Environmental management accounting in university : a case study of IIUM

Abstract

Environmental management accounting (EMA) has become an important management accounting tool due to its ability to provide accurate and relevant information pertaining to the environmental impact of the various activities of organizations. Many studies have been performed on EMA to examine various aspects, for example, implementation, measurement of environmental costs, link with information system and factors contributing to its adoption. However, the majority of the studies were performed on business organizations. The study on EMA in the services industry, particularly institutions of higher learning, is still lacking. The institutions of higher learning, with a large population and various activities, can have a substantial impact on the environment. Therefore, it is equally important to study EMA in the institutions of higher learning. The ability of EMA to provide relevant information pertaining to the environmental impact can enable the impact to be managed more effectively and possibly lead to cost savings. The current study, therefore, attempts to fill the gap by looking into EMA adoption in IIUM, one of the public universities in Malaysia. There are four objectives to the study. These are to assess the level of awareness of the university staff on environmental management, environmental accounting (EA) and EMA, to assess the need for the environmental cost information, to assess the extent of EMA implementation by the university and the perception of how the university should move forward in relation to the issues of EA and EMA. The theory used is the social issue lifecycle theory. The study uses a case study as the research method. The results reveal that there is a moderate level of awareness among the staff on EA and EMA. Staff indicate that they need the environmental cost information, both currently and in the future. Only minimal adoption of EMA by the university and staff has high perception that the university should disclose environmental information to the internal users.