Accounting for Social Impact Research Group
The Accounting for Social Impact Research Group aims to promote stakeholder-informed and practice-relevant research on accounting for social impact. Our research addresses accounting issues affecting organisations that seek to achieve positive social impact or reduce their negative impact. The focus of the group’s research is on developing evidence-based understanding on how accounting and accountability can support the measurement, evaluation, reporting and disclosure of social impacts. Social impact is a significant and emergent theme in contemporary business theory, practice and education.
We plan to achieve our aims through high-quality research and advocacy work in the social impact space, and engaging with the professional community, industry members and other stakeholders to help address pressing social issues through transparency. The research group brings together a diverse team of researchers who are knowledgeable in a range of topics and themes related to social impact accounting and transparency.
Members
Associate Professor Syrus Islam is a passionate researcher who examines accounting and related business topics in novel contexts, such as impact investing, social enterprises, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Some of the common themes underlying his research include accounting and social impact, management accounting and control system, impact investing, social enterprise, SDGs, impact measurement and management, and risk measurement and management.
Syrus plays a leadership role in the global impact investing industry. From 2020 to 2023, he served on the Impact Reporting and Investment Standards (IRIS+) Working Group of the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) in New York, USA, where he helped develop generally accepted metrics and implementation guidelines underlying IRIS+ which is used by more than 400 leading impact investing firms across over 55 countries. His research is impactful and well-recognised in national and international practitioner communities.
Dr Chris van Staden’s research focuses on corporate disclosure of information, especially environmental and social disclosures. He has published in international refereed accounting and management journals including Accounting, Organizations and Society, the Journal of Management, European Accounting Review, Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, the British Accounting Review, the Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, the Journal of Business Ethics, the Journal of Cleaner Production, Accounting and Business Research, and Accounting Forum, amongst others.
He is the recipient of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law at AUT Research Excellence Award in 2018. His research has been cited more than 7,500 times and is internationally recognised. He is a fellow and past-president of the Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ) and is an associate editor for the journals Accounting and Business Research and Accounting Forum.
Dr Zahir Ahmed’s research focuses on the accountability mechanisms within social impact organisations and how they effectively discharge their responsibilities to a broad array of stakeholders. He has examined the practices and frameworks that underpin accountability in these entities, highlighting the critical role they play in fostering transparency and trust. A notable publication in Critical Perspectives on Accounting detailed how the world's largest social impact NGO establishes hegemony through its accountability and management control processes. This work shed light on the power dynamics and control mechanisms that can influence organisational practices and stakeholder relationships.
Currently, he is engaged in a project that scrutinises the reporting practices of impact investing companies, exploring how they measure and communicate their social and environmental outcomes. This research aims to contribute to the ongoing discourse on the importance of robust impact measurement and reporting standards in the impact investing sector. Additionally, he is also working on another project that examines accountability dilemmas in these organisations based on interviews and document analysis.
Social impact means making a positive difference in people’s lives and the world around us. We could create social impact by helping others, improving the environment, or simply standing up for what’s right. As a researcher, Dr Sabrina Chong's key motivation is to carry out research that has social significance. Her research is primarily in sustainability accounting and reporting. Her present projects mainly focus on analysing the use of visualisation in corporate reporting for stakeholder communication. In particular, she has developed a keen interest in exploring the use of persuasive visualisation in sustainability reporting by companies in their attempt to gain moral approval from stakeholders.
These studies highlight the importance of visual literacy and contribute to a better understanding and more responsible utilisation of visuals by businesses in communicating sustainability messages. In addition, her current research interest also includes investigating corporate communication of specific social challenges such as workplace diversity, LGBTIQA+ issues, and the impact of the implementation of SDGs by the university sector on underrepresented cohorts.
Dr Lisa Nguyen is deeply committed to social impact research because she believes that the role of accountants and auditors extends far beyond financial reporting. Her passion lies in exploring how research can contribute to positive societal change, particularly in shaping the professional identity of accountants and auditors. By understanding and promoting ethical practices, transparency, and social responsibility within the profession, we can foster a more trustworthy and effective financial environment.
Additionally, her research on accounting practices in emerging markets aims to address the unique challenges these regions face, thereby supporting economic development and stability.
Professor Asheq Rahman’s main areas of social impact research include research in issues relating to corporate disclosure and its intersection with gender, language, culture, ethnicity, sustainability and societal crises, such as pandemics. His research has traversed different stages of technological changes in corporate disclosure, such as paper-based periodic reporting, internet reporting on corporate websites, continuous disclosure on stock exchange websites, and, more currently, corporate social media communication and disclosure.
Dr Suresh Ramachandra’s research focuses on the dimensions of accountability that impact society. Political, cultural, religious, and societal factors influence how accounting is perceived and executed, leading to varied accountability issues. This phenomenon is particularly evident in developing economies, where accountability dimensions starkly contrast with those recognised in developed economies. For example, political pressures on companies to conform to the ideologies of those in power often alter the concept of accountability, sometimes to the detriment of those who fall out of political favour.
Similarly, religious and cultural values can affect the power dynamics between investors and managers, resulting in suboptimal accountability practices. My research aims to raise awareness among business stakeholders, thereby achieving a meaningful social impact.
Lucy Wei’s social impact focus is on corporate ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) disclosure and how market participants, including investors and sell-side analysts, use ESG information. Her research aims to enhance the understanding of ESG's role in financial markets, supporting more informed and sustainable investment decisions.
Affiliations and stakeholders
We are affiliated with a number of institutions and international researchers.
- Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ)
- Certified Practicing Accountants (CPA) Australia
- Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand (AFAANZ)
- Australasian Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research (A-CSEAR)
- Quantitative Research Network (QRAN)
- Carol Adams – Emeritus Professor, University of Durham, UK, and Chair of the GRI’s Global Sustainability Standards Board
- Ericka Costa – Professor, University of Trento, Italy
- Irene Herremans – Professor, University of Calgary, Canada
- Muhammed Azizul Islam – Professor, University of Aberdeen, UK
- Sumit Lodhia – Professor and Co-executive director, Centre for Markets, Values and Inclusion, University of South Australia
- Jamal Nazari – Professor, Simon Fraser University, Canada
- Frank Schiemann – Professor, University of Bamberg, Germany
- Carol Tilt – Adjunct Research Professor, University of South Australia, Australia
- Helen Tregidga – Professor, Royal Holloway University of London, UK
Examples of our research
Below we highlight a selection of our research both published and projects in progress and include a short summary of the research and its findings in plain language as well as a link to the published article.
The ability to bring about a positive social or environmental impact is a fundamental goal of impact investing. But what happens when an impact investment fails to make a positive impact (for example, when an impact investment project about homelessness fails to reduce levels of homelessness)? Furthermore, while impact investment projects aim to create a positive impact, they may inadvertently create a negative impact. Overall, in impact investing, impact risk encompasses positive impact risk (i.e., the probability of failing to attain the desired positive impact) and/or negative impact risk i.e., the probability of creating a negative impact).
This study examines how impact investing firms adopt control mechanisms to manage their impact risk. Some of the major findings are:
- Impact risk in impact investing may arise from three major sources: the operations of investee companies, investor companies, and the broader impact investing ecosystem.
- Impact investors use a wide range of input, behaviour, and output control mechanisms to adequately address the impact risk arising from different sources.
- To avoid “analysis paralysis” in this highly ambiguous context, impact investors design their control mechanisms based on their long-standing experience and judgment as well as a trial-and-error approach.
- To avoid the illusion of designing a “fully perfect” control system (based on the “optimal” principle) in this highly uncertain context, impact investors design control systems that are “good enough” (based on the “satisficing” principle) to provide them with reasonable guidance to navigate the uncertain landscape of managing impact risk.
- Impact investors tend to focus more on managing positive impact risk than negative impact risk.
- While adopting control mechanisms to manage nonfinancial risk, managers should be mindful that specific control mechanisms that play a limited (or elaborated) role in managing financial risk may play an elaborated (or limited) role in managing nonfinancial risk.
Islam, S. M. (2023). Impact risk management in impact investing: How impact investing organizations adopt control mechanisms to manage their impact risk. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 35(2), 115-139.
https://librarysearch.aut.ac.nz/vufind/EdsRecord/bth,166102499
Conflict minerals are raw materials that come from a country or region with conflicts and human rights violations. Concern about the lack of transparency about the minerals used by global companies has led to increased concern among stakeholders like consumers and the general public. This has led to pressure through protest action by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individual activists. These actions resulted in the enactment of the ‘Dodd-Frank Act’ in the US that requires the disclosure the use of conflict minerals in the production process. This requires companies to accept responsibility for what happens beyond their own operations, i.e., companies are held accountable for the actions of their suppliers with regards to the source of supply of their products. We expect that companies that collaborate with social movement NGOs as well as activist protests against companies will influence the details and the quality of their disclosures about the use of conflict minerals in the production of their products. Our expectations are based on social movement theory and the theory of collaboration. We use a sample of global electronic reliant companies from 20 countries to test our expectations. We find that collaboration with NGOs and activist protests lead to more detailed and higher quality disclosures. These disclosures are therefore more informative. We also found that collaboration with NGOs has the biggest effect (i.e., protest is important, but cooperation was more important). Our findings therefore show that improved corporate transparency is the result of social movement actions via NGOs, i.e., regulation on its own may not result in better disclosures.
Islam, M. A. and Van Staden C.J. 2018. NGO collaboration and conflict mineral disclosure transparency: evidence from global companies. Accounting, Organizations and Society, 65: 1-19.
https://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/science/article/pii/S0361368217301149
