Behind camouflaging: traditional and innovative theoretical perspectives in social and environmental accounting research
Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal
ISSN: 2040-8021
Article publication date: 7 March 2016
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it examines nuances that specific camouflaging perspectives provide to enhance traditional and widely adopted theories in social and environmental accounting. Second, within research on camouflaging, the paper stimulates multidisciplinarity and cross-fertilization by presenting recent developments in organizational theory that hold promise for enhancing our understanding of camouflaging. Finally, it discusses how the research contributions published in this special issue help advance the notion of corporate camouflaging.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper makes use of an extensive literature review and discusses research implications related with the choice of theoretical framework.
Findings
The idea of camouflaging may provide narrower and more refined perspective(s) that can help researchers delve deeper into their topic of interest and thereby support potentially substantive contributions to the field.
Originality/value
The paper offers suggestions for future social and environmental accounting research that adopts the concepts of organized hypocrisy, organizational façades and functional stupidity into the study of organizations.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Editor (Carol Adams) and to the two anonymous referees for their insightful comments and suggestions on the paper. They also appreciate the feedback received at the 5th Italian CSEAR Conference (Padova, Italy, September, 18-19, 2014), to which this special issue was associated, and at the 10th CSEAR Spain Conference (Seville, Spain, September, 18-19, 2015). The authors acknowledge the financial support of the University of Padova (Project no. CPDA128717).
Citation
Michelon, G., Pilonato, S., Ricceri, F. and Roberts, R.W. (2016), "Behind camouflaging: traditional and innovative theoretical perspectives in social and environmental accounting research", Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 2-25. https://doi.org/10.1108/SAMPJ-12-2015-0121
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited