Giving an account is central to all organisational relationships. This paper elaborates on the possibilities for accountability in the context of values-based organisations such as social enterprises. Social enterprises are gaining ground in Europe and other continents, too, and are currently struggling with the question of how to practice accountability; to measure and report on their impacts. This debate is also connected to the struggle of the very essence of these organisations, the social mission and operating principles drawing on social economy and very different from the strictly for-profit companies. Established methods such as Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Social Return on Investment (SROI) and Integrated Reporting (IR) are being introduced as examples of accountability methods for SEs. However, these methods largely build on a traditional understanding of accountability, designed to serve organisational, not broad stakeholder interests’, and furthermore, are claimed to support the corporate agendas of shareholder wealth maximisation.
Social enterprises base their operations on the principles of transparency and employee engagement, for instance, and are often firmly rooted in the contexts in which they operate. As their purpose is to create social impact rather than economic value for shareholders, conventional accounting measures are often not suitable for their contexts. This study claims that emphasis on easily measurable “bottom-line” indicators may lead to a partial, simplified, yet compelling view of relationships with a narrow range of “key” stakeholders. Rather, accounting statements should acknowledge the multi-stakeholder setting and dialogue, building on an ethics–based, socialising form of accountability. The paper relies on the idea that different forms of accountability produce different senses of our self and our relationship to others, and is concerned over an understanding of accountability that is based on neoclassical economics and overly concerned with the individual, isolated from the social, political and economic organisations that she exists in. As accountability also shapes identity, broader, multiple accountabilities would enable more room for alternative understandings and constitutions of our selves and the complexities of individual and organisational relationships.
The paper at hand reviews selected literature on accountability for social enterprises. The question of “who is accountable to whom, and how” gets analysed thoroughly with a special focus on accountability as a process, accountability relations, empowerment and dialogue. Despite some interesting research initiatives, most of the accounting and measurement research about social enterprises lack discussion of the broader accountability context. Further, prior research on social enterprises often focuses on the measurement of social impact, however does not distinguish between accounting and reporting nor make any refined contributions to this analysis. This paper contributes, firstly, to our understandings of the theory and methods of social accounting by focusing on accounting for the social aspects in a specific field of social enterprises, and hence contributes to the broad ‘accounting for sustainability’ project. Secondly, the paper addresses the literature on accountability by elaborating on the possibilities for accountability within a very specific field of economic activity and a fruitful area of new possible insights. And finally, the paper wishes to offer something for the public policy debate on business accountabilities, particularly on the context of social enterprises.
