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This study aims to compare the extent of voluntary strategy disclosure in the annual/integrated reports of listed companies in an emerging market with the extent of strategy disclosure in the annual/integrated reports of listed companies in a developed market.

A developed market sample that was made up of the top 50 companies on the New York Stock Exchange and the Australian Stock Exchange was compared to an emerging market sample that was made up of the top 50 companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange. The comparison was conducted by scoring the amount of strategy disclosure reported in the annual/integrated reports of the companies for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The emerging market companies had average to good strategy disclosures in their annual reports, whereas the annual reports of companies in the developed market showed low strategy disclosure.

This study expanded upon the limited research available on strategy disclosure by comparing the extent of strategy disclosures in two developmental markets (the developed and emerging market).

The purpose of this paper is to explore the roles of the initial perceptions of chief audit executives (CAEs) on the role of internal audit function (IAF) in integrated reporting (IR) in South Africa. This paper draws attention to possible challenges and barriers to internal audit’s (IAs) involvement in the integrated reporting process (IRP).

Detailed interviews were carried out in 2016 with 10 CAEs from the EY Excellence in Integrated Reporting Awards for South Africa. An interpretive approach involving thematic content analysis was used to construct key themes which provided the CAE’s initial perception of the IAF’s role in IRP.

Despite the current role being limited, the findings suggest that the IAF has unexploited potential to improve the IRP. These roles include: providing assurance on data integrity; reviewing risks and opportunities; evaluating the adequacy of governance and risk management controls and giving assurance on the IRP. A benefit to the IAFs involvement in the IRP relates to their extensive knowledge of the business. The lack of skills in the IA profession is an area of concern, as there is a shortage of capacity and specialist skills.

The interpretive style will assist IAFs to understand and define their role in the IRP, as well as to follow best practice in the IRP.

This paper is the first to explore the views and make recommendations on the role of the IAF in the IRP. This paper can be seen as an important contribution to academic research as the role of IAF in the IRP is exploratory in a global context.