Required:

1. What is the objective of Global Sustainability Standards Board (GSSB) and explain the due process and the steps by which the GSSB develops sustainability reporting standards (SRSs).

2. Identify and explain the objectives of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting guidelines with specific reference to:

a. The criteria that an organization should apply in preparing a sustainability reporting in accordance with the G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines; and

b. The reporting principles with respect to defining report content and defining report quality.

3. Explain the features of systems oriented theories (legitimacy theory, stakeholder theory and institutional theory) with reference to both the prescribed text for this subject (Deegan, 2014, Financial Accounting Theory, 4th edition, Chapter 8) and the research literature that has empirically examined the application of these theories (see Referencing and Style Item 2.2 on page 2) with respect to voluntary corporate sustainability reporting.

4. Identify two multinational companies from the Global 500 in 2015 (available at http://money.cnn.com) and compare their reporting on economic, environmental and social aspects in their annual reports and standalone sustainability reports for the reporting year 2014.