In an era in which news spreads as it happens over the
Internet and social media networks, investors, society and governments are increasingly
demanding that organizations be accountable to stakeholders, not merely
shareholders, and be transparent about their activities. A forthcoming research
paper outlines the concept of integrated
reporting and proposes a template for integrated reporting.
The model is based on the concepts
in the King Report on Governance for South Africa (King III), and the International Integrated Reporting Council
in the United Kingdom.
According to the author, an integrated report should explain
the story of reaching the organization’s vision, underpinned by its values,
enacted by management, monitored by governance and using facets of resources
relating to financial capital, intellectual capital, social capital and
environmental capital. The paper proposes an integrated reporting framework and
provides an example of a template to use. Apparently, this is the first
academic paper that provides a coherent framework on integrated reporting, along
with a template.
The author supports a concise report that informs
significant performance implications on the organizational vision during the
reporting period. The paper does not define significance
as it is an outcome of inquiry into reporting, rather than a rule, and instead
leaves it up to preparers to use their professional judgment. Learn more by
reading the online 48-page research article “A
template for integrated reporting” by I. Abeysekera to be published in the Journal of
Intellectual Capital, 14 (2), in May 2013.