Current Issues in Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Current Issues in Finance - Essay Example There is an obvious conflict of interest in expecting information that might ultimately produce pressure by external sources to modify or forego otherwise economically gainful – and for the most part legal - activities, and corporations have been reluctant to adopt non-mandatory disclosure related to such items. â€Å"There has, however, also been a long history of organisations independent of the accountable organisation producing social and/or environmental reports about the accountable organisations. These are typically known as external social audits† (Gibson, Gray, Laing, and Dey, 2002). â€Å"Social audits act as a ‘balancing view’ in the face of the considerable resources that organisations have at their disposal to put their own point of view and to offer their own emphasis on their activities† (Gibson, et al., 2002). Gibson, et al, undertook to find out how much of the desired information was already disclosed, albeit hidden, in the usual annual and various other company-produced reports. They found corporations already supply much of the information being sought. Using a simple â€Å"cut and paste† approach extracted much information relevant to social and environmental issues. The product of such an effort is called a â€Å"Silent Account†. It is a concise selection of information, without commentary, assembled without being taken out of context, and then evaluated. It often reveals more than the corporations suspect, and can be a valuable source of raw data from which to explore issues to follow up. The information used for the compilation of a â€Å"Shadow Account† is compiled in a similar way, without commentary or analysis, but entirely from public but non-company produced sources. No effort is made to distinguish between good news and bad news, and it’s a given that â€Å"It is very likely...that a number of the items in the Shadow Report are, in