Recapitulation of A PhD Study Entitled: A Qualitative Study on the Decoupling of Environmental and Social Issues from Management Control Systems in A Petroleum Company: An Institutionalist Approach

Abstract

The aim of this study is to understand and explain how environmental and social issues are considered and embraced in the MCS of an oil and gas company. Most of the research in the area of social and environmental accounting focuses on the issues of corporate social reporting (Albelda, 2011; Deegan, 2002; Durden, 2008; Gray, 2002; Mathews, 1997;Owen, 2008; Parker, 2005; Riccaboni & Leone, 2010). Limited attention has been given to address the question of how social and environmental issues are managed internally rather than through external reporting alone (see for example, Durden, 2008; Lamberton, 2005; Norris & O’Dwyer, 2004; Riccaboni & Leone, 2010; Rouse & Putterill, 2003). Thus, research and empirical studies that link MCS dimensions and sustainability issues are limited and under researched (Berry et al., 2008; Owen, 2008; Park  (5002) . Aqualitative approach is used in this study. Forty face-to-face semi-structured interviews with Gazelle’s (the case company) managers from various organisational levels and departments and with a range of various stakeholders from outside the company were conducted over a period of nine months, from July 2010 to March 2011. The interview approach provides a rich understanding of the subject under study. However, in the developing countries, there is a lack of published research that employs interview-related methodology (Belal & Owen, 2007; Yang, 2011). In addition to the interviews, informal conversations and observations were conducted, as well as a review of the relevant documentary materials made to support the data generated from the interviews and to address the issues of validity and reliability (Creswell, 2012; Mzembe & Meaton, 2014).