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Purpose – This paper aims to look into the new corporate reporting phenomenon, the so-called integrated reporting (IR), so as to assess the information level provided, identify trends and explore its determining factors.
Design/methodology/approach – This study looks into the IR disclosure level of the annual reports published by 91 companies in the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)’s pilot programme. The authors’ empirical research focuses on four areas: the guiding principles of connectivity and materiality, as well as two content elements: the business model and governance. Following extant research on voluntary disclosure, a disclosure index is proposed and some hypotheses are put forward
on its connection with some corporate variables.
Findings – The results point out that the disclosure levels of the IRs published by IIRC’s pilot programme members reach medium levels of disclosure. According to the authors’ index, the level of disclosure is significantly associated with the specific environment of organizations (i.e. region and industry), assurance of the report and publication in the IIRC website.
Originality/value – This study makes a relevant contribution, as it presents an innovative IR disclosure index and sheds some light on the disclosure practices of early adopters of IR. This evidence is valuable in understanding the trends in this field and could help the IIRC and other standard setters with a view to improving sustainable development and reporting.
Keywords Reporting, Sustainability, Disclosure, Stakeholders, Integrated reports, International integrated reporting framework

En los últimos años el Marco Internacional para la Información Integrada ha sido promovido como la norma global de información corporativa, y avanza en el espacio regulador, gracias al apoyo de sus fundadores y a la evolución previa de otros estándares internacionales. En este artículo analizamos las cartas de comentarios dirigidas por organismos de estandarización no estatal, participantes del proyecto de consulta del marco, cuya posición estratégica influyó el contenido publicado por el IIRC en 2013. En esta tarea identificamos el impacto de sus posiciones frente a la definición de un marco basado en principios, el concepto de IR y el público destinatario del informe. Nuestras conclusiones destacan que estos organismos, y en general, los procesos de estandarización
privada tienen gran influencia en la definición de estándares esenciales tanto para este informe como para la evolución de las prácticas de rendición de cuentas. Las instituciones analizadas influyeron en los contenidos del marco, ocuparon roles relevantes en el gobierno y fuerzas de trabajo del IIRC y continúan trabajando en que esta tendencia se abra paso a partir de su experiencia, alianzas y recursos

Integrated reporting (IR) is one of the latest innovations regarding sustainability reporting and non-financial information in the world. Although some companies began IR practices in the 2000s (Eccles & Krzus, 2010), IR has only been recognized since 2010 as the best way to get a complete picture of the value of organizations, overcoming the limitations of traditional reports (Eccles & Krzus, 2010; Jensen & Berg, 2012; Abeysekera, 2013).

Our research aims to analyze this innovative reporting trend. To do this, we first review some practices in the annual reports published by the pioneering companies in IR, then, we present the antecedents for the current IR framework. Finally we look into the process that the International Integrated Reporting Council has followed to develop the framework, pointing out some milestones for the widespread adoption of integrated reporting.

Our findings suggest that reporting practices have been ahead both from theoretical developments and institutional efforts. However, private regulators continue to have a major influence on the theoretical definition of standards that are intended to guide IR and the development of accountability practices to stakeholders.

Resumen:
La información integrada (o informe integrado [IR]) es una de las innovaciones más recientes dentro de la corriente relacionada con informes de sostenibilidad e información no financiera en el mundo. Aunque algunas compañías comenzaron prácticas de IR en la década del 2000 (Eccles y Krzus, 2010), la presentación de informes integrados ha sido reconocida solo desde 2010, como la mejor manera de obtener un panorama completo del valor de las empresas, superando las limitaciones de los informes tradicionales (Eccles y Krzus, 2010; Jensen y Berg, 2012; Abeysekera, 2013).
Nuestra investigación tiene como objetivo analizar esta innovadora corriente de presentación de informes. Para ello, primero revisamos algunas prácticas presentes en los informes anuales publicados por empresas pioneras en la aplicación del concepto de IR, y a continuación, presentamos algunos marcos que desembocaron en el actual marco conceptual. Finalmente hacemos un recorrido por el proceso que el International Integrated Reporting Council ha seguido para el desarrollo del marco, señalando algunos hitos que se han propuesto para  conseguir la adopción general de la información integrada.
Nuestras conclusiones apuntan que las prácticas de reporting se han adelantado tanto a los desarrollos teóricos como a los esfuerzos institucionales planteados para la IR. No obstante, los reguladores privados continúan teniendo una gran influencia en la definición teórica de los estándares que pretenden guiar la IR y su evolución en las prácticas de rendición de cuentas a los stakeholders.

Leading companies worldwide are increasingly concerned about stakeholders' needs. They include sustainability initiatives regarding the environment and the community in their business strategy and adopt a new way of communication with stakeholders, that is, the Integrated Report (IR). This document should include in just one document the information traditionally provided in the annual report, the sustainability report, and the corporate governance report. This article presents the IR phenomenon and pays special attention to the key concept of "connectivity," according to the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). However, Internet and digital technologies have provided new channels of communication and interaction through social media. Within the framework of the Legitimacy Theory, Reputation Risk Management, and Stakeholder Theory, this article argues that the new possibilities brought by social media can be most valuable for IR purposes as they are useful to increase transparency and stakeholder engagement. Having looked into 78 integrated reports for the year 2012 of the companies included in the IIRC pilot programme, our study posits that the level of IR connectivity (or its absence) can be due to the combination of three types of factors (information quality, corporate characteristics, and communication factors), using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Our findings confirm the equifinality tenet and the causal asymmetry principle. Very interestingly, in the sufficiency analysis, some factors always appear present (big size, long reports, and many channels of social media used) in the model for IR connectivity whereas in the model for non-IR connectivity size and report length are always absent though the listing status is always present. This pioneering study is unique and valuable as it opens up a new line of research on IR and social media use, two of the latest trends in company reporting.

En los últimos años el Marco Internacional para la Información Integrada ha sido promovido como la norma global de información corporativa, y avanza en el espacio regulador, gracias al apoyo de sus fundadores y a la evolución previa de otros estándares internacionales. En este artículo analizamos las cartas de comentarios dirigidas por organismos de estandarización no estatal, participantes del proyecto de consulta del marco, cuya posición estratégica influyó el contenido publicado por el IIRC en 2013. En esta tarea identificamos el impacto de sus posiciones frente a la definición de un marco basado en principios, el concepto de IR y el público destinatario del informe. Nuestras conclusiones destacan que estos organismos, y en general, los procesos de estandarización privada tienen gran influencia en la definición de estándares esenciales tanto para este informe como para la evolución de las prácticas de rendición de cuentas. Las instituciones analizadas influyeron en los contenidos...

Leading companies worldwide are increasingly concerned about stakeholders’ needs. They include sustainability initiatives regarding the environment and the community in their business strategy and adopt a new way of communication with stakeholders, that is, the Integrated Report (IR). This document should include in just one document the information traditionally provided in the annual report, the sustainability report, and the corporate governance report. This article presents the IR phenomenon and pays special attention to the key concept of “connectivity,” according to the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC). However, Internet and digital technologies have provided new channels of communication and interaction through social media. Within the framework of the Legitimacy Theory, Reputation Risk Management, and Stakeholder Theory, this article argues that the new possibilities brought by social media can be most valuable for IR purposes as they are useful to increase transparency and stakeholder engagement. Having looked into 78 integrated reports for the year 2012 of the companies included in the IIRC pilot programme, our study posits that the level of IR connectivity (or its absence) can be due to the combination of three types of factors (information quality, corporate characteristics, and communication factors), using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Our findings confirm the equifinality tenet and the causal asymmetry principle. Very interestingly, in the sufficiency analysis, some factors always appear present (big size, long reports, and many channels of social media used) in the model for IR connectivity whereas in the model for non-IR connectivity size and report length are always absent though the listing status is always present. This pioneering study is unique and valuable as it opens up a new line of research on IR and social media use, two of the latest trends in company reporting.

Purpose - This paper looks into the new corporate reporting phenomenon, the so-called Integrated Reporting (IR), so as to assess the information level provided, identify trends and explore its determining factors. Design/methodology/approach - This study looks into the IR disclosure level of the annual reports published by 91 companies in the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)´s pilot programme. Our empirical research focuses on four areas: the guiding principles of connectivity and materiality, as well as on two content elements: the business model and governance. Following extant research on voluntary disclosure, a disclosure index is proposed and some hypotheses are put forward on its connection with some corporate variables. Findings - Our results point out that the disclosure level of the IR´s published by IIRC´s pilot programme members reach medium levels of disclosure. According to our index, the level of disclosure is significantly associated with the specific environment of organizations (i.e., region and industry), assurance of the report and publication in the IIRC website. Originality/value - This study makes a relevant contribution as it presents an innovative IR disclosure index, and sheds some light on the disclosure practices of early adopters of integrated reporting. This evidence is valuable to understand the trends in this field and could help the IIRC or other standard setters with a view to improve sustainable development and reporting.

The purpose of the article is to develop an analytical framework linking Giddens' structuration theory to Administrative Accounting Systems analysis and propose since this framework, a possible research program for administrative accountability development from social science analysis perspective. Thus, first a synthesis of fundamental analytical categories of structuration theory is presented. Then, the characterization of social context, in which it is possible to understand the proposed analysis unit, next to that, some similar studies are synthesized related to critical-interpretative current. Finally, this research states new questions and hypothesis that can be developed in future researches. One first hypothesis to prove would be the existence of the structuration theory as a possible research program for theoretical development of administrative accountability.

Los desastres ecologicos, los desequilibrios sociales y las recientes crisis financieras, han dejado en evidencia la “fragilidad del mercado global” (Crittenden et al., 2011). Estos hechos llevan a plantearse nuevos paradigmas e innovaciones para que las companias transformen sus practicas y modelos de negocio, a traves de comportamientos sostenibles a largo plazo que reconozcan la naturaleza cambiante del entorno. En consonancia con estas transformaciones, la informacion empresarial evoluciona y se expande, mientras gana inmediatez y complejidad. No obstante, continuan habiendo brechas y asimetrias de contenido, ademas de informacion desconectada y con frecuencia desordenada, que no resulta util para rendir cuentas a las distintas partes interesadas. El reciente fenomeno de la Informacion Integrada (IR , por sus siglas en ingles), que estudia esta tesis doctoral, surge como una accion coordinada a nivel internacional para dar respuesta a estas cuestiones. Tras este objetivo, el Int...

El propósito de este artículo es sintetizar y describir los diseños de los índices utilizados en la investigación sobre la divulgación de Información Financiera en Internet (IFI). Se hizo una revisión sistemática de la literatura y se analizaron 46 artículos de investigación con enfoque cuantitativo-explicativo, dedicados a estudiar la divulgación de IFI y que publican el diseño del índice usado. Los resultados permiten sistematizar los diseños más comunes en los índices, dimensiones, cantidad de ítems, así como las teorías, metodologías, variables determinantes y los hallazgos más significativos en la investigación académica. Se concluye que la heterogeneidad en la construcción y en las características de estos índices, es producto de la evolución en la que se encuentra dicho campo de investigación. 

Purpose Drawing on Suchman’s conception of cognitive legitimacy and Boswell’s account of the political functions of expert knowledge, this paper aims to study the due process followed by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) prior to the publication of the first version of the International Integrated Reporting Framework (IIRF). Specifically, the author analyses the lobbying strategies used in the comment letters sent by a subset of lobbyists, “the experts”, represented by accounting bodies and firms, regulators and academics. Design/methodology/approach From both a form- and meaning-oriented analysis, this paper focuses on how the experts resorted to the functions of knowledge when they took part in the IIRF’s public consultation. The author first carries out a quantitative content analysis of the responses to the 2013 Consultation Draft submitted by those constituents considered as accounting expert lobbyists. Then, the author analyse how these actors framed their ...