Time: 13:00 – 15:00 (GMT+1), Wednesday, 13 May 2020 
Presenter: Professor Kemi Yekini, SOAS University of London
Chair: Professor Victor Murinde, SOAS University of London
Online venue: Click here to join the CGF Seminar Room on Microsoft Teams

Abstract
Despite the proliferation of studies on corporate social responsibility (CSR), there is a lack of consensus and a cardinal methodological base for research on the quality of CSR communication. Over the decades, studies in this space have remained conflicting, unintegrated, and sometimes overlapping. Drawing on semiotics—a linguistic-based theoretical and analytical tool, our article explores an alternative perspective to evaluating the quality and reliability of sustainability reports. Our article advances CSR communication research by introducing a theoretical-cum-methodological perspective which provides unique insights into how to evaluate the quality of CSR communication. Particularly, we illustrate the application of our proposed methodology on selected U.K. FTSE 100 companies. Our two-phased analysis employed the Greimas Canonical Narrative Schema and the Semiotic Square of Veridiction in drawing meanings from selected sustainability/CSR reports. In addition, we present a distinctive CSR report quality model capable of guiding policy makers and firms in designing sustainability/CSR reporting standards.

Presenter

Kemi Yekini is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Professor of Accounting and Finance in the School of Finance and Management, SOAS University of London. Her research focuses mainly on aspects of corporate disclosure practices from an interdisciplinary perspective, with reference to, transparency and quality of narrative disclosures. Kemi’s work is widely published in reputable international journals. She was instrumental to the establishment of and provided leadership for the Centre for research in Accountability, Governance and Sustainability (CRAGS), a multidisciplinary research centre at the Leicester Business School. She later joined the University of Nottingham as Divisional Director of Research for the Accounting Division. Prior to joining the academia, she had held various leadership roles in professional Audit and Accounting practice with KPMG, Deloitte and later the private sector. She had over nineteen (19) years of professional practice and industry experience before joining the academia in 2007. Her many years of experience in professional practice and industry has largely driven her teaching and research interests. Kemi serves in many editorial positions for reputable international journals.