HARP Seminar, presented by Svetlana Sabelfeld: "Adapting Integrated Reporting through the stages of Local Rationalisation"

Abstract

In 2013, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) released the integrated reporting (IR) framework with the intention for it to become the corporate reporting norm. Ten years later, IR has not been diffused globally, with two notable exceptions — South Africa and Japan. IR in South Africa has been the subject of comprehensive research, but we know little about IR’s journey in Japan. We see adaptation as an essential step to institutionalise IR and examine the process of adapting IR in Japan by analysing the stages through which local actors rationalised IR to solve local corporate governance and reporting problems. Our evidence from field observations, public documents, and interviews revealed five stages of political, cultural and professional rationalisation, shaping the two-directional process of IR adaptation. We demonstrate that local actors not only adapted IR for the local socio-political context, but they also adapted their practices to the ideology of IR though micro-politics and cultural rationalisation. Our research shows that local adaptation is essential for institutionalising IR at a national level and, thus, for global diffusion.

Short Bio on presenter: Svetlana Sabelfeld is a researcher at Gothenburg Research Institute at School of Business, Economics and Law, University of Gothenburg. Her research interests revolve around topics of accounting, communication, sustainability, and regulation. Svetlana´s ongoing research focuses on how social and environmental accounting practices develop in different cultural and institutional contexts (for example, in Sweden and Japan). She also studies the impact of global sustainability reporting frameworks and regulations on corporate reporting and communication practices. More information: https://www.gu.se/en/about/fin...