Celebrating Success: Dr Teng Li

Congratulations to Dr Teng Li and his co-authors Prof. Alan Lowe (RMIT Australia), Dr Nunung Nurul Hidayah (University of Southampton) and Dr Ou Lyu (Stirling University).for their paper entitled “Navigational Space for the Absence of Sustainability Assurance in China” which has recently been published in Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal.

Abstract

This prolonged fieldwork case study presents a critical analysis of why and how corporate managers in Chinese central state-owned enterprises (CSOEs) are reluctant to adopt sustainability reporting assurance (SRA) provided by externally independent third-party assurers, despite the fact that it is acknowledged as a value-adding activity globally. The empirical findings suggest that while managers recognize the benefits of adopting external SRA in enhancing the legitimacy of sustainability accountability, they oppose SRA because of their deep-rooted allegiance to dominant logic of sociopolitical stability in China. SRA risks the stability of the socialist ideology with which CSOEs are imbued. Any transformational approach to accepting a novel practice must be molded to gain control and autonomy, thereby maintain the hegemony of stability logic. Managers harness sustainability reporting as a navigational space to engage in internally crafted alternative manners in order to resist the rationality of external SRA. As such, this fieldwork provides ample context-specific, intra-organizational evidence regarding the absence of SRA in Chinese firms, which warrants more attention given their considerable presence in the global economy. In addition, the empirical analysis contributes to our understanding of the managerial capture of sustainability issues in a specific context of state capitalism and how organizations and individuals in an authoritarian regime interpret and respond to novel discourses derived from distinct institutional settings.