Behind camouflaging: traditional and innovative theoretical perspectives in social and environmental accounting research

Giovanna Michelon*, Silvia Pilonato, Federica Ricceri, Robin W. Roberts

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

67 Citations (Scopus)

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2-25
Number of pages24
JournalSustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 7 Mar 2016

Research Groups and Themes

  • AF Accountability Sustainability and Governance

Keywords

  • Camouflaging
  • Functional stupidity
  • Legitimacy theory
  • Organizational hypocrisy
  • Theoretical frameworks

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Behind camouflaging: traditional and innovative theoretical perspectives in social and environmental accounting research'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this