Deck 15: International Corporate Social Reporting

Question 1

What organization is the only cap and trade system for all six greenhouse gases in North America?

A)The Chicago Climate Exchange
B)The Toronto Climate Exchange
C)The Nuclear Regulatory Agency
D)The Los Angeles Climate Exchange

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What effect has social and environmental legislation had on top management in Thailand?

A)Top management can be jailed for failure to make social and environmental disclosures.
B)There has been no motivation towards increased corporate social and environmental disclosures.
C)Top management is highly motivated to make social and environmental disclosures.
D)There is no social and environmental legislation in Thailand.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

How do Irish companies view annual corporate social reports (CSR)?

A)They greet CSR with skepticism and have ceased to engage in preparing CSR.
B)They embrace CSR as a way of maintaining or reestablishing legitimacy.
C)They are required to prepare CSR under Irish statute.
D)Irish culture demands CSR reports.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Carbon offsets are mostly taken at:

A)market value by the buyer.
B)a premium by the seller.
C)face value by the buyer.
D)market value by the seller.

Question 5

Which is a goal of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)?

A)To help inform the public debate on managing the risk of climate change
B)To facilitate capacity-building in both public and private sectors to facilitate GHG migration
C)To build the skills and institutions needed to cost-effectively manage GHGs
D)All of the above

Question 6

The meaning of corporate social reporting (CSR) is derived from the notion of:

A)governmental societal responsibility.
B)organizational societal responsibility.
C)Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
D)the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

Question 7

The corporate social reporting (CSR) theory that social reporting is a means to deal with the firm's exposure to political, economic and social pressures is called the:

A)government accountability theory.
B)depletable resource theory.
C)legitimacy theory.
D)stakeholder theory.

Question 8

Accountability is defined as what kind of a concept?

A)Reactive
B)Financial
C)Proactive
D)Regulatory

Question 9

Which of the following are significant shortcomings with voluntary CSR practices?

A)Reliability of the disclosures
B)Biased and self-laudatory disclosures
C)Minimal disclosure of negative information
D)All of the above

Question 10

Carbon funds are:

A)created with a purpose of providing an incentive to increase the efficiency of fuel use.
B)useful for assessing climate impacts and to disclose firms' energy use.
C)set up to stimulate development of the emissions trading market and assist companies and governments to invest in carbon credits.
D)pooled funds set up to purchase carbon credits, usually on behalf of companies and other investors.

Question 11

According to legitimacy theory, corporate social reports:

A)capture the impact of culture on the annual reports.
B)is a means to deal with a firm's exposure to political, economic, and social pressures.
C)is in response to the stakeholders demand for environmental and social information.
D)should not vary country wise on the basis of methods of disclosure.

Question 12

Japanese companies' attitude toward information for disclosure to outsiders can be described in what way?

A)They believe in the principles of full disclosure.
B)The Emperor has mandated full disclosure.
C)Banking scandals have encouraged full disclosure.
D)They are generally reluctant to provide such information.

Question 13

What is another name by which corporate social reporting (CSR) is also known?

A)Corporate integrity reporting
B)Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting
C)Corporate image reporting
D)Nonmonetary bottom line reporting

Question 14

The Treadway Commission Report in the United States published in 1987 used the phrase:

A)"bottom up accounting."
B)"top down accounting."
C)"management culture incentive."
D)"tone at the top."

Question 15

How do Australian managers tend to view the annual corporate social report?

A)It is required by Australian statute and is not an option.
B)It has been greeted with skepticism.
C)It is doomed to fail as a legitimating vehicle.
D)It is useful in maintaining or reestablishing legitimacy.

Question 16

GRI's fourth-generation guidelines (G4):

A)represent a standardized approach to reporting, encouraging the degree of transparency and consistency.
B)represent the right to emit or discharge a specific volume of the specified pollutant.
C)create an incentive to increase the efficiency of fuel use, and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fuel.
D)are a function of the attitude of top management toward its stakeholders.

Question 17

ESG is an acronym for:

A)Environmentally Specific Gases.
B)Environmental, Social, and Governance.
C)European Societal Goals.
D)Ecologically Safe Groundwater.

Question 18

What is another name by which corporate social reporting (CSR) is also known?

A)Corporate integrity reporting
B)Corporate image reporting
C)Ecological footprint reporting
D)Nonmonetary bottom line reporting

Question 19

What are GHGs?

A)Governmental heating guides
B)Governmental hierarchy of gases
C)Greenhouse gases
D)Good health guides

Question 20

The corporate social reporting (CSR) theory that environmental disclosures are made in response to a demand for environmental and social information is called the:

A)legitimacy theory.
B)stakeholder theory.
C)Superfund theory.
D)depletable resource theory.

Question 21

To be carbon neutral means that:

A)an equal amount of gas has been removed from the atmosphere as has been put there through various emissions.
B)a company pledges not to produce carbon-based products.
C)a company has overpaid its carbon tax.
D)the type of carbon released into the atmosphere has no negative implications on the environment.

Question 22

What does EU ETS stand for?

A)European Union Emissions Trading Scheme
B)European Union Emissions and Toxic Sludge
C)Eastern European Emergency Toxic Standards
D)Eastern European Electricity Transmission Standards

Question 23

Carbon trading is underpinned by what product?

A)Carbon neutrality
B)Carbon credits
C)Carbon taxes
D)Carbon offsets

Question 24

In August 2010, what was the price per ton of carbon?

A)$1.00
B)$2.50
C)10 cents
D)25 cents

Question 25

Where is the Secretariat of the GRI located?

A)New York
B)Montreal
C)Amsterdam
D)Vienna

Question 26

According to Gray, which characteristic influences Spain's accounting values and reporting?

A)Transparency
B)Secrecy
C)Flexibility
D)Optimism

Question 27

Part I of the GRI Sustainability Guidelines defines all but which one of the following?

A)Report content
B)Quality
C)Boundary
D)Standards for disclosure

Question 28

The discovery of toxic waste dumps across the United States in the 1980s led to passage of what legislation?

A)Offshore drilling
B)Superfund
C)Sarbanes-Oxley
D)Gramm-Rudman

Question 29

The countries ratifying the Kyoto Protocol are committed to reducing greenhouse gases by how much from their 1990 level by 2011?

A)25%
B)10%
C)5%
D)50%

Question 30

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has found that the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has increased by how much in the past 250 years?

A)150%
B)65%
C)35%
D)100%

Question 31

What do investors in the Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF) receive in return for their investment?

A)A guaranteed 10% return
B)The satisfaction of contributing to corporate societal values
C)A reduction of the carbon tax
D)A pro-rata share of the carbon credits

Question 32

Which of the following is NOT one of Hofstede's structural elements of culture that affect organizational behavior?

A)Individualism vs.collectivism
B)high-profile corporate scandals
C)Strong vs.weak uncertainty avoidance
D)Large vs.small power distance

Question 33

Which of the following is NOT one of Gray's accounting values?

A)Secrecy vs.transparency
B)Conservatism vs.optimism
C)Capitalizing vs.expensing
D)Uniformity vs.flexibility

Question 34

Which country is NOT a member of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate?

A)Japan
B)New Zealand
C)India
D)Korea

Question 35

What was a key finding of the 2007 Stern Report in the United Kingdom on the Economics of Climate Change?

A)The costs of extreme weather over the next few decades could reach 0.5% to 1% of world GDP per annum.
B)Climate change should promote forced savings over the next few decades.
C)Climate change bears little, if any correlation to economic disruption.
D)The costs of extreme weather over the next few decades could reach 10% to 15% of world GDP per annum.

Question 36

What is a carbon tax?

A)It is a tax imposed by the World Bank on excessive carbon usage.
B)It is a tax imposed by the U.S.government on excessive vehicle emissions.
C)It is a regressive tax.
D)It is a tax on the use of fuels that cause the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

Question 37

What is the purpose of the IFAC's Sustainability Framework?

A)To target professional accountants who can influence integration of sustainability into organizations' objectives, strategies, management, and definition of success
B)To promote global adoption of GRI
C)To target elected officials who can influence integration of sustainability into organizations' objectives, strategies, management, and definition of success
D)To integrate the concept of sustainability into the Accounting Framework

Question 38

Which country has not ratified the 2005 Kyoto Protocol?

A)Japan
B)France
C)The U.S.
D)Spain

Question 39

Under the Kyoto Protocol, what mechanism is used to promote emissions reduction in developing countries?

A)Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
B)Clean Air Initiative (CAI)
C)The Kyoto Protocol only focuses on developed countries.
D)None of the above

Question 40

Which of the following are drivers of corporate social reporting?

A)The level of media attention
B)Social pressure groups
C)Environmental pressure groups
D)All of the above

Question 41

Which of the following sectors does NOT report financial savings from their actions to improve their social targets?

A)Information technology
B)Financial services
C)Oil and gas
D)Pharmaceuticals

Question 42

In which of the following countries do companies tend to provide the most extensive reporting on climate change?

A)Canada
B)The United States
C)The United Kingdom
D)Japan

Question 43

Part II of the GRI Sustainability Guidelines defines which one of the following?

A)Report content
B)Quality
C)Boundary
D)Standards for disclosure

Question 44

In its sustainability report for 2009, which major company states that it plans to cut carbon emissions of its airline by an additional 20% by 2020?

A)Southwest Airlines
B)Federal Express
C)Jet Blue
D)UPS (United Parcel Service Inc.)

Question 45

In which country do companies tend to focus on nonmonetary disclosures that are more favorable to the company, especially around the time of negative events?

A)Libya
B)Ireland
C)Australia
D)China

Question 46

In which company is there a strong correlation between high profitability and sustainability reporting?

A)Coca-Cola
B)Microsoft
C)IBM
D)All of the above

Question 47

GRI stands for:

A)Global Research Initiative.
B)Global Reporting Initiative.
C)Greenhouse Reporting for Industries.
D)Greenhouse Regulation Initiative.

Question 48

What are the most disclosed social report items by the U.S., the U.K., and Australia?

A)Research and development of sustainable products
B)Greenhouse gas policies and procedures
C)Human resources and community involvement
D)Zero tolerance for racial, religious and gender bias

Question 49

In which of the following countries do companies tend to provide more extensive environmental disclosure than U.S.?

A)Canada
B)Thailand
C)The United Kingdom
D)Australia

Question 50

What does G3 represent?

A)An annual summit of countries committed to the reduction of GHGs
B)The third type of GHG
C)The United States, Canada and Mexico
D)The third generation of the GRI's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines

Question 51

What is one thing that few companies tend to report on in their corporate social report disclosures?

A)International disaster response
B)The risk of legal action or business disruptions caused by climate issues
C)The level of GHG reduction
D)Community involvement

Question 52

What are the most disclosed social report items in Thai corporate annual reports?

A)Employee information and environmental information
B)Thailand tends not to issue corporate social reports
C)Amount of carbon credits traded
D)Community involvement

Question 53

In which country has the "GRI-Certified Training Program" been implemented?

A)Brazil
B)India
C)The United States
D)All of the above

Question 54

Part II of the GRI Sustainability Guidelines identifies all but which of the following types of disclosure?

A)Strategy and profile
B)Management approach
C)Reduction in GHG emissions
D)Performance indicators