The International <IR> Framework’s impact on the social and relationship disclosures in the healthcare industry

Abstract Background and Problem: The altering business world and the growing requests from stakeholders have resulted in the establishment of new reports. These are among others Sustainability reports and Integrated Reporting. On the contrary, traditional financial reports do not consider the significance of intangible assets in modern entities. The social and relationship capital has further shown to be important for firms, especially healthcare companies and pharmaceuticals, but is not as developed as other capitals within the <IR> framework and therefore not always included in annual reports. However too few disclosures within this area could lead to high liabilities. The IIRC launched the <IR> framework year 2013 as a solution, as it gives a more comprehensive view of the reporting entity. Within this framework there are six capitals: manufactured, human, financial, natural, intellectual and social and relationship.   Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to find out how the International <IR> Framework has influenced the reporting of the social and relationship disclosures within the healthcare industry, to compare the reporting of the six medical firms chosen and to examine how the social concerns have been developed over time. Delimitations: This study is conducted over a period of three years, from year 2012 to year 2014. It only examines healthcare companies which use the International <IR> framework and it has solely focus on the social and relationship capital. All other capitals within the <IR> framework are excluded from the study. Method: This study has a qualitative research strategy and is based on information collected from published documents in form of annual reports. The annual reports from year 2010, 2011 and 2012 are used to find social and relationship disclosures and a disclosure scoreboard is used to find similarities, differences and patterns. Empirical Results and Conclusion: It has been found that the aggregated social and relationship disclosures have been reduced over time. The year followed by the release of the <IR> framework was seen to have the least disclosures and therefore conclusion was drawn that the <IR> framework had a negative influence on the social and relationship disclosures. There were also differences among the companies studied both in extent and content. The former could be linked to factors such as size and nationality and the latter could be linked to reputation preservation and legitimacy interests.

Integrated Reporting in OMXS30 companies - An Analysis of Human Capital Disclosures

Background and Problem: Sustainability reporting is a growing interest in today’s organizations and it is essential to report on non-financial matters. Many of the existing frameworks have been criticized for being used only of symbolical reasons which is why the concept of integrated reporting and the <IR> framework have been developed. One of the cornerstones in the <IR> framework is human capital which is one of the most valuable assets in an organization. Traditionally, employee costs have only been treated as an expense and there have been limited disclosures in corporate reports. In the current business world it is instead seen as an investment in human resources. Since previous studies have shown an increase of human capital disclosures when corporate reports become integrated, integrated reporting might be the solution to this problem. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine if there are differences in human capital disclosures between integrated reports and separate annual and sustainability reports in companies listed at OMXS30. Delimitations: This study’s empirical examination is limited to include the companies listed at Stockholm OMX30. Only corporate reports issued for the year 2014 are treated. Methodology: For this study a self-constructed disclosure scoreboard with human capital- related items has been used to collect data from the companies’ corporate reports. Also additional information beyond the pre-determined items has been collected to extend the data collection. Empirical Results and Conclusion: The results show that human capital seems to be a subject that is relatively little reported about. The integrated reporting companies do not disclose more information compared to non-integrated reporting companies. However, the results show that integrated reporting companies seem to have a more future-oriented focus and that the disclosures are more dispersed throughout the reports. It can be concluded that company sector and size do not affect the amount or type of information. 

Intellectual Capital Disclosures: The effect of mandatory Integrated Reporting

Purpose – The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how mandatory obligation to follow the International <IR> Framework while producing the corporate reports influence the intellectual capital disclosures in the reports. Research design – The study uses a disclosure scoreboard to score a selected sample of annual reports depending on whether it disclose intellectual capital information or not. The sample consists of companies listed in South Africa were it is mandatory to follow the integrated reporting framework and companies listen in Sweden where it is not mandatory to produce an integrated report. Empirical results and conclusion – The results of this thesis indicates that the mandatory use of the International <IR> Framework have an impact on the amount of intellectual capital disclosures. Further it concludes that higher level of compliance with the framework further increases the intellectual capital disclosure. Contribution – This study has been an early step towards concluding whether the use of integrated reporting has any effect on the amount of intellectual capital information disclosed in companies’ annual report.

Self-disclosure of HIV diagnosis to sexual partners by heterosexual and bisexual men: a challenge for HIV/AIDS care and prevention

This study investigated the disclosure of HIV-positive serostatus to sexual partners by heterosexual and bisexual men, selected in centers for HIV/AIDS care. In 250 interviews, we investigated disclosure of serostatus to partners, correlating disclosure to characteristics of relationships. The focus group further explored barriers to maintenance/establishment of partnerships and their association with disclosure and condom use. Fear of rejection led to isolation and distress, thus hindering disclosure to current and new partners. Disclosure requires trust and was more frequent to steady partners, to partners who were HIV-positive themselves, to female partners, and by heterosexuals, occurring less frequently with commercial sex workers. Most interviewees reported consistent condom use. Unprotected sex was more frequent with seropositive partners. Suggestions to enhance comprehensive care for HIV-positive men included stigma management, group activities, and human rights-based approaches involving professional education in care for sexual health, disclosure, and care of "persons living with HIV".

Alzheimer`s disease diagnosis disclosure in Brazil: a survey of specialized physicians` current practice and attitudes

Background: There is little, though growing, interest in the research area of attitudes held among physicians towards disclosing the diagnosis of dementia and Alzheimer`s disease (AD), or the current practice on AD disclosure. This study aimed to investigate the practice and attitudes of specialized physicians towards AD diagnosis disclosure in Brazil. Methods: A questionnaire was devised to survey the current practice and attitudes regarding diagnosis disclosure of AD in Brazil and sent to specialized physicians (170 geriatricians, 300 neurologists and 500 psychiatrists) by electronic mail. Results: From 970 potential respondents, 181 physicians who usually attend AD patients returned the questionnaire. There were no significant differences between the three specialties regarding the frequency with which they informed patients of their AD diagnosis (p = 0.17). The results revealed that only 44.8% of the physicians would regularly inform the patient of the diagnosis, although 85.6% of these use clear terminology. Despite their usual practice, 76.8% would want to know their diagnosis if they themselves were affected by AD. Conclusions: Disclosure of AD diagnosis is not common among specialized physicians in Brazil and different factors are involved. In the clinical context, discussion on advantages of diagnosis disclosure can be useful for improving the care of AD patients and their families.

Links between attachment orientations and dispositional and diary-based measures of disclosure in dating couples: A study of actor and partner effects

Issues concerning the influence of attachment characteristics on own and partner's disclosure were addressed using a sample of 113 couples in medium-term dating relationships. Individual differences in attachment were assessed in terms of relationship anxiety and avoidance. Disposition to disclose was assessed using questionnaire measures of self-disclosure, relationship-focused disclosure, and the ability to elicit disclosure from the partner; in addition, structured diaries were used to assess aspects of disclosure (amount, intimacy, emotional tone, and satisfaction) in the context of couples' everyday interactions. Couple-level analyses showed that avoidance strongly predicted dispositional measures of disclosure, whereas anxiety (particularly partner's anxiety) was related to negative evaluations of everyday interactions. Interactive effects of attachment dimensions and gender were also obtained, highlighting the complexity of communication behavior. The results are discussed in terms of the goals and strategies associated with working models of attachment.

Auditor conservatism and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from the Year 2000 systems issue

This study further examines the phenomenon of conservative auditor behaviour by considering the level of voluntary disclosure of Year 2000 remediation information in company annual reports. Previous studies have provided evidence of conservative auditor behaviour by examining the link between Big 6 auditor choice and accruals (Francis and Krishnan 1999; Becker et al., 1998; Defond and Subramanyam 1998). Protecting their reputation capital increases Big 6 auditor incentives to act conservatively to avoid litigation risk. We propose and find that Big 6 auditor clients disclose more Year 2000 remediation information than non–Big 6 auditor clients.

Voluntary disclosure of forward-looking earnings forecasts in Australia

This study examines the voluntary disclosure of future earnings information in annual reports for Australian listed companies. We find that most Australian companies in our sample do not provide quantitative earnings, forecasts in their annual reports, although more than half of the sample do disclose forward-looking information relating to earnings, without specifically disclosing point estimates for the future. These companies mostly supply qualitative information with a positive bias, while the remainder of the sample discloses no forward-looking information relating to earnings. Our findings also suggest that larger companies with less volatile earnings tend to provide more future earnings information than smaller companies with relatively volatile earnings.