Sustainability Management Accounting Research Articles

Sustainability and strategic management accounting: evidence of green manufacturing in Thailand

Sustainability and strategic management accounting: evidence of green manufacturing in Thailand

Sustainability management accounting – enabling macro-level sustainability transformation towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Purpose Business has a critical part to play in transforming the global economy and society to achieve sustainable development. Many granular sustainability accounting and management tools have been offered. To systematize these piecemeal developments, this paper aims to develop a framework for analysis of the potential role of sustainability management accounting (SMA). The key challenge addressed is how SMA could be extended to support future-oriented, long-term, pro-active management of multiple issues to contribute towards strong sustainable development at the macro-economy level. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper examines SMA within a multi-level, context-action-transformation framework which can move organizations and society towards sustainability. Based on normative stakeholder theory, including concern for mainstreaming marginalized stakeholders, the paper discusses the role of SMA and how it can contribute necessary information to sustainable development of the company and beyond its boundaries. Findings Guided by a SMA framework linking context, action and transformation and normative stakeholder theory, which considers all stakeholders, the paper shows how the present lack of progress towards macro-level sustainable development can be addressed. This requires a focus on measuring and assessing positive impacts and forward-looking, long-term and proactive management of multiple sustainability issues as typified by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Practical implications The paper distinguishes between two aspects of SMA – a focus on reducing unsustainability and a focus on transformations towards sustainability. It is observed that there is insufficient emphasis on the latter at present if SMA is to provide comprehensive support to achieving the SDGs. A set of supportive tools is presented as a guide to practice and future developments. Originality/value The paper considers how SMA can enable and support transformations towards sustainability at the macro- and meso-level. Different transformational challenges and opportunities are discussed. In particular, the need to balance consideration of time, proactivity and multiplicity, as highlighted in the SDGs, is identified as the central way forward for SMA.

SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Sustainable Balanced Scorecard (SBSC), Organizational Sustainability Performance Index (OSPI), and Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) are all tools that help organizations measure and manage their sustainability performance. SBSC integrates sustainability considerations into traditional performance management systems, while OSPI and ISE provide sustainability performance benchmarks for organizations to assess their sustainability performance and identify areas for improvement. These indicators reflect a growing emphasis on measuring and managing sustainability performance in organizations and are likely to become increasingly important as stakeholders demand more transparency and accountability in sustainability reporting. Sustainable Management System (SMS), Environmental Management Accounting (EMA), Sustainability Management Accounting (SMA), and the Composite Index of Sustainable Development (ICSD) are all indicators that reflect the growing emphasis on sustainable practices and accounting frameworks in today’s business and economic. SMS helps organizations integrate sustainability considerations into their operations, while EMA and SMA provide tools for identifying and measuring the environmental and social costs and benefits of business activities. ICSD measures a country’s progress towards sustainable development based on various economic, social, and environmental indicators. These indicators suggest a growing recognition of the importance of sustainability in economic development and decision-making processes, and are likely to become increasingly important as organizations and governments continue to prioritize sustainability.

Sustainability Management Accounting in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals: The Role of Performance Auditing in the Manufacturing Sector

This study aims to examine the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the manufacturing sector in Indonesia, one of the largest contributors of carbon emissions. This sector needs to implement sustainability as outlined in SDG 9: Sustainable Industrialization and Innovation, and SDG 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns. However, developing countries often experience difficulties in promoting the implementation of SDGs due to insufficient maturity in their manufacturing sector. This research empirically examines the relationship between Sustainability Management Accounting (SMA) and Environmental Management Systems (EMS) to determine whether these two variables can improve Organizational Performance (OP) in the Indonesian manufacturing sector. A quantitative method with data collection using survey methods through questionnaires was employed. In this study, 325 respondents were sampled and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis was used to examine the data. The study’s findings reveal a significant and positive link between SMA and EMS, as well as between these two variables and OP. The findings indicate that EMS plays a mediating role in the relationship between SMA and OP in the Indonesian manufacturing sector. This research highlights the importance of SMA and EMS as tools for promoting SDGs in the manufacturing industry in developing countries.

Sustainability Management Accounting and Organizational Performance: The Mediating Role of Environmental Management System

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sustainability management accounting, environmental management system, and organizational performance for the Malaysian manufacturing industry. The data were collected from 350 manufacturing companies in Malaysia using online questionnaires. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the relationship between sustainability management accounting, environmental management system, and organizational performance. The findings showed that there was a significant positive relationship between sustainability management accounting and organizational performance (β = 0.530, p < 0.001), sustainability management accounting and environmental management system (β = 0.583, p < 0.001), and environmental management system and organizational performance (β = 0.168, p < 0.05). The findings also found an indirect effect of sustainability management accounting on organizational performance (β = 0.271, p < 0.05) through environmental management system implementation. Results show that environmental management systems can be considered as partial mediators. The environmental management system as a mediator for the Malaysian manufacturing industry increased the impact of sustainability management accounting on organizational performance. This study provides a fundamental approach for practitioners and manufacturing researchers to improve organizational performance through the implementation of sustainability management accounting and environmental management systems.

Debating accounting and sustainability: from incompatibility to rapprochement in the pursuit of corporate sustainability

PurposeThis article explores and contrasts the views of two influential research projects within the social and environmental accounting space. Both projects advocate for sustainability. The first here referred to as the Critical Social and Environmental Accounting Project (CSEAP), was developed and championed by Rob Gray and calls for immediate radical structural change. The second one is called the Pragmatic Sustainability Management Accounting Project (PSMAP), championed by Stefan Schaltegger, and advocates for an entrepreneurial process of creating radical solutions in joint stakeholder collaboration over time.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is the culmination of a decade-long debate between Gray and Schaltegger as advocates of CSEAP and PSMAP, respectively. Specifically, the paper explores the differences and agreements between CSEAP and PSMAP on whether and how companies should pursue sustainability and the role of accounting in these efforts. The paper focusses on critical issues that exemplify the tension in their views: general goals, the role of structure and agency and how to creating change and transformation.FindingsThe article contrasts CSEAP's uncompromising antagonising approach to accountability and fundamental systemic change with PSMAP's pragmatic approach to sustainability accounting with its management and entrepreneurship-orientated approach to change and unwavering support for transformative managers on the front lines. Despite their apparent differences, the paper also outlines areas of agreement between these two positions and how accounting and sustainability can move forward.Research limitations/implicationsThe debate tries to reconcile language and conceptional differences in the social and environmental accounting (SEA) and sustainability management accounting (SMA) communities to reduce confusion in the research space over what sustainability is for organisations and what role accounting plays in this. The authors hope that the tension between the different positions outlined in this paper generates new insights and positions on the topic.Practical implicationsWhile the two views explored in this paper are primarily incompatible, each generates implications for practice, research and education. Debates like this are crucial to moving from discursive disagreement to creating a tolerant and robust foundation for moving forward and achieving much-needed sustainable transitions in the economy and society.Originality/valueThe authors offer shared understandings, points of continuing disagreement and alternative views on the nature of sustainability. The debate forges a bridge of understanding where both sides can learn from each other.

Estimating Aboveground Biomass of Two Different Forest Types in Myanmar from Sentinel-2 Data with Machine Learning and Geostatistical Algorithms

The accurate estimation of spatially explicit forest aboveground biomass (AGB) provides an essential basis for sustainable forest management and carbon sequestration accounting, especially in Myanmar, where there is a lack of data for forest conservation due to operational limitations. This study mapped the forest AGB using Sentinel-2 (S-2) images and Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) based on random forest (RF), stochastic gradient boosting (SGB) and Kriging algorithms in two forest reserves (Namhton and Yinmar) in Myanmar, and compared their performance against AGB measured by the traditional methods. Specifically, a suite of forest sample plots were deployed in the two forest reserves, and forest attributes were measured to calculate the plot-level AGB based on allometric equations. The spectral bands, vegetation indices (VIs) and textures derived from processed S-2 data and topographic parameters from SRTM were utilized to statistically link with field-based AGB by implementing random forest (RF) and stochastic gradient boosting (SGB) algorithms. Followed by an evaluation of the algorithmic performances, RF-based Kriging (RFK) models were employed to determine the spatial distribution of AGB as an improvement of accuracy against RF models. The study’s results showed that textural measures produced from wavelet analysis (WA) and vegetation indices (VIs) from Sentinel-2 were the strongest predictors for evergreen forest reserve (Namhton) AGB prediction and spectral bands and vegetation indices (VIs) showed the highest sensitivity to the deciduous forest reserve (Yinmar) AGB prediction. The fitted models were RF-based ordinary Kriging (RFOK) for Namhton forest reserve and RF-based co-Kriging (RFCK) for Yinmar forest reserve because their respective R2, whilst the RMSE values were validated as 0.47 and 24.91 AGB t/ha and 0.52 and 34.72 AGB t/ha, respectively. The proposed random forest Kriging framework provides robust AGB maps, which are essential to estimate the carbon sequestration potential in the context of REDD+. From this particular study, we suggest that the protection/disturbance status of forests affects AGB values directly in the study area; thus, community-participated or engaged forest utilization and conservation initiatives are recommended to promote sustainable forest management.

Towards an Environmental Sustainability Management Accounting Template

In the 1980s, a recognition of the growing significance of environmental sustainability saw a momentum of pressure to go beyond financial reporting to include non-financial reports, with a focus on corporate governance and sustainability matters (Larrinaga and Bebbington, 2021). That momentum stemmed from general references to sustainable development by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (1980), through to defined references in the Brundtland Report (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987), initiatives from the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC 2005). Further work by the GRI - Global Reporting Initiative (1999, 2016), and successive COP summits led to the establishment of the International Sustainability Standards Board (November 2021) by the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, linked to the International Accounting Standards Board. Currently, on a voluntary basis, many companies disclose sustainability initiatives and results, often based on the framework and methodology issued by the GRI. In some localities, aspects are now compulsory (e.g., France, Sweden, Brazil, South Africa, UK). The reporting scope itself has evolved from, initially, the three pillars of people, planet, profit, wider scopes. The three evolved into four: human, social, economic and environmental, and then into five: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnerships. The challenge to organisations is to identify what needs to be measured and how, and to be reported upon. This working paper explores how an organisation’s internal management accounting function can provide a template for that, and to good effect. As a base it draws upon the UNDSD (United Nations Division for Sustainable Development, 2001) recommendations that environmental management accounting should focus on identification, collection, analysis and use of two types of information for internal decision making: physical information on the use, flows and destinies of energy, water and materials (including wastes), and monetary information on environment-related costs, earnings and savings. It builds on that base by identifying an examining what organisations are currently reporting upon, and evaluating the strengths an weakness of such reports.

Sustainable management accounting model of recreational boating anchoring in Marine Protected Areas

Recreational boating is a worldwide leisure activity playing an important role in the context of coastal economy but also causing significant damage on the environment, above all in the absence of adequate management measures. Among the damages, the anchoring on sensitive habitats, with the consequent loss of structural complexity, density, cover and specific richness, is widely reckoned and its consequences are long lasting and evident. The aim of this work is to provide an environmentally focused accounting model (SAILOR) to evaluate the net impact of anchoring on sensitive habitats. In this research SAILOR model has been tested on Posidonia oceanica, one among the most vulnerable in Mediterranean. An innovative approach is proposed in order to develop sustainable management strategies for recreational boating in MPAs in the framework of a very strong sustainability. In particular, it starts from the assessment of the natural capital of P. oceanica with the purpose to keep it at least intact. The model procedure is defined considering factors that affect the anchoring damage: type of habitats, seabed compactness, number and size of boats, type of anchor. Considering these data, the net impact is evaluated as surfaces and natural capital (emergy analysis) balancing the anchoring damage and the regenerative capacity. Being recreational boating spatially distributed, the model outputs the results both as values and sustainability maps at different spatial level (overall MPA, protection zones and even smaller), according to management needs. In this way, MPA managers can quickly and easily understand the sustainability status of the MPA, identify suffering areas in order to establish ad hoc actions and develop alternative scenarios. The model, based on a generalized and iterable procedure applicable to any area, is tested on Portofino MPA (Italy): the annual average net impact is 279 m2 (equivalent to 1.51E+11 sej and 1′577 em€ of natural capital), eroding the 0.089% of P. oceanica in the anchorable areas.

The adoption of corporate social responsibility active learning methodology with management accounting students

The aim of this paper is to integrate active methodology on corporate social responsibility (CSR)11CSR: Corporate Social Responsibility. learning into management accounting studies. The linkages between sustainable management and management accounting demand those future managers integrate CSR into their training in an effective way, as they will become change agents for CSR. A representative sample of students at the University of Jaen has been selected in order to adopt CSR active learning, which allows us to draw conclusions about how they perceive CSR and its management. Qualitative methodology has been integrated in this project-based learning using flipped classroom. Our evidence full supports the validity of the CSR active learning methodology to create an effective learning context that involves professional and emotional competences, as the answers offered mainly included some relevant topics covered by CSR research and social and environmental accounting (SEA). This study contributes to previous literature assessing the potential of active methodologies in CSR learning. Also, it provides important insights for university and business school managers to design or modify curricula that are related to management accounting in line with sustainability.

Corporate sustainability management accounting and multi‐level links for sustainability – A systematic review

AbstractThe societal vision of sustainable development changes both the context of businesses and expectations that management should contribute to solving sustainability problems beyond organizational boundaries. Companies are influenced by macro‐level developments such as new environmental regulations and by meso‐level context such as social industry standards and guidelines. At the same time, companies are expected to contribute to sustainability transformations of markets at the meso‐level and to solving grand sustainability problems at the macro‐level such as the greenhouse effect. These developments increase and change sustainability information needs of managers and management accounting. This paper provides a systematic literature review of how sustainability management accounting (SMA) addresses links with the organization's contexts and contributions to sustainability transformations beyond organizational boundaries. The analysis questions the conventional assumption of an internal scope for SMA. It recognises this as a problematic constricting assumption in the literature and, instead, proposes a multi‐level Context, Action‐formation and Transformative contributions (CAT) framework for further development of SMA.

Sustainable Business Model and Corporate Performance: The Mediating Role of Sustainable Orientation and Management Accounting Control in the United Arab Emirates

This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of management accounting control systems (MACS) and sustainable innovations orientation (SIO) in the relationship between business model innovations (BMI) and overall corporate performance. A total of 355 managers drawn from different types of manufacturing firms in the United Arab Emirate (UAE) participated in the study, and the collected data were analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the structural model with the aid of Smart PLS 3. The findings from the study revealed that BMI does not directly influence SIO but has an indirect effect through MACS. Moreover, this study revealed that MACS mediate the relationship between BMI and financial performance. In addition, the argument that SIO influences overall corporate per-formance was supported with our findings. Finally, it was established in this study that MACS and SIO partially mediate the relationship between BMI and environmental performance as well as BMI and employee performance.

Earnings management and initial public offerings among Indonesian manufacturing companies

Earnings management (EM) refers to the common use of accounting techniques in various economic settings, such as Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), to produce financial statements. This study, therefore, analyzes the effect of firm size, operating cash flow, the used IPO proceeds, earnings changes, and leverage on EM of manufacturing companies on the Indonesia Stock Exchange from 1989 to 2013. This sector comprises the essential chemical industry, miscellaneous organizations, and consumer goods, with 63 firms being used to meet the selection criteria. The regression analysis showed that the intended use of funds and leverage had a negative and significant impact on EM. Furthermore, the process is measured using Friedlan’s (1994) Discretionary Current Accruals model with similar results found in each industry group and their insignificant differences used to regulate the level of discretionary accruals between the three sectors. This study implies that the EM level is qualitatively similar among IPO companies in the three sub-sectors examined. AcknowledgmentsThe authors are grateful to the audience for their comments during the 11th Environmental and Sustainability Management Accounting Network-Asia Pacific (EMAN-AP) Conference held at the Danang University of Economics, Danang, Vietnam, 12-13 August 2019. The early draft was titled “Earnings Management and Initial Public Offerings on Manufacturing Sectors Companies”.

Environmental management accounting as a perspective for hotel sustainability a case study from a Sri Lankan hotel

The consequences of the global climate change and degradation of ecosystems have created a tendency for the hotel industries to adopt and implement cleaner and safer environmental practices to their business operations. Since Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) has been witnessed around the globe as an effective tool which directs an organization to achieve the goals of sustainability, this study is designed to examine how EMA can be used as a tool to assess a hotel’s impact on the environment and its contribution towards the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). To proceed the study, a qualitative approach is adopted using a case study method. Since Environmental Management Accounting and sustainability accounting are broader concepts, an in-depth analysis was undertaken in an environmentally friendly hotel in Sri Lanka. The data collection process was mainly done using semi structured interviews as well as non-participative observations and document analysis. The findings of this study reveal that even though hospitality industries in the developing countries lag behind the commitments to the concepts such as sustainability and Environmental Management Accounting, the selected hotel has implemented EMA techniques and practices to a greater degree of success. This greater adoption of EMA practices has not only ensured effective use of energy and water sources, improved employee and customer satisfaction, ensured compliance with legal requirements but also paved the way to gain a competitive position in the market place as a brand that upholds the green visionary and sustainability as their main strategic imperative.

Smart city dynamics and multi-level management accounting: unfolding a case of sustainable enterprise resource planning

PurposeThis study aims to explore the complex, multi-level institutional dynamics of smart city reforms and projects and their potential sustainability pressures on the implementation of a management accounting system in an Egyptian state-owned enterprise (SOE), which has a politically sensitive institutional character.Design/methodology/approachThis study adds to institutional management accounting research using a multi-level perspective of institutional dynamics in the smart city context. Data were collected from an interpretive case study of an Egyptian SOE that was under socio-political sustainability pressures to implement a smart electricity network project in New Minya city.FindingsSmart city projects have formed social and political sustainability pressures, which introduced the enterprise resource planning (ERP) network as a new management accounting system. A new (complex and multi-level) management accounting system was invented to reinvent the sustainable city as an “accounting city” (which appeared rhetorically as a “smart city”). “Smart” being the visibility and measurability of the sustainability performance of the collective body, which calls the city and its connectivity to different institutional levels brought out in a city network project for the ERP-enabled electricity distribution.Research limitations/implicationsThis study examines a single case study from a single smart city and identifies the accounting community’s need for multiple and comparative case studies to further analyse the potential impact of smart city reforms and projects on the sustainable implementation of management accounting systems.Practical implicationsCity policymakers and managers may benefit from the practical findings of this interpretive field-based case study in planning, implementing and monitoring smart city projects and objectives.Social implicationsIndividual and collective well-being may be enhanced through new management accounting forms of multi-level local governance and increased political, field and organisational sustainability.Originality/valueThis study provides important insights into the sustainability dynamics of management accounting in achieving smart city reforms. The achievement of sustainability management accounting systems has connected to multiple ERP roles at different institutional levels, which resulted in accommodating the socio-political objectives of smart city projects.

Estimating Aboveground Biomass Using Sentinel-2 MSI Data and Ensemble Algorithms for Grassland in the Shengjin Lake Wetland, China

Wetland vegetation aboveground biomass (AGB) directly indicates wetland ecosystem health and is critical for water purification, carbon cycle, and biodiversity conservation. Accurate AGB estimation is essential for the monitoring and supervision of ecosystems, especially in seasonal floodplain wetlands. This paper explored the capability of spectral and texture features from the Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI) for modeling grassland AGB using random forest (RF) and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) algorithms in Shengjin Lake wetland (a Ramsar site). We use five-fold cross-validation to verify the model effectiveness. The results indicated that the RF and XGBoost models had a robust and efficient performance (with root mean square error (RMSE) of 126.571 g·m−2 and R2 of 0.844 for RF, RMSE of 112.425 g·m−2 and R2 of 0.869 for XGBoost), and the XGBoost models, by contrast, performed better. Both traditional and red-edge vegetation indices (VIs) obtained satisfactory results of AGB estimation (RMSE = 127.936 g·m−2, RMSE = 125.879 g·m−2 in XGBoost models, respectively), with the red-edge VIs contributed more to the AGB models. Moreover, we selected eight gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) textures calculated by four processing window sizes using the mean value of four offsets, and further analyzed the results of three analysis sets. Textures derived from traditional and red-edge bands using a 7 × 7 window size performed better in biomass estimation. This finding suggested that textures derived from the traditional bands were as important as the red-edge bands. The introduction of textures moderately improved the accuracy of modeling AGB, whereas the use of textures alo ne was not satisfactory. This research demonstrated that using the Sentinel-2 MSI and the two ensemble algorithms is an effective method for long-term dynamic monitoring and assessment of grass AGB in seasonal floodplain wetlands, which can support sustainable management and carbon accounting of wetland ecosystems.

Determinant Factors of Sustainable Management Accounting System in Increasing Company Performance

The aim of writing this paper is to identify determinant factors of Sustainable Management Accounting System (SMCA) in increasing company performance. This paper uses a quantitative research approach while analyzing using Multiple Regression techniques with the help of the SPSS program. A questionnaire was distributed to the employees with simple random sampling. The results have represented that significant influences are Accounting in the scope of Environmental Management, Accounting within the scope of Social Management and Workplace Spirituality moderated by Corporate Governance on Corporate Performance simultaneously. Workplace Spirituality significant positive influence on Corporate Performance moderated by Corporate Governance partially, but there is a significant negative influence of Environmental Management Accounting moderated by Corporate Governance partially on Corporate Performance. This study builds a conceptual model of SMAS that is expected to contribute theoretically and can be used as a support for literature. By implementing the SMAS model, companies can encourage better performance when using Corporate Governance to improve management decisions about the determining factors for implementing SMAS.

Integrated Management Approach Towards Sustainability: An Egyptian Business Case Study

Several studies have focused mainly on the following approach to tackle sustainable development issues at the management level: single sustainability managerial tools adoption (e.g., sustainable balance scorecard) and the “overlap” process between traditional management practices and sustainability-oriented ones. Conversely, integration as an “alignment” process between different sustainability management practices represents a research field, which is currently underinvestigated. Filling this gap, the purpose of the present study is to deepen and find empirical evidence on how sustainability management accounting, control, and reporting systems can be integrated through an alignment process. To this aim, we focused our analysis on a Mediterranean holding company, which is a well-known sustainable corporate practitioner to foster sustainable development in a socioeconomic and environmental problematic context. Therefore, we developed a single business case study analyzing an Egyptian firm to give practical evidence on the role of management accounting, control, and reporting practices in addressing sustainability issues. The analysis shows that the aligning process of different management practices involves a plurality of business aspects to manage, among them cultural and organizational ones. Despite its complexity, such a process is fundamental to pursue medium–long-term goals, ensuring sustainable firm growth and social wellbeing.

Setting the research agenda for measuring sustainability performance – systematic application of the world café method

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to first present potential areas of research for measuring sustainability performance that emerged in a joint researcher–practitioner workshop at the 19th Environmental and Sustainability Management Accounting Network Europe Conference, organized in cooperation with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Second, the methodology applied to gain these insights, the world café approach, is critically reviewed.Design/methodology/approachThe applied method, a world café approach, facilitates collaborative dialogue and was used in the workshop to uncover underlying research themes. A generalized process flow diagram for a world café is presented, highlighting critical aspects that can guide researchers considering the use of the world café method. The results are structured by means of the 5 W (who, what, where, when, why) and 2 H (how) questions, also known as the elements of circumstance.FindingsKey topics discussed by conference attendees are identified and an overview of potential areas of research are established concerning “measuring sustainability performance”, with a topical focus on impact measurement and value of sustainability. Furthermore, based on the topics identified by practitioners and researchers, this paper develops a list of questions that can guide future research. Finally, the world café method as a means of generating insights into complex topics such as sustainability performance is evaluated.Practical implicationsThe list of research questions identified in this paper can serve as guidance for researchers for selecting relevant, practice-oriented research topics. The value of the world café method as an approach to facilitating the generation of participatory and collaborative insights was confirmed for sustainability management. The generalized process flow diagram can act as a starting point when considering the world café method for facilitating large transdisciplinary groups.Social implicationsThe world café is a method for facilitating practitioners and researchers exchange, and thereby presents an opportunity for spanning the research–practice gap. By bringing practitioners and researchers together to identify research areas, future research is more likely to have positive social implications.Originality/valueThe paper presents a recent interpretation of future research gained from a large number of sustainability professionals, including practitioners and researchers, by bringing them together using a world café. The world café is a valuable method for a collaborative set-up with immediate feedback loops, which encourages dialogue, in contrast to surveys or individual interviews, on future developments in the field.

A research note of potential scientific management accounting research area in CEECs

The paper is a commentary on the future of management accounting in Central and Eastern European countries, portrayed in the manuscript in the Journal Sustainability in its Special Issue titled “Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Developing Countries: Current Trends and Development”. The manuscript “The Development Perspectives of Sustainable Management Accounting in Central and Eastern European Countries” written by Beata Zyznarska-Dworczak promotes the role of management accounting in a wider social, ethical, environmental, cultural and historical context. This approach contributes to the understanding of sustainable management accounting towards socio-economic transformations and developments in Central and Eastern European countries, in the research perspectives of alternative management accounting. It encourages to treat sustainable management accounting as a social and institutional activity, realizing a complementary role (to conventional) of the management accounting system in this region of Europe because of its emerging economy perspective. This approach determines new potential scientific management accounting research area. The aim of this paper is to outline the potential for researchers to influence the development perspectives of sustainable management accounting. The paper, as a thought provoking discussion of science, raises the following questions: may the alternative context of sustainable management accounting provide opportunities for researchers investigating accounting issues in Central and Eastern European countries? is it possible to combine alternative perspectives into management accounting research? how to combine it with conventional economics-based mainstream research? How to measure corporate sustainability performance in management accounting system?