Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine hidden ESG as a practice–visibility configuration in which enterprises implement substantive sustainability activities but remain weakly visible in formal, publicly legible ESG disclosure. Focusing on Ukrainian agriculture under conditions of institutional fragility and conflict, the authors explain why sustainability practice often fails to translate into standardized reporting and why this matters for ESG governance and EU-aligned market access. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on 53 structured qualitative interviews with agricultural enterprises across 15 Ukrainian regions, the authors use an interpretive qualitative design with descriptive quantification. Standardized items map implemented sustainability practices and internal assessment and disclosure/communication channels, while open-ended prompts elicit explanations of under-disclosure. Data were analyzed through inductive thematic coding alongside descriptive statistics to identify action–visibility configurations and interpret their drivers. Findings Many enterprises report meaningful environmental and social practices – for example, soil and input stewardship, efficiency measures and community support – yet restrict related information to fragmented compliance submissions or local audiences rather than formal ESG channels. Under-disclosure is sustained by a translation failure shaped by fragmented reporting infrastructures, limited administrative capacity, low institutional trust and perceived disclosure risk, weak/uncertain benefits of formal reporting and wartime prioritization of operational continuity and solidarity. Research limitations/implications The sample is diverse but not statistically representative. Conceptually, this study shifts attention from disclosure volume to legibility, showing how institutional fragmentation can produce low ESG visibility even when practice is substantive and clarifying the boundary with greenhushing by emphasizing constrained reporting capacity and infrastructure rather than primarily strategic silence. Practical implications For regulators and standard-setters, the findings of this study support modular, low-burden reporting pathways that convert data already produced for tax, environmental and statistical compliance into a small set of sector-relevant ESG indicators, reducing duplication and enabling comparability. For banks, buyers and donors, lightweight evidence templates (focused on a limited number of practice-based indicators) can improve screening and monitoring for sustainability-linked finance and procurement, allowing high-practice enterprises to be recognized without requiring full-scale Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive-style reporting. Social implications Improving ESG legibility can reduce the exclusion of smaller and non-listed agricultural enterprises from sustainability-linked finance, reconstruction programs and policy dialogue and can better align stakeholder decisions with real sustainability performance rather than reporting capacity. This is relevant to rural communities, employees, lenders and policymakers who rely on credible information to allocate resources and design support. Originality/value This paper reframes under-disclosure as a practice–visibility mismatch rooted in institutional conditions, showing how ESG governance can unintentionally reward reporting capacity over sustainability performance. This study provides a context-sensitive explanation of hidden ESG in a transition and conflict-affected economy and offers actionable implications for making substantive practices externally legible.

Purpose This study aims to set out to challenge the prevailing assumption in the Technology–Organization–Environment (TOE) framework that process automation and analytics invariably enable further digital progress. Drawing on the notion of technological path-dependency, the study investigates whether – and under which conditions – automation, analytics and digital readiness reinforce or undermine one another across accounting functions. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey of 819 German accounting professionals (2020) covering financial accounting (FA), management accounting (MA) and tax/audit was analyzed with Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The study develops and validates a formative multi-item DIGITAL READINESS scale and executes multi-group analyses to test boundary conditions for the ANALYTICS resp. AUTOMATION–READINESS link across functions, firm sizes and industries. Additional robustness checks are used. Findings Evidence confirms a positive impact of several technology and organizational factors on the implementation of automation and analytics but also reveals an automation-rigidity paradox: higher levels of process automation are negatively related to an accounting function’s capability to absorb subsequent digital innovations. The new DIGITAL READINESS scale shows satisfactory reliability and validity and can be interpreted as adaptive capacity for further digital transformation. Research limitations/implications The single-country, cross-sectional design limits causal inference and generalizability. Future studies should track organizations longitudinally, replicate in other institutional contexts and examine curvilinear or time-lagged effects of automation. Practical implications Chief financial officer (CFOs) should balance automation gains with modular governance and workforce upskilling to avoid rigidity traps. The validated scale offers a diagnostic tool for benchmarking digital readiness before investing in next-wave technologies such as generative artificial intelligence. Originality/value The study confirms several findings of prior research concerning the impact of TOE factors on digitalization, uncovers and theorizes a negative automation effect that contradicts core TOE expectations, refines the TOE framework by integrating a flexibility/path-dependency lens and mapping its boundary conditions and contributes a newly validated digital readiness measure for reuse in accounting and IS research.

Purpose This study aims to investigate how organizational actors engage in institutional work to shape and sustain intra-organizational accountability mechanisms and identifies which forms of institutional work are most effective in combating corruption and fostering accountability within a social business organization. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on institutional work theory, this study uses a survey-based methodology using primary data from 250 Grameen Bank employees across different organizational levels. Boundary work, practice work and relational work are operationalized through validated survey constructs. Probit and logit models are used to examine how these forms of institutional work, alongside employee characteristics, predict perceptions of organizational transparency and corruption. Findings Results show that punitive measures and enforcement mechanisms (boundary work) are the most effective institutional practices for promoting transparency and reducing corruption. In contrast, corruption-prevention measures and anti-corruption training have limited impact, pointing to gaps in practice. Employee experience also plays a significant role, with longer-tenured employees reporting higher perceptions of corruption. These findings underscore the need for adaptive institutional work to maintain and refine accountability mechanisms over time. Research limitations/implications This study focuses on a single social business in a developing country, which may limit generalizability. Future research could adopt comparative or longitudinal designs to examine how accountability mechanisms evolve across different contexts. Practical implications Organizations should strengthen enforcement-led accountability (boundary work) while rethinking the design and delivery of ethics training to ensure contextual relevance. Interventions targeting experienced staff are critical to prevent the normalization of deviance. Originality/value This study contributes to institutional work literature by highlighting the role of micro-level practices in shaping intra-organizational accountability. It expands research on organizational governance by demonstrating how different forms of institutional work interact to influence transparency and corruption prevention in a complex organizational setting.

Purpose Non-financial indicators (NFIs) redirect attention from financial metrics to a broader spectrum of indicators related to the effectiveness of internal processes. While their adoption in past has been driven by internal corporate decisions, the approval of the EU directive has established ESG reporting as a mandatory standard. The scope of these requirements raises concerns about their counterproductive effect. Consequently, this study aims to investigate whether NFIs would have been adopted voluntarily, even in the absence of regulatory intervention. Additional attention was given to the factors influencing decisions on NFIs. Design/methodology/approach This research was conducted in the context one of transitional economies, characterized by the incomplete adoption of Western business standards. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey and analyzed using the Chi-square test. To gain insights into the motivations of decision-makers, the study was complemented by semistructured interviews. Findings Only a limited number of companies demonstrate their own need to implement NFIs. Hypothesis testing showed that increased interest in these indicators is related to the size of the company, while other factors appear to be insignificant. Furthermore, this study explores the underlying causes of this situation and presents an example of good practice through a case study. Originality/value While prior studies have concentrated on the indicators themselves, this research examines the attributes of the entire system. It contributes to a more understanding of NFIs and the barriers to their implementation within companies from transitional economy. Additionally, the study underscores the importance of organizational autonomy in the management of NFIs.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of sustainability committees (SCs) and CEO attributes (i.e. tenure, age, shareholdings and duality) in driving SDG disclosure breadth among Malaysian publicly listed firms. Furthermore, this study examines the moderate role of female board directors between SCs and CEO attributes to influence corporate SDG outcomes. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a panel data set of 1,958 firm-year observations from Malaysian listed firms (2018–2021). Sustainability data were hand-collected from sustainability reports, while financial and governance data were extracted from annual reports and Capital IQ. Fixed-effects regression with robust standard errors and system GMM estimation were applied to address endogeneity and ensure robustness of results. Findings The results of this study indicate that the presence of SCs significantly enhances the SDG disclosure breadth among Malaysian listed firms. Furthermore, the female director has a direct positive impact on increasing the SDG disclosure breadth. Originality/value This study is original in three ways. First, this study offers the first large-sample evidence (1,958 firm-years, 2018–2021) on how SCs shape firms’ SDG disclosure breadth in Malaysia’s emerging-market setting. Second, this paper uniquely tests the moderating role of board gender diversity, showing that SC amplify the contribution of female directors to SDG outcomes. Third, this study triangulates fixed-effects estimates with system GMM to address endogeneity, using hand-collected SDG measures from sustainability reports. Collectively, this study identifies governance mechanisms that advance SDG performance and informs Malaysian governance reforms and investor stewardship.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of Spanish Non-Financial Information (NFI) regulation on the processes driving sustainability reporting (SR) in becoming a social norm in Spain. The focus is placed specifically on the road passenger transport sector. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a qualitative approach by combining various data sources, primarily interviews and documents. Findings The research indicates that the number of reporting companies from the Spanish road passenger transport sector has increased over time, primarily due to the coercive pressure exerted by the Spanish NFI regulation. However, the authors have found that this regulation does not conform to the prevailing practices and standards. Moreover, the socio-political context surrounding the law’s launch hindered its effectiveness as an instrument of change in the SR activity. Consequently, the Spanish NFI regulation has not become a socially accepted norm in Spain, particularly among road passenger transport companies. Originality/value This paper makes several important contributions to the existing literature. Firstly, it explores how socio-political, cultural and historical factors impact SR activities. Secondly, it uses the concept of normativity, as developed by Bebbington et al. (2012), to provide deeper theoretical insights into the dynamic processes involved in the institutionalisation of SR within a specific field.

Purpose This study investigates the integration of environmental management control systems (EMCSs) into core business activities and its implication for environmental performance (EP) and financial performance (FP). Prior research highlights the potential benefits of EMCSs but often overlooks integration dimensions and their role in organizational change. This study aims to address these gaps by differentiating the technical and management dimensions of integration in a cross-sectional context. Design/methodology/approach This study employs a dyadic survey of 112 large German firms to empirically assess the influence of different dimensions on the relationship between EMCSs and performance. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, we test whether management and technical integration moderate the effectiveness of EMCSs in improving EP and FP. Findings The results indicate that integrated EMCSs are associated with improvements in both EP and FP, though the impact varies based on the type of integration. Management integration strengthens the positive link between EMCSs and EP, whereas the positive relationship between EMCSs and FP is contingent upon high levels of technical integration. These findings indicate the conditions under which a win–win scenario for EP and FP may emerge. Originality/value This study distinguishes technical and management integration as contingencies in the EMCS–performance relationship and interprets them as deliberate change activities that enable organizational change. The findings suggest that integration can support both performance improvement and organizational transformation tendencies, refining contingency theory and offering managers guidance on embedding sustainability while balancing environmental and financial goals.

Purpose This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of modern machine learning classifiers, random forest, gradient boosting trees, decision trees, support vector machines and logistic regression, in forecasting corporate bankruptcy among Italian firms, aiming to surpass traditional credit-scoring approaches by leveraging rich financial data. Design/methodology/approach Using a comprehensive panel of 1,826,157 firm–year observations (532,255 active; 76,464 bankrupt) from 1980 to 2019, the authors compare models trained on different data configurations, while addressing class imbalance through undersampling and advanced synthetic minority over-sampling technique (SMOTE) techniques. Models are validated on held-out samples, regional subsets and an out-of-time test (2016–2017), with performance gauged by area under the curve (AUC), F1-score, precision, recall and specificity. Findings Ensemble methods (random forest and gradient boosting) outperform other classifiers, particularly when using raw accounting inputs, achieving AUCs near 0.99 and F1-scores up to 0.98; resampling enhances robustness without diminishing predictive power, and variable-importance analysis underscores capital-structure metrics as key early warning indicators. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first large-scale Italian bankruptcy study to juxtapose ratio-based models with high-dimensional raw data under multiple SMOTE variants, revealing that comprehensive financial statement variables markedly improve predictive accuracy and offering novel insights for both researchers and risk practitioners.

Purpose The sustainable development goals (SDGs) provide a comprehensive framework for transitioning to sustainable development. African companies play a crucial role in this process because the continent lags significantly in achieving the SDGs. This study examines the extent of SDG-related disclosure by African companies and the role of institutional factors, financial stakeholders and legitimacy concerns in shaping this disclosure. Design/methodology/approach The study analyses 6,534 annual reports from 964 companies across 16 African countries from 2015 to 2023. The authors assess SDG-related disclosure from the frequency of SDG-related keywords in the reports using computer-assisted textual analysis. Findings African companies most frequently report on topics related to SDG3 (good healthcare and well-being), SDG8 (decent work and economic growth), SDG9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure) and SDG16 (peace, justice and strong institutions). SDG disclosure remains relatively stable from 2015 to 2020, with a notable increase thereafter. The authors find that debt providers are generally associated with lower SDG disclosure levels, whereas other determinants’ influence varies by countries. Institutional quality and development assistance are linked to lower SDG disclosure in South Africa and countries with strong institutions but increase disclosure where institutions are weak, suggesting a greater impact in less developed settings. Cross-listing reduces SDG disclosure in South Africa, likely due to a de facto reporting mandate, but increases it elsewhere, underscoring the role of international market pressure in African countries other than South Africa. Finally, affiliation with environmentally sensitive industries is associated with higher disclosure only in weak institutional settings, reflecting the importance of legitimacy pressures where formal institutions are lacking. Research limitations/implications The findings highlight the role of the institutional environment and financial stakeholders in African countries and emphasise the need to differentiate between different African countries. Practical implications Policymakers and regulators can use these insights to tailor sustainability reporting guidelines to regional contexts, and corporations can leverage the findings to align their reporting with stakeholder expectations and global sustainability goals. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to provide large-scale empirical evidence on SDG disclosures by African companies. The study offers novel insights into how institutional quality, financial stakeholders and legitimacy pressures shape SDG-related disclosure, thereby accounting for the diversity of African contexts.

Purpose This study aims to better understand the role of institutions for sustainability integration within organisations and the broader debate on whether the integration of sustainability with existing systems of management accounting and control should be pursued. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal case study (2017–2023) of a large European logistics company, based on 23 interviews, site visits and other secondary data sources, was conducted. An institutional framework was used to frame two analytical levels of integration (i.e. strategic and tactical/operational) and institutions (i.e. external and internal) over time. Findings There is resistance to integration along organisational, technical and cognitive dimensions. Sustainability roles and functions remain decoupled from financial ones, and cognitive integration remains limited to tactical levels and sustainability personnel. Meanwhile, the rules of existing accounting systems have not changed, while the informal routines associated with them have, in response to broader institutional demands, particularly for environmental information. Research limitations/implications Beyond contributing to the sustainability integration concept, the study adds to institutional research on management accounting change by suggesting that changes in system use, rather than system design, are important for sustainability issues. Practical implications Managers in large organisations should focus on the technical and cognitive aspects of integration to develop common calculation infrastructures and shared mindsets around sustainability. Meanwhile, specialised personnel still appear necessary to coordinate and control sustainability efforts. Originality/value The study provides a nuanced understanding of the integration concept and the role of institutions in the integration process – particularly the degree of integration across different levels and dimensions, as well as the various, parallel integration pathways.