This project assessed whether the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) focuses on providing true environmental indicator reporting within its framework. The analysis focused on environmental indicator data quality through observation of the data collection process for a sustainability report. Participants showed satisfaction with the requested data in regards to future comparability and transparency, concerns with data reliability and stakeholder concerns and significant concerns with data gathering systems. A review of 2007 reporting identified a low level of complete environmental indicator reporting and a low level of independent assurance. The study recommends significant enhancements at the GRI and governmental level. At the GRI level, the study recommends mandatory assurance of reports to receive GRI designation. At the governmental level, the study recommends mandatory corporate reporting for larger organizations to limit data quality issues and raise the overall sustainability performance of those organizations having the largest potential impact on sustainability.

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This is the final report of ANSDA – An analytic assessment of its processes written as a bachelor thesis in the fall of 2013 by students at Linköpings Universitet. It is an analysis of the incident evaluation process used by LFV: ANS-DA. The thesis aimed to find areas where the process could be optimized in regards to time-consumption and efficency in dealing with errors in Air Traffic Control procedure, which are observed when an anomaly in the system occurs.

Purpose: This purpose of this thesis is to investigate a company’s understanding of ‘sustainability’ and how this concept is integrated into organisational processes and decision making. Firstly, the internal sustainability systems which lead up to external social and environmental reporting will be examined. Secondly, the role of reputation management and legitimacy in driving company response behaviours around short-term and long-term environmental issues will be explored. Prior research is mainly limited to studies on external social and environmental reporting. The present study adds to the literature by exploring the internal mechanisms and behaviours which underlie external reporting practice. New theoretical insights are provided into legitimacy theory by presenting a framework linking aspects of reputation, resource dependence theory, and stakeholder theory. Design and methodology: Research is conducted through an in-depth case study at a wholly-owned foreign affiliate of a large multinational organisation involved in an environmentally sensitive industry. Data collection was extensive, including semi-structured interviews and non-structured talks with 26 participants from top management executives through to production workers. Access was also granted to confidential reports, participation in the company’s annual environmental seminar and a stakeholder engagement meeting. Analysis was conducted in a number of phases, framed around research questions and themes drawn from prior literature. Findings: Findings and discussion are presented on three major research questions. Findings on the first research question about internal sustainability systems in the company suggest that senior management are incorporating sustainability issues into strategic planning. However, concerns over the environment have not fully cascaded down to the lower levels of the firm. Although Management Control and Environmental Management Systems are well integrated, these systems are relatively decoupled from the external reporting process. The second and third research questions focus on the distinction between the concepts of “reputation” and “legitimacy” in the case company. Three short-term issues and a long-term strategic decision in the company are outlined to illustrate how company response behaviours change according to: 1) the visibility of the issue, 2) stakeholder salience, and 3) the interconnectedness of stakeholders around the problem. The case company prefers direct action to contain problems where possible, and external reporting only features in some scenarios. Ultimately, it is proposed that reputation and legitimacy must be understood in terms of behaviours as well as external reporting outcomes. Originality/value: There has been a considerable focus on external reporting in corporate sustainability research, particularly in the accounting literature. The work that has been done on internal systems has been largely limited to case study work focused on characteristics and preconditions of sustainability processes together with limitations in current practice. The purpose of this research is to produce an in-depth case study looking at company responses to sustainability issues. It provides some new perspectives on the well researched concept of legitimacy along with some potential avenues for further theory development.

The general purpose of this study was to duplicate research conducted by Beverley Joyce Miller Pitts, Ph.D., regarding the newswriting process of practicing journalists. (Future reference regarding this study will be termed the Pitts study.) In an effort to update previous research, this study sought to: review literature published between 1981 and 1987, update research conducted since 1981, support or disprove previous findings as documented in the Pitts study, and provide further research regarding the journalist's newswriting process. The study was conducted separately from previous research; thereby adopting an objective atmosphere in which research and data were obtained. The methodology and procedure of this study were replicated from the Pitts study to ensure consistency in research methods. All analyses, discussions, summaries, conclusions, observations, and recommendations, presented in this study, are based solely on data gathered during the research and presentation phases of this study. / Department of Journalism

Recent research has focused more on the needs and usage of accounting information in favor of its investors. Hence, there has been less attention towards creditors’ information needs. Additionally, it has been criticized that accounting information has lost its relevance to its users (Francis & Schipper 1999; Hail 2013). As Allen and Cote (2005) stated, it is hard to make any improvements to financial reporting if creditors’ decision making behavior is not well investigated. Thus, the aim of this research is to narrow the gap between studies concerning the information needs and usefulness of accounting information among creditors and investors. In addition, the companies in Sweden are financing their operation by issuing debt rather than equity, which increases the importance to consider creditors’ information needs, and how useful accounting information is to them (Billings & Morton 2002; Ewing & Bhatia 2012). The data was collected through questionnaire surveys which were sent out to the branch managers of the biggest commercial banks in Sweden. The questionnaire was mainly based on questions that used five point likert-scale. Additionally, a few open questions were included. Overall, the results of this thesis indicate the consistency with recent research. The importance of accounting information is significant, and practically all three main statements; balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement, can be regarded to be complementary. An obvious difference is in the usage of financial statements compared to other information sources, as respondents claim to use accounting information nearly all the time when other sources were significantly less used.

Research on reporting crime to the police on the individual- and incident- levels has received much attention over the years. However, many studies examining neighborhood-level effects on reporting are limited in scope. The current study examines the relationship between neighborhood characteristics central to social disorganization theory and police notification. Data for this study were derived from Warner’s (2004) study entitled “Informal Social Control of Crime in High Drug Use Neighborhoods in Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky, 2000.” The analysis uses OLS regression models to isolate how different neighborhood characteristics impact reporting. Findings indicate that disadvantage and mobility have a positive effect on reporting but are mediated by social cohesion. Social cohesion has a negative effect on reporting while confidence in police had no significant effects. Suggestions for future research are also discussed.

This study examines injury in competitive bodychecking and non-body checking youth ice hockey in male and female leagues in Ontario and Quebec. This study consisted of three parts: (1) quantifying the amount of injuries; (2) document situational factors in which hockey injuries occur; (3) observe play and interview parents to understand deeper subjective feelings towards injury and bodychecking. The research utilized a mixed method approach consisting of game observation, postgame injury assessments and semi-structured interviewing with parents. For this thesis, 56 games total were attended and only parents from the bodychecking team were interviewed. All games were video recorded through a dual camera video system. Game footage was then analyzed frame by frame to pinpoint injury locations, points of impact and situational factors surrounding the injury. Field-notes and interviews with parents allowed for a comprehensive look into the feelings and emotions surrounding injury and bodychecking. Results from the research revealed; 1) a disproportionately higher rate of injury in bodychecking hockey comparared to non-bodychecking male and female hockey; 2) an overwhelming percentage of injuries were the result of player and board contact; 3) majority of injuries occurred on legal play; and 4) parents support the concept of delaying bodychecking till later ages.

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