An Evaluation of Business Model Disclosures in Integrated Reports

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine companies’ business model disclosures in their integrated reports and to explore the possible determinants of more detailed business model disclosures. Content analysis is used to identify disclosure themes in the integrated reports of 40 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Descriptive statistics are generated for each disclosure theme/item and hypotheses are tested, using non-parametric testing. The results suggest that financial performance does not have a material effect on how companies explain their business model. This is not the case when it comes to environmental performance as firms with strong environmental performance devote more attention to explaining how financial and non-financial elements are managed. This is consistent with an emerging body of research which suggests that higher-quality integrated reporting can be used to lower information asymmetry and reinforce investors’ ability to understand a firm's performance. This paper complements a growing body of work which has considered the determinants of better-quality environmental or sustainability reporting and answers the call for more research on the factors that may influence the nature and extent of disclosures found in an integrated report.