نقش حسابداران در مدیریت منابع آب با تأکید بر تغییرات اقلیمی: تحلیل عاملی اکتشافی و تأییدی (مقاله علمی وزارت علوم)
درجه علمی: نشریه علمی (وزارت علوم)
آرشیو
چکیده
مدیریت کارآمد منابع آبی یکی از دغدغه های اساسی جوامع بشری امروزی بوده است؛ به طوری که تغییرات اقلیمی نیز اهمیت این موضوع را دوچندان کرده است. همانند بسیاری از کارشناسان رشته های مختلف، حسابداران نیز می توانند در تحقق این هدف مؤثر واقع شوند. در همین راستا، هدف پژوهش حاضر، بررسی نقش حسابداران در مدیریت منابع آب با تأکید بر اثرات اقلیمی، آن هم به روش تحلیل عاملی اکتشافی و تأییدی است. پژوهش حاضر ازنظر نوع پژوهش، کاربردی، براساس مسیر، توصیفی ، براساس زمان ، مقطعی و براساس اجرا میدانی است. نوع و روش پژوهش در این تحقیق، توصیفی است . جامعه آماری پژوهش شامل حسابداران شاغل به کار در شرکت های تولیدی بود. حجم نمونه آماری 224 نفر است. داده های مورد نیاز ازطریق پرسشنامه گردآوری شده اند. تجزیه وتحلیل داده های پژوهش با استفاده از مدل یابی معادلات ساختاری و ازطریق نرم افزارهای SPSS نسخه 26 و Amos نسخه 24 انجام شده است. یافته های این پژوهش نشان می دهند حسابداران می توانند ازطریق ارائه اطلاعات کمّی و ریالی در پنج حوزه عرضه آب، تقاضای آب، تغییرات اقلیمی، حسابداری منابع آب، حسابرسی و نظارت بر منابع آبی در مدیریت منابع آب مشارکت کنند. یافته های این پژوهش نشان می دهند هرچه دانش و تجربه حسابداران نسبت به هر یک از حوزه های مذکور افزایش می یابد، انتظار می رود مشارکت آنان در مدیریت منابع آب نیز افزایش یابد. در کل، حسابداران ازطریق تهیه گزارشات مقتضی و به موقع و همچنین، ارائه تحلیل های دقیق می توانند بر دیدگاه مدیران و سیاست گذاران نسبت به بحران آب و تغییرات اقلیمی اثر مثبت داشته باشند.The Role of Accountants in Water Resources Management with Emphasis on Climate Changes: Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis
The efficient management of water resources is one of the serious concerns of today's human societiesis, so climate change has doubled the importance of this issue. Like many specialists in different fields, accountants can also help to achieve this goal. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to investigate the role of accountants in water resources management with an emphasis on its climatic effects using the method of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. In terms of the method, this study is descriptive-correlation and structural equation modeling. The population of this study included accountants working in manufacturing companies. Sample size is 225 accountants. The required data was collected through a questionnaire. Research data has been analyzed using structural equation modeling and through SPSS version 26 and Amos version 24 software. According to the research findings accountants can participate in water resources management by providing physical and dollar information in the five areas of water supply, water demand, auditing and monitoring of water resources, water resource accounting and climate change. The findings show that as the accountants' knowledge and experience increases in each of the mentioned areas, it is expected that their participation in water resources management will also increase. In general, accountants can make managers' and policymakers' views more positive towards the water crisis and climate change by relevant, timely and accurate insights, analysis and reporting.
Introduction
Considering that clean, healthy, high-quality, and sufficient water is vital for protecting the lives of all living things, the role of water in sustainable development is beyond common notions (Momblanch et al., 2018). Today, due to the increasing water consumption, the risk of its shortage is felt more than ever. Therefore, effective and efficient management, providing qualified information, and accountability regarding how it is obtained, to whom it is allocated, and how the allocated water is used is essential (Stefano et al., 2016). Water management is a series of processes that involves effective management of water through policy and management reforms by decision-makers with the support of stakeholders (Pedro-Monzonís et al., 2016).
Climate change has emerged as one of the many problems faced by water managers. Therefore, it is necessary to manage water resources in a way that can consider climate change (Pahl-Wostl et al., 2007). In this regard, it can be stated that water resources management aims to utilize water by ensuring there is sufficient water of adequate quality for drinking water and sanitation services, food production, energy generation, inland water transport, and water-based recreation, as well as sustaining healthy water-dependent ecosystems and protecting the aesthetic and spiritual values of lakes, rivers, and estuaries (Momblanch et al., 2018).
Companies are among the users of water resources and therefore they play an important role in environmental sustainability (Özsözgün Çalişkan, 2014). In this regard, customers and other stakeholders see corporations as responsible for the destruction of resources in as much as they use natural resources to satisfy their stakeholder’s needs, to make a profit, and to maximize shareholders’ value (Öztürk et al., 2022). Accounting as an information system can provide necessary information for the processes of monitoring, identification, measurement, planning, and management of these scarce natural resources. In other words, accountants can play an effective role in water resources management through sustainability reporting (Islam et al. 2023).
Accountants can support organizational climate change adaptation by performing functions such as: assessing vulnerability and adaptive capacity, valuing adaptation costs and benefits, and disclosure of risk associated with climate change impacts (Water, 2014). In this regard, this study aims to examine the role of accountants in water resources management with an emphasis on its climatic effects using the method of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.
Methods
In terms of the type of research, the present research is applicable, in terms of the path it is descriptive, in terms of the time it is cross-sectional and in terms of implementation it is of the field type. The population of this study included accountants working in manufacturing companies. In this research, the snowball sampling method was used for the sample size. With many efforts, 225 usable questionnaires were finally collected.
In the present study, the required data was collected through a questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part included four demographic questions (gender, age, education, and years of service). The second part included questions related to the study constructs (water supply, water demand, auditing and monitoring of water resources, relevant and valid accounting information, and climate change). Research data has been analyzed using structural equation modeling and through SPSS version 26 and Amos version 24 software.
Findings
Since this study is of an exploratory and confirmatory type, the main constructs of the research were first identified through exploratory factor analysis. These constructs include water supply, climate change, water demand, auditing and monitoring of water resources, and water resource accounting. This finding shows that accountants can participate in the management of water resources by providing information related to each of the constructs.
After the exploratory stage, it is time for confirmatory factor analysis, the purpose of which is to confirm the identified factor constructs. AMOS version 24 software was used to perform factor analysis (first and second orders). The results of the first-order analysis show that the factor loadings of all the items related to each of the constructs are more than 0.5 and therefore the variance between the constructs and the related items is greater than the variance of the measurement error, and as a result, the reliability of the measurement model is acceptable. Therefore, it can be stated whether the items introduced for each construct are good indicators for that construct.
The results of the second-order analysis show that the identified constructs have a positive and significant effect in explaining the main construct of the study "the role of accountants in optimal water consumption". Also, according to the research findings, the order of influence of each of the construct on the main construct are water resource accounting, auditing and monitoring of water resources, climate change, water demand, and water supply.
Conclusion
Manufacturing companies are one of the major consumers of water. According to the research findings, accountants can play a great role in establishing an efficient system in the field of water resources management by providing realistic and quantitative information about each of the five identified constructs of water supply, water demand, auditing and monitoring of water resources, water resource accounting, and climate change.
The findings show that as the accountants' knowledge and experience increase in each of the mentioned areas, it is expected that their participation in water resources management will also increase. In general, accountants can make managers' and policymakers' views more positive regarding the water crisis and climate change through relevant, timely and accurate insights, analysis, and reporting.
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