Integrated reporting: A structured literature review

This paper reviews the field of integrated reporting () to develop insights into how research is developing, offer a critique of the research to date, and outline future research opportunities. We find that most published research presents normative arguments for and there is little research examining practice. Thus, we call for more research that critiques ’s rhetoric and practice. To frame future research we refer to parallels from intellectual capital research that identifies four distinct research stages to outline how research might emerge. Thus, this paper offers an insightful critique into an emerging accounting practice

[Editorial] Intellectual capital accounting in the age of integrated reporting: a commentary

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which the practice of integrated reporting (IR) in organisations can be a vehicle for furthering and sustaining the practice of accounting for intellectual capital (IC). It introduces the eight papers forming this Journal’s special issue on “Extending Intellectual Capital through Integrated Reporting” that demonstrate how organisations are developing practices at the nexus of IC and IR. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes the form of a review of the eight papers, and it connects the outcomes from these papers into some future research directions based on an interpretive approach and the authors’ expertise on IC and IR. Findings – The papers published in this special issue provide a useful foundation for extending the research project on IR-led IC accounting. However, there is a lack of research in this special issue that goes much beyond third-stage IC research, which is directed at strengthening IC practices inside organisational boundaries. Research limitations/implications – This commentary highlights that IR provides many opportunities to reinvigorate the field of IC accounting. Insights provided in this commentary may be relevant to understand and evaluate future iterations of IC accounting. Practical implications – While it is essential to understand how IR works in practice moving beyond organisational boundaries it is even more critical if companies are to survive and thrive in an increasingly turbulent business operating environment. Thus, this commentary offers arguments as to how IC and IR research can extend into fourth and fifth stage research paradigms. Originality/value – This commentary places the eight papers published in the Journal’s special issue on “Extending Intellectual Capital through Integrated Reporting” within the context of IC accounting to explain the trajectory of research that connects IC and IR and reveals gaps in this field of research

Environmental, social and governance disclosure, integrated reporting, and the accuracy of analyst forecasts

The International Integrated Reporting Council advocates that integrated reporting (IR) should become the worldwide norm for corporate reporting aimed at serving the needs of investors. Nonetheless, only in South Africa has IR been mandated. We study the impact of the reporting regime change in South Africa on analyst forecast accuracy over the period 2008 to 2012, as a way of evaluating users’ perceptions of the usefulness of IR. We theorise that any effects of IR will be greater the greater is the level of disclosures of environmental, social and governance performance. We find results consistent with those who support IR and our theory that the level of environmental, social and governance disclosures is a mediating variable in determining the effectiveness of IR. The results are driven by the levels of environmental disclosure and, to a lesser extent, governance disclosure. Our results provide some support for those who advocate the virtues of integrated reporting

Computed Tomography and Adrenal Venous Sampling in the Diagnosis of Unilateral Primary Aldosteronism

Unilateral primary aldosteronism is the most common surgically correctable form of endocrine hypertension and is usually differentiated from bilateral forms by adrenal venous sampling (AVS) or computed tomography (CT). Our objective was to compare clinical and biochemical postsurgical outcomes of patients with unilateral primary aldosteronism diagnosed by CT or AVS and identify predictors of surgical outcomes. Patient data were obtained from 18 internationally distributed centers and retrospectively analyzed for clinical and biochemical outcomes of adrenalectomy of patients with surgical management based on CT (n=235 patients, diagnosed from 1994-2016) or AVS (526 patients, diagnosed from 1994-2015) using the standardized PASO (Primary Aldosteronism Surgical Outcome) criteria. Biochemical outcomes were highly different according to surgical management approach with a smaller proportion in the CT group achieving complete biochemical success (188 of 235 [80%] patients versus 491 of 526 [93%], P<0.001) and a greater proportion with absent biochemical success (29 of 235 [12%] versus 10 of 526 [2%], P<0.001). A diagnosis by CT was associated with a decreased likelihood of complete biochemical success compared with AVS (odds ratio, 0.28; 0.16-0.50; P<0.001). Clinical outcomes were not significantly different, but the absence of a postsurgical elevated aldosterone-to-renin ratio was a strong marker of complete clinical success (odds ratio, 14.81; 1.76-124.53; P=0.013) in the CT but not in the AVS group. In conclusion, patients diagnosed by CT have a decreased likelihood of achieving complete biochemical success compared with a diagnosis by AVS

Implementing Integrated Reporting - Lessons from the Field

Sustainability, the environment, corporate accountability, social justice, integration – these are the buzzwords of our century. This book takes readers on a journey through the landscape of standard-setting giants and corporate reporting paradigms through the eyes of two companies that have taken very different paths toward integrated thinking. Both stories provide new insights into the transition to integrated reporting, as envisaged by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), and how integrated reporting is reshaping our views on transparency. However, the top-down approach adopted in studies of integrated reporting in practice has left many questions unanswered: Is it effective? How does it evolve into established practice? Is it just another management fad? This bottom-up critique answers all these questions and one more: Could integrated reporting become the corporate reporting norm? We shall see

Turning to Easter eggs to get through these dark times? Here's the bitter truth about chocolate

The coronavirus might make Easter celebrations a little subdued this year, but that doesn’t mean going without chocolate eggs. In fact, South Australia’s chief public health officer Nicola Spurrier reportedly said people should partake in the Easter treats “to cheer ourselves up … I’ve certainly got a good supply of chocolate eggs already”. But before you fill your shopping trolley (online or virtual) with chocolate, we urge you to think twice about whether it’s ethically produced. Most chocolate consumed globally, including in Australia, comes from the Ivory Coast and Ghana in West Africa - which together account for about 60% of global cocoa supply. Cocoa farming is a major driver of deforestation in the region. Despite growing global demand for chocolate, farmers live in poverty, and child labour continues to plague the industry

Art and landscape: study of Brazilian contemporary works

Este trabalho disserta sobre as relações entre a arte contemporânea brasileira e a paisagem, através de algumas obras que nela intervieram diretamente, assim como de projetos que propunham-se a intervir, mas não foram executados. Tais obras, ao incorporarem os elementos naturais e culturais que constituem a paisagem, evidenciam-na e fazem-nos refletir sobre sua formação, transformação e apreciação. Foram escolhidas duas exposições que, a princípio, seriam realizadas em escala nacional, e que propuseram de modo mais efetivo a intervenção da arte brasileira na paisagem, estimulando discussões sobre o tema. São elas: projeto Fronteiras (1998-2001), que abordou as referências geográficas da paisagem, e projeto Margem (2009-2010), cujas referências eram as urbanas. Com Fronteiras, a partir do tema fronteira, abre-se o debate sobre território, região, escala geográfica e modos de ocupação territorial; mas a arte introduz nele a necessidade da paisagem. Já com Margem, vêm à tona questões da paisagem urbana, em específico, como os rios são apropriados e percebidos. Esta é uma amostragem de obras que, abordando referências distintas da paisagem, fazem-nos refletir sobre a produção artística nacional que tem na paisagem mais do que uma inspiração, mas um elemento constitutivo; assim como de que modos a paisagem é, possivelmente, uma influência para estas obras.This research disserts about the relationship between brazilian contemporary art and landscape, regarding some works of art that interfered directly in it, as well as projects that intended to do it, but were not accomplished, eventually. These works, as they incorporate natural and cultural aspects of the landscape, they emphasize it and raise a debate on its development, transformation and appreciation. Two expositions - which were to be taken, at first, in national scale - more effectively proposed the intervention of brazilian contemporary art into the landscape and stimulated discussions on these matters. They are: Fronteiras ( 1998-2001), which approached the geographical landscape references, and Margem (2009-2010), which focused the urban ones. Within Fronteiras, from the boundary theme, the discussion arises on territory, region, geographical scale and models of territorial occupation; nevertheless, art introduces the need of landscape in this debate. In contrast, Margem brings up issues related to the the urban landscape, specifically how rivers are appropriated and apprehended by people. This is a sample of works of art that approach landscape in different ways, which lead us to consider how brazilian contemporary art handles landscape, not only as an inspiration, but as a constitutive component of the work; they also highlight how landscape might be, possibly, an influence on them

Krajcberg and Oiticica: Precursores of Art in the Landscape in Brasil

Analisar semelhanças entre a arte de Frans Krajcberg (1921) e a de Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980) pode parecer, à primeira vista, pouco usual. A aproximação, no entanto, da produção destes artistas permite encontrar obras estreitamente ligadas a questões da produção e representação de identidade da paisagem. Ambos, a partir da década de 1960, passam a trabalhar diretamente em paisagens até então à margem dos debates da arte: aquelas dos desmatamentos e das favelas, abrindo fronteiras para refletir, por meio da arte, um Brasil além do tropical. Sendo consideradas as singularidades de suas poéticas, os artistas compartilham o fato de terem participado da expansão do campo artístico brasileiro apropriando-se de objetos e materiais não tradicionais, além de terem se alinhado com posturas políticas que se tornariam visíveis em suas obras. Tal expansão, que abarca o cotidiano e alcança dimensões políticas, resultou em interagir com a paisagem. Também apresentam em comum o fato de trabalhar e conceber suas obras a partir dos significados e das configurações da paisagem, valendo-se dos elementos naturais e culturais que a constituem, assim como refletem sobre a “maneira de olhar” própria que a origina. Sobretudo, são parcelas significativas das obras destes artistas – em diferentes linguagens – que traduzem intensamente suas vivências na paisagem.Examining similarities between Frans Krajcberg and Hélio Oiticica artworks could be, at first glance, unusual. This approach, however, permit us to find out that some of their artworks are strictly engaged with landscape production and identity representation issues. Both artists, since de 1960´s, begin to work in landscapes which were, by that time, put aside from the art context and discussions: landscapes of burnedover lands, deforestation and the favela´s, opening frontiers to make us consider carefully, through art, a Brazil besides the tropical. Reflecting the singularities of their processes, these artists share the fact that they have participated in the expanded field of the brazilian art as they appropriated from daily objects and non-traditional materials and, especially, they assumed political positions that were revealed in their artworks. This art expansion, that enclose daily life with its objects and social interaction reaching political dimension resulted, for these artists, in interfering directly with the landscape. They also share the way of working and conceiving their artworks starting from the senses and forms of the landscape, using its natural and cultural aspects as well as considering the proper “way of seeing” that is in the landscape´s origin. Especially, expressive parcels of their artworks - in distinct languages - intensely manifest their experiences of life within the landscape

Krajcberg e Oiticica: Precursores da Arte na Paisagem no Brasil

Analisar semelhanças entre a arte de Frans Krajcberg (1921) e a de Hélio Oiticica (1937-1980) pode parecer, à primeira vista, pouco usual. A aproximação, no entanto, da produção destes artistas permite encontrar obras estreitamente ligadas a questões da produção e representação de identidade da paisagem. Ambos, a partir da década de 1960, passam a trabalhar diretamente em paisagens até então à margem dos debates da arte: aquelas dos desmatamentos e das favelas, abrindo fronteiras para refletir, por meio da arte, um Brasil além do tropical. Sendo consideradas as singularidades de suas poéticas, os artistas compartilham o fato de terem participado da expansão do campo artístico brasileiro apropriando-se de objetos e materiais não tradicionais, além de terem se alinhado com posturas políticas que se tornariam visíveis em suas obras. Tal expansão, que abarca o cotidiano e alcança dimensões políticas, resultou em interagir com a paisagem. Também apresentam em comum o fato de trabalhar e conceber suas obras a partir dos significados e das configurações da paisagem, valendo-se dos elementos naturais e culturais que a constituem, assim como refletem sobre a “maneira de olhar” própria que a origina. Sobretudo, são parcelas significativas das obras destes artistas – em diferentes linguagens – que traduzem intensamente suas vivências na paisagem