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The value added statement has been voluntarily reported by South African companies for many years despite reservations about its usefulness. This article examines current literature on value added statements in two areas: the usefulness of the value added statement in South Africa and the relevance of social accounting theories in explaining its continued disclosure in South African listed companies’ annual reports. It also reports the results of a questionnaire survey addressed to preparers of value added statements.The research studies examined in the literature review indicate that legitimacy theory is more likely to provide an explanation for the disclosure of value added statements in annual reports in South Africa. The results of the empirical survey indicate that the majority of the respondents are of the opinion that it is desirable to prepare a value added statement, but that it is not used in the majority of companies. Furthermore, the reasons advanced by the preparers for the desirability of the value added statement provide some evidence that legitimacy theory may be behind the propensity of companies to publish a value added statement. The article recommends that the preparation of the value added statement should be standardised. However, the disclosure of an independently prepared value added report may be more useful to all users.

A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).

The American Accounting Association (AAA) Committee on Accounting and Auditing Measurement (1991) had recommended that value added be considered for mandatory disclosure in the US in addition to the income and cash flow statements. This study examines empirically the relative merits of derived performance indicator numbers from value added reporting, accrual accounting and cash flow accounting. The results show that the derived performance indicator numbers based on net value added had lower variability and higher persistency than corresponding numbers based on either earnings or cash flows of 673 US firms for the 1981–1990 period. These results and other related considerations argue strongly in favor of the recommendation of the AAA Committee.

Organizational unlearning is easier said than done. Organizations are usually not cognizant of the ripe time to start questioning and discarding their existing paradigms and past success formulas. This paper aims to recommend the use of a financial metric, i.e. value-added statement, as a trigger to unlearning in organizations.

This paper uses a review of existing literature on organizational unlearning to highlight that although prescriptive studies on unlearning are abundant, “how” and “when” organizations should contemplate and discard the obsolete knowledge and routines is still inconspicuous.

Value-added statement is an adequate reporting measure that incorporates the contribution of organization toward not only its shareholders but also other stakeholders such as employees, providers of long-term finance, government, and public. It supplements income statement and provides an insight of how organizations are serving its interest groups. A decline in value addition by an organization in a reporting period can serve as a trigger to question the existing practices and break organization’s over-dependence on “one size fits all” approach.

Unlearning is considered as a means to attain financial performance in an organization. This paper attempts to recommend a financial metric which incorporates the economic, social, and environmental aspects of business, i.e. value-added statement. The rationale for not recommending other financial metrics as a trigger for unlearning is based on grounds of possible manipulation. Moreover, these financial statements are affected by legal, political, and economic context of a nation.

The objective of this study is to determine whether value added variables possess incremental information beyond accrual earnings in the context of explaining security return. The evidence points to the superior explanatory power of value added variables in explaining security returns of US firms that disclose data needed for the computation of net value added. A case can be made for the disclosure of value added reports in the US.

Theoretical arguments have indicated that long‐term accounting‐based performance plans motivate executives to improve long‐run firm performance (Smith and Watts, 1982; Larcker, 1983). Following conflicting empirical evidence related to the stock market reaction associated with the adoption of accounting‐based long‐run performance plans, this study seeks to gain further insight into the effect of such plans on accounting income‐based and value added‐based measures of productivity and return. The results indicate that firms adopting accounting‐based performance plans do not experience any greater gains in accounting return or productivity measures than do a set of control firms. Thus, such plans may not have the intended effect. Because performance plans are a popular method of executive incentive compensation, further research on the impact of these plans is indicated.

This study aims to examine whether accounting knowledge is associated with a decision maker's tendency to ignore value added information in wealth measurement and distribution decisions.

A between‐subjects laboratory experiment was employed. Subjects prepared accounting reports that measured and distributed an entity's wealth based upon given accounting data. Accounting knowledge was measured as: a discrete variable by classifying subjects into high‐, low‐ and no‐accounting knowledge groups, and a continuous variable by classifying subjects on the number of accounting courses completed.

Findings provide empirical evidence that high levels of accounting knowledge interferes with a decision maker's ability to incorporate value added information (versus accounting profit) in wealth measurement and distribution decisions.

This experiment used subjects from the USA where the production and disclosure of a value added report is not mandated. The results should be tested in a country where the statement of value added is routinely produced, disclosed and audited.

This study shows the dysfunctional effect of accounting knowledge which appears to hinder performance in wealth measurement and distribution decisions.

This is the first attempt to explain why decision makers may ignore value added information in wealth measurement tasks and distribution decisions by focusing on the role of knowledge structures.

The purpose of this paper is to present a collection of ongoing experiences with a value‐added reporting model in Latin America, positing its pertinence with regards to CSR accountability.

The paper utilises a qualitative methodology in which a series of semi‐structured telephone interviews and/or e‐mail questionnaires with managers from six reporting companies in Latin America (Chile, Colombia, Uruguay) was conducted. The fact that one of the authors of this paper created the reporting model facilitated easier access to company managers and a deeper understanding of each situation. A literature review from European, US and Latin American sources provides a framework for discussion.

The paper illustrates how value‐added statements (which are based on conventional financial accounting) can provide relevant information for CSR accountability. The variety of experiences shown (different industries and diverse company ownership in separate countries) may suggest the wide potential of this reporting model.

As the paper deals with a recent, ongoing experience (this model has been in use for the last six years only), the results have to be treated with caution. Even though many firms are interested in adopting this value‐added model, there are currently fewer than 20 reporting firms using it.

The paper aims to position value distribution and its accountability as relevant issues in CSR, particularly for developing countries. In addition, such an intuitive model might more easily reach the general public, something that rarely happens with conventional CSR reporting models.

This is the first academic paper that demonstrates the application of this reporting model (though the authors already published a practitioner‐oriented article in Spanish). Furthermore, there are few documented cases of value‐added reporting experiences in emerging markets, particularly in Latin America.

Financial and nonfinancial disclosures are still anchored to conventional notions of transparency, whereby corporations “push” information out to various stakeholders. Such information is now “pulled” from various sources and addresses aspects of corporate behavior that go well beyond those envisioned by the disclosure framework. This shift makes notions of values, measurement and accountability more fragmented, complex and difficult. The paper aims to bring the accounting scholarly debate back to what and how transparency can be achieved especially in relation to issues of social inequality and sustainability.

After an analysis of the limitations of current approaches to disclosure, the paper proposes a shift toward normative policies that profit of years of critique of positivism.

Drawing on the notion of value-added, the paper ends with a new income statement design, labeled as Value-Added Statement for Nature, which recognizes Nature as a further stakeholder and forces human stakeholders to give voice, or at least acknowledge the lack of voice, for non-human actors.

The author proposes a shift in the perspective, practice and institutional arrangements in which disclosure occurs. Measurement and transparency need to happen in communication exercises, which do not presuppose what needs to be made transparent once and for good but define procedures on how to make fragmented, complex, multiple and volatile notions of value transparent. Income statements and accounting more in general is to be reconceived as a platform where stakeholders will have to continuously negotiate what counts as the common good in the interest of all, including Nature.

Notes the lack of research on value added statements (VASs) from the users’ perspective and their increased publication by South African listed companies. Reports a survey of representatives of all financial statement user groups in South Africa to assess their use of VASs, their problems, possible future uses and the information needs/decisions being affected. Compares past and present use of VASs, discusses their shortcomings and shows how usage might increase if these were overcome. Summarizes reasons for the low usage of VASs and concludes that they should not be published in South Africa any more.