Valentina Minutiello

Integrating environmental and social practices into small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remains challenging, particularly, due to limited corporate social responsibility (CSR) implementation and the lack of effective environmental management tools. This study explores the drivers behind sustainability adoption and environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure among 196 Italian manufacturing SMEs in the northern region. Using a mixed-methods approach and PLS-SEM analysis, the research identifies the main factors influencing SMEs' alignment with the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Results show that corporate beliefs are more influential in guiding sustainability strategies than leaders' personal backgrounds or firm characteristics. Additionally, the availability of sustainability accounting tools and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated sustainability transitions. The study provides early but significant insights into how SMEs are approaching responsible practices and offers guidance for policymakers and institutions to support this shift. It highlights the urgent need for targeted frameworks that help SMEs fully integrate social and environmental considerations, thus contributing meaningfully to the global SDGs agenda.

Different fields of research have conducted studies on the topic of behavioural research. Accounting researchers' attention to this topic has recently started to grow, and consequently, the need to define the future development of the research field has emerged. This paper aims to conduct a literature review on the topic of behavioural accounting research (BAR) to clarify what has already been studied by researchers and to suggest possible new research developments. For this purpose, a new methodology called 'Systematic Literature Network Analysis' (SLNA) was applied. The findings confirm the need to further explore this research area by conducting new empirical studies on the application of behavioural theories and by using new tools for data collection. The paper's contributions to the literature are the following: it provides a systematic picture of the literature on BAR, applies a new methodology for the analysis of the literature, and provides an agenda for future research.

The importance of introducing a new sustainable development paradigm to safeguard the entire planet is now undisputed. One of the tools aiming to respond to this need consists of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) contained within the 2030 Agenda. Businesses play a crucial role in achieving these objectives and must prove themselves to be active actors in promoting sustainable practices. However, the integration of these objectives within their business models turns out to be a complex operation, which requires numerous skills and resources. This paper consists of a systematic literature review on the topic of research on the SDGs in the areas of business, management and accounting with the aim of identifying the barriers facing communities and tools to support companies in this process, as well as possible areas for improvement. Furthermore, it allows us to identify gaps on which future research should focus. To achieve this aim, papers related to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs published in journals indexed in the Scopus database between January 2015 and June 2024 were analysed. The results demonstrated a great heterogeneity within the research area and the emergence of some important concepts, such as the circular economy, artificial intelligence and Industry 4.0, and some recurring themes, such as the role of stakeholders in achieving the SDGs and the financial and non-financial benefits of SDG strategies and practices.

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the quality of disclosure of a cutting-edge reporting tool - integrated reporting () - in terms of its effectiveness to report on COVID-19 pandemic information, its ability to provide forward-looking information and risk impact implications, and its quality determinants in challenging times. Design/methodology/approach - Thanks to a content analysis of 247 for FY20, an integrated reporting disclosure score was developed to assess the disclosure quality provided by the sampled companies. Three research questions were tested through logistic regressions. Findings - Non-financial disclosure activities struggle to provide adequate information in terms of potential future scenarios, risk assessment and forward-looking analyses. However, companies incorporated in "Anglo-Saxon" territories drafted integrated reports of higher quality. More recently, incorporated companies have made a greater effort to measure and report COVID-19 pandemic impacts on environmental, social and governance and business activities, also increasing their risk assessment and mitigation efforts. Concerning the determinants of disclosure quality, leverage, corporate governance structures, country of incorporation and belonging to "high impact" industries all lead to a higher quality of disclosure. Originality/value - Examining in detail corporate social responsibility activities and corporate governance integrity is pivotal to orienting strategy towards sustainable trajectories: to do so, corporate reporting and disclosure practices are essential tools. In this context, corporate governance systems that emphasize board diversity are proven, even in disruptive circumstances, to play a crucial role in providing corporate reports of higher quality. High disclosure quality that goes beyond mere financial results is considered to be necessary to remain competitive strategically, socially and environmentally.

This study investigates the quality of intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) within integrated reporting (IR). We performed a longitudinal analysis with the aim of addressing if a significant IC quality improvement occurred. We analysed 424 integrated reports, issued by 53 international companies operating in different industries over eight years (2013-2020). A manual content analysis was performed to assess the ICD quality. Findings reveal that the average level of ICD quality is low, for IC considered as a whole and for each of its three categories, while the IC category described most is that of relational capital. The quality of ICD increases over time. Investors and stakeholders need to know more about the quality of companies' reports about intellectual capital to guide their decision-making process. The study supports proprietary cost theory as it highlights a limited quality of ICD in IR even if with an improving trend over time.

L'attenzione alla sostenibilità e l'applicazione dei criteri ESG al modello di business sono ormai diventati un presupposto necessario ma non sufficiente per le imprese. Si sta assistendo a un cambiamento radicale nella visione di queste tematiche, anche grazie all'attenzione delle organizzazioni sovranazionali e dell'opinione pubblica sempre più focalizzata sull'impatto delle aziende sulla società e sull'ambiente interno ed esterno. Di conseguenza, i vari attori stanno gradualmente rinnovando il proprio modello di business, i processi e le risorse tangibili e intangibili per soddisfare le nuove richieste degli stakeholder.

This study investigates how the Italian academic system tackled the COVID-19 emergency, in terms of teachers' perceptions of how to provide an effective educational experience during this unprecedented situation. We analyse the degree of academic digitalization, trying to identify the main changes in teaching methods introduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic, underlining those that could also be effective in the ‘new normal’. We developed an explorative survey for professors of Italian universities, analysed by means of PLS-SEM techniques. 286 out of 877 identified academics took part in the survey (i.e., 32.61% of the total population). Due to the nature of the results gathered, we proposed a two-level analysis. First, we implemented a syntactic analysis on the open and closed questions to emphasize the impacts that the pandemic had on instructors and academia as a whole. Second, by implementing SmartPLS procedures, we analysed in depth the quantitative data gathered. Among the main findings of our study, we observed that digitalization and distance-learning played a secondary role in influencing the organization of educational programs compared with the learning experience and its primary role in defining student performance. In short, this study represents one of the very first attempts to analyse the adoption of new teaching practices following an anomalous disruption to our daily lives (i.e., the COVID-19 pandemic). It highlights the need to shift towards active learning approaches in higher education, even within a blended-learning or distance-learning environment, emphasizing a student-centred teaching method and its experientialism. This should lead – from a managerial point of view of academia – to a lower ‘churn rate’ and – from an educational standpoint for policy-makers – to a decrease in dropouts due to lack of interest and a poor learning experience.

The amount of literature on IR has grown over the last few years, but while particular attention has been paid to the variables that can play a role in IR adoption, IR quality and its determinants are still the subject of debate. The main determinants of IR quality outlined by the literature are firm size, industry, national context, firm performance, assurance, and to a lesser extent, corporate governance and company ownership structure. However, previous studies have usually reached conflicting results, thus not providing shared conclusions. This paper aims to understand the impact of the Board of Directors' features on IR quality, evaluated in terms of the degree of compliance between IR content and the guidelines suggested in the IR framework presented by IIRC. The Board's characteristics considered are size, composition and diversity with regard to board members' gender, age and level of education. 53 companies were taken into consideration from 2013 to 2016 for a total number of 212 integrated reports. Five research hypotheses were developed. Research findings highlight that IR quality is positively associated with the level of education of board members, and negatively with the presence of women. Moreover, among control variables, profitability (positive relation) and leverage (negative relation) are relevant determinants. Our research findings support the idea that the "quality" of the board members matters more than their "quantity" in increasing IR quality, and that diversity in the board is more relevant than diversity of the board.

Integrated reporting (IR) represents the last frontier of corporate disclosure and aims to include material financial and nonfinancial information in a single document. One of the main objectives of IR, in the idea conceived by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), is to provide recipients with written information in a clear, understandable, and accessible way. In light of this goal, this study, using stakeholder theory, aims to examine the readability of integrated reports and the factors capable of affecting this level of readability. The analysis, conducted on a sample of 221 international companies that published an integrated report in 2020, shows a low level of readability of the integrated reports examined. Furthermore, it demonstrates a positive effect of firm size and financial leverage on the level of readability of the integrated reports, also highlighting a nonsignificant impact of firm profitability. Our results offer important contributions to theory and practice.

Increasing attention is now being paid to the concept of sustainability as a crucial element of our life at all levels. The awareness that attention must be paid not only to the present, but also and above all to the future of the society in which we live has increased attention to social and environmental issues, such as climate change and the digital revolution. This transformation has also impacted the public sector: in particular, the scientific attention in the university sector has led to the birth of the concept of University Social Responsibility (USR), which suggests that universities sustainably re-transform their work. However, this issue has so far only been the subject of a few studies. The purpose of this article is to promote greater awareness on the part of universities of the importance of addressing sustainability issues. The results of the analysis, obtained thanks to the use of a questionnaire and interviews, depict the state of the art in the adoption of social reporting practices by Italian universities and identify the main reasons and barriers to the adoption of these practices.