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Differences within the community respondents
The owners of dwellings differed substantially on one question, where their viewpoint is different to the non-homeowners, and this relates to the importance of trade companies as a stakeholder in the company. The non-owners agreed that this stakeholder was important to the company, whereas the owners did not.
The community duration-of-residence test showed a statistically significant difference in a number of questions. Residents that had been living in the area for less than 12 months appeared to respond differently to those that had been in the area for longer, although the difference was mainly confined to the level of support for a particular option, and not to a different viewpoint. A majority of the residents who had been living in Bluewater Bay for longer than 60 months believed that they had seen evidence of companies denying or concealing certain activities.
Differences in home language resulted in 11 questions being answered statistically and significantly differently. The isiXhosa language group appears to have responded differently from the other language groups. The statistically significant differences in the responses between the various sub groups that made up the community respondents did not appear to have affected the overall validity of the community survey. This is based on the low number of statistically significantly different questions in each sub-group, as well as the nature of the responses, where the main difference was in the level of aggregate percentages, and not the underlying viewpoint.
Differences between the company respondents
The ISO 14001 certified companies agreed that the information on effluent, air emissions, chemical spills and hazardous waste should be made available to the public. The food and agriculture-related industries did not respond differently from the other industries that had participated in the company.
The size of the company was tested; and those that employ less than 50 people did not believe that they affected the environment. Companies employing more than 50 employees supported the use of guided tours as a method of communication.
The data indicate that it is unlikely that the intra-group differences among the company respondents would have negatively influenced the results.
Conclusion regarding the Research Objectives
There were a number of research problems that were tested to address the main research objectives in this study. Research Problem 1, the main problem, tests whether there is a legitimacy gap between the community and the companies, and if there is, does an expectations gap exist between the companies and the community regarding the exchange of information? This was tested in Section 2 of the community and company questionnaire.
The inter-group analysis (community versus company survey) showed that there were statistically significantly different responses to all of the questions contained in Section 2. There is thus evidence of a possible expectations gap between the community and the companies in Markman Township on the exchange of environmental-performance information.
The second objective was to identify what type of environmental information the community desired, and what method of communication was preferred. The various types of information were tested in Section 2.7.1 to 2.7.11. The information that the respondents require included:
Chemical spills
Waste
Effluents
Legal non-compliance
Air emissions
Recycling efforts
Environmental expenditure
Environmental impact of transport
Water use
Energy consumption
Raw material consumption
The study showed that non-verbal communication is preferred by both the community and the company. The field study presented 26 different methods, and the community supported 23 of the methods. Those methods that were non-verbal had higher mean scores, and were thus preferred.
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background to the Research
1.2. Theoretical Perspective and Research Objectives
1.3. Research Questions
1.4. Justification of the Research
1.5. Research Method
1.6. Definition of Key Concepts
1.7. Delimitation of the Scope
1.8. The Importance of this Research
1.9. Structure of the Thesis
1.10. Chapter Summary
Chapter 2 BACKGROUND STUDY AND LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Introduction
2.2. Background to Bluewater Bay and Motherwell
2.3. Major Environmental Problems Identified in Bluewater Bay
2.4. The Concepts of Social and Sustainability Accounting
2.5. The Quantity and Quality of CSR Disclosure
2.6. The Expectations Gap
2.7. The Reasons for Disclosing Environmental Information
2.8. South African Environmental Law
2.9. Frameworks for Reporting Environmental Performance
2.10. Chapter Summary
Chapter 3 THE Theoretical framework
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Political-Economy Theories
3.3. Theory Application and the Development of the Research Objectives
3.4. Chapter Summary
Chapter 4 THE RESEARCH METHOD
4.1. Introduction
4.2. Method of Data Collection
4.3. The Questionnaire Used to Collect the Data
4.4. The Community Questionnaire
4.5. The Company Questionnaire
4.6. Sample Identification
4.7. Method of Data Analysis
4.8. Chapter Summary
Chapter 5 PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS
5.1. Introduction
5.2. Community Survey Results – Descriptive Statistics
5.3. Summary of Community Survey – Mean Scores Ranked Per Part
5.4. Discussion of Community Survey Results
5.5. Company Survey Results – Descriptive Statistics
5.6. Summary of Company Survey – Mean Scores Ranked Per Part
5.7. Discussion of the Company Survey Results
5.8. Chapter Summary
Chapter 6 ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS
6.1. Introduction
6.2. Description of the Statistical Tests
6.3. Inter-Group Differences – Community vs Company Responses
6.4. Intra-group Differences – Community Respondents
6.5. Intra-group Differences – Company Respondents
6.8. Summary of Analysis Results
6.9. Summary and Conclusion regarding the Research Objectives
Chapter 7 Final Summary and Recommendations
7.1. Introduction
7.2. Review of the Relevant Literature
7.3. Frameworks and Methods for Reporting Environmental Performance
7.4. South African Environmental Law
7.5. Research Design
7.6. Analysis of the Results
7.7. Implications of the Study
7.8. Contributions
7.9. Recommendations for future Research
7.10. Limitations of the Study
7.11. Final Conclusion
References
