No abstract

Beginning in 2017, stock-exchange-listed companies in Poland have been obliged to publish non-financial information. This is due to the implementation of Directive 2014/95/EU in Polish law, which requires the dis- closure of extended non-financial information on the part of specified large public-interest companies and capi- tal groups. Taking the above into consideration, the aim of this article is to answer the following questions: 1) What is the state of the non-financial disclosures made by stock-exchange-listed companies in Poland? 2) What are the differences in reporting non-financial information by companies from various industries? 3) What factors affect the disclosure of non-financial information? In total, 53 companies were researched. The results obtained indicate that the form of the disclosures varies. Most commonly, non-financial information was presented in management commentaries. The scope of the information presented was diverse. The most non-financial disclosures were made by companies from the chemical and the energy sectors. The following factors influenced the publication of this type of information: the entity’s size, its market value and the industry to which a given company belongs. In contrast, no positive associations between the economic performance of a company and non-financial disclosure, nor between the financial leverage of a company and non-financial disclosure have been found, with the exception of companies from the low-profile sector. The studies involved content analysis and the Tobit regression model. Existing results of research on non-financial reporting made by stock-exchange-listed companies in Poland did not en- compass the last reporting period prior to the introduction of the changes to the Act on Accounting. Therefore, the results obtained allow us to determine the degree of preparation on the part of the researched companies belonging to various sectors (of larger and smaller environmental nuisance).

Purpose: The purpose of the article is to determine whether and what impression management techniques are used by Polish listed energy-sector companies in their non-financial reporting to possibly create not a true but an embellished image of their oper-ations. Methodology/approach: The research entailed examining the non-financial annual reports published (in Polish) by eight large, listed companies. Both quantitative content analysis, to determine the scope of environmental disclosures, and qualitative content analysis, which focused on the visual and narrative style, were applied. The word count method was also applied concerning the positive (good) and negative (bad) wording used in the reports. Our linguistic analysis took into account both the semantic and inflexion aspects of Polish idiomatic expressions. Findings: We found that the companies exploited various manipulation techniques, both in the visualisation and the narrative used in their non-financial reports. Perfect graphics, blameless narrative style, or dynamic text organisation are among the top positive aspects. At the other end of the scale are aspects such as excessive wording, unnecessary repetitions of various keywords, or the intentional omission of adverse vocabulary. While both sets of techniques are more likely to be applied by bigger enti-ties, smaller companies do not seem to care as much for such details. Research implications/limitations: This research provides a valuable contribution to a better understanding of how companies employ modern narrative-oriented infor-mation management techniques relating to readers’ perceptions of non-financial state-ments. This may lead to enhancing formal requirements concerning the quality of non-financial disclosure in corporate reporting. The research was limited to only eight (all) energy companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange for the financial years 2017–2020. Thus, there is a need to investigate whether other listed companies use impres-sion management techniques in non-financial reporting. Originality/value: This article is the first publication to show how Polish large energy-sector joint-stock companies manage their environmental impression in non-financial reporting. The analysis extends the knowledge on creating a business operations image that is favourable to stakeholders by companies with a high environmental impact. This is of particular importance considering the non-financial reporting obligation that such entities have to meet as per Directive 2014/95/EU.

No abstract

No abstract

The studies conducted so far in Poland indicate not only the low environmental awareness of SMEs, but also incorrect reporting of their impact on the natural environment. What is more, in entities from this group, the environmental costs arising in the course of their business activity are undervalued.

No abstract

Informacje o naborze artykułów i zasadach recenzowania znajdują się na stronie internetowej Wydawnictwa www.wydawnictwo.ue.wroc.pl Kopiowanie i powielanie w jakiejkolwiek formie wymaga pisemnej zgody Wydawcy