Sustainability Reporting: A Paradigm for Stakeholder Conflict Management

This paper examined the nexus of corporate disclosure of environmental and social performance in form of sustainability reports on corporate stakeholder conflict management. Corporate stakeholder groups represent divergent interests in the activities of any corporation; as such, managing these interest groups is at the heart of survival for 21st century corporations. The study is descriptive in nature and uses survey technique. The respondents comprised 121, made up of the following stakeholder groups: employees (38); managers (15); corporate accountants (18); shareholders (22) and 28 persons. The primary data were collected with the aid of a structured 5 point likert scale questionnaire. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested in the study. Descriptive statistics and Multiple Regression Technique were used in analyzing the primary data. Our empirical findings revealed that sustainability reporting would require managers to identify Key Social and Environmental performance indicators, this serves as a tool in understanding social and environmental stakeholder behavior. Respondents perceived that managing social and environmental stakeholder needs is crucial in sustaining a long-term relationship between management and these stakeholder groups. The link between the three constructs of sustainability was also identified, i.e. social and economic performance relationship; social and environmental performance relationship and environmental and economic performance relationship. Based on this, the study suggests the adoption of sustainability reporting practices by organizations; this however, should not precede the identification of key social and environmental performance indicators that would facilitate the integration of performance across the three dimensions into corporate core objectives and strategic values.