ABSTRACT
There is increasing acceptance that the role of the corporate in today's society, particularly the high-profile multinational, is changing. Its business is no longer simply business but now also includes a responsibility to society that goes beyond engaging only in activities designed to increase its profits. Widespread public expectations of corporates now include environmental and socially oriented projects such as The Body Shop's Easterhouse programme providing work for the unemployed in a deprived area of Glasgow, UK. Also in the UK the Co-operative Bank's ethical policy and other 'ethical investment funds', such as those operated by NPI are adding a financial dimension to these performance criteria. Indeed, one of the main drivers behind social reporting, according to NPI, is to integrate social and financial performance reporting such that a company's evaluation by the City reflects not only economic aspects but also social and environmental ones (O'Connor 1998). Patten, researching the drivers for company disclosures in annual reports, concludes that 'social disclosure is related to public
pressure as opposed to profitability' (Patten 1991: 305). Perhaps the epitome of the current reporting trend was Shell's Report to Society (1998) which Chairman and Chief Executive Chris Fay, defended on the basis that:
Such change suggests that the mechanisms that direct and legitimise corporate behaviour are in the process of being revolutionised. With regard to sustainability, 'long term success will depend on how markets and corporate governance systems are structured requiring radical reforms over decades' (Elkington 1998a) .
