Social and ethical accountability: patterns of evolution and reporting methods

The recent economic crisis and the financial scandals of recent years have opened new scenarios that involve the rethinking of business logic in terms of a different relationship with the complex economic and social environment. It is no longer possible, in fact, to isolate the economic elements of a business decision from the ethical, social and, even, environmental consequences (Vermiglio, 2008; Pulejo, 2005). Business success is built, now more than ever, on positive relationships established with all stakeholders. In the scope of this renewed attention to relationships formed between the company, the civil society and the surrounding environment, company institutional communication in fact, broadens its objectives by testing new defined communication tools of social accountability (Vermiglio, 2005b). Under this approach, the company integrates and adapts its communication processes extending them also to aspects of management of a non-strictly economic and financial type with the aim of ensuring a wider understanding of its current and prospective results to obtain the full legitimacy of its actions. In light of the above considerations, the aim of this study is to analyse future developments of social and ethical accountability and their impact on the main social accountability models, to measure, assess and disseminate the results of an integrated system of values highlighted by means of an environmental, economic and social type of multifocal approach, usually referred to as triple bottom line (Elkington, 1998).