1. Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting
Vol. 4, No. 2 December 2010
Pp 87-88
Editorial Notes
Issues on Social and Environmental Accounting
The new millennium saw the emergence Hence, the term corporate social respon-
of a new way of thinking about the func- sibility (CSR) was born.
tions and duties of modern corporations.
The growing international demands for Whilst CSR in the seventies and eighties
companies to be more transparent and are more towards meeting society’s ex-
accountable for their economic, social pectations, and earn from society the
and environmental impacts everywhere informal ‘license to operate’, disclosing
they operate. Corporate managers are such information falls under the task of
pressed with more responsibility to serve Corporate Public Relation Department.
the needs of society at large. Today, The information provided understanda-
businesses are expected not only to in- bly would be more of an image enhancer
crease their bottom line but also to oper- to communicate and demonstrate a com-
ate within the ‘new moral marketplace’. pany’s commitment to improve social
Corporate morality is increasingly being performance. In today’s world the whole
judged by consumers, investors and em- question of business and environmental
ployees. Terms that are alien to many a sustainability has emerged to the fore-
few years ago such as ‘green marketing’, front with the ravages of climate change
‘environmentally friendly’, ‘gender sen- and global warming. This increasingly
sitive’, ‘fair trade’, ‘against animal test- calls for companies to align their CSR
ing’ and many more become household strategies to sustainability so that sus-
words and high on consumers’ con- tainable practices can be further en-
science of today. Beyond that, global hanced. With greater consumer sophisti-
issues like, the oil crisis, environmental cation and expectation for sustainability
degradation, human rights, labour issues development, CSR is gaining competi-
and energy issue forced the companies tive advantage in terms of market share,
to reconsider their objectives. Instead of attracting top talent and employee reten-
just trying to maximize profit and please tion. Well focussed and managed CSR
their shareholders, many multinational initiatives should improve relationship
corporations are beginning to understand with stakeholders and yield better finan-
that they now have a broad spectrum of cial results through sustainable innova-
stakeholders. This includes investors, tion, investment and decision making.
creditors, employee, governments, Thus, there is the need for the account-
NGOs and the various communities in ing fraternity to step in to provide infor-
which they operate. Businesses have to mation such as long-run profitability,
satisfy all these stakeholders’ needs, thus sustainability, social and environmental
have an additional role and purpose. investment, improved performance and

2. 88 M. M. Zain / Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting 2 (2010) 87-88
many more. Beyond that, the accounting theless, its characteristics remain unaf-
profession, academics, researches as fected. Companies are starting to realize
well as the practitioners need to play a that adopting socially responsible behav-
bigger role of not only providing data iour and voluntary course of action can
for disclose but also the quality and the provide long-term interests. CSR is also
assurance of the data provided. essentially tied to the concept of sustain-
able development. It promotes integra-
Therefore, it is imperative that Issues on tion of economic, social and environ-
Social and Environmental Accounting mental outcomes in standard manage-
be published to provide an avenue for ment and accounting systems. Therefore
accounting academics, researchers as CSR should be continuously driven to
well as practitioners to publish their higher levels to build on existing prac-
findings and serves a platform for intel- tice, optimizing its impact and making a
lectual discourse. As can be seen from positive link between social responsibili-
the articles published, this journal is in- ties and best business practices. A truly
deed an international journal without effective CSR strategy should be alive,
diminishing local flavour. Even though adaptable and embedded into the organi-
some of the articles are country specific, sation and aligned to the commercial
authors from various countries like Ja- objectives of the organisation. These
pan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Canada strategies must then be implemented and
discuss issues that are internationally practices, followed by reporting and dis-
relevant, interconnected and comprehen- closing them to the various stakeholders.
sive. These issues such as Ethics, Envi-
ronmental, Social, Disclosures, Sustain-
ability, Performance, to name a few, all
related to the 3 Ps’ (Profit, Planet and Mustaffa Mohamed Zain
People) and the Triple Bottom Line, are Professor of Corporate Social
scrutinised and deliberated in the arti- Responsibility
cles. Universiti Teknologi MARA
Shah Alam, Selangor
Through the years, CSR has evolves and Malaysia
comes in variety of approaches. None- dmustaff@salam.uitm.edu.my

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