Integrated reporting: A structured literature review

Abstract

This paper reviews the field of integrated reporting (<IR>) to develop insights into how <IR> research is developing, offer a critique of the research to date, and outline future research opportunities. We find that most published <IR> research presents normative arguments for <IR> and there is little research examining <IR> practice. Thus, we call for more research that critiques <IR>’s rhetoric and practice. To frame future research we refer to parallels from intellectual capital research that identifies four distinct research stages to outline how <IR> research might emerge. Thus, this paper offers an insightful critique into an emerging accounting practice

The Influence of Integrated Reporting on Management Control Systems: A Case Study

“…Following along these lines, there are some aspects that require, and deserve, additional attention, namely why companies decide to start an Integrated Reporting journey, what approaches and internal mechanisms companies use to design and implement an IR, what the challenges to be faced are, how and why successful (or unsuccessful) experiences occur, and what the levers and the barriers to the adoption of Integrated Reporting in practice are (Dumay et al, 2016).…”

“…According to the IIRC website, more than 1,000 organizations are publishing an IR and the Integrated Reporting agenda has attracted the interest of a growing number of scholars (Eccles & Kiron, 2012;de Villiers et al, 2014;Higgins et al, 2014;Dumay et al, 2016) as well as consulting firms and auditors (KPMG, 2012;EY, 2014;PWC, 2015).…”

“…As far as the internal perspective of Integrated Reporting is concerned, there have been recent calls to investigate if and how implementing an Integrated Report (IR) can influence the governance of the company as a whole (Dumay & Dai, 2014;Dumay et al, 2016). In particular, research streams that deserve additional attention concern how the adoption of Integrated Reporting influences Management Control Systems (MCSs) (de Villiers et al, 2016;Perego et al, 2016) and how Integrated Reporting processes are embedded in companies' MCSs (de Villiers et al, 2014).…”

“…Integrated Reporting has recently caught the attention of scholars (Eccles & Kiron, 2012;de Villiers et al, 2014;Higgins et al, 2014;Dumay et al, 2016) as well as practitioners, consulting firms, and auditors (KPMG, 2012;EY, 2014;PWC, 2015). In contrast with previous approaches to corporate disclosure, Integrated Reporting leverages on integrated thinking to identify the sources of value creation and their interconnections, thus helping avoid the risk of information being accounted for in separate "chunks" and in numerous, disconnected, and static communications (Adams & Simnett, 2011, p. 294;IIRC, 2013, p. 2).…”

The integrated reporting of financial, social and sustainability capitals: a critical review and appraisal

“…Therefore, <IR>'s 'integrated thinking' stimulates the businesses and other entities to think about how they could generate value for themselves and for society. The <IR>'s framework raises awareness on its guiding principles and content elements that could be featured in corporate reports; it also explains the fundamental concepts that underpin them (Dumay, Bernardi, Guthrie & Demartini, 2016). Additionally, the rationale behind <IR> is to tackle a number of challenges that were (and are still) evident in conventional, stand-alone sustainability reports, such as; the failure to account for all sources of value creation, the complex interconnections between sustainability and financial performance, and the communication of a organisations' capitals or business models (Eccles & Krzus, 2010;Eccles, Serafeim & Krzus, 2011).…”