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Critical Perspectives on Accounting 17 (2006) 865881

Corporate social and environmental responsibility inweb-based reports: Currency in the banking sector?Christine Coupland

UniversityofNottingham,NottinghamUniversityBusinessSchool,JubileeCampus,NottinghamNG81BB,

UK

Received 7 February 2004; received in revised form 2 December 2004; accepted 15January 2005

Abstract

The argument that accounting is an interested endeavour, premised on social practices, suggeststhat an examination of the quantity of corporate social reporting (CSR) in shareholder reports is toosimplistic an avenue of exploration. An analysis of web-based financial and CSR

reports, using adiscourse/textual analytic approach, has raised questions regarding how these issues are given (anddenied) prominence in this context by virtue of their physical positioning and persuasive language. Inthe study, web-based forms of reports of five banking groups are examined, Lloyds/TSB, the RoyalBank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays and the Co-operative Bank. It is argued that, rather than theproduction of stand-alone reports signalling the growing importance of CSR considerations, in thiscontext they function to peripheralise the information. Although it is evident t

hat organizations arebeginning to articulate a stance with regard to CSR, as increasingly more attention is being paid tosocial and environmental issues, simple articulation is no longer sufficient. 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1.IntroductionIn this paper web-based forms of the reports to shareholders and corporate social responsibilitydocuments of five banking groups, operating in the UK, are examined; Lloyds/TSB,The Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Barclays and the Co-operative Bank. Although t

hese


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866 C.Coupland CriticalPerspectivesonAccounting17

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organizations activities are similar and they represent a major section of the UKbankingactivity, their approaches to reporting corporate social reporting (CSR) issuesdiffer. TheCo-operative Bank has been selected as a values-based organization1 to provide acontrastto the other four, more profit-oriented, banking organizations. The aims of thestudy are; tolocate and make visible how distance is created between CSR issues and accountin

g practicesin the web-based literature of these organizations; to examine how CSR is constructedas a concern of the organizations and to investigate how this is legitimated, inpart, throughaccounting terms.

Other commentators have examined how attention has been paid to corporate socialreporting in annual reports and other corporate documents (e.g. Moneva and Llena, 2000;Unerman, 1999), and have concluded that an examination of the quantityof disclosure

in shareholder reports is too simplistic an avenue of exploration. In keeping with this Ipropose that some analysis of corporate web sites, in particular the financial and CSRreports, premised on a discourse analytic approach, will raise fresh questions about howthese issues are given (and denied) prominence by virtue of their physical positioning andpersuasive language. For example, I suggest that the separation of CSR issues from theshareholders report may indicate the allocation of particular (peripheral?) status to thoseissues. Furthermore, I intend, by drawing on media analysis techniques (Fairclough, 1995;Kress and van Leeuwen, 1998) and the analysis of argument and rhetoric (Billig,1996), tosuggestthatthelanguageofaccountingpracticeinthesedocumentsberenderedproblematicand thus underlying assumptions made visible.

The theoretical perspective adopted in the paper is that organizations are a sociallyconstructed, emergent, process (Berger and Luckmann, 1966; Tsoukas, 1994). Central tothis study is the role of language as a site of action (Austin, 1992), in the form of a text. It

derives its philosophical underpinning from Wittgensteins (1967) notion of language as agame in that, although we are all rule followers in our language use we are also


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C.Coupland CriticalPerspectivesonAccounting17

(2006)865881cal things, e.g., emissions, to indirect verification of the systems to controlsuch verification.For example, financial auditors cannot verify an assertion that emission levelswereonsuch a day but they can conclude that the system to verify such emissions was inplace andworking adequately (Power, 1997). This suggests that accountability and transparency aresubject to managerial interpretation, thus facilitating control through collecti

ng and disseminatingthe information deemed appropriate to advance a particular corporate image (Owenet al., 2000). One problem that arises from this is that organizational legitimacy in termsof accounting for social and environmental activities is supported by the process of beingaudited rather than substance to the audit process itself. Furthermore, the useof abstractand managerial definitions of social reporting in preference to scientific definitions has beenfavoured by accountants, (Power, 2003), thus extending claim to expertise in this domain.

While Gray (2002) optimistically suggests that it would be useful to consider socialaccounting as the opening up of new spaces in order to promote engagement and changepractice, some managerialist researchers privilege market forces, do not question the formof the organization or its social and political environment and adopt a researchagendaset by business hegemony and pragmatism. Hence, social and environmental reporting is,typically, regarded in the management literature as an instrumental mechanism ora by-product in the pursuit of organizations main, conventional, business focused, purposes(Capron and Gray, 2000). Nevertheless, managerialist accountings can have the, possiblyunintended, consequences of strengthening organizational legitimacy in this areaand thuspermit the capture of social and environmental agendas within the business structure (Neuet al., 1998).

Although it is commonly accepted that the main aim in for profit organizations isto generate acceptable returns for shareholders, there is an emergent understand

ing of arequirement to satisfy a broader group of interested stakeholders whose interests are more


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(2006)865881banks are in the evident business of wealth creation, this is deemed to be of paramountconcerna perception of a lack of attention to this endeavour may result in a serious lossof confidence. Hence, the selection of this type of organization in order to explore how/ifsocialandenvironmentalconcernsaresubsumedwithintraditionalannualaccountsintimesof economic squeeze is both relevant and timely.

The inclusion of voluntary information in annual reports is used to send particu

lar signalsto the reader (Salancik and Meindl, 1984, p. 351); ..benefits of disclosing socialand environmental information include; pre-empting attacks from pressure groups,enhancingcorporate reputation, providing opportunities to lead debates, to secure endorsements,demonstratestrongmanagementprinciplesanddemonstratesocialresponsibilities.Iarguethat increasing scrutiny of these types of accounts (e.g., Bebbington et al., 1999; Unerman,1999) incurs cost. Claims of social and environmental activity opens up the organizationto further scrutiny/criticism (Fineman, 1996; Robertson and Nicholson, 1996). Ho

wever,validityclaimsmaybecontested.Althoughaccountingassumessovereigntyinaneconomicsphere, rationality is to do with the provision of reasons for beliefs or actions like accounting(Arrington and Puxty, 1991). If acceptable reason is deemed plausible to an audienceit is viewed as rational, therefore plausibility is keyto render a taken for granted view asproblematic breaks the plausible stance.

3.Thewebas contextoforganizationalcommunicationThe impact of the context of communication should not be underestimated, althoughthe World Wide Web, as a relatively new genre of communication, is still emerging as avariant of more established genres (Orlikowski and Yates, 1994; Wynn and Katz, 1997). Iexamineinthepaperhowthestructuresoftheweb-basedsystems,intermsofaccessibilityofinformation, may impact on the message being constructed. I suggest that the web

presenceof a company or an individual is still bound by social processes, such as the orderliness


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of talk, shared understanding and accountability (Wynn and Katz, 1997). Furthermore,corporate communications as socially recognised communicative actions are enacted bymembers to serve particular purposes (Yates and Orlikowski, 1992).

Although it has been argued that the technology of the internet provides potenti

al forindividuals to challenge large organizations (Crowther, 2002), the constructionof thesesites presents information in a manner that enables a particular version of theorganization,through an account of their activities to be regarded as common-sense, legitimate,behaviours.Othercommentators,whohaveexploredcomputer-mediatedidentity,haveproposedthat,eveninvirtualspace,identitiesareconstructedinrelationtomaterialandsocialfactorsandthatthereisheightenedsensitivitytothefewcuesthatarevisible(Correll,1995).

Furthermore, the audience impacts on the claims that may be made on the web site, in sofar as wide interests and concerns create a discerning public and hence heightened surveillanceis rendered possible. Hence, the context of the web provides a site of organizationalcommunication that is worthy of some attention with regard to CSR and financialreportingactivities.

The current Zeitgeist of a moderate climate of opinion in favour of social responsibility,(Kernisky, 1997; Starik and Rands, 1995), has enabled/required new story lines t

o be


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(2006)865881developedwhichappeartobeconducivetonewformsofalliancebetweenhistoricallyoppositionalagents (Hajer, 1997). This creates an intriguing scenario where a once marginalizedperspective (of the environment) begins to challenge (on the surface at least) ahegemonic,organizationally defined, perspective in interaction. The web site as an interaction is thefocus of the paper.

4.ResearchsiteandmethodsThe analytical approach adopted in the present study, in keeping with a constructionistperspective, shares a discourse analytic concern with making visible how facts are workedup in talk and text (e.g Potter, 1996). In addition, some techniques have been adapted frommedia analysis in order to examine how factual information is presented and positioned

persuasively (e.g. Fairclough, 1995; Kress and van Leeuwen, 1998).

As the data were collected and read, features of the texts began to cue questionsthathad already arisen during the reading of the CSR and accounting literature (Phillips andHardy, 2002). The data was searched for patterns of both occurrence and positioning on theweb page. Once an initial series of themes was identified I returned to the datato searchfor further extracts using a method of constant comparison culled from groundedtheory(Glaser and Strauss, 1967). I drew on techniques from discourse analysis described byPotter (1996), utilising a definition of discourse to include repertoires whichfunction asresources in talk (e.g. Billig, 1996; Taylor, 2001). In addition, the methodology adopted inthe study draws, in part, on Krippendorfs (1980) definition of content analysis.That is,I have conducted an inquiry into the meaning of the data while acknowledging that thereis no, one, single meaning that requires unwrapping, rather that subjective analyses areacknowledged as inevitable.

Furthermore, the data is approached with a view that statements are made in response to


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some, often unstated, argument that precedes what is said or written. Hence, anexaminationof the rhetorical nature of the text surfaces common-sense ideologies (Billig etal., 1988;Billig, 1996). The contrary themes, which give rise to ideological dilemmas wheninopposition to each other, were sought and examined in the data. In keeping with

recentapplications of a similar methodology in organization studies (Phillips and Hardy, 1997,2002; Oswick et al., 2000) the use of discourse to persuasive effect has also been examined.This approach aligns with other commentators investigations into discursive struggle

(e.g. Hajer, 1997; Livesey and Kearins, 2002). From a sample of five web sites,claims tothe generalizability of the findings are problematic, however, an aim for resonance with

the readers interpretations is claimed and an argument is made for extrapolationbeyond

the material at hand (Alasuutari, 1995).In the study, web-based forms of the reports to shareholders and corporate social responsibilitydocuments of banking groups were examined. The cases were selected from thisindustry as there was an expectation that banks may be focused on profit maximisation andtherehavebeenfewevidentspecificenvironmentalcrisesthatwouldsinglethemoutforparticularadverse media attention instigating defence. Although one area in which contentiousissues were predicted to surface was around the notion of funding in what may be

deemedan irresponsible manner in search of greater returns. To illustrate this point,some examina


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(2006)865881tion of the Co-operative Banks stance is included as a contrast to other bankinggroups, inorder to make comparative examinations of the data. As the ethical position adopted by theCo-operative Bank is generally well understood1, it is presented in the paper asa contrastto how other banks, operating from within a more traditional, profit-oriented, perspectiveconstruct themselves as attending to CSR issues. An examination of annual reports from

the banking sector is relevant as there is an expectation that CSR issues wouldbe framedwithin a business case. This is not simply a financial case, but the ideology evident in thelanguage, which places the for profit motive as the right and proper way to organize theiractivities.

Over a period of 6 months, the web pages of the selected organizations were examined.Althoughmuchcouldbegainedfromasimplecontentanalysisofthedatainwhichonemayidentifypatternsofargument,inadditiontoapreliminarysearchforpattern,aninvestigation

of some aspects of the reports was carried out in detail in order to explore howargument issubsumed, captured and deployed in the service of maintaining and legitimising hegemonicvalue systems. Furthermore, a particular feature of the web sites of these organizations istheir potential to be altered, or moved. These corporate arenas are subject to change oflocation, thus rendering a return to a particular position on a web site problematic over aperiod of time. The web addresses for initial contact were:

www.barclays.com

www.hsbc.com

www.lloydstsb.com

www.rbs.co.uk

www.cooperativebank.co.uk

5.Analysis

The following section of the paper is organised thus: first, access to financialand socialand environmental reports on the web is examined, second, three aspects of how C


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SR isconstructed in the reports as, doing good, being good and funding good, is discussedand, finally, the role of the language of accounting as a legitimising techniqueis explored.

5.1.Accessibility

toinformationonthewebThe home page is where most visitors will enter the web site, although search enginesprovide alternative entry paths to web-based information. The focus of the analysis beganherebyexploringthenatureofthephysicalrelationshipbetweenthelocationsofthefinancialreports and CSR reports, focusing particularly on the relative ease of access an

d clarity ofsignposting. As the clickable images that lead to information operate as meaning-makinglabels, I suggest that they operate as portals through which the web reader must pass. Eachportal in Table 1 represents a move from one page to another through a clickableheading.

Table 1 summarises ease of access to financial information for the banks in thestudy.

For all of the traditional banks financial reports are one or two clicks away from the home

page, the point of entry. That this is an item of interest to potential and/or current investors,


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(2006)865881Table 1Accessibility to financial information

Home page First portal Second portal

Barclays Investor relations Downloadable documentHSBC Investor centre Financial results Downloadable documentLloyds/TSB Services Investor relations Downloadable documentRoyal Bank of Scotland Investor relations Downloadable documentCo-operative Ethics in action Partnership reports and accounts Downloadable docu

ment

visiting most of the banks, is signalled using investor as part of the heading. However,whatisalsopertinenthereistheselectionofthewordrelationsinthebankswebsites.Theinvestor in relationship with the organization is a doubtful concept however itappears thatthe sense that one exists is portrayed through the language. This is argued while acknowledgingthat the analysis focuses on a unidirectional interaction rather than an exchange.Whether and if this relationship is regarded as such by the web site visitors can only be

speculated upon. Furthermore, the information made available through investor relationsdoesnotincludeormakereferencetoCSRissues.Theseareaccessedfromanotherpathwayinitiated from the home page but wholly unconnected to the financial reports. Isuggest thatrather than CSR issues gaining ground in terms of becoming a legitimate dimension in theaccountability of an organization (e.g. triple bottom line Elkington, 1998; Harte and Owen,1991), they are re-located as separate from a more traditional measure, that ofthe financialreports. In addition, I propose that it is with the audience in mind that accessto these reportsis structured in this way. I argue that attention is drawn away from CSR activities, which,it may be argued, detract from the real business of increasing profit. Hence, separate andphysically distanced reports enable the corporate response for accountability, demanded bytwo different and potentially opposing audiences, or stakeholders, to be relevant to eachaudience. The web page facilitates this separation through subsuming CSR reportsunderheadings not apparently connected to CSR issues and some distance from financialinformation.

Hence, the potential investor seeking financial information about the organizationis directed through simple labelling to the financial reports.


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In contrast, the home page of the Co-operative Bank does not refer to investment. Thepotential investor instead has to interpret which of the (not immediately obvious) availableclickable images is most likely to provide the information required. In a similar way to the

other banks, the reader is directed through simple language towards the primarypurpose ofthe bank. The use of ethics as part of a clickable item utilises an image in a status-relevantposition thus rendering it impossible for the web site visitor to access financial informationwithout going through this portal. In Table 2, I summarize the signposting of the banks toCSR issues and reports.

An examination of the clickable images that led to CSR-related information suggested

that they operate as value-ladenportals

through which the web reader must pass inorder

to ascertain where CSR information was located. There is more diversity in the labellingof these sectors of the web site. One question raised by this is what does the labellingobscure? It is not self-evident that CSR issues will be contained in sectors entitled aboutus, for example. Furthermore, this label suggests an inward focus whereas CSR isat leastto some extent concerned with the organizations impact beyond its traditional boundaries.


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Table 2Accessibility to CSR information

Home page First portal Second portal Third portal Fourth portalHSBC In society Education environment community Sustainability social No downloadable documents

living our values responsibilityresponsiblefinancingBarclays Policies and principles Social responsibility CSR report 2002 Downloadable documentLloyds/TSB About us The community and the environment Social responsibility CSRreport 2002 DownloadabledocumentRoyal Bank of Corporate responsibility Community and environment Community and environment Downloadable documentScotland reportCo-operative Ethics in action Partnership reports and accounts Downloadable docu

ment

C.Coupland CriticalPerspectivesonAccounting17(2006)865881


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(2006)865881In addition, the number of clicks required to arrive at a downloadable form of a CSRreport are greater than those required to access a similar version of the financial reports.

I have provided a, necessarily brief, exploration of the proximity of CSR and financialreports as positioned on the web pages. What is evident is that the banks, whichoperatewithin a traditional business model prioritise financial performance as of prima

ry importance.It is presumed, therefore, that financial information is of relevance to web site visitorsand hence is clearly signposted. The contrasting example of the Co-operative Bank locates,at least in terms of the construction of the web site, financial matters as within a frameworkof ethics. Potential investors are made aware of the banks ethical stance on entry to theweb site. Having examined how CSR and financial issues are separated on the websites Inow explore what CSR is deemed to be according to the reports.

5.2.TheconstructionofCSRHaving examined the web site reports in depth, three aspects of CSR have emergedasprevalent throughout. I suggest that the corporate accounts of CSR behaviour arepremisedon; doing good, being good and funding good. Each of the banks describes their CSR activitiesto a greater or lesser extent within these parameters. Doing good denotes activitiesbeyond the banks remit of providing financial services. These are generally termed communityfocused behaviours. Being good refers to accounts of an environmental impactthat the organization may be having and typically includes some description of energy savingactivities and equal opportunities policies. Funding good is the area in which radicaldifferences appear between the values-based organization and the traditional organizationsin the study.

It is evident from the positioning and availability of the clickable items that

they functionas status-evoking headings, (Kress and van Leeuwen, 1998). That is, they conferwhat may


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be deemed relevant to be discussed in the area of CSR. This illustrates one waythat acritical examination of how an organization constructs its web page as attendingto CSRissues highlights the strategic and rhetorical potential of the activity, remembering that thereport itself is a version of the organization (Stanton and Stanton, 2002) in wh

ich reality isboth communicated and constructed (Hines, 1988). In every instance the languageof wethe organization was deployed. From a content analysis of the web pages it is relativelyclear that the banks all share a notion of the areas relevant to the construction of CSRaccounts as they are fairly consistent among all the organizations investigated.Whetherand to what extent these accounts are intrinsically related to everyday practices and aremonitored is not the remit of this paper, that they may be claimed in a CSR repo

rt signalsattention. More subtle analyses are required, if the focus is to remain on the account itself,in order to understand where fissures exist in contemporary accounts of what CSRis. Forthe majority of the banks, CSR is about community and the environment, that is doing goodand being good, whereas the values-based organization directs the web visitor tothe issueof ethics under which all of the bank activities are reported. From within this initial signalof difference, in the area of funding good more apparent differences are made explicit.

Many of the traditional organizations web pages were silent on the issue of lending, thelanguage of assessment worked to obscure much of the detail (see Chwastiak and Young,2003). However, there were some instances of clarity, which indicated that therewere two


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(2006)865881Table 3Summary of constructions of CSR activities

Doing goodAll organizationsBeing goodAll organizationsFunding goodTraditional organizationsCharitable work

Employee involvementContribute to debatesFinancial inclusionEnergy consumptionWater consumptionWaste productionGas emissionsEqualityDiversity (employees and customers)Health and safteyavoidcategoriese.g. arms dealers

inexceptionalcircumstancese.g.poor human rights recordValues-based organizationWe will not invest in any businessinvolved in:We will not support..

categories of customer who were closely examined, those to avoid and those deemedacceptable in exceptional circumstances (see Table 3). The language of this corporatepositionshouldbecontrastedwiththatofthevalues-basedstatementambiguousdexterityversus unequivocal language. Further detailed illustrative examples of how definitions ofCSR are constructed through one banks descriptions are illustrated below.

Lloyds/TSB

in the market that is now generally covered by the term CSR we believe that we area leader

being UKs number one corporate giver (doing good)

having award winning policies in the fields of employee relations (being good)


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(2006)865881relevant to CSR throughout all of the reports, thus suggesting that environmental issues maybe calculated in a similar manner to financial ones. This is in keeping with Powers (1997)comment that accountants construct overlap between the skills required for financial andenvironmental auditing. Accounting functions as a form of expertise that subordinates otherpossible forms. In the reports, there was no recourse to measures and language of the natural

sciences. These may be alternative relevant voices in environmental reports. Furthermore,risk suggests a calculated potential for damage attached to CSR relevant issues. Contrastthis with the potential outcome for mis-calculated credit risk. The consequencesof tardy orunpaid debt hardly seem comparable with ill-considered funding which has environmentalor social costs. Nevertheless, the language of accounting appears to render thisdescriptionas plausible and legitimate (see Power, 2003).

The final section of the above series of extracts summarises the status of CSR i

n relationto a traditional business case. How this functions as a plausible explanation may be deconstructedon several grounds, however I am limited to a few comments. First, it providesan example of how CSR is subsumed within the ideology of what businesses are reallyabout (see Stanton and Stanton, 2002 for a discussion of values systems of principals beingattended to). Second, it presents these issues in what could be described as oppositionalterms. Davison (2002) has described textual antithesis with regard to the structure of annualreports. There is an implied opposition in the above description, which is in keeping withBillig et als (1988) notion of ideological dilemmas being evident in interaction.That is, anargument exists, albeit unspoken, in the context that more attention may (should?) be paidto CSR issues. The account given here defends against the unspoken argument. This may beone example of how avowedly values-based organizations, such as the Co-operativeBank,are beginning to elicit response from traditional, commercial organizations (Owen et al.,2000). This is explicitly attended to in the following illustrative extract.

Lloyds/TSB


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WiththehelpofKPMGscorporatesocialresponsibilityteam,wearebuildingrobustand auditable systems, so that we can gain an accurate picture of our environmentalperformance worldwide.

Another example is indicated below.

RoyalBankofScotland

Risk is at the core of the credit lending process and we have a formal procedureforevaluatingthis.Environmentalimpactsareanimportantandintegralpartoftheassessmentand approval process. We recognise the responsibility we have for the potentialenvironmental impact of our customers operations. However, it is the responsibilityof our customers to ensure they comply with the environmental legislation which

applies to their area of operations.

We can examine the above extracts from many relevant perspectives; however, I shallfocus on a few pertinent issues. First, in the report a legitimate identity is constructed for


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(2006)865881dealing with CSR as it is related to financial risk assessment. Power (1997) hasdescribedhow the role of the accountant has developed in terms of CSR auditing. I suggestthataccounting expertise is implied in the accounting activities themselves. These have strategicand rhetorical potential, which are drawn on in this instance to locate CSR issues asmeasurable in the same way that credit lending may be evaluated, even though they have

uncertain economic meaning or potential. However, havingrecognised the responsibility

this is passed on to the customer (in the second extract). Finally, by resortingto legislationas an arbiter of what is right and proper to do, the organization is devolved ofresponsibility.Working within the law is deemed in many circumstances as an appropriate way toconduct business. However, in the field of CSR where voluntary behaviours and reportingare regarded as indicative of commitment to these issues (Gray, 2002), resortingto legalrequirements may be interpreted as performing to a minimum standard. The adoption of

procedures that go beyond what is required by law has been taken to indicate that the lawis merely responding to the prevalent Zeitgeist of attention to CSR, rather thanprescribingappropriate standards. Drawing on legislation, therefore, fails to provide a convincing,plausible, argument.

The final, following illustrative example is from the Royal Bank of Scotland, regardingtheir CSR policy.

the group is firmly committed to creating strong business growth which is not attheexpense of the environment, quality of life or social equity

In this account the organization appears to attempt to serve two masters and perhapsrepresents an example of the report providing information that advances an appropriate corporateimage(Owenetal.,2000),socialandenvironmentalissuesbeingrenderedinnocuousby dominant economic interests (Tinker et al., 1991) and a strengthening of organizationallegitimacy carried out through the deployment of a (subsumed) social and environmental

agenda (Gray, 2002). Bullis (1997) has suggested that academics need to considerhowcommunication works to preserve the rights and autonomy of organizations while t


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he environmentis destroyed. There are contrasts that may be made between the traditional banksreports and the values-based bank. I propose that the stance adopted by the latter makesvisible the absence in the other descriptions. This is in keeping with Gray (2002), whosuggests that social accounting is about the opening up of new spaces, but the s

paces themselvesare still up for negotiation. It may be that the impact of values-based organizations(Owen et al., 2000) is a slow but steady influence on what CSR isby offering new socialand environmental agendas to be attended to by other organizations.

In Table 4 a summary of the findings is presented.

6.DiscussionIn the analysis section of the paper I have examined some aspects of how the lan

guageadopted in and the positioning of financial and CSR reports in web-based communicationscontributetoconstructingaplausible,legitimated,versionofbankingorganizationsinterms


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(2006)865881Table 4Summary of findings

Traditional banking Org Values-based banking OrgCSR Issues on the Web Opaque signpostingSide issueClarity in signpostingMain issueGrowth as goodTemporally transient

A marketQuestions growth as good contributesto profitabilityA calculable riskInvestor Issues on the Web Clarity in signpostingBank as helperValues bank as obstructerOpaque signpostingBank as arbiterModern but ethicalFinancial inclusion Selective investment

of these activities. The selection of the banking sector for investigation was b

ased on anexpectation that profit-oriented concerns would predominate. The location of CSRinformationsupportsthisinitialexpectation.Isuggestthat,ratherthantheproductionofstand-alonereports signalling the growing importance of CSR considerations, the informationis peripheralised,marginalised and its location disguised which is in keeping with Crowther (2002).This is illustrated as being facilitated particularly in a web-based communicative genre.

By drawing on understanding gained from media analysis it is evident that the clickableitems on a web page function in similar ways to newspaper headings. They offer opportunitiesto take the reader into further detail; the reader may select to do this. However,the headings themselves also construct messages. This works in at least two ways. First,if the reader decides not to pursue the detail, the heading becomes the message.Secondthe heading, or clickable image, plays the part of a portal, through which the reader mustpass and from which meaning is taken. The reader is directed through the language used in

the clickable image to a particular view of what lies beyond. The location of CSR reportsas separate to financial reports functions to take different audiences to differ


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ent parts ofthe web page. In this way, particular versions of the organization are given credence to theimagined audience. The contrast provided by the values-based organization in thestudyis stark. Ethical matters are re-constituted as framed within doing business fortraditional

organizations, whereas financial matters are subsumed within an ethical framework for thevalues-based organization.

On exploration of the data, I have noted how the language of accounting is seeping intosocial and environmental reports. In keeping with much of the critical accounting literaturein which there is a call to challenge the hegemonic position adopted by accountantsas arbiters of business speak and measurement (e.g. Gray, 2002; Power, 1997) andwhere

accounting assumes sovereignty (Arrington and Puxty, 1991), I propose that accountingterms are also imbued with legitimacy. This is not simply through imposing a classificationsystem of measurement; it is in the everyday use of words ordinarily associatedwithaccounting procedure, which are unproblematically applied to new areas of intervention.However,contrarily,Iarguethatitisintheirveryusethattheircontestabilitybecomesapparent.Although accounting may assume the discourse of expertise, its entry to new arenas


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(2006)865881rendersitmostvulnerabletocritique.Whileitisacknowledgedthataccountantsbehavioursacross a range of activities have been described as an ability to shape intervention, I suggestit is one role of research to problematize the presumed legitimacy of one fielduponanother.

It is evident that for profit organizations are beginning to articulate a stance withregard to CSR. This, I suggest, is an example of changing conditions that organi

zations arecompelled to consider (Cheney, 1991). However, as increasingly more attention isbeingpaid to social and environmental issues, simple articulation will not be sufficient. It is inthe interactions of organizations with others that the dominant stance previously taken bybusinesses is challenged by having to attend to issues promoted by a once marginalizedminority. Although it is difficult to assess superficial gloss or actual buy in tothese issueswhen focusing on language alone, I propose that a constructionist perspective tolanguage

enables a making visible and questioning of terms, which would ordinarily remaintaken-for-granted. It is from this perspective that gaps in hegemonic argument may belocated andwidened.

From examining the accounts of the contrasting organizations in the study, it has becomeapparent that the role of values-based organizations is perhaps currently underestimated(cf. Owen et al., 2000). The more traditional position is not easily defended inthe light oftheir continued existence. It cannot be disputed that they perform a function interms ofsetting a level of attention to be paid to social and environmental concerns. However, asthere are relatively few of these organizations, they do not currently operate in competitionwith similarly ethically concerned bodies. Hence, we should perhaps speculate uponhow differentiation may be constructed in an arena of growing numbers of like-mindedorganizations.

7.

ConcludingcommentsOne further area of future research that the present study highlights is a focus


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on howthe organization is presented as operating independent of individuals, we the organizationis the only voice apart from legitimating accounting bodies from beyond the organization.I argue that the implications of obscurity vis-`

a-vis agency and accountability should beconsidered with regard to particular constructions of the organization, CSR andaccountingbehaviours as presented in annual reports. This may be both timely and relevantin thepresent era of reduced confidence in organizational activity.

OneaimofthepaperwastomakevisibleandproblematizearticulationsofCSRactivitiesin the organizations web pages investigated in the study. This encourages the reader to viewother articulations with a critical eye. The question why this, why now? should lead to a

reductionofCSR-relatedfillers

whichcurrentlyhaveapparentkudosinorganizations

webpages.Furthermore,acriticalexaminationoftheimagesthroughwhichthereaderisdirected

towards CSR-relevant information needs to be regarded as status-evoking information. Astep forward may be to locate the CSR report and a report containing financial informationin one area entitled, Reports and Accounts, for each year of business. The segregation ofinformation for intended audiences serves only to problematize organizations intentionsregarding CSR issues.


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(2006)865881Finally, in contrast to grand and bland ambiguously phrased CSR objectives, thelanguage, legitimacy and plausibility attached to all things accounting is a convenient measuringsystem which retains a business-case focus and system of explanation. However,simple articulations of CSR activities will cease to function as currency in thepurchase oflegitimacy in this arena, as the continued and growing presence of values-basedorganizationsquestion this as the only possible system of operation.

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the anonymous referees for most helpful suggestionsandadvice and to thank Andrew D. Brown for his insightful comments on earlier drafts of thispaper.

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