Assessing quality assessment of corporate social reporting: UK perspectives

Abstract

This paper examines evaluation systems of UK corporate environmental and social reporting (CSR). Three issues are addressed: what do corporations and quality assessors (QAs) regard as quality CSR; problems with quality assessment in practice, and; formal monitoring processes and award schemes as a determinant and driver of CSR. Findings are informed by interviews with four UK-based assessment organisations and 60 corporate representatives. The paper concludes that: corporations adopt less comprehensive definitions of quality than QAs; QAs adopt more stringent definitions of quality than academics; methodological problems of quality assessment highlighted in the academic literature are experienced by QAs; and that benchmarking and award schemes are important drivers of CSR.