Lessons for progressing narrative reporting:Learning from the experience of disseminating the Danish Intellectual Capital Statement approach

The case for the greater use of narrative disclosures within the annual report package continues to attract support from accounting academics. After a decade of comparatively limited attention, the topic of narrative reporting has returned to the accounting research agenda, in part in association with integrated reporting and a growing interest in accounting for business models, as well as a resurgence of intellectual capital research. In the light of a continuing optimism that narrative reporting will eventually assume its rightful place within financial reporting, the paper reports and reflects upon the findings of a study of the outcome of the Danish Guideline Project in the decade following its conclusion in late 2002. This initiative placed a heavy emphasis on the extension of narrative reporting in its principal output, the Intellectual Capital Statement, still widely regarded as a highly promising intellectual capital reporting framework. Based on insights derived from the study, the paper identifies a number of major obstacles that confront the advocates of narrative disclosure practices, the persistence of which is rooted in the contestable jurisdiction that characterises the accountancy profession itself.acceptedVersio

Testing an urban myth: do spiders really “love” the smell of gasoline?

poster abstractABSTRACT. Presence of yellow sac spiders (genus Cheiracanthium) in the emissions control (EVAP) system of certain automobiles has prompted recalls because silk blockage of EVAP hoses could lead to cracked gas tanks, fuel leakage, and fire. According to a Reuters report during the 2011 Mazda6 recall, an innate attraction to the odor of gasoline explained sac spider presence in cars (gasoline attraction hypothesis). The media perpetuated this idea to such a degree that it attained the status of an urban myth – even the Wikipedia article for Cheiracanthium discusses the supposed attraction. Alternative possibilities to explain spider presence in EVAP hoses were largely ignored. Car hoses provide just one of many suitable retreat sites available to spiders, so occasional occupation of EVAP hoses may be due more to chance than design (random occupancy hypothesis). It is also possible that EVAP hoses themselves attract the spiders (hose attraction hypothesis). In this study, we tested the gasoline attraction and hose attraction hypotheses. Using juvenile Cheiracanthium mildei, a species known to occupy EVAP hoses, we found no evidence to support the gasoline attraction hypothesis: in both arena tests and Y-tube choice experiments, spiders spent similar amounts of time in control (no gasoline odor) and treatment (gasoline odor present) areas. In contrast, data supported the hose attraction hypothesis. Younger juvenile C. mildei spent significantly more time on the treatment side of the test arena (pieces of hose present) compared to the control side of the arena (no hose pieces present), and younger juveniles were found more frequently on the treatment side of the arena 30 minutes (100%) and 12+ hours (89%) after release into the arena. Interestingly, the clear preference for EVAP hose displayed by younger juveniles was not seen in older juveniles

Moving from irrelevant IC reporting to value-relevant IC disclosures: Key learning points from the Danish experience

Purpose – Informed by the findings of a follow-up research study of companies originally involved in the Danish Guideline Project for Intellectual Capital Statements, this paper provides valuable insights for a potential shift from IC reporting, largely informed by an accounting perspective, towards IC-related disclosures. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on data obtained from 21 semi-structured interviews with respondents in 16 companies. The respondents were contacted following a genealogical exercise carried out on the 102 companies involved in the Danish Guideline Project between 1999 and 2003. Findings – The interviews suggested a rather critical perspective towards IC reporting using the intellectual capital statement framework. Despite the attempt of the Danish Guideline Project to establish a reporting standard, a range of experiments resulted in changes to the framework’s original structure. Overall, a trend towards more integrated forms of reporting was discernible, in some part being motivated by the need to reduce the levels of reporting overload. Examples of integration designed to legitimise intellectual capital or corporate social responsibility reports, involving issuing them in tandem with a recognised reporting vehicle such as the annual report, were also encountered. Research limitations/implications – The implications of this study are that timely, value-relevant IC disclosures and compliant reporting, primarily for accountability purposes, have the potential to coexist. In addition to the usual limitations of a semi-structured interview research design, respondents’ difficulties in clearly recalling events during the project after some 10-12 years is a further potential limitation. Additionally, the use of Internet-based communication channels for disclosure purposes was in its infancy at the time of the Danish Guideline Project. Originality/value – The paper provides important insights into the mechanisms of intellectual capital disclosure and intellectual capital reporting as seen from a practitioner perspective. Implications relevant to the continued development of integrated reporting are also identified