Increasingly, researchers in the field of intellectual capital (IC) need to be able to justify the specific research methods they use to collect the empirical data that they examine to support and test opinions regarding the merit of different approaches to managing and reporting IC. Of the various methods available to researchers seeking to understand intellectual capital reporting (ICR), content analysis is the most popular. The aim of this paper is to review the use of content analysis as a research method in understanding ICR and to offer some observations on the practical utility of the method. Further, the paper examines several research method issues relating to the use of content analysis that have been discussed in the social environmental accounting literature, but not as yet in the IC literature, which we believe are relevant to investigations underway in the field of ICR. This paper reports on several developmental issues we have confronted when using content analysis to examine the voluntary disclosure of IC in annual reports by various organisations. The paper also suggests two theoretical foundations for further investigation into the voluntary disclosure of IC by organisations, and suggests why content analysis is well matched to both these theories as a means to collect empirical data to test research propositions.

Using content analysis as a research method to inquire into intellectual capital reporting

The purpose of this paper is to review and critique the field of Intellectual Capital Accounting Research (ICAR). The literature indicates that an organisational and business revolution is in progress concerning the need to understand the value of knowledge resources and how to manage them. The paper explores the field of ICAR by examining a decade of published research since Petty and Guthrie's (2000) seminal paper on ICA, “Intellectual capital literature review: Measurement, reporting and management” as published in the Journal of Intellectual Capital. The paper has four specific contributions. The first contribution is to identify the field of scholarship associated with ICAR. The second is to provide a comprehensive picture of what has happened in the field of ICAR over the past decade. Third, it provides evidence as to how and why the field of ICAR is changing. Fourth, it highlights areas for future research and policy developments. From these four contributions our definition of Intellectual Capital Accounting (ICA) emerges. That is, ICA is an accounting, reporting and management technology of relevance to organisations to understand and manage knowledge resources. It can account and report on the size and development of knowledge resources such as employee competencies, customer relations, financial relationships and communication and information technologies. Additionally, the analysis highlights several interesting patterns and worrying trends in the field of ICAR.

Reflections and projections: A decade of Intellectual Capital Accounting Research

This paper investigates the relationship between intellectual capital disclosure and corporate governance variables, controlling for other firm‐specific characteristics, for a sample of 100 UK listed firms. Intellectual capital disclosure is measured by a disclosure index score, supported by word count and percentage of word count metrics to assess the variety, volume and focus of intellectual capital disclosure respectively. The independent variables comprise various forms of corporate governance structure: board composition, ownership structure, audit committee size and frequency of audit committee meetings, and CEO role duality. Results of the analysis based on the three measures of intellectual capital disclosure indicate significant association with all the governance factors except for role duality. The influence of corporate governance mechanisms on human, structural and relational capital disclosure, based on all three metrics, is also explored.

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Intellectual capital disclosure and corporate governance structure in UK firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the voluntary reporting of intellectual capital (IC) by listed companies in Australia and Hong Kong and to evaluate size, industry and time effects on IC disclosure levels.Design/methodology/approach – The study is an empirical one conducted in two stages. Stage one is an exploratory study of voluntary IC disclosure for the 20 largest listed Australian companies in 1998. Stage two, using 2002 data, examines voluntary disclosure of IC attributes for 50 listed entities in Australia and 100 in Hong Kong. Content analysis is used to collect data.Findings – Levels of voluntary IC disclosure are found to be low and in qualitative rather than quantitative form in both locations. Disclosure level is positively related to company size, a finding that is consistent with the previous literature on voluntary reporting.Research limitations/implications – External validity may be compromised somewhat by the relatively small sample size. Managers are not observed in ...

The voluntary reporting of intellectual capital

https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/35.pdf

Lifting the lid on the use of content analysis to investigate intellectual capital disclosures

In recent years a world‐wide debate has emerged on the future of business reporting There is growing agreement that traditional financial reporting is inadequate in meeting with the information needs of stakeholders, particularly in a knowledge economy characterised by a rapidly emerging emphasis on intellectual capital (IC) This study examines voluntary intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) provided by listed Italian companies in annual reports from the year 2001 The study aims to answer two research questions namely: what is the amount and content of ICD; and what are the factors that influence different voluntary reporting behaviours In relation to amount and content of information disclosed, the results are consistent with previous ICD studies showing extensive disclosure of external capital (in particular about “customers”) Regarding the factors that can explain different voluntary reporting practices, findings suggest that industry and size are not important in determining the content of information disclosed, however, as found in social and environmental disclosure (SED) studies, these factors are relevant in explaining the amount of information disclosed In summary, this paper highlights the ICD practices of Italian listed companies by examining their annual reports, and compares these results with a number of previous national studies

Francesco Favotto

Papers

Italian annual intellectual capital disclosure: An empirical analysis

Narrative Reporting on Intangibles: an analysis of Italian listed companies

Economia Aziendale. Modelli, misure, casi