2026-07-09T17:49:44Zhttps://riubu.ubu.es/oai/request

oai:riubu.ubu.es:10259/95862024-10-04T00:05:23Zcom_10259_5238com_10259_5086com_10259_2604col_10259_6212

Fernández Chulián, Manuel García Torea, Nicolás Larrinaga González, Carlos Bebbington, Jan 2024-10-03T09:04:21Z 2024-10-03T09:04:21Z 2024-09 0951-3574 http://hdl.handle.net/10259/9586 10.1108/AAAJ-08-2021-5391 Purpose: The study investigates how sustainability reporting constructs a narrative about an organization that provides its members with a reality they can accept, with the consequence of producing organizational stability. Design/methodology/approach: The article reports a research engagement concerning the “backstage” of sustainability reporting in one Spanish savings bank, which the researchers engaged with for more than three years. Findings: The article describes how sustainability reporting operates as a boundary object occupying the space between the organization’s loosely coupled systems and facilitating the cooperation of members with different interpretations of the organization. Different translations of discourses and actions ensure that the sustainability report conveys a ductile narrative that can be tailored to specific interpretations. At the same time, the editing inherent in sustainability reporting ensures that any narrative that may challenge the organization’s dominant perspective is ignored and marginalized. In this way, sustainability reporting produces a discourse that inscribes a narrative of the organization and eventually ensures organizational inertia. Research limitations/implications: The article highlights the relevance of investigating sustainability reports by exploring the backstage of their production rather than solely the final document. Originality/value: In contrast to prior research that has been concerned with exploring the extent to which sustainability reporting is associated with organizational change, this study applies different lenses to show how and why sustainability reporting is implicated in the construction of the organization and the maintenance of its stability and inertia. We are grateful for the financial assistance provided by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, FEDER and Consejería de Educación, Junta de Castilla y León (Grants RTI2018-099920-B-I00 and BU069P20). application/pdf eng Emerald Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-08-2021-5391 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/AEI/Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020/RTI2018-099920-B-I00/ES/CONTABILIDAD COMO INSTRUMENTO MEDIADOR ENTRE LA CIENCIA DE LA SOSTENIBILIDAD Y EL COMPORTAMIENTO DE LAS ORGANIZACIONES/ info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/Junta de Castilla y León//BU069P20//Contabilidad como instrumento mediador para la gobernanza de las organizaciones en el Antropoceno/ Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Sustainability reporting Research engagement Boundary object Linguistic work Sensemaking Organizational change Gestión de empresas Contabilidad ambiental Contabilidad Industrial management Accounting Boundary objects: sustainability reporting and the production of organizational stability info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal