Subhash Abhayawansa, James Guthrie and Cristiana Bernardi
John Dumay, Cristiana Bernardi, James Guthrie and Matteo La Torre
This paper is motivated by the call for feedback by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) from all stakeholders with knowledge of the International Integrated…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper is motivated by the call for feedback by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) from all stakeholders with knowledge of the International Integrated Reporting Framework (<IRF>) and specifically of the enablers, incentives and barriers to its implementation. The paper synthesises insights from contemporary accounting research into integrated reporting (IR) as a general concept and <IR> as espoused by the IIRC in the <IRF> (IIRC, 2013). The authors specifically focus on possible barriers and emphasise the specific issues the authors feel could be rectified to advance the <IRF>, along with the areas that may potentially hinder its wider adoption and implementation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws upon and synthesises academic analysis and insights provided in the IR and <IR> academic literature as well as various directives, policy and framework pronouncements.
Findings
The flexibility and lack of prescription concerning actual disclosures and metrics in the <IRF> could allow it to be used for compliance, regardless of the other benefits lauded by the IIRC. Thus the authors see forces, both external and internal, driving <IR> adoption, with one prominent example being the European Union Directive on non-financial reporting. Because of the different ways in which IR is understood and enacted, there are numerous theoretical and empirical challenges for academics. The authors paper highlights potential areas for further robust academic research and the need to contribute to <IR> policy and practice.
Research limitations/implications
The paper provides the IIRC, academics, regulators and reporting organisations with insights into current practice and the <IRF>. The authors highlight the need for further development and evidence to help inform improvements both from a policy and a practice perspective. A key limitation of the authors’ work is that the authors draw upon a synthesis of the existing literature which is still in an early stage of development.
Originality/value
The paper provides the IIRC with several insights into the current <IRF> and specifically with the enablers, incentives and barriers to its implementation. Also, it provides academic researchers with a number of important observations and an agenda upon which the authors can build their future research.
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Claire Harris, Stephanie Perkiss and Farzana Aman Tanima
Chocolate production and cocoa supply chains are rife with social and environmental challenges. Chocolate companies commonly make claims that their products are “sustainable”…
Abstract
Purpose
Chocolate production and cocoa supply chains are rife with social and environmental challenges. Chocolate companies commonly make claims that their products are “sustainable”, giving little guidance on what this means. The aim of this paper is to conduct a scoping review to synthesise the accounting literature related to the chocolate industry and sustainability and develop a research agenda for accounting scholarship.
Design/methodology/approach
The scoping review followed Arksey and O’Malley’s (2005) five-stage framework for a scoping review. Nineteen accounting journals were searched for literature on “chocolate OR cocoa AND sustainability” from 2000 to 2023. A total of 171 papers were identified through the search, of which 18 were deemed relevant and included for thematic analysis. The themes are analysed using a conceptual framework on accountability.
Findings
Analysis of the relevant literature revealed three distinct perspectives on sustainability in the chocolate industry. These include critique on the problems related to top-down accountability approaches in the chocolate industry; that accountability mechanisms have fallen short in managing sustainability challenges; and that sustainability interventions are driven by profit motives. The themes further reveal a lack of accountability in the industry for marginalised voices.
Originality/value
The scoping review methodology used in this study offers insights into the diverse perspectives on sustainability in the chocolate industry. This research adds valuable knowledge to the field by uncovering nuanced issues around accountability and sustainability and highlighting the need for future research for accountability for sustainable chocolate production.
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Abdallah A.S. Fayad, Arifatul Husna Binti Mohd Ariff, Sue Chern Ooi, Aidi Ahmi and Saleh F.A. Khatib
This paper aims to systematically analyse the publications in the field of integrated reporting (IR) and to present an overview of the current publication trends in IR based on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to systematically analyse the publications in the field of integrated reporting (IR) and to present an overview of the current publication trends in IR based on the data obtained from the Scopus database.
Design/methodology/approach
Selected bibliometric indicators and bibliometrix R-packages are used in examining metrics like annual publication trends, authors with the most produced work, papers that are often cited, top productive countries, top productive affiliations, frequently mentioned journals, frequently mentioned keywords, analysis of co-citation, analysis of collaboration and analysis of co-word.
Findings
The findings from the bibliometric review indicated that the trend of IR literature had increased from 2017 to 2020, specifically from 2017 to 2019. The findings also indicated that several publications on IR entailed several authors’ collaboration and were published in various languages. Moreover, around 148 institution-affiliated researchers from 40 institutions in 20 countries contributed to the IR publication.
Research limitations/implications
This paper offers a comprehensive overview of the current development in IR. It is useful to help emerging scholars identify and understand current trends in IR based on different countries, authors and languages.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on IR by highlighting the trends of IR publications from the Scopus database using bibliometric analysis.
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Valentina Beretta, Chiara Demartini and Sara Trucco
The integrated reporting framework seeks to connect a firm’s financial and non-financial performance in a single report by displaying how different forms of capital contribute to…
Abstract
Purpose
The integrated reporting framework seeks to connect a firm’s financial and non-financial performance in a single report by displaying how different forms of capital contribute to the firm’s value creation. Drawing on impression management and incremental information approaches, the purpose of this paper is to examine how the content and semantic properties of intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) found in integrated reports is associated with firms’ performance.
Design/methodology/approach
All reports by European listed firms from 2011 to 2016 available via the integrated reporting emerging practice examples database are analysed. Content analysis is used to assesses the quality of ICDs, whereas a regression analysis tests the variation in semantic properties of ICDs according to firms’ performance.
Findings
ICDs in integrated reports are mainly discursive, with a backward looking orientation and a limited focus on human capital. On average, more than half of each ICD is conveyed in a positive tone. As the optimistic tone in firms’ ICDs increases, so too does their non-financial performance measured in terms of environmental, social and governance aspects. This finding supports the incremental information approach.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the current literature on ICDs by introducing new evidence on firms’ motivations for non-financial disclosures in integrated reports. By taking a more comprehensive theoretical approach, namely, testing both impression management and incremental information hypotheses, this research extends on prior studies which tested similar relationships in integrated reports but focussed only on the impression management hypothesis.
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Lana Sabelfeld, John Dumay, Sten Jönsson, Hervé Corvellec, Bino Catasús, Rolf Solli, Ulla Eriksson-Zetterquist, Elena Raviola, Paolo Quattrone and James Guthrie
This paper presents a reflection in memory and tribute to the work and life of Professor Barbara Czarniawska (1948–2024).
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents a reflection in memory and tribute to the work and life of Professor Barbara Czarniawska (1948–2024).
Design/methodology/approach
We invited those colleagues whom we knew to be close to Barbara to submit reflections about her contributions to academia alongside their memories of her as a person. We present these reflections in the order we received them, and they have only been edited for minor grammatical and punctuation issues to preserve the voice of the contributing authors.
Findings
The reflections in this paper represent different translations of Barbara’s academic and theoretical contributions. However, she also contributed to people. While we can count the number of papers, books and book chapters she published, we must also count the number of co-authors, Ph.D. supervisions, visiting professorships and conference plenaries she touched. This (ac)counting tells the story of Barbara reaching out to work and interact with people, especially students and early career researchers. She touched their lives, and the publications are an artefact of a human being, not an academic stuck in an ivory tower.
Originality/value
A paper in Barbara Czarniawska’s honour where some of her closest colleagues can leave translations of her work through a narrative reflection, seems to be a fitting tribute.
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Lana Sabelfeld, John Dumay and Barbara Czarniawska
This study explores the integration of corporate reporting by Mitsubishi, a large Japanese company, using a culturally sensitive narrative that combines and reconciles Japanese…
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the integration of corporate reporting by Mitsubishi, a large Japanese company, using a culturally sensitive narrative that combines and reconciles Japanese and Western corporate values in one story.
Design/methodology/approach
We use an analytical framework drawing on insights borrowed from narratology and the notion of wrapping – the traditional art of packaging as communication.
Findings
We find that Mitsubishi is a survivor company that uses different corporate reporting frameworks during its reporting journey to construct a bespoke narrative of its value creation and cultural values. It emplots narratives to convey a story presenting the impression that Mitsubishi is a Japanese corporation but is compatible with Western neo-liberal ideology, making bad news palatable to its stakeholders and instilling confidence in the future.
Research limitations/implications
Wrapping is a culturally sensitive form of impression management used in the integration of corporate reporting. Therefore, rather than assuming that companies blatantly manipulate their image in corporate reports, we suggest that future research should focus on how narratives are constructed and made sense of, situating them in the context of local culture and traditions.
Practical implications
The findings should interest scholars, report preparers, policymakers, and the IFRS, considering the recent release of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards designed to reduce the so-called alphabet soup of corporate reporting. By following Mitsubishi’s journey, we learn how and why the notion of integrated reporting was adopted and integrated with other reporting frameworks to create narratives that together convey a story of a global corporation compliant with Western neoliberal ideology. It highlights how Mitsubishi used integrated reporting to tell its story rather than as a rigid reporting framework, and the same fate may apply to the new IFRS Sustainability Reporting Standards that now include integrated reporting.
Originality/value
The study offers a new perspective on corporate reporting, showing how the local societal discourses of cultural heritage and modernity can shape the journey of the integration of corporate reporting over time.
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Patrizia Battilani and Giuliana Bertagnoni
The main aim of our study is to demonstrate that the Italian way to marketing included not only the “advertising artists” but also what can be labelled as the social network…
Abstract
Purpose
The main aim of our study is to demonstrate that the Italian way to marketing included not only the “advertising artists” but also what can be labelled as the social network approach, which was mainly used by cooperative enterprises. Focussing on the case study of the Granarolo co-operative, the paper discusses the social network method of marketing as it emerged during the 1950s and 1960s in Italy.
Design/methodology/approach
The research draws on different types of primary sources, including co-operative business records, interviews, publications, newspaper articles and advertisements.
Findings
In the age of mass consumption, the Granarolo co-operative developed an original marketing strategy based on social networks. This strategy can be considered a kind of community brand based on shared values pre-existing to the brand itself and a kind of viral marketing put in place before the electronic revolution.
Research limitations/implications
The research focusses on the Granarolo case study. It can be extended to other co-operative enterprises. However, it is unknown whether the anticipation of viral marketing has also been used by private enterprises.
Practical implications
The marketing strategies analyzed in the paper could be a interesting solution for undertakings strictly connected and rooted in their local community or in their Web community.
Social implications
In today’s world of the Web, this physical constraint no longer exists, and the social method of marketing exceeds the regional and even the national level. In conclusion, this was an innovative method of marketing and advertising that came into being, ahead of its time, about a half a century before modern Web-based social networks were conceived, yet uses the same concepts, hence its extraordinary originality.
Originality/value
This study is the result of an original research which tries to highlight what we could label the Italian way to marketing. Taking into consideration the first two decades of the Granarolo history and focussing on the marketing strategy, our contribution seeks to examine how the social networks approach worked and in what it differs from today brand community and viral marketing.