In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of: Masters of Commerce University of the Witwatersrand / In recent years, the call for companies to account for their activities to a wide group of stakeholders has grown. Integrated reporting provides a platform for such stakeholder communication. Recent studies have, however, concluded that integrated reporting is viewed merely as an exercise to be undertaken to ensure compliance. This thesis explores the challenges faced by those charged with the preparation of the integrated report in the South African eco-tourism industry. It adopts a social constructivist ontology and is grounded in an interpretive epistemology. The eco-tourism industry is particularly suited to this study as the notion of sustainability and, more recently, integrated reporting is of great importance in a rapidly growing industry which places significant reliance on natural resources. It is required to deliver economic profits whilst ensuring that the differing needs of a range of stakeholders are met. A theoretical framework of change implementation, based on different mechanisms presented by existing literature, was developed and used in exploring the challenges encountered by a case organisation when preparing its integrated report. A qualitative case study was undertaken in which the role-players in the preparation of the integrated report of the case entity were interviewed, and the minutes of internal meetings and workshops and an external assurance report were reviewed. In this context, this thesis provides further understanding of the challenges faced by organisations in the preparation of an integrated report, providing insight into how preparers are interpreting and applying the guidelines found in the integrated reporting frameworks and codes on corporate governance. / MT2017

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. 30 October 2014. / The reporting of non-financial data has steadily increased over the past three decades and there is evidence that including social and environmental indicators in the annual report is correlated with improved environmental performance of listed companies. The annual reports of a selection of 82 JSE-listed companies, including the full JSE Top 40, were analysed for mentions of the natural environment for the reporting periods of 2010 and 2012. The introduction of the King III principles by the JSE occurred between these two periods, providing an opportunity to assess the impacts that this move had on annual reporting. Attention was paid to mentions in the leadership reviews by the Chairmen and the CEOs, presence of empirical environmental data, environmental KPIs and the manner in which these data were presented and discussed in the report. In addition, a survey asking qualitative details of company reporting policy was conducted among the staff members responsible for environmental reporting of these companies. The standard and sophistication of environmental reporting varied widely across the sample, with Top 40 companies generally reporting better than non-Top 40 companies. Primary industries were more likely to provide empirical data than service industries and only agricultural industries appeared concerned with the manner in which changes in the natural environment could affect their business. There remains a wide variation in the type and detail of environmental reporting across the sample with very little evidence that the data, as reported, play a meaningful role in the decisions of either management or investors.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-04T11:45:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Paulo_Nogueira_Andrade_Godoi.pdf: 490911 bytes, checksum: 8ecd1070253900a32b854e817eba6690 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2002-12-03 / This work has the objective of analyzing the readability of a kind of publication named Management Report, published by Brazilian companies with stock on the market. Written at the discretion of the management, it is very flexible regarding style and structure, involving the presentation of clear and relevant information. This should help investors and creditors, current and potential, as well as other users, in evaluating the probable amount of capital gain and dividends, sales, and the timely receiving of certificates and loans. To offer high quality reports is essential to satisfy the investor's needs for information, so they can make decisions, based on clear and reliable facts. Writing them down clearly, however, is no easy task. Readability is one of the clarity attributes a text, allowing for a fast and easy communication. It calls for short words and sentences. There are more than 35 formulas to estimate text readability in English. The Flesch Readability Formula, developed by Flesch (1948) is most commonly used for English texts, and is considered by Jones (1948) to be the preferred method. It takes into account the average length of words (in syllables per word) and sentences (words per sentence) in a text, resulting in a score of 0 to 100. Because words in English have 1.8 syllables on average, while in Portuguese, words have 2.2 syllables, the Flesch Formula had to be adapted to Portuguese texts. Martins et al (1996) made a direct comparison study applying the Flesch formula to English texts and to their translations into Portuguese, revealing a readability score averaging 42 points less for Portuguese texts. Hence, they advise adding up this figure to the formula's result to get the adapted score. We have applied the adapted Flesch formula to a sample of 22 Management Reports published by Brazilian companies with stock on the market. The results have indicated 32.83% of results on the very difficult level, while the remainder 68.18% was on the a little difficult level. This means that none of the reports had scores corresponding to an easy and pleasant reading. These results indicate that the management of companies is not taking the opportunity to improve the communication with this kind of report. This could be done, considering the readability, text attribute that advocates a language of easy assimilation, allowing a faster comprehension by the reader. / O objetivo deste trabalho ?? estudar a legibilidade no tipo de texto denominado Relat??rio da Administra????o, que ?? publicado por companhias brasileiras de capital aberto. Elaborado de forma discricion??ria pela administra????o, ele permite maior flexibilidade tanto no estilo como na estrutura????o, que compreende a apresenta????o de informa????es claras e oportunas. Estas devem ajudar os investidores e credores, atuais e potenciais e outros usu??rios, na avalia????o de montantes, prov??veis recebimentos de dividendos e juros, produto da venda e do resgate, vencimento de t??tulos ou empr??stimos. Oferecer relat??rios de alta qualidade ?? fundamental para atender ??s necessidades de esclarecimento dos investidores, a fim de que possam tomar decis??es, com base em informa????es claras e verdadeiras, mas escrev??-Ias de forma adequada e concisa n??o ?? tarefa f??cil. A legibilidade, um dos fundamentos da clareza do texto, respons??vel por uma comunica????o r??pida e f??cil, consiste na utiliza????o de palavras de f??cil compreens??o e senten??as curtas. Existem mais de 35 f??rmulas para avalia????o da legibilidade de textos em ingl??s. A Flesch Readability Formula, desenvolvida por Flesch (1948) ?? a mais freq??entemente utilizada para textos em ingl??s e considerada por Jones (1948) o m??todo preferido. Consiste em considerar a extens??o m??dia das palavras (n??meros de s??labas por palavra) e das senten??as (n??mero de palavras por senten??a) contidas em um texto, para calcular um ??ndice de legibilidade, em escala de O a 100. Como as palavras, em ingl??s, t??m, em m??dia, 1,8 s??labas por palavra, enquanto, em Portugu??s, t??m, em m??dia, 2,2 s??labas, a f??rmula Flesch precisou ser modificada para textos em l??ngua portuguesa. Martins et ai (1996) elaboraram um estudo comparando diretamente a aplica????o dessa f??rmula a textos originais, em ingl??s, e a suas tradu????es. Estas apresentaram, em m??dia, 42 pontos abaixo, dentro da escala de legibilidade. Portanto, determinou-se que o ajuste de f??rmula consiste em acrescentar esse n??mero ao resultado, antes de localiz??-Ia na escala de legibilidade. A f??rmula Flesch adaptada foi, ent??o, aplicada a uma amostra de 22 Relat??rios de Administra????o publicados por companhias brasileiras de capital aberto. Os resultados indicaram que 31,82% apresentaram um n??vel considerado muito dif??cil, e os demais, 68,18%, pouco dif??cil, ou seja, nenhum apresentou um ??ndice que evidenciasse linguagem de f??cil compreens??o. Esses resultados revelam que as administra????es est??o perdendo a oportunidade de melhorar a sua comunica????o atrav??s de relat??rios. Isso pode ser feito, tomando-se como base a t??cnica da legibilidade, caracter??stica do texto que, pela sua linguagem de f??cil assimila????o, possibilita ao leitor uma compreens??o r??pida.

Univ., Diss.--Augsburg, 2005.

Purpose This paper analyses the use of marketing metrics and marketing information and metrics contained in 2006/7 annual reports of companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The assumption is that the annual reports are the vehicle whereby listed companies communicate to their shareholders and other stakeholder constituencies. Methodology The assessment criteria is based on Ambler’s (2003) suggested marketing metrics and qualitative data is based on a checklist compiled from various academic sources. The elements which are assessed pertain to brand equity, other customer metrics, segmentation, competition, innovation and environmental and strategic aspects. The information obtained is compared to information required by investors and rating is done based on a grand total maturity. Findings Research results indicate that the use of quantitative metrics and qualitative data is very limited. The majority of companies display a lack of information pertaining to marketing. The results reflect a bi-modal tendency. Half (53%) of the companies do not provide any or poor information on their brand whereas 26% of companies supplied good and excellent information. The grand total score indicates that nearly two thirds (60%) of companies obtain a score of less than 50%, providing insufficient information. On the other hand, 27% of companies provide good and excellent information. Segmentation metrics are generally not reflected in annual reports, neither are competitors. Innovation and environmental aspects influencing market trends are covered by two thirds, however a third provides insufficient information. Other findings include that no standard reporting format exists. Information pertaining to marketing is spread throughout the annual reports. None of the companies provide a glossary of marketing definition or brand terminology. Research implications More in-depth research needs to be conducted on various industry sectors and amongst investors as to their needs. Originality/ value The paper is of value to corporate executives, marketing and communication practitioners who seek to improve communication and to convey optimal information for the investment community. The aim is to stimulate executive management to revise their relationship towards customers, the brand, marketing strategy and investors. / Graduate School of Business Leadership / MBL

M.Com. (Business Management) / South African companies now realise that they have a responsibility to ensure that the natural resources as well as the people living within the communities in which they operate must be preserved and nurtured to ensure that future generations enjoy their benefits as much as the current generation does today. Companies are under ever-increasing pressure from both internal and external stakeholders to consider the environmental and social impacts of their operations and to mitigate these impacts. To this end, sustainable development (SD) has gained significant importance and the reporting of sustainability performance is the means by which companies communicate their efforts to their stakeholders. This study analyses the relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance to ascertain whether the ‘business case’ for sustainability exists in South African listed companies. There has been a substantial amount of research on the topic of SD and its implications for companies; the focus for this study however is on whether sustainability initiatives are important indicators of financial performance. Research conducted by Montabon, Sroufe and Narashiman (2007:998), assessed the relationship between corporate reporting, environmental management practices and company performance, however the unit of analysis was North American, British and Australian companies. This study will replicate the study of Montabon et al, with a focus on South African Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies. In addition, comparisons will be drawn between developed world companies and companies within an emerging market. Pertinent literature on the topic has been reviewed and the results will be compared to the work of Artriach, Lee, Nelson, and Walker, J. (2010); Reed (2001) as well as Porter and van der Linde (1995). The results of the study reveal that an overall positive relationship exists between sustainability performance and financial performance thus, the research supports the notion that efforts to preserve and nurture environmental and human resources lead to improved financial performance.

M.A. (Environmental Management) / Implementing corporate sustainability reporting as part of companies’ annual reports is a growing trend in South Africa and throughout the world. The King III code became effective from March 2010 and strongly encourages JSE listed companies to apply triple bottom line reporting, whereby companies integrate their environmental, social and economic practices into their annual reporting. The purpose of this study was to investigate the sustainability reporting practices of three selected tourism companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). The three tourism companies that were selected for the study were Sun International, City Lodge and Wilderness Holdings. Three evaluation frameworks were developed from 1) the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability reporting guidelines (G3.1); 2) the JSE: Social Responsible Investment (SRI) Index criteria; and 3) the South African National Standard for Responsible Tourism (SANS 1162) criteria. The three evaluation frameworks were used as a tool to assess the tourism companies’ annual reports in terms of international, South African and tourism industry-specific criteria. Using these frameworks provided a way of assessing the extent of sustainability reporting within annual reports and allowed for comparison across companies and years. Overall, the study provided an understanding of how the selected companies had been producing their annual reports from 2010 to 2012. The study also provided feedback on the companies’ previous reporting practices in terms of the sustainability criteria and provided information on how these companies can improve their future sustainability reporting.

Thesis (M.Com. (Accountancy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Accounting, 2016. / The mode of reporting performance by firms has shifted radically in recent years from a set of audited annual financial statements, to the inclusion of integrated and sustainability reports. This move has been particularly important for South African listed firms, which are required to prepare integrated reports (and therefore sustainability reports) due to the revision of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) listing requirements. Although there are no specific accounting standards at present particularly for sustainability reports, certain reporting frameworks, such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines, have influenced and become leaders in such reporting. The value relevance of the quality of sustainability reports is the focus of this study. This research report tests whether report quality as measured by the GRI reporting categories is value relevant for JSE listed companies, whether better reporting companies achieve better long term performance over the period 2007 to 2015. Value relevance is measured using a 4 tiered portfolio construction technique, which uses the GRI reporting categories to define comparative investment portfolios. The results indicate that GRI firms with the highest report qualities underperformed significantly when compared to the market, with the exception of the C report firms, which showed some level of outperformance in the later portfolio years. Interestingly, the portfolio of firms using frameworks other than the GRI outperformed all of the categories of GRI framework firms, as well as the market. The results for the GRI category firms therefore contradict some of the previous research on the value relevance of sustainability reporting which used different measurement proxies for quality, while the non GRI reporting firm results find similar conclusions. This research report therefore concludes that the GRI framework implementation is relatively low in a South African context, and that the GRI report categories do not provide a measure of report quality for the purpose of measuring value relevance, and rather measure the breadth of reporting. This is partly due to the early stage of development of sustainability reporting within South Africa, as well as the lack of a mandatory assured reporting framework such as the GRI, resulting in many firms preferring not to use the globally favoured GRI framework. It appears that most firms are tailoring the various frameworks available to their needs rather than using a consistent framework, which results in reports not being based on the same framework, and therefore not being comparable, even on a high level indicator basis. This highlights the need for revisions to be introduced in the King IV report which will hopefully assist in formalising the leading sustainability framework, and therefore standardising sustainability reporting, together with providing a linkage to the Code for Responsible Investing in South Africa, which requires investors to integrate their investment decisions with sustainability considerations. / MT2017

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Commerce (Accountancy). / Accountability by state owned companies has been lacking in recent times. The need for an oversight mechanism to improve governance and as such accountability is required for state owned companies (IOD and PWC, 2011). Integrated reporting has answered this call due to its ability to provide a holistic view of the factors that create value for an entity in the short, medium and long-term. South African state owned companies have realised the benefit integrated reporting can have on their corporate governance and as such have adopted integrated reporting in terms of King III and the IR Framework. The purpose of this study is to investigate the trends in integrated reporting by state owned companies per The Public Finance Management Act 1999 for the 2013, 2014 and 2015 financial periods. This report examines the extent of disclosure made by state owned companies per the King III and IR Framework recommendations and requirements in respect of integrated reporting; by means of using a scorecard approach to identify the level of disclosure made by each state owned company. The key findings of this study was that the level of reporting disclosure by state owned companies increased following an upward positive trend with the disclosures on average increasing from providing little information on a poor to average basis in 2013 to providing some information at a satisfactory level in 2015. It was found that there were no instances of noncompliance with overall disclosure by any of the state owned companies analysed over the three year period. Furthermore, not a single company provided disclosure overall at an excellent level in any of the three years analysed. This finding suggests that although improving, the level of integrated reporting disclosure by state owned companies is still only satisfactory and as such there is a lot of room for improvement over time. Areas that are in need of reform relate to governance, the governance of information technology, the provision of information on the outlook of the entity and information as to the basis upon which integrated reports are prepared. / MT2017

The main purpose of this study is to examine the need to modify the theory of accounting to ensure a standardised and comparable approach when accounting and reporting on intellectual capital. A literature review is used to describe intellectual capital categories and how to measure, recognise and report these assets in the financial statements on an entity. Financial reporting operates around strict requirements that are statement of financial position biased posing significant challenges in recognising and disclosing intellectual capital. The study also uses content analysis of corporate annual reports of the top 40 companies listed on the JSE Ltd in 2009 to determine the extent of intellectual capital reporting by these companies. Measuring and recognising intellectual capital in financial reporting is not limited by the requirements in respect of statutory disclosures, discretionary and contextual disclosures are recommended. Results of the content analysis show that companies use these discretionary and contextual disclosures to communicate information on intellectual capital. / Financial Accounting / M. Com. (Accounting)