1. Introduction

The idea behind the research project, which we will deal with in this study, derives from the combined results of two important processes which in the area of Rimini developed at different times, though they were both directed towards making the content of the financial statements and of the information the company supplies to the various stakeholders more complete.

Of these two processes, the former has had, and continues to have, the function of "fertilising" culture towards appreciation of environment and stakeholders and this has been realised by way of the PERCORSI project since 2008.

The latter process is more recent; indeed, it dates to 2014 and concerns the progressive attention of the EU to include non-financial information to the financial statements of companies quoted on the stock exchange. This, in Italy, culminated in law 254/2016, which makes inclusion of non-financial information in financial statements of companies quoted on the stock exchange mandatory.

The subject of this work is to verify, through an analysis of financial statements of companies that attended the training courses on CSR within the PERCORSI project, in order to be able to understand what the starting point is from which information can be extracted for investigations following the implementation of law 254/16.

Indeed, those aspects that characterise the process of homogenisation of the organisations, from which institutionalisation derives, are called "mechanisms" by [4], whereas Scott [5] names them "structures". Such mechanisms can be grouped into three main areas, among which the first is labelled "coercive" and is relative to the pressures that prevalently come from politics, law and the market. They influence the behaviour that the organisations, therefore the companies as well, have to follow in order to survive. The second area regards those mechanisms defined as "normative", which have their origin in the strong influence of the professional networks, education and common values. The third area concerns the mechanisms defined as "mimetic". In this area, organisations emulate others that are considered best practices [4]. These mechanisms are respectively defined as regulative, nor-

CSR Training and Financial Statement "Disclosure": The Case of Italy

Catturi and Riccaboni [6], partially basing their theory on business administration [1, 7, 8], mainly focus on unwritten rules. The unwritten rules represent mechanisms/ structures to push organisational change. From this, it emerges that for each company, the standard indicators represent a starting point but, at the same time, a limited part of performance evaluation. Companies' performance evaluation is also better monitored through qualitative social and institutional-type features [6]. Lai [9] traces the evolution of business theory basing it on the explanation supporting Zappa's theory [7]. According to Lai [9], institutionalism theory firstly affirms itself as opposed to the individualistic behaviour logics of social phenomena interpretation. Moreover, the principal aspect of the institutionalist theory is that there are norms and rules which allow, by way of the institution, the resolution of conflicts and the promotion of civil life. The third important aspect to underscore regards a dimension internal to institutionalist theory, which is relative to the governance of the company. Alongside this final one is the context external dimension wherein the norms, usages and coordination allow its development, since they are able to direct development of organisational layouts ([9], pp. 66–67). The point of view of institutionalism considers the company as a collection of upper subsys-

tems, segments and sub-segments, which develop relational behaviours representing bonds of interdependence to such an extent as to require a direct

they have also released up new directions in institutional theory [3, 19].

bottom line; Global Reporting Initiative; ISO 14001, UN SDGs, etc.).

Otherwise in the literature, "engagement research" has been put forward as a strong approach in developing theories in order to understand SEAR/SER (Social and Environmental Accounting Research/Social, Environmental Reporting) and to enhance organisational practices and performances [10, 11, 33] as well as in order to explore diverse issues, including change within organisations and mediation pathways [12–15]. Furthermore, Larrinaga-González [3, 16, 17] has adopted the institutionalist [4, 5] and neo-institutionalist theories [18] as a theoretical framework to point out the adjustment or, at least, to explain the procedures of SER (social and environmental reporting) and to understand the drivers of institutional modification. So

Considering the presence of numerous organisational fields around the issue of SR (sustainability reporting) as a possible clarification, the question, that Larrinaga-González [15] emphasises, is whether there is a sole global organisational field rather than different local organisational grounds for SR. Reflecting on the variance of SR practices, he pointed out the presence of locally based SR fields (i.e.: Environmental Management and Audit Scheme; European Commission, 2001; Triple

Especially, outlining prior research that had been conducted in sustainability management and reporting using a neo-institutional lens, Larrinaga-González [16] uses the neo-institutional viewpoint to construct an institutional description of the expansion of SR and to ascertain the consequences of the institutionalisation of SR.

mative and cognitive structures by Scott [5].

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.86688

approach [9].

25

We may define corporate social responsibility as the awareness by the company of the existence of an external environment that cannot be measured in purely economic terms, but which refers to the expectations that various stakeholders have. It also implies the attempt of the company to meet these expectations, in order to increase the consent or, at least, to reach the legitimacy that it needs to perform its objectives and to create strategic value [1].

Our work considers CSR training courses that are a useful framework towards implementing accounting disclosure and making social, environmental and sustainability reporting.

Therefore, the research question is thus: "How much did the training courses on CSR influence the area of Rimini in order to increase non-financial information contained in company financial statements?"

The research design is based upon use of institutionalist theory [2] and particularly upon part of the same which was declined in terms of sustainable development considering certain, more recent, thoughts on the role of accounting and accountability [3].

Literature review also points to social and environmental accounting as an emancipatory tool to ameliorating the quality of life. The case analysed is the Rimini area of Italy. The case had been chosen because Rimini has one of the most important hospitality and tourism industry concentrations in Europe.

Another reason is that in the Rimini territory, 13 years ago, CSR training courses had been stimulated for for-profit enterprises by the Chamber of Commerce along with public and private organisations.

These training courses created a really important background within which to collocate the new EU Directive about non-financial information, which must be compulsorily contained in the financial statements of enterprises.

The empirical section, instead, concerns use of "content analysis" which was applied in the first 6 months of 2018 in order to summarise it in the second half of the year.

The chapter includes the following sections: the first section contains the literature review, the second one concerns the Italy-Rimini background for social accounting and CSR training courses, the third one analyses empirical research results and the fourth one contains our conclusions.
