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A SURVEY OF THE ATTITUDES OF SOUTH DAKOTA SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND/OR MANAGERS TOWARDS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACCOUNTING
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation is to survey the attitudes of small business owners and/or managers concerning social responsibility accounting (SRA). SRA is the act of selecting, measuring, recording and reporting activities of business enterprises having both social and economic impacts. The study group used to accomplish the survey is the small business firms in the State of South Dakota. The survey method used was a questionnaire mailed to a random sample of South Dakota small business firms. The questionnaire queried the sample over general social responsibility actions, community involvement actions, human resource actions, physical resource uses, environmental considerations and product or service considerations (also included was a section on demographics). Each social action included in the questionnaire is some activity that business could be engaged in; but the sample was asked whether business should be engaged in the activity. In general the respondents agreed that business organizations should act as concerned citizens, but they did not agree that business should be encouraged to collect or report social responsibility data. If business did collect and report social responsibility information, respondents agreed that this information could not be limited to financial amounts or financial statement form. The respondents did agree that organizational goals should include social goals. The study group responded very favorably to many specific social actions in the areas queried. Some of these actions agreed to by respondents included: allowing both managers and employees to engage in community activities during business hours; providing for community planning and improvement by business firms; the support of education (private and public); providing prompt responses to customer complaints; and several other social actions. The respondents reacted least favorably to governmental regulation, governmental paperwork, going beyond the law in pollution abatement (air, water, sound), providing direct assistance to disadvantaged persons, and providing counseling for employees who have alcohol or drug problems. Respondents agreed that business should assist in improving the efficiency of government but disagreed with the act of supporting adequate compensation for government employees.
Subject Area
Accounting
Recommended Citation
WILDE, HAROLD HEYE, "A SURVEY OF THE ATTITUDES OF SOUTH DAKOTA SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS AND/OR MANAGERS TOWARDS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ACCOUNTING" (1981). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8208390.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8208390