| Abstract | Odgovornost za okoliš, ugrađena u sustav upravljanja okolišem, važan je element konkurentske prednosti poslovnog subjekta, a računovodstvo okoliša i izvještavanje o okolišu neizostavni instrumenti upravljanja poslovnim procesima. Međunarodni okviri izvještavanja o okolišu, zakonodavstvo, ali i zahtjevi dionika nameću potrebu promišljanja o kvantiteti i kvaliteti informacija koje poslovni subjekti trebaju izvještavati. Uspostava sustava upravljanja okolišem postavlja temelje za razvoj računovodstva okoliša i integriranog sustava izvještavanja o okolišu, odnosno za uključivanje pitanja odgovornosti za okoliš u pronalaženje novih metoda postizanja okolišne učinkovitosti, konkurentnosti i dugoročne poslovne održivosti. Odluku o izvještavanju informacija o okolišu dovodi se u vezu s menadžerskim stavovima i očekivanjima. Menadžerske inicijative, vrijednosti koje poslovni subjekti promiču i aktivnosti koje obavljaju pokretači su procesa izvještavanja. Izvještavanje o okolišu odgovorna je poslovna praksa i instrument kontinuiranog unapređenja poslovnih procesa kojemu je cilj postizanje veće okolišne učinkovitosti i konkurentnosti te održivosti poslovnog subjekta. Nedostatak dosadašnjih istraživanja o koristima izvještavanja o okolišu i računovodstva okoliša te značenju izvještavanja o okolišu za učinkovito upravljanje okolišem, odnosno osiguranje okolišne konkurentnosti i održivosti poslovnog subjekta, povod je za provođenje ovog istraživanja. Dodatni povod postojanje je razlike u praksi izvještavanja o okolišu kod poslovnih subjekata različitih obilježja i iz različitog poslovnog okruženja, kao i činjenica da u Hrvatskoj i većini zemalja Regije takvih istraživanja nedostaje. Predmet istraživanja obuhvaća utvrđivanje čimbenika koji su povezani s razvojem izvještavanja o okolišu te njegovim integriranim djelovanjem kroz sustav upravljanja okolišem na unapređenje korporativne društvene odgovornosti u segmentu odgovornosti prema okolišu te posljedično na osiguranje poslovne održivosti. Temeljni cilj istraživanja je utvrditi značaj izvještavanja o okolišu kao suvremenog instrumenta upravljanja okolišem za unaprjeđenje okolišne konkurentnosti i poslovne održivosti. U istraživanju se polazi od pretpostavke da su poslovni subjekti koji integriraju odlučivanje o okolišu u uobičajeni poslovni kontekst sposobniji udovoljiti suvremenim tržišnim zahtjevima vezanim uz pitanja okoliša. U tome im može pomoći izvještavanje o okolišu instrument upravljanja okolišem koji nadograđuje i unaprjeđuje postojeće sustave upravljanja okolišem tako što osigurava informacije potrebne za kvalitetnije odlučivanje i upravljanje okolišem, a što posljedično djeluje na unapređenje okolišne učinkovitosti i konkurentnosti, odnosno optimizaciju upotrebe resursa, smanjenje troškova i otvaranje novih prilika za ostvarivanje profita. Istraživanje je stoga usmjereno utvrđivanju obilježja poslovnih subjekata koji prakticiraju izvještavanje o okolišu te povoda i razloga razvoja i implementacije takve poslovne prakse, a s ciljem pronalaženja odgovora na pitanje zašto i kako izvještavati o okolišu. Istraživani su čimbenici koje bi se moglo dovesti u vezu s izvještavanjem o okolišu, a također i svijest menadžera o potencijalnim koristima koje izvještavanje poslovnom subjektu može priskrbiti. Uzorak istraživanja obuhvatio je poslovne subjekte u Hrvatskoj. Kako bi se osigurala vjerojatnost njihovog izbora u uzorak provedena je stratifikacija uzorka. Reprezentativnost uzorka osigurana je na razini pouzdanosti od 95% i intervalu pouzdanosti od 10%. S obzirom na metodologiju koja je korištena u analizi prikupljenih podataka vodilo se računa o dostatnoj veličini uzorka za provođenje pojedinih statističkih testova te omjeru broja ispitanika i broja istraživačkih varijabli. Istraživanje je provedeno u razdoblju od 31. kolovoza do 21. studenog 2015. godine.Osviještenost i opredijeljenost menadžera, vezano uz aspekte zaštite okoliša, polazna su osnova za iniciranje konkretnih i međusobno usklađenih promjena koje podrazumijevaju uspostavu sustava upravljanja okolišem, ali i sastavljanje i objavljivanje izvještaja o okolišu. U radu je stoga testirana hipoteza o povezanosti stupnja razvijenosti izvještavanja o okolišu i stupnja razvijenosti upravljanja okolišem (H 1.1). Temeljem prikupljenih informacija o odrednicama prakse upravljanja okolišem zastupljenim kod poslovnih subjekata utvrđen je stupanj razvijenosti upravljanja okolišem. Mjerenjem stupnja razvijenosti izvještavanja o okolišu došlo se do spoznaje o pokazateljima razvijenosti računovodstva okoliša, odnosno o informacijama o troškovima okoliša, učestalosti i formi izvještaja o okolišu te njihovoj sukladnosti s izvještajnim okvirima, kao i o uključenosti dionika u njihovo sastavljanje. Hipoteza je putem formiranog regresijskog modela potvrđena, što znači da je stupanj razvijenosti izvještavanja o okolišu pozitivno i statistički značajno povezan sa stupnjem razvijenosti upravljanja okolišem. Testirana je i povezanost stupnja razvijenosti izvještavanja o okolišu i varijabli koje proizlaze iz temeljnih obilježja poduzeća: veličine (H 1.2), djelatnosti (H1.3), vlasničke strukture (H 1.4) te posjedovanja međunarodno priznatog certifikata sustava upravljanja okolišem (H 1.5). Rezultat regresijskog modela nije pokazao statistički značajnu povezanost navedenih varijabli sa stupnjem razvijenosti izvještavanja o okolišu, iako je tome najbliža bila hipoteza 1.5. Utvrđeno je da veličina poduzeća, djelatnost, kao niti oblik vlasništva poslovnog subjekta nemaju statistički značajan utjecaj na stupanj razvijenosti izvještavanja o okolišu. Na razini značajnosti od 5% utvrđeno je također da posjedovanje iako bi hipoteza bila potvrđena na razini značajnosti od 10%. S obzirom na pretpostavku da će poduzeća čiji menadžeri u većoj mjeri razmatraju zahtjeve dionika ostvarivati višu razinu razvijenosti izvještavanja o okolišu, kao dodatna varijabla definirana je menadžerska percepcija važnosti dionika, utjecaj koje je također testiran na stupanj razvijenosti izvještavanja o okolišu (H 1.6). Rezultat testiranja hipoteze pokazao je da percepcija menadžera o važnosti dionika nema utjecaj na stupanj izvještavanja o okolišu, zbog čega ona nije potvrđena. S obzirom da je u istraživanju utvrđeno da relativno veliki udjel ispitanika (49%) objavljivanje informacija o okolišu ne smatra nužnim za poboljšanje komunikacije s dionicima ili o tome nemaju stava, rezultat testiranja H 1.6 upućuje i na zaključak o nerazvijenosti svijesti o potrebi i korisnosti uključivanja dionika u poslovne procese. To može biti preprekom ostvarivanju konkurentnosti i dugoročne održivosti poslovnog subjekta.
Druga istraživačka hipoteza (H 2) posvećena je utvrđivanju efekata razvijenosti izvještavanja o okolišu i sustava upravljanja okolišem na okolišnu konkurentnost poduzeća. S obzirom da je integracija izvještavanja o okolišu u sustav upravljanja okolišem moguća zbog sukladnosti ciljeva izvještavanja o okolišu i upravljanja okolišem, testirana je pretpostavka da ona doprinosi kontinuiranom unaprjeđenju okolišne konkurentnosti poduzeća, optimiziranju njegovih troškova te osiguranju vjerodostojnih informacija različitim dionicima. Kao dokaz razine integriranosti računovodstva okoliša i upravljanja okolišem uzete su kvantiteta i kvaliteta izvještavanja o okolišu. Kvantitetu i kvalitetu izvještavanja o okolišu mjerilo se indeksom izvještavanja temeljenom na broju pokazatelja o okolišu koje poslovni subjekt mjeri, a koji je formiran na temelju Smjernica za izvještavanje o održivosti Globalne inicijative za izvještavanje. Kako bi se zadovoljio kriterij kvalitete izvještavanja, pokazateljima su dodijeljeni težinski faktori sukladni modelu kojeg je objavila kompanija Thomson Reuters (2013.). Drugi korak u testiranju hipoteze bilo je utvrđivanje mjerila okolišne konkurentnosti.Okolišnu konkurentnost odlučeno je mjeriti pomoću pokazatelja iz modela kojeg su predložili Wagner i Schaltegger (2004.), koji su okolišnu konkurentnost definirali kao dio sveukupne konkurentnosti poslovnog subjekta i njegove ekonomske učinkovitosti. Nakon provedene faktorske analize odgovora ispitanika njezini rezultati primijenjeni su u modelu linearne regresije. Rezultat linearne regresije potvrdio je da integriranost izvještavanja o okolišu i sustava upravljanja okolišem ima statistički značajan utjecaj na okolišnu konkurentnost, što je dokazalo da se okolišnu konkurentnost treba promatrati kroz prizmu kvalitete izvještavanja o okolišu i njegovog uporišta u implementiranom sustavu upravljanja okolišem. Implementirani sustavi upravljanja okolišem menadžerski su instrumenti kontinuiranog unaprjeđenja poslovnih IV procesa u aspektu okoliša. Integrirani s drugim menadžerskim sustavima važan su izvor informacija kako internim tako i eksternim dionicima. Izvještavanje o okolišu zahtijeva funkcionalan sustav prikupljanja, evidentiranja i dijeljenja podataka putem baza i komunikacijskih kanala zainteresiranim korisnicima. Bez konkretne podatkovne podloge ne može poštivati načela kvalitete izvještavanja niti ispuniti zahtjeve korisnika, što posljedično dovodi u pitanje njegovu svrhu i ostvarivanje koristi za izvještajni subjekt. Objavljivanjem informacija o okolišu poslovni subjekti nastoje poboljšati svoj ugled. Jedan od načina je objavljivanje točnih i pouzdanih informacija o okolišu, jamstvo kojih se ostvaruje provođenjem revizije izvještaja o okolišu od strane neovisnih eksternih revizora. S obzirom da kod analiziranih poslovnih subjekata ne prevladava praksa sveobuhvatnog izvještavanja o okolišu, oni reviziju izvještaja o okolišu mogu koristiti kao sredstvo unapređenja ugleda tek u naprednijoj fazi razvoja i integracije vlastitih sustava upravljanja okolišem i računovodstva okoliša. Prvo trebaju uspostaviti sustav mjerenja, prikupljanja i analiziranja podataka, a potom otkriti ključne dionike te sastaviti njima korisne informacije o okolišu. Sukladno takvom stajalištu definirana je hipoteza 3. Njezinim testiranjem utvrđeni su menadžerski stavovi o mogućim koristima od podvrgavanja izvještajnih procesa i izvještaja o okolišu eksternoj reviziji. Iako distribucija odgovora ispitanika pokazuje da oni generalno imaju pozitivan stav o eksternoj reviziji izvještavanja o okolišu, rezultat provođenja t-testa pokazuje da njihovi stavovi, osim po pitanju svrhe provođenja eksterne revizije, nisu ujednačeni.
Temeljem istraživanja čimbenika koji su povezani s razvojem izvještavanja o okolišu te njegovim integriranim djelovanjem kroz sustav upravljanja okolišem na unapređenje društvene odgovornosti poslovnih subjekata u segmentu odgovornosti prema okolišu zaključuje se da je stupanj razvijenosti izvještavanja o okolišu pozitivno i statistički značajno povezan sa stupnjem razvijenosti upravljanja okolišem te da njihova integriranost ima statistički značajan utjecaj na okolišnu konkurentnost poslovnih subjekata. Poslovni subjekti s jasno izraženim stavom o nužnosti integriranja odlučivanja o okolišu u uobičajeni poslovni kontekst sposobni su napraviti pozitivan pomak u svojoj strateškoj orijentaciji prema zadovoljavanju suvremenih tržišnih potreba i zahtjeva dionika vezanih uz problematiku zaštite okoliša. Izvještavanje o okolišu osigurava dionicima informacije potrebne za kvalitetnije odlučivanje i upravljanje okolišnim aspektima, što posljedično djeluje na unapređenje okolišne učinkovitosti i konkurentnosti. Iako kod promatranih poslovnih subjekata nije utvrđena praksa podvrgavanja izvještaja o okolišu eksternoj reviziji, utvrđen pozitivan stav ispitanika o eksternoj reviziji pretpostavka je buduće transparentnosti u objavljivanju informacija i osiguranju njihove vjerodostojnosti.Objašnjavajući odnos stupnja razvijenosti upravljanja okolišem s razinom izvještavanja o okolišu formiran je konceptualni model izvještavanja o okolišu čiji se učinci postupno ugrađuju u temelje korporativne poslovne održivosti. Model sagledava izvještavanje o okolišu kao poveznicu između ostvarene razine odgovornosti poslovnog subjekta za okoliš i mogućih postignuća u kontekstu njegove poslovne održivosti. Temeljem njega poslovni subjekti mogu samostalno procijeniti razinu vlastite odgovornosti za okoliš te time razviti spoznaje o učinkovitijim načinima ustrojavanja poslovnih procesa. U okviru doktorskog rada model je testiran na uzorku anketiranih poslovnih subjekata. Utvrđeno je da su anketirani poslovni subjekti prosječno na prvoj razini razvijenosti sustava upravljanja okolišem i izvještavanja o okolišu te da još uvijek traže opcije za osiguranje održivosti poslovanja kroz uštede u potrošnji samo nekih od resursa, poboljšanje ugleda te manji broj inspekcijskih nadzora. |
| Abstract (english) | Environmental responsibility, embedded into environmental management system, is important element of business sustainability, while environmental accounting and environmental reporting are indispensable management instruments. International reporting frameworks, legislation, but also the requirements of stakeholders necessitate thinking about the quantity and quality of information that businesses should report. The implementation of environmental management systems lays the foundation for the development of environmental accounting and integrated environmental reporting system, or for the inclusion of environmental issues in finding new methods of achieving environmental efficiency, competitiveness and long-term business sustainability. Decision on reporting environmental information is associated with the managerial attitudes and expectations. Managerial initiatives, values that businesses promote and activities they undertake are the drivers of the reporting process. Environmental reporting is an accountable business practice and an instrument of continuous improvement of business processes with the aim of achieving greater environmental efficiency, competitiveness and business sustainability. The lack of research on the benefits of environmental reporting and environmental accounting, and the importance of environmental reporting for environmental management effectiveness as well as ensuring environmental competitiveness and sustainability of an enterprise, are the reasons for conducting this research. An additional reason is the existence of differences in the practices of environmental reporting between enterprises with different characteristics and from different business environment, as well as the fact that in Croatia and most countries of the Region such researches are lacking. The subject of this research involves determining the factors that are associated with the development of environmental reporting and its integrated action through an environmental management system on the promotion of corporate social responsibility in the area of environmental responsibility, and consequently on ensuring business sustainability. The fundamental objective of the research is to determine the importance of environmental reporting as contemporary environmental management instrument in improving environmental competitiveness and business sustainability. The study is based on the assumption that businesses which integrate environmental decision-making in the common business context are more capable to satisfy the modern market need related to environmental issues. In doing so they can rely on environmental reporting an instrument of environmental management that upgrades and improves existing environmental management systems by providing the VII information needed for better environmental decision-making and environmental management, which consequently affects the improvement of environmental performance and competitiveness, optimizes the use of resources, reduces costs and opens new opportunities for profit earning. The research is therefore focused on determining the characteristics of businesses that practice environmental reporting and on determining cause and reasons of development and implementation of such business practices, with the aim of finding answers to the question why and how to report on the environment. Factors that could be linked to environmental reporting were explored, but also the awareness of managers about the potential benefits of reporting that businesses can achieve. The study sample included enterprises in Croatia. Sample stratification was carried out in order to ensure the probability of enterprises selection in the sample. The representative quality of the sample has been provided at the confidence level of 95% and the confidence interval of 10%. With the regard to the methodology that was used in the analysis of the collected data, sufficient sample size was chosen to conduct certain statistical tests and the ratio of the number of participants and the number of research variables was taken into account. The survey was conducted in the period from 31 August to 21 November 2015. Awareness and commitment of management in connection with environmental aspects are a starting point for initiating concrete and coordinated changes that involve implementation of environmental management systems, but also the preparation and publication of environmental reports. This dissertation therefore tested the hypothesis on the relationship between the level of development of environmental reporting and the level of development of environmental management (H 1.1). The level of development of environmental management was measured based on the collected information about the determinants of environmental management practices represented by businesses. Measuring the level of development of environmental reporting provided insights into indicators of development of environmental accounting, and the information on the environmental costs, frequency and form of environmental reports, their compliance with the reporting frameworks and the engagement of stakeholders in report preparation. The hypothesis is confirmed by formed regression model, which means that the level of development of environmental reporting is positively and significantly associated with the level of development of environmental management. Relationship between the level of environmental reporting and the variables that arise from the fundamental characteristics of the enterprises was also tested: size (H 1.2), industry (H 1.3), ownership structure (H 1.4) and possession of internationally recognized certificate of environmental management system (H VIII 1.5). The result of the regression model did not show statistically significant association of these variables with the level of development of environmental reporting, although the hypothesis 1.5 was very close to that. It was found that company size, industry and ownership structure don't have a statistically significant impact on the level of development of environmental reporting. At the significance level of 5% it was also found that the possession of internationally recognized certificate of environmental management system is not a guarantee of development of environmental management system, and consequently the environmental reporting, although the hypothesis can be confirmed at the significance level of 10%. Given the assumption that enterprises which managers increasingly consider the requirements of stakeholders achieve a higher level of development of environmental reporting, as an additional variable managerial perception of the importance of stakeholders is defined, the impact of which was also tested on the level of development of environmental reporting (H 1.6). The result of testing the hypothesis showed that managerial perception about the importance of stakeholders has no impact on the level of development of environmental reporting, and therefore the hypothesis has not been confirmed. Given that the research also found that a relatively large proportion of respondents (49%) do not consider the disclosure of environmental information necessary to improve communication with stakeholders or they dont have an opinion on this, the result of testing H 1.6 points to the conclusion of the lack of awareness of the need and usefulness of stakeholder engagement in business processes. That can be an obstacle to achieving competitiveness and long-term sustainability of the business entity. The second research hypothesis (H 2) is dedicated to determining the effects of the development of environmental reporting and environmental management system on the environmental competitiveness of enterprises. Since the integration of environmental reporting into environmental management system is possible because of compatibility of environmental reporting and environmental management goals, the assumption that this integration contributes to the continuous improvement of environmental competitiveness of an enterprise, optimizing its costs and ensuring reliable information to different stakeholders, was tested. Quantity and quality of environmental reporting are taken as evidence of the level of integration of environmental accounting and environmental management. This was measured by reporting index based on the number of environmental indicators that each enterprise measure, and formed on the basis of Sustainability reporting guidelines of the Global Reporting Initiative. In order to satisfy the criterion of reporting quality, indicators are assigned weights in conformity with the model which was proposed by Thomson Reuters (2013). The second step in testing the IX hypothesis was establishing a measure of environmental competitiveness. It was decided to be measure by using indicators from the model proposed by Wagner and Schaltegger (2004), who defined environmental competitiveness as a part of the overall competitiveness of an enterprise and its economic efficiency. After conducting the factor analysis of respondents answers, its results were applied to the model of linear regression. The result of linear regression confirmed that the integration of environmental reporting and environmental management system has a statistically significant impact on the environmental competitiveness, which proved that the environmental competitiveness should be viewed through the prism of quality of environmental reporting and its strongholds in the implemented environmental management system. Implemented environmental management systems are management instruments of continuous improvement of business processes in the environmental aspect. Integrated with other management systems, they are an important source of information for both internal and external stakeholders. Environmental reporting requires a functional system of collecting, recording and sharing of data through databases and communication channels to interested users. Environmental reporting, without concrete data foundation, cant respect the principles of reporting quality, nor meet stakeholders requirements, which consequently questions its purpose and the realisation of benefits to the reporting entity. By reporting environmental information enterprises seek to improve its reputation. One way is to report accurate and reliable environmental information, the guarantee of which can be achieved by the assurance of environmental reports by engaging independent external assurance providers. Since the analysed businesses do not have prevalent practice of comprehensive environmental reporting, they can use assurance engagement of environmental reports as a means of improving the reputation at a more advanced stage of development and integration of their environmental management systems and environmental accounting. At first they should establish system of measuring, collecting and analyzing data, and after that identify the key stakeholders and prepare environmental information useful to them. According to this standpoint the third hypothesis was defined. By testing it, managerial attitudes about the possible benefits of assurance engagement of the reporting processes and environmental reports were determined. Although the distribution of respondents answers has showed that they generally have a positive attitude about the external assurance engagement of environmental reporting, the result of the implementation of t-test has showed that their attitudes, except on the issue of the purpose of conducting assurance engagement, are not uniform. X Based on the research of factors associated with the development of environmental reporting and its integrated action through environmental management systems at improving the corporate social responsibility in the area of environmental responsibility, and consequently to ensure their business sustainability, it has been found that the level of environmental reporting is positively and significantly associated with the level of development of environmental management system, and that their integration has a statistically significant impact on corporate environmental competitiveness. Businesses with the clear stance on the necessity of integrating environmental decision-making in the common business context are able to make a positive step forward in their strategic orientation towards satisfying the modern market needs and demands of stakeholders related to environmental issues. Environmental reporting provides stakeholders the information needed for better decision-making and managing of environmental aspects, which consequently affects the improvement of environmental effectiveness and optimizes the use of resources, reducing costs and opening new opportunities for profit earnings. Although at the researched businesses the environmental assurance engagements practices were not found, the positive attitudes of survey respondents about assurance engagements are the assumption of future transparency in information disclosure and ensuring their credibility. By explaining the relationship between the level of development of environmental management and environmental reporting, the conceptual model of environmental reporting was developed. Its effects gradually being built into the foundations of corporate business sustainability. The model considers environmental reporting as a link between the achieved level of environmental responsibility of an enterprise and the possible achievements in the context of its business sustainability. Based on this model, businesses can independently asses the level of their environmental responsibility, and thus provide insights into more efficient ways of organizing business processes. As part of the doctoral thesis the model was tested on the sample of surveyed enterprises. It was found that surveyed enterprises are on average at the first level of development of environmental management systems and environmental reporting and are still looking for options to ensure business sustainability through savings in consumption of certain resources, enhancing the reputation and decreasing the number of inspections. |
