This study is to understand the current status of online sustainability reporting (SR) practices by Irish universities. The paper reveals that online SR is in its infancy at the sample universities and there is significant room for improvement. Irish universities have initiated using web-based SR to inform their stakeholder groups, but they tend to report symbolic contents rather than substantive ones. The findings indicate that online SR practice by Irish universities is for the purpose of gaining legitimacy rather than satisfying the information needs of stakeholders. The assessment of online SR practices serves as a first step to help the universities use new technologies, in particular the internet, to improve the dialogue with stakeholders. This paper reminds universities that they should seek more than merely to meet the minimum acceptable level of online SR disclosure in society. The study will be of interest to university administrators, policymakers, regulators, and other stakeholder groups of universities.

中文翻译：

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可持续发展报告的新趋势：探索爱尔兰大学的在线可持续发展报告实践


本研究旨在了解爱尔兰大学在线可持续发展报告（SR）实践的现状。论文显示，样本大学的在线SR还处于起步阶段，还有很大的改进空间。爱尔兰大学已开始使用基于网络的SR来通知其利益相关者群体，但他们倾向于报告象征性内容而不是实质性内容。研究结果表明，爱尔兰大学的在线社会责任实践是为了获得合法性，而不是满足利益相关者的信息需求。对在线社会责任实践的评估是帮助大学利用新技术（特别是互联网）改善与利益相关者对话的第一步。本文提醒大学，他们不应仅仅满足社会网上社会责任披露的最低可接受水平。这项研究将引起大学管理者、政策制定者、监管者和大学其他利益相关者团体的兴趣。