Identifying the Requirements, Challenges, Obstacles and Consequences of the Implementation of Assurance on Sustainability Reporting of Companies in Iran with Thematic Analysis Approach

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

10.22103/jak.2024.23088.4025

Abstract

Objective: Today, social and environmental crises in the world have drawn the attention of companies and legislators to sustainability reporting, but what increases the importance and necessity of sustainability reporting is the validation of these reports, therefore, this research seeks to identify the requirements, challenges, the obstacles and consequences of the implementation of the accreditation of sustainability reporting of companies in Iran from the point of view of experts and professionals.
 
Method: This research is developmental in terms of results, in terms of an exploratory method and qualitative data type. This research was conducted through interviews with 21 experts and experts, which included university faculty members, audit organization employees, and those working in the auditing profession. Also, the data were analyzed by theme analysis.
 
Results: Based on the findings from the interviews with experts, 99 concepts and 30 sub-themes were identified, and finally, four main themes were extracted. The four main themes of this research are: the goals of sustainability reporting, the requirements and prerequisites for the implementation of sustainability reporting accreditation, the challenges and obstacles of the implementation of sustainability reporting accreditation, and the consequences of the implementation of sustainability reporting accreditation.
 
Conclusion: The results of this research can be used by supervisory institutions, legislators and compilers of standards and the auditing profession in Iran to devise effective measures for the implementation of accreditation of sustainability reports.

Keywords

References

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History

  • Receive Date: 14 March 2024
  • Revise Date: 09 September 2024
  • Accept Date: 30 September 2024

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