Potential Adoption of Integrated Reporting – Case Study of a City Council

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine the potential of Integrated Reporting (IR) adoption by a city council through the identification of its enablers and challenges. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study utilised a qualitative interpretative case study of a city council that has the potential to pioneer IR adoption among local authorities. Data collection involved in-depth interviews as well as document analysis. Findings: Findings from this study indicates that IR, which was originally seen as a private sector initiative, has relevance and application to public sector organisations. Challenges faced by the respondent to implement IR is the lack of knowledge on how to prepare the IR in tying together numerous aspects that can meet the requirement of information usefulness to stakeholders. The lack of benchmarking cases for reference and limited information on the cost involved in IR adoption are acknowledged as challenges Training, management support and innovative culture are considered IR enablers at City Council ONE. Research Limitation: This study is exploratory in nature as a single case study is used, and City Council ONE has not adopted IR. Practical Implication: Identifying challenges and enablers is important for city councils to assess their readiness prior to adopting IR. The findings could be used as input to the regulators and other public sector entities to facilitate the implementation of IR. Originality/Value: This study is part of a more extensive research on IR enablers and challenges for Local Authorities of Malaysia. Keywords: Integrated reporting, city council, enablers, challenges.