An Empirical Study of Online and Offline Way of Disclosure of Corporate Environmental Material: A Contrast

An Empirical Study of Online and Offline Way of Disclosure of Corporate Environmental Material: A Contrast

Annumeet Nagra, Shefali Saluja
Copyright: © 2024 |Pages: 9
DOI: 10.4018/979-8-3693-2215-4.ch001
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Abstract

The growth of the internet and other IT has altered global ease of necessary material outside of national boundaries. Due to the internet's capacity to disseminate information at a rapid pace, most businesses today are taking advantage of the opportunity to reveal financial as well as nonfinancial material to their stakeholders, such as environmental related content. The sample used in the current study consisted of 100 businesses that are listed on the BSE-500 Index Stock. T-test was utilised as the statistical method in the current study to compare the online and offline modes of disseminating environmental information by Indian businesses and MNCs. MS-Excel Analysis Tool Pack was used as the study's software. Analysis of it has shown that it is a sad situation when some of the top executives of major corporations are found to be withholding any type of information about their environmental performance. In India, online environmental reporting is still in its infancy. Large business houses and markets with high market capitalization do not give much thought to their surroundings.
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Introduction

Nowadays, it is common for corporate entities to use the internet for a variety of commercial goals (Scott and Jackson, 2002; Coupland, 2006; Jenkins and Yakovleva, 2006). The internet can be used for conducting business or transferring business-related materials. The internet also contributes to a global meeting field for those interested in environmental content (Jenkins and Yakovleva, 2006). Given the cost accumulation and the substance of approach for an increasing number of people, the appeal of such internet environmental reporting (IER) is evident (Gray and Bebbington, 2001). The Internet Environmental Reporting (IER) programme aims to reduce corporate spending while also attempting to improve public access to information about business practises and to provide a massive amount of content.

Environmental Reporting on the Internet: A Developing Stage

According to (Perera et al 2003), internet is a new intermediate which is adequate to diminish the exaggeration in transmission means and curtail the deal between prosperous and abundance of material. The OECD (2004, 2005) states that the application of the internet and other IT upgrade material promulgation deriving in more balanced; cost valuable and convenient approach to pertinent material by investors. The expansion in internet and other IT has changed universal convenience of requisite material beyond national confines. Indeed, with the help of internet transmission of material is more valuable and malleable as compared to other medium of transmission. Another probable aspect of the internet in developing countries it is comparably unique medium transmitting material to public providing volume of material in a greater speed and in more and in better adequate ways to various stakeholders (Aly et al 2010). In the words of (Debreceny et al 2002), today most of the companies are taking benefits to unveil financial as well as non-financial material like environmental related material to their stakeholders because of internet’s capacity in dispersing material at a high speed.

As (Line et al 2002), states that now several corporate introduce social reporting in their environmental statement; some of the companies provide a fully unified corporate sustainability report, while some of the corporate define their statement as environment, health and safety (EHS) reports. Particularly, firms have their own way of environmental reporting on the internet, some corporate form their statement confers to distinct stakeholders; some disclose confer to segment of their business or environmental and social matters. According to (Gray et al 2001), the feasible research related to the environmental reporting conduct has patented on developed nations and limited consideration has been provided to the case of environmental reporting of developing nations. In spite the speedy rise of web utilization in the financial market, in this field the scholastic research is still in its inception phase. Therefore, this investigation grants to the actual group of research by concentrating on the convenience of environmental material on company’s websites. Still only a few of environmental statement on the corporate websites; for instance, (Ahmed and Sulaiman 2004), have asserted the importance of research beyond ARs to analyse the amount of environmental reporting by companies.

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