Search results

This study aims to investigate the role of institutional and stakeholder interaction in the development of integrated reporting policy by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). It helps advance the theory of integrated reporting and offers insights into its fundamental concepts and relevant issues.

A flexible pattern-matching qualitative research approach is used and an analytical framework of integrated reporting historical foundations and conceptual background is developed. An IIRC case analysis is conducted by using a chronological content analysis of the International Integrated Reporting Framework and related initiatives and publications for integrated reporting policy pronouncements.

Institutional and stakeholder pressures within both the organization’s macro and micro contexts have played an effective role in transforming corporate reporting practices. In an integrated reporting context, institutional forces of normative and mimetic isomorphism seem to have more influence on organizations than coercive pressures, where stakeholder pressures with limited official power derive influence from their legitimacy while urgency is evidently implied. Findings indicate that integrated reporting policy has emerged analogously with the institutional environment and stakeholders’ expectations. The distinct nature of integrated reporting has caused a paradigm shift from silo thinking of wealth creation to integrated thinking of value creation.

This is an exploratory study that does not consider different prominent integrated reporting models. It has important implications for policymakers in articulating the integration of financial and nonfinancial metrics for reporting overall corporate performance. It can help academics build on integrated reporting foundations for conducting future research and assist practitioners in operationalizing integrated reporting policy into practice. Moreover, it has potential prospects for international business in developing integrated reporting policies and strategies aimed at creating mutual value in specific international contexts.

Integrated reporting represents a new internationally developing reporting trend with distinct reporting features and foundations for value creation. The study provides considerable addition to emerging research into the growing awareness of integrated reporting policy, develops a conceptual model of institutional and stakeholder interaction and theorizes on such interplay, identifies the potential influences under which integrated reporting is likely to occur and offers key insights into integrated reporting policy. Hence, it contributes to the ongoing global challenge of promoting the reporting transition to integrated reporting and its perceived future endorsement.

Purpose: This chapter aims to identify and evaluate the various components of business model disclosures in an Integrated Report and ascertain how the notion of business model is perceived among practitioners.

Need for the Study: According to previous research, the International Integrated Reporting Council’s (IIRC) objective of improving corporate reporting by encouraging organisations to disclose their business model has not found the desired recognition. Therefore, the study elaborates on the various components of business model reporting and their implications on corporate reporting in general.

Methodology: A review of literature was conducted to identify and analyse research based on business models and their disclosures in integrated reporting. A narrative review was undertaken for selected literature.

Findings: The findings suggest that most large-sized organisations use integrated reporting for impression management and are not inclined to disclose too much about their business models for fear of competition. There is still a lack of clear understanding of what a business model should entail.

Practical Implication: This study adds to the research on business model disclosures in integrated reporting. Voluntary disclosure and a better understanding of such disclosures will prepare organisations of all sizes and industries for an event when Integrated Reporting becomes statutory.

The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) has promulgated the production of integrated reports to enhance transparency and encourage improved stakeholder relationships. The purpose of this study/paper is to explore how managers prioritize the needs of stakeholders and to what extent integrated reporting is associated with those stakeholder relationships.

The paper uses a case study/interpretative approach to compare the underlying motivation for the preparation of an integrated report across three case study sites from three different industry groups. Face-to-face and telephone semi-structured interviews, email correspondence and a review of the integrated reports form the basis for the data collection and analysis.

The case studies investigated for this project provide evidence that integrated reporting did motivate further stakeholder engagement to increase the organizations’ legitimacy and transparency. Overall, the authors found that the three case study organizations used the production of an integrated report to cement their place as a “leader” in their respective industry group. Moreover, managers regarded the current statutory accounts as inadequate in communicating and engaging with a broad range of stakeholders. There were elements of enhancing, defending and repairing legitimacy and managers tended to equate legitimacy with transparency.

Three case study sites were selected on the basis of producing exemplary integrated reports, and senior executives provided their views on stakeholder engagement. For the scope of this study, the stakeholders themselves were not involved in this investigation which can be viewed as a limitation.

The international IIRC Framework is built upon the notion that stakeholders are integral to assisting the organization in creating value. The outcomes of this investigation suggest that for preparers, the incumbent organization is reliant on the leadership of senior managers (inclusive of the chief executive officer) and directors to actually instigate the process. In Australia and New Zealand, given that integrated reporting is not mandatory, regulators have no influence over the scope, content and veracity of integrated reports. It seems likely that further stakeholder engagement will become intrinsic to the business model of organizations as a means to quell any notion that it is engaging in greenwashing.

The value of this paper is to contrast how three quite distinct organizations are using their integrated reports to communicate their approach to stakeholder engagement. Stakeholder salience dimensions are used to explore the importance attributed by senior managers.

This paper aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature on the quality of integrated reports (IR) and highlight the gaps in the existing research to provide directions and suggestions for future research.

This study was conducted through a systematic literature review using content analysis based on 40 papers from the Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCOhost databases on IR quality. While reading the full-text papers, the authors found six additional papers referenced by the literature being reviewed that were relevant to IR quality. Thus, there were 46 papers in the final review. The analysis begins with the definition and dimension of IR quality and theoretical lenses. Furthermore, this study outlines constructs or variables used in the previous literature.

The authors found that most studies used the quantitative method (41 papers or 89%). Five papers in the literature used qualitative methods (11%). Most researchers (34 papers or 72%) defined IR quality as consistent with the International Integrated Reporting Council framework, specifically the eight content elements. In particular, with the constructs that make up the quality of the IR, variations between researchers were found. Furthermore, there were some gaps that could be the directions for future research.

The literature that provides academic knowledge about IR quality is still limited, and research on IR is still growing. The literature review conducted by this study can provide an overview of the current research positions on the quality of IR and directions for future research in this area.

This study intends to show corporate executives a framework demonstrating the quality of corporate reporting. It can impact not only investors as a specific stakeholder group but also other stakeholder groups.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first literature review to examine the quality of IR, thus providing a map of current research to suggest directions for future research. Most of the previous literature reviews have been focused on integrated reporting (IR) in general and not quality.

Integrated reporting enhances the meaningfulness of non-financial information, but whether this enhancement is progressive or regressive from a sustainability perspective is unknown. This study aims to examine the influence of the Integrated Reporting (<IR>) Framework on the disclosure of financial- and impact-material sustainability-related information in integrated reports.

Using a disclosure index constructed from the Global Reporting Initiative’s G4 Guidelines and UN Sustainable Development Goals, the authors content analysed integrated reports of 40 companies from the International Integrated Reporting Council’s Pilot Programme Business Network published between 2015 and 2017. The content analysis distinguished between financial- and impact-material sustainability-related information.

The extent of sustainability-related disclosures in integrated reports remained more or less constant over the study period. Impact-material disclosures were more prominent than financial material ones. Impact-material disclosures mainly related to environmental aspects, while labour practices-related disclosures were predominantly financially material. The balance between financially- and impact-material sustainability-related disclosures varied based on factors such as industry environmental sensitivity and country-specific characteristics, such as the country’s legal system and development status.

The paper presents a unique disclosure index to distinguish between financially- and impact-material sustainability-related disclosures. Researchers can use this disclosure index to critically examine the nature of sustainability-related disclosure in corporate reports.

This study offers an in-depth understanding of the influence of non-financial reporting frameworks, such as the <IR> Framework that uses a financial materiality perspective, on sustainability reporting. The findings reveal that the practical implementation of the <IR> Framework resulted in sustainability reporting outcomes that deviated from theoretical expectations. Exploring the materiality concept that underscores sustainability-related disclosures by companies using the <IR> Framework is useful for predicting the effects of adopting the Sustainability Disclosure Standards issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board, which also emphasises financial materiality.

Despite an emphasis on financial materiality in the <IR> Framework, companies continue to offer substantial impact-material information, implying the potential for companies to balance both financial and broader societal concerns in their reporting.

While prior research has delved into the practices of regulated integrated reporting, especially in the unique context of South Africa, this study focuses on voluntary adoption, attributing observed practices to intrinsic company motivations. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study to explicitly explore the nature of materiality in sustainability-related disclosure. The research also introduces a nuanced understanding of contextual factors influencing sustainability reporting.

The purpose of the study is to explain why there is a conflict in the meaningfulness of integrated reporting (IR) between International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and analysts and institutional investors using framing theory and suggest a way forward for a meaningful IR to analysts and institutional investors.

The study used qualitative research design in which data was collected from IIRC's document and 21 semi-structured interviews of analysts and fund managers conducted between 2014 and 2015 after the introduction of IIRC framework. This period coincided with prior studies that provide conflicting evidence over the meaningfulness of IR between IIRC and analysts and fund managers.

The findings show that the IIRC from inception uses a preparer-centred frame where it predominantly interprets IR as meaningful from the perspective of preparers of information under ideal conditions, and as such also meaningful to fund managers and analysts. On the other hand, the fund managers and analysts from the onset use a user-centred frame where they interpret IR as not meaningful from their perspective as users of the information under pragmatic conditions. The context making it difficult to reconcile the differentiated frames are the timeframe; absence of trust relationship and balance in reporting.

The study is limited by its qualitative nature meaning that generalisation of findings may not apply. Its data is also limited to IIRC IR Framework, analysts and fund managers as opposed to wider stakeholders.

The practical implication of the findings suggests that if IR is to be made meaningful to analysts and fund managers, the promoters must reconcile the differentiations in frames employed by both the IIRC, analysts and institutional investors. Without this reconciliation IR may not serve the information needs of the intended primary users.

The study uses framing theory to show that time frame, emotional connectedness and data financialisation are attributes that make IR to be considered meaningful to analysts and fund managers. In addition, it provides insight into how the use of organisational and market context influences the framing of the meaningfulness of IR.

This study aims to apply the theory of planned behavior, the theory of stakeholders, the theory of technology acceptance to evaluate the factors that affect the application of integrated reporting in Vietnamese listed companies.

Quantitative research method was used through survey questionnaire. Research data is collected from 144 directors, accountants, administrators of companies listed on Vietnam stock market in the period 2020–2022. Multivariable regression analysis is performed with three independent variables: usefulness, ease of use and environmental influence. Dependent variable is intended to apply integrated report.

Research results show that all independent variables have a positive impact on the dependent variable. In particular, the environment influence variable has the largest impact (0.443), followed by the level of impact of Usefulness” variable and “Ease of use” variable are 0.243 and 0.241, respectively. The regression model manages to explain 52.8% of the impact of the factors on the application of integrated reports. An analysis of the differences between groups of enterprises by staff size and capital size is carried out, the results hereof show that large enterprises tend to apply more integrated reporting. From the research results, the authors propose recommendations to promote the application of integrated reporting in Vietnamese enterprises to gradually improve the quality of information disclosure, attract investment and accelerate international economic integration.

The study evaluates the current situation of integrated reporting of Vietnamese companies to understand the factors affecting the use of integrated reporting, from which to propose recommendations to promote the application of integrated reporting in Vietnamese enterprises to gradually improve the quality of information disclosure, attract investment and accelerate international economic integration.

This study aims to provide a critical assessment of developments in the field of voluntary corporate non-financial and sustainability reporting and disclosure (VRD). The assessment is grounded in the empirical material of a three-year research project on integrated reporting (IR).

Alvesson and Deetz’s (2021) critical management framework structures the arguments in this paper. By investigating local phenomena and the extant literature, the authors glean insights that they later critique, drawing on the empirical evidence collected during the research project. Transformative redefinitions are then proposed that point to future opportunities for research on voluntary organisational disclosures.

The authors argue that the mainstream approaches to VRD, namely, incremental information and legitimacy theories, present shortcomings in addressing why and how organisations voluntarily disclose information. First, the authors find that companies adopting the International IR Council’s (IIRC, 2021) IR framework tend to comply with the framework only in an informal, rather than a substantial way. Second, the authors find that, at times, organisations serendipitously chance upon VRD practices such as IR instead of rationally recognising the potential ability of such practices to provide useful information for decision-making by investors. Also, powerful groups in organisations may use VRD practices to establish, maintain or restore power balances in their favour.

The paper’s limitations stem directly from its aim to be a critical reflection. Even when grounded on empirics, a reflection is mainly a subjective effort. Therefore, different researchers could come to different conclusions and offer different lessons from the two case studies.

The different rationales the authors found for VRD should make a case for reporting institutions to tone down any investor-centric rhetoric in favour of more substantial disclosures. The findings imply that reporting organisations should approach the different frameworks with a critical eye and read between the lines of these frameworks to determine whether the purported normative arguments are achievable practice.

The authors reflect on timely and relevant issues linked to recent developments in the VRD landscape. Further, the authors offer possible ways forward for critical research that may rely on different methodological choices, such as interventionist and post-structuralist research.

To achieve sustainable development objectives, managers are encouraged to implement best practices in corporate social and environmental responsibility within their establishments. The main objective of this chapter is to assess the quality of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) communication for Moroccan financial institutions. This chapter is devoted to the content analysis of the annual reports of 14 financial institutions listed in Morocco regarding ESG strategies between 2017 and 2021. The reference assessment tool we used is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards (2016), based on six principles. Each principle contains requirements and guidance on how to apply it. These principles are summarized in the following: Accuracy, Balance, Clarity, Comparability, Reliability, and Timeliness. The sample is composed of 14 financial institutions listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange. After checking the content of the annual reports of listed Moroccan financial institutions, we detected several shortcomings in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting behavior. Companies avoid disclosing information about negative events and performance. We saw this as a bad sign for stakeholders. The results showed a significant gap between the GRI standards and the content of the annual reports. These weaknesses mainly concern accuracy, comparability, and, timeliness, hence the need to carry out corrective measures to improve the quality of ESG practices within Moroccan financial institutions. One of the limitations of this research is its focus on financial institutions. However, it is possible to broaden the scope of the research by assessing the quality of ESG communication for nonfinancial companies.

This study aims to propose a longitudinal analysis of motivations for Integrated Reporting (IR) adoption, internal changes, the benefits of IR implementation and compliance challenges.

The authors analyse a longitudinal case study of an Italian-listed company (Eni) participating in the IR-Pilot Programme (PP) and covering 10 years of IR adoption. The analysis was based on a mixed-method approach that included semi-structured interviews, content analysis of annual reports and triangulation with other data sources. Results are discussed regarding institutional theory, legitimacy theory and diffusion of innovation theory.

The study suggests that motivations for adopting IR change over time and participation in the IR-PP helps Eni acquire a comprehensive and substantial integrated view of value creation over time, makes integrated culture a key factor for strategic business sustainability and confirms the readiness of early adopters to comply with the non-financial Directive (NFD).

This study, among the few longitudinal case studies, provides organisations, regulators and academics with insights into the motivations driving the successful adoption and implementation of IR and the NFD. The results may help companies consider one of the tools currently deemed to bring sustainability into action and participation in pilot groups.