Milton Friedman’s theory of free market corporate responsibility, which states that the
maximizing of profits is the only social responsibility a law-abiding business has, is clearly a
concept of the past. A concept that is very relevant today, is the concept of sustainable
development, which may be defined as development that meets the needs of the present
world without forfeiting the ability of future generations to meet their personal needs. This
concept recognises that stakeholders and shareholders require forward-looking information to
attend to the economic, environmental and social aspects of a business’s activities. Previous
research has indicted that the financial performance of a business alone isn’t the sole reason
for its success. This demonstrates the change from a single-bottom-line management and
reporting approach to a triple-bottom-line management and reporting approach. The Global
Reporting Initiative (GRI) developed a Sustainability Reporting Framework that is generally
considered the most widely used framework in terms of social responsibility reporting.
In this research project, the unique set of business principles and values of co-operatives were
analyzed and evaluated, and congruence were found between sustainable development and
co-operative governance. Co-operatives in their diverse forms support the fullest participation
in the economic and social development of people since they put people at the centre of their
business and not capital. The primary objective of this study was to determine the extent to
which the GRI guidelines, as a reporting framework, are feasible or applicable to cooperatives
as a business model.
In this research project, the abovementioned GRI guidelines are applied on a selected cooperative’s
activities. The empirical case study, based on the agricultural co-operative Agri-
Com, illustrated that the Level C Reporting Framework as per the GRI, can be used very
successfully in the co-operative business model. In the case of Agri-Com, it was found that even though it is a co-operative, its primary management and reporting focus remained
primarily on the financial aspects. It can therefore be recommended that in this instance, the
guidelines per the Level C Reporting Framework, be considered as a method to better
embrace the principles of the co-operative business model. / Thesis (MCom (Management Accountancy))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/8725 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Du Toit, Maria Margrietha |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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