ABSTRACT:
In the last years, due to the increase in the demand for corporate reporting transparency, Integrated Reporting (IR) has received considerable attention by professional bodies, practitioners and scholars worldwide. IR is a document which overcomes the traditional dichotomy between financial and non financial information allowing the convergence of sustainability report and financial report into a single document. IR is also a process aimed at developing internal awareness about the value creation mechanism. Given the importance of this innovative process, this study aims to explore the transition from traditional reporting to integrated reporting from both theoretical and practical points of view. It also offers an overview of these emerging practices, investigating the potential benefits and the most relevant barriers to the adoption of IR and the interaction between IR and other reports or statements. To this end, a survey is conducted on a sample of companies included in the Integrated Reporting Emerging Practice Examples Database, available on the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) website. Differently from other empirical studies, the survey intends to capture the preparers’ perceptions. Survey results indicate that IR supports integrated thinking and the adoption of strategies focused on value creation, even if companies reveal some difficulties in timely and reliably collecting the material non financial data. Furthermore, findings show a complete abandonment of intellectual capital statement and an initial trend to the progressive replacement of sustainability report.
KEYWORDS: integrated reporting; stakeholder engagement, corporate social responsibility
