This study examines the corporate social disclosure practices of the top 16 software firms in India. The 2003–2004 annual reports were analysed using content analysis to examine the attributes reported relating to human resource, community development activities, products and services activities and environmental activities. The human resources category was the most frequently reported followed by community development activities and the environmental activities was the least reported. Most of the information was qualitative and was disclosed in the ‘other’ sections of the annual report. Some firms had separate sections for each category while many others disclosed their social practices in the introductory pages of the annual report. The results indicate that firms had different motives/reasons for reporting the different attributes. The shortage of skilled labour in the software sector seems to have shaped the corporate social disclosure (CSD) practices in the human resources category. Firms seem to engage in community development activities without expecting changes to their economic performance and the CSD of community activities seem to be shaped by the expectations of the society. The nature of global competition in the software sector seems to have shaped the CSD practices in the product and services contribution category.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to pay tribute to several of the ideas of Jan-Erik Gröjer by reviewing and critiquing the field of Human Competence Accounting (HCA) since his Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal review article in 1998.Three research questions he posed in that article are now addressed in the current paper: What could be done, as envisaged in the commentary of Gröjer and Johanson; What has been published in HCA research in the ten year period (1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008); What more could/should be done in HCA as a research agenda. Design/methodology/approach -A literature based analysis and critique of HCA accounting articles published in the selected journals from 1999 to 2008 is employed. A purpose built coding and classification scheme is built around several categories for the purpose of analysing the HCA literature. Findings -The paper seeks to demonstrate the importance of Gröjer and Johanson's review and indicates that questions they raised and possible research directions have been acted upon by a number of authors. The findings of the analysis indicate that, a decade on from the original review, HCA is a legitimate area for accounting research and is multi-disciplinary and multi-focused in nature.Research limitations/implications -The paper only considers selected HCA articles within the ten journals used over the period 1999-2008.American mainstream positivist research has not been reviewed. Also the categories chosen to represent HCA have several limitations which are addressed in the paper. Originality/value -HCA research has a strong tradition and the Gröjer and Johanson review is an important beacon that provided insights to accounting researchers. The current analysis extends Jan-Erik's work by providing several insights into what has happened and also provides several ideas for future research and policy work in accounting for HCA.

This study explored the human capital (HC) value creation practices of the top seventeen software and service exporter firms in India. The study used HC disclosure attributes as a tool to the contents of the annual reports for the year 2003-04, to evaluate the type and amount of HC disclosed by the software firms. The study conducted semi-structured interviews with the Heads of Human Resources of fourteen software firms to obtain a greater understanding of the similarities between reporting and managed HC practices. The study identified most reported and least reported attributes of HC using content analysis and explained their reporting of value creation using interviews and Resource Based View (RBV). The findings suggest that the HC reporting practices were consistent with interview findings. The frequency of HC attributes reported followed the extent of the management's perception of HC value creation to the firm.

This study examines the corporate social reporting practices and the motivations behind such practices of the top 16 software firms in India. The 2003-2004 annual reports were analysed using content analysis to examine social reporting relating to human resource and social relations, combined with 14 case study interviews that examined managerial motives behind corporate social reporting (CSR) relating to the sample firms. When findings were analysed using legitimation strategies, the results indicate that firms use dual strategies in reporting their human resource and social relations to legitimise their activities to stakeholders

Purpose-This paper aims to analyse the relationship between intellectual capital and financial capital using a case study. This makes it possible to discuss how intellectual capital is related to value creation with a degree of nuance that is absent from most statistical studies of relationships between human, organisational, relational and financial capital. Design/methodology/approach-The paper uses a case study of a firm that invests in intellectual capital in order to develop financial capital. It traces the relationship between intellectual capital elements and financial capital via interviews. This allows the development of a nuanced account of the performance of intellectual capital. This account questions the universality of the linear model typically found in statistical studies. The model makes it possible to show how items of intellectual capital not only interact but also compete. Findings-Relationships between intellectual capital and financial capital are challenging to specify because they are complementary rather than causal. Financial capital is not only an effect but also an important input because the development of intellectual capital takes place through the firm's budgeting processes. Research limitations/implications-The findings suggest future development of accounts of the role and performance (strength) of intellectual capital be developed around imaginative, perhaps recursive and certainly dynamic, statistical models and/or more inclusive case studies of the various elements that influence the development and transformation of intellectual capital. Originality/value-The case study suggests that investments in intellectual capital happen in the context of many other investments. Bounded by the budgeting process, intellectual capital has no separate agenda and therefore, intellectual capital investments compete with other types of investments.