Old Saddles for New Horses: How Non-Financial Assurance Reinforces Traditional Firm Boundaries
| Item Type | Conference or Workshop Item (Paper) |
| Abstract | In the absence of legally binding frameworks and standards, research has shown that the assurance of non-financial information has developed as an analogy of financial auditing, copying its processes, logics and methods. We study the consequences of this analogy through an in-depth study of hand collected data of FTSE100 sustainability reporting and assurance. We view non-financial assurance statements as discursive tools of boundary work and find that the financial audit logics in non-financial assurance reinforce rather than challenge traditional firm boundaries. We identify three mechanisms of boundary work that are responsible for this: a) stakeholder exclusion due to firm and management centricity, b) issue exclusion (exclusion of certain topics) due to conservatism in practice and measurement, and c) a limited audit scope due to methodological and professional constraints. We argue that this stands in sharp contrast to calls for problem-oriented, impact-focussed and inclusive approaches to sustainability measurement. Non-financial assurance in its current design is therefore not appropriate to give a true and fair view of the types of information needed to reflect the complex, dynamic and interdependent nature of the grand sustainability challenges. |
| Authors | Soonawalla, Kazbi & Ströhle, Judith |
| Language | English |
| Subjects | business studies Responsibility and Sustainability e.g. SDGs finance |
| Date | 2022 |
| Event Title | FRASOP - Financial Reporting and Auditing as Social and Organizational Practice |
| Event Location | London School of Economics |
| Event Dates | 12.-13.12.2022 |
| Depositing User | Prof. Dr. Judith Ströhle |
| Date Deposited | 17 Nov 2022 15:00 |
| Last Modified | 17 Nov 2022 15:00 |
| URI: | https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/publications/267965 |
DownloadFull text not available from this repository.CitationSoonawalla, Kazbi & Ströhle, Judith: Old Saddles for New Horses: How Non-Financial Assurance Reinforces Traditional Firm Boundaries. 2022. - FRASOP - Financial Reporting and Auditing as Social and Organizational Practice. - London School of Economics. Statisticshttps://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/id/eprint/267965
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