This study examines the depth of audience engagement with six dimensions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) via the Instagram platforms of pharmaceutical companies. Recent research on the relationship between CSR and health communication has established a robust link between both variables but created a gap on the level of audience engagement. Drawing on Voluntary Disclosure, Agenda Setting and Media System Dependency theories, this study finds that voluntary communication of CSR strategies has the maximum potential to set the agenda for audience engagement on social media. The remodeled digitization of the media has increased the level of media dependency making social media a tool to be leveraged for effective health communication. The results revealed that Community Volunteering had the strongest impact on total audience engagement and revealed that engagement is higher with image posts than video posts. This study is important for the burgeoning field of CSR in the healthcare industry.

Background Sustainability reporting is a relatively unregulated phenomenon in comparison to the legislation and norms regarding the reporting of financial information. With a broader spectrum of interpretation regarding how sustainability reporting should be executed, other factors beyond legislation and norms gets an impact on the application of reporting on sustainability. A comparison between state owned enterprises and publicly listed companies was done in this study with the goal of distinguishing the differences in the sustainability reporting. Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine and compare the sustainability reporting amongst state owned enterprises and publicly listed companies. Method The study is qualitative with a mostly deductive approach. The data was collected by doing a thematic content analysis on the chosen companies annual and sustainability reports. Conclusion Several essential differences in the sustainability reporting were identified and discussed in context to the theoretical frame of references. / Bakgrund Hållbarhetsredovisning är ett förhållandevis oreglerat fenomen om man jämför med lagstiftning och normer kring redovisningen av finansiella rapporter. Med ett större tolkningsutrymme för hur redovisningen av hållbarhet ska utföras, kan andra faktorer utöver lagstiftning och normer påverka utformningen av hållbarhetsredovisningen. En jämförelse mellan statligt ägda bolag och publika bolag genomfördes i denna studie för att undersöka vilka skillnader som förelåg i hållbarhetsredovisningen bland valda bolag. Syfte Studiens syfte är att undersöka och jämföra hållbarhetsredovisningen i statliga och publika bolag. Metod Studien är kvalitativ med en främst deduktiv ansats. En tematisk innehållsanalys av bolagens års-och hållbarhetsredovisningar gjordes. Slutsats Flera väsentliga skillnader i hållbarhetsredovisningen identifierades och diskuterades i kontext till den teoretiska ramverket.

Background and problem – As a result of financial crises and the realization of a broader stakeholder network, recent decades have seen an increase in stakeholder demand for non- financial information in corporate reporting. This has led to a situation of information overload where separate financial and sustainability reports have developed in length and complexity interdependent of each other. Integrated reporting has been presented as a solution to this problematic situation. The question is whether the corporate world believe this to be the solution and if the development of corporate reporting is heading in this direction. Purpose - This thesis aims to examine and assess to what extent companies listed on the OMX Stockholm 30 (OMXS30), as per 2016-02-28, comply with the Strategic content element of the <IR> Framework and how this disclosure has developed since the framework’s pilot project and official release by using a self-constructed disclosure index based on its specific items. Methodology – The purpose was fulfilled through an analysis of 104 annual reports comprising 26 companies during the period of 2011-2014. The annual reports were assessed using a self-constructed disclosure index based on the <IR> Framework content element Strategy and Resource Allocation, where one point was given for each disclosed item. Analysis and conclusions – The study found that the OMXS30-listed companies to a large extent complies with the strategic content element of the <IR> Framework and that this compliance has seen a steady growth throughout the researched time span. There is still room for improvement however with a total average framework compliance of 84% for 2014. Although many items are being reported on, there are indications that companies generally miss out on the core values of Integrated reporting.

The game of football has transformed from just being a game into a huge economic market attracting investors from all over the world. As clubs spend more and more money on player acquisitions, player registrations (considered intangible assets) now represent a significant part of the total assets of major European football clubs. Due to this, treatment of player registrations has become a significant accounting issue. The purpose is to analyze and compare from the perspective of an investor, how a sample of European football clubs account and disclose values of player registrations. The purpose aim to answer the questions how and what kind of information each club discloses on their financial statements. Also, are current accounting procedures and disclosure harmonized, and do they present a true and fair view of top European clubs financial status. A descriptive case study was the most appropriate as it aims to answer the questions “how” and “why”. A sample selection filter was set in the beginning of the process together with the research questions. The final sample was set to be: Arsenal FC, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus FC and FC Porto. The purpose of the selection filter was to get a study both fair on economical as well as competitive sports level. Primary data consist of information from annual financial reports, and in order to enhance validity, interviews with professionals have been conducted and used.  Findings show similarities as well as differences in disclosure and treatment of football player registrations. All clubs meet the minimum requirements from IAS 38 and UEFA. However, how and what kind of information each clubs disclose differ substantially and due to lack of valuation models and the possibility to capitalize home-grown players and free agents, the value of player registrations is not presented in a true and fair view.

abstract: Managers’ control over the timing and content of information disclosure represents a significant strategic tool which they can use at their discretion. However, extant theoretical perspectives offer incongruent arguments and incompatible predictions about when and why managers would release inside information about their firms. More specifically, agency theory and theories within competitive dynamics provide competing hypotheses about when and why managers would disclose inside information about their firms. In this study, I highlight how voluntary disclosure theory may help to coalesce these two theoretical perspectives. Voluntary disclosure theory predicts that managers will release inside information when managers perceive that the benefits outweigh the costs of doing so. Accordingly, I posit that competitive dynamics introduce the costs associated with disclosing information (i.e., proprietary costs) and that agency theory highlights the benefits associated with disclosing information. Examining the context of seasoned equity offerings (SEOs), I identify three ways managers can use information in SEO prospectuses. I hypothesize that competitive intensity increases proprietary costs that will reduce disclosure of inside information but will increase discussing the organization positively. I then hypothesize that capital market participants (e.g., security analysts and investors) may prefer managers to provide more, clearer, and positive information about the SEO and their firms. I find support for many of my hypotheses. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2017

Det har blivit ett allt större fokus på företags arbete med corporate social responsibility (CSR). Denna uppsats har som syfte att studera sambandet mellan svenska allmännyttiga kommunala bostadsaktiebolags CSR-arbete och mängden CSR-upplysningar i deras årsredovisningar. Dessa bolag ska både driva sin verksamhet enligt affärsmässiga principer och ta ett samhällsansvar, vilket skiljer dem åt från bolag som tidigare har studerats. I studien undersöks 146 bolags CSR-arbete och CSR-upplysningar genom att sekundärdata från en enkätundersökning används och genom att en innehållsanalys av bolagens årsredovisningar från 2016 utförs. Sambandet mellan de två variablerna testas sedan genom en multivariat regressionsanalys, där resultatet visar på ett positivt samband mellan CSR-arbete och CSR-upplysningar. Detta resultat analyseras utifrån legitimitetsteorin och voluntary disclosure theory (VDT), och indikerar på att den senare skulle kunna förklara de allmännyttiga bolagens val vid rapportering av CSR-upplysningar i form av att bolag som utför mycket CSR-arbete vill visa upp detta för sin omgivning.

Over the past decades, major changes have been noticed in annual reports. For instance, annual reports have become more comprehensive. Today, corporations can partly decide what to include in their annual reports. This is called voluntary disclosures. Furthermore, corporations chose to disclose pictures, narratives and other graphics material in their voluntary disclosures. This, to give an image of the corporation. Moreover, voluntary disclosures could impact shareholders’ trust towards corporations. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate whether shareholders trust is affected by the voluntary disclosures in annual reports.    The purpose of this study is therefore to examine in what way shareholders have increase trust in corporations based on the voluntary disclosures, including marketing aspects, that corporations publish in their annual reports. Furthermore, corporations view of the voluntary disclosures in their annual reports connected to shareholders trust are also examined.   This study was conducted with a qualitative research method. The empirical findings were collected through semi-structured interviews with both shareholders and listed corporations in Sweden. During these interviews, both shareholders and corporations answered questions regarding their view of the annual report, its voluntary disclosures and trust.   After completing this study, the authors identified parts of the voluntary disclosures that shareholders consider more interesting in trust purposes. For instance, more information about the CEO and managers increase trust among shareholders. Moreover, all shareholders emphasized that transparency and honesty were two factors that have a positive effect on trust. This is something the corporations showed awareness of. They disclose succinct and informativevoluntary disclosures rather than increasingly comprehensive. / Under de senaste årtionden har stora förändringar i årsredovisningen skett. Ett exempel är att de ökat i omfattning. Företag har idag delvis frihet att själva bestämma vad som ska ingå i deras årsredovisning. Denna del kallas för den frivilliga informationen. Vidare kan företag med hjälp av bland annat bilder, berättande text och annat grafiskt material måla upp en bild av sig själva. Detta är något som kan ha en påverkan på aktieägarnas upplevda tillit gentemot företagen. Därför är det av intresse att studera huruvida aktieägarnas tillit påverkas av den frivilliga informationen i årsredovisningar.   Syftet med studien är således att undersöka hur aktieägares tillit påverkas av ökad frivillig information som företag väljer att publicera i sina årsredovisningar. Studien kommer även att undersöka om marknadsföringsaspekter i årsredovisningar ökar aktieägarnas tillit. Vidare kommer det även undersökas hur företag ser på den frivilliga informationen och marknadsföringsaspekterna i deras årsredovisningar som ett sätt att öka aktieägarnas tillit.    Denna studie genomfördes med en kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Därmed samlades studiens empiri in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med både aktieägare och svenska börsnoterade företag. Under dessa intervjuer fick både aktieägarna och företagen svara på frågor gällande deras syn på årsredovisningen, dess frivilliga information och tillit.   Efter genomförd studie har författarna identifierat delar i den frivilliga informationen som anses vara mer intressant i tillitssyfte. Ett exempel är att ökad information från VD:n skulle öka tilliten hos aktieägarna. Vidare pratade samtliga aktieägare om att transparens och ärlighet är två faktorer som påverkar tilliten positivt. Detta behöver inte innebära mer information utan det kan även betyda att det ska vara kvalité på den information som företagen publicerar i deras årsredovisningar. Detta är någonting som företagen även identifierat och satsar därför på att publicera kortfattad och informativ frivillig information i sina årsredovisningar.