The Free State University integrated reporting: a critical consideration

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the integrated report (IR) of a South African public university (UFS), by comparing it with the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) framework, to verify whether UFS IR matches the IIRC framework main aims, which is integrating IC and non-IC information into a single report for stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs the case study approach, which is appropriate when a researcher needs to conduct a holistic and in-depth analysis of a complex phenomenon in its real-life context. As such, this method is particularly suitable for exploring intellectual and social capitals, which is complex and context-dependent by nature. Findings – UFS IR includes the content elements of the IIRC framework as labels, but it does not deepen their meaning. As regards the IIRC guidelines principles, the analysis of the UFS IR shows that it does not seem to follow them. Briefly, the data do not have an outlook orientation, the information is not interconnected, the stakeholder relationships are not highlighted and the organisational ability to create value is not disclosed. Research limitations/implications – The implications based on the “bad” experience of UFS IR aims to extend the findings of the case study by shedding light on the levers and the barriers that managers have to face when implementing an IRing project in their organisations. Originality/value – To the best of the knowledge the research is the first investigating the IR theme in the public sector, specifically the higher education sector, dealing with disclosing IC (and non-IC) information within a new reporting mode: the IR.

Moving from Social and Sustainability Reporting to Integrated Reporting: Exploring the Potential of Italian Public-Funded Universities’ Reports

“…While its application has been widely studied in the private sector, the public sector, and more specifically higher education, are under-investigated [9,20,52]. In fact, there are still only a few empirical studies concerning the adoption and implementation of IR in the public sector and more specifically in universities, pointing out the debatable and challenging application of IR principles [20,53]. The application of IR in the university sector is not widely diffused, but there are some universities that are forefront in the adoption of this framework for their annual reports.…”

“…Therefore, multiple forms of non-financial reporting have emerged. Following the adoption of diverse reporting practices in the public sector, including sustainability and integrated reporting [6,11,12], the higher education field has started to embrace multiple reporting approaches, such as intellectual capital reporting [10,13,14], sustainability reporting [15,16], social reporting [17,18], and more recently integrated reporting [19,20].…”

Barriers to implementing the International Integrated Reporting Framework

“…The focus of most recent academic research analyses early evidence of integrated reports in practice, by assessing the quality of the information they provide, as well as the impacts of IR on corporate reporting needs and external users (e.g. Eccles et al, 2015;Melloni, 2015;Setia et al, 2015;Stent and Dowler, 2015;Veltri and Silvestri, 2015). Nevertheless, although <IR> is also meant to connect to the internal activities of organisations, such an aspect has not been widely explored in <IR> research (e.g.…”

The Compliance of the Integrated Reports Issued by European Financial Companies with the International Integrated Reporting Framework

“…Veltri and Silvestri [32] conducted a case study in order to compare the integrated report issued by a company with the IIRF. The conclusions show that even though the content elements are included as titles in the report, they are not further analyzed.…”