La rendicontazione sociale nelle Università italiane: le motivazioni che ne inducono lo sviluppo

The complex environment and the numerous changes in Italian Universities has led to the rethinking of the Higher Education System, of each university organization, governance and reporting systems. The increasing need to look for new funding sources and for a greater transparency in the use of those resources, has required the development of additional accounting tools than traditional ones. These new tools are social reports, sustainability reports and tenure reports; They seek to satisfy the growing information need. This study aims to identify the diffusion of social accounting in Italian Universities in the last 10 years and the reasons that have driven the development of sustainability reporting in these universities. For these reasons, using the multiple case studies methodology, there were conducted sixteen interviews and a focus group. For the data analysis there was used an interpretative approach. The research underlines the differences in function and development of the tool due to the influence of several factors, such as the university vocation, the governance commitment and the engagement of internal and external stakeholders. The results give an overview of the reasons that drive this process and the main barriers that hamper this path in the Italian context. This study may support universities that have already implemented this process or those decide to undertake it.