Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) in the developing economy : a case of the hotel sector

Abstract

The adoption of EMA is triggered by certain factors such as human resources, compliance to legislation, market factors, just to name but a few. However, the literature points out that there are limiting factors that impede the application of EMA, particularly in the developing economy. Currently, there is limited existing research on EMA practices available for use by the hotel sector in the developing economies. The overall aim of this study was to, therefore, investigate and describe factors that enable and limit the use of EMA tools by the hotel sector in South Africa, a developing economy. The research was an exploratory study and qualitative in nature using a single case study with embedded units approach. ABC Hotel Management Group formed part of this study along its 3 hotels which met the selection criteria. In-depth semi-structured interviews comprised the main method of data collection. Additional documents were analysed which included financial statements, policy documents, the Group’s website, the hotels’ websites, Group Energy Profile Analysis (GEPA) programme, and Building Monitoring Systems (BMS). There were 10 participants in this case study which included the group engineer, who is the main custodian of the Group’s environmental management systems, 3 general managers, 3 financial managers, and 3 maintenance managers. The study discovered certain external and internal factors enabling the implementation of EMA tools; and there was the existence of limiting factors, internal and external, such as the shortage of skills and knowledge.