weak implementation of the expected roles. They are also poorly networked with the wood-processing industries. The identified constraining factors for innovation activities also include out-dated machines, lack of incentives for the employees, limited skilled manpower, insufficient financial resources, and inadequacy in research and development. Innovation activities identified are processing and marketing innovations in Maichew particleboard and Mitike sawmill, respectively. The introduction of innovation contributed to increasing the number of customers, revenue generated, jobs created, and volume of products sold. More innovation activities were identified in privately owned than in state-owned factories. Three scenarios were developed in identifying and examining prevailing options to reduce the gap between supply and demand of wood products in the country. These are business-as-usual, the government plan, and the independent experts’ opinion scenarios. The business-as-usual scenario assumes that no major change will happen in the forest sector. This scenario assumed that the main problems remain the same and the supply-demand gap will widen using the current trend. The government plan scenario assumes that the country will build a climate-resilient green economy by 2030 as envisages in its CRGE strategy issued in 2011. In this scenario, significant investment is expected to reduce the gap. Official records show that between 2016 and 2019, the production of wood products increased and reached 8,703,439 m³ and revenue collection grew to 9,352,816 USD. Despite this, supply-demand gap continued to widen, resulting in increased importation of various wood products. The independent experts’ scenario was developed based on the assessment of the unsustainability of the first scenario and the ambitious and unrealistic goals of the second scenario. The scenario of experts considered factors that will improve or undermine production and productivity of forests and meet demands for biomass fuel, industrial wood, and small diameter poles. As per this scenario, sustainable wood product supply is expected to increase and imports to be reduced by 20% in the coming decade. Scenarios developed provided insights for policymakers and suggested the need for strategic planning for developing forest resources and wood industries in the country. Measures to transform the forest sector and wood processing industries of Ethiopia need to consider their contribution and multiplier effects to the national economy. Regarding theoretical aspects, the thesis demonstrated there are some limitations associated with Social Accounting Matrix data quality, which limits the ability to interpret the forward and backward linkages. Yet, the analysis revealed that there is weak cooperation among innovation systems actors to work together. The study hopes to form the basis for further studies and proposed areas for future research to improve the economic contribution of forests and wood processing industries to the national economy.:1 Introduction 2 Theoretical concepts and analytical framework 3 Methodological framework 4 Overview of the forestry sector and its contribution to the national economy 5 Competitiveness and cost structure analysis of wood-processing industries in Ethiopia 6 Innovation system and innovations in the wood-processing industries of Ethiopia 7 Scenario development to upgrade the wood product supply in Ethiopia 8 Synthesis and conclusion References

This dissertation consists of three studies related to accounting disclosure at the interface of the organization and society. The first study investigates the overlapping perspectives of legitimacy theory, institutional theory, resource dependence theory, and stakeholder theory and integrates these theories into a more cohesive meta-theory of the organization-society interface. The second study examines whether a corporation's charitable contributions represent a corporate social performance strategy or a legitimation strategy. More specifically, study two investigates, from two competing perspectives, how corporate executives rationalize their philanthropic actions. The third study analyzes the relationship between the current tax laws and the fulfillment of corporate foundations' social functions. Taken together, these three studies build upon prior theoretical and empirical work to advance social and environmental accounting research.

Thesis (MPhil (Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Increasing inroads by the citizenry, at least in the Western paradigm for the past half millennium, has marked the history of the state as far as accountability is concerned. This process eventually culminated in the modern republican or associated form of democratic governance. Central to this evolutionary process was the notion of the ‘Social Contract’, famously nurtured by the late Enlightenment French philosophers. This concept relies on the notion that the state is crucial for civilized life, yet its power has to be curbed to avoid draconian excesses of power. An analogous process, it might be argued, exists in relation to the citizen-corporate social relationship: that this should come to be governed by what could be termed the ‘Socio-Corporate Contract.’ At present, the great majority of resources are mobilized by private entities, albeit at times in relation to the state, where the state plays a merely facilitating role (Cavanagh et al. 2003; Krasner 2001). This inherently goes to the core of any equity argument. The majority of resources on the planet that are mobilized by and transformed for human consumption: democratically viewed, the citizenry should have some or other governing say over the way in which the majority of resources are mobilized and the manner in which the accrued benefits are distributed (Sachs 2002). Marxist as it may sound, the foundation of such an argument could conceivably, and probably ironically, be traced back to the same type of philosophical foundations that spawned the libertarian republicanism upon which so many of our political Rechtstaat-values are inherently based. From this perspective such a ‘Socio-Corporate Contract’ seems essential, if not inevitable. The form that it would take, though, will probably continue to haunt our governors and rebels alike in the decades to come (Hutton 1995; Also see: The King Report on Corporate Governance in South Africa 2002).

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main problem area this dissertation studied is whether there is a place for the social audit in corporate governance, or if it is only used as a marketing tool by organisations to positively influence public opinion in this era where public opinion heavily influences an organisation's bottom line profits. The King II report proposes that all JSE listed companies include nonfinancial issues in their statutory reports. Many companies do not use the process of social responsibility reporting merely to give back what they had previously taken from society, or to ensure their continued existence in the years to come (sustainability) as part of good corporate governance, they use this as a tool to manage their reputation - a marketing ploy. The real issue where the big question lies is: does CSR contribute to good corporate governance and therefore add value, or is it used as a risk management (reputation) tool by most companies? The social report of British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) was chosen as a case study to investigate this hypothesis. The King II report brings corporate governance into the sphere of the social audit report - in that companies must render an account! report if they are accountable to their stakeholders. In terms of good corporate governance, stakeholders need to be taken into account and a social audit needs to be done to report to them on it. A new governance theory has therefore developed with the central concept being that of sustainability (the triple bottom line): financial, envirorunental and social survival of a company and the reporting thereon. The umbrella term is corporate governance and everything that goes with it: CSR, stakeholder inclusivity and the social audit. In all of these, stakeholding (or stakeholder theory) is the central concept - to create value. The social audit is a tool or process of good corporate governance that uses a stakeholder approach to gain information that is later used and embedded in company principles and processes. An internal audit will provide assurance to the organisation as to the quality of its social and ethical accounting/auditing and reporting process, as well as to the organisation's social and ethical performance. It also provides the necessary support to the process of external audit. The external audit process and report provide assurance to the organisation and its stakeholders of the quality of the social and ethical accounting/auditing and reporting process and build credibility in the reporting of the organisation's social and ethical performance. This credibility is needed as a basis of effective engagement with the organisation's stakeholders, and of a common understanding of the organisation's performance. It must establish methods for producing knowledge with application to corporate governance and strategizing. This dissertation comes to the conclusion that the social audit is not a new fonn of marketing; there is a direct link between good corporate governance and the reporting thereon. Although there is always the possibility that there might be a little bit of PR involved in the publishing of a social audit, the process is not only very expensive, but the buy-in from the company as a whole is needed. It does impact on the reputation of a company and on the corporate affairs and governance thereof. So, if a company continues with this exercise, with the sole intention to use it as reputation marketing, should this becomes known the effect might be disastrous. The other side of the argument is that for a company to manage its reputation is definitely part of risk management. Risk management can be seen as the flipside of the coin to perfonnance management - the effect should be the same. How performance is managed is often similar to the way in which risk is managed. It is therefore not true that the social audit is "wellpublicised window-dressing" (Henderson, 2001: 5). On the contrary the social audit is essential to good corporate governance; it is up to the leadership of a company to use it as such. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die kern probleemgebied wat in die verhandeling bestudeer is, is of daar plek is vir die maatskaplike audit in korporatiewe bestuur, en of organisasies dit net gebruik as 'n bemarkingstrategie om die openbare mening positief te beinvloed in die era waar die openbare mening 'n groot invloed het op 'n organisasie se wins. Die King II-verslag stel voor dat alIe JSE-gelyste maatskappye nie-finansiele kwessies by huI statutere verslae insluit. Talle maatskappye gebruik nie die proses van maatskaplike verantwoordelikheid net om terug te gee wat hulle voorheen uit die samelewing geneem het nie, of om as deel van goeie korporatiewe bestuur hul voortgesette bestaan in die komende jare (volhoubaarheid) te verseker nie. Hulle gebruik dit as 'n manier om hul reputasie te bestuur - 'n bemarkingstrategie. Die kwessie waar die groot vraag Iê, is: dra korporatiewe maatskaplike verantwoordelikheid by tot goeie korporatiewe bestuur en voeg dit derhalwe waarde by, of gebruik die meeste rnaatskappye dit as 'n middel tot risikobestuur ter wille van hul reputasie? Die maatskaplike verslag van British American Tobacco South Africa (BATSA) is gekies as 'n gevallestudie om die hipotese te ondersoek. Die King II-verslag bring korporatiewe bestuur binne die sfeer van die maatskaplike ouditverslag met die dat maatskappye 'n verslag moet lewer as hulle verantwoordbaar teenoor hul belanghebbendes is. lngevolge goeie korporatiewe bestuur moet belanghebbendes in ag geneem word en moet 'n maatskaplike oudit gedoen word om aan hulle daaroor verslag te doen. 'n Nuwe bestuursteorie het derhalwe ontwikkel waarvan die kernkonsep volhoubaarheid (die driedubbele winsbasis) is: die finansiele, maatskaplike en omgewingsoorlewing van 'n maatskappy en verslagdoening daaroor. Die sambreelterm is korporatiewe bestuur en alles wat daarmee saamgaan: korporatiewe maatskaplike verantwoordelikheid, die insluiting van belanghebbendes en die maatskaplike oudit. Met al die aspekte is die belanghebberteorie die kernkonsep - om waarde te skep. Die maatskaplike audit is 'n werktuig of proses van goeie korporatiewe bestuur wat 'n belanghebberbenadering gebruik om inligting in te win wat later gebruik en in die maatskappy se beleid en prosesse vasgele word. 'n Interne oudit gee die maatskappy sekerheid oor die gehalte van sy maatskaplike en etiese oudit- en verslagdoeningproses, asook die organisasie se maatskaplike en etiese funksionering. Dit verskaf ook die nodige steun aan die proses van eksterne ouditering. Die eksterne ouditproses en -verslag verskaf sekerheid aan die organisasie en sy belanghebbendes oor die gehalte van die maatskaplike en etiese oudit- en verslagdoeningproses en bou geloofwaardigheid in die verslagdoening van die organisasie se maatskaplike en etiese funksionering. Die geloofwaardigheid word benodig vir die organisasie se belanghebbendes, en 'n gemeenskaplike begrip van die organisasie se prestasie. Dit moet metodes om kennis te produseer vestig wat van toepassing sal wees op korporatiewe bestuur en strategie-bepaling. Die verhandeling kom tot die gevolgtrekking dat die maatskaplike oudit nie 'n nuwe vorm van bemarking is nie - daar is 'n regstreekse verband tussen goeie korporatiewe bestuur en verslagdoening daaroor. Hoewel daar altyd die moontlikheid is dat 'n bietjie skakelwerk betrokke kan wees by die publisering van 'n maatskaplike oudit, is die proses nie net baie duur nie, maar word die betrokkenheid en steun van die maatskappy as geheel benodig. Dit het 'n invloed op die reputasie van 'n maatskappy, asook die korporatiewe sake en die bestuur daarvan. Dus, as 'n maatskappy met die oefening voortgaan met die enigste doelwit om dit as reputasiebemarking te gebruik en dit word bekend, kan die resultaat rampspoedig wees. Die ander kant van die argument is dat die bestuur van sy reputasie vir 'n maatskappy beslis deel van risikobestuur is. Risikobestuur kan beskou word as die een kant van die muntstuk met prestasiebestuur aan die ander kant - die uitwerking behoort dieselfde te wees. Hoe prestasie bestuur word, is dikwels dieselfde as die manier waarop risiko bestuur word. Dit is dus nie waar dat die maatskaplike oudit "goed gepubliseerde vensterversiering" (Henderson, 200 I: 5) is nie. Inteendeel, die maatskaplike oudit is noodsaaklik vir goeie korporatiewe bestuur, en dit hang van die leierskap van 'n maatskappy af om dit as sulks te gebruik.