The problem of this study was to investigate the extent to which businesses use the scientific method in the organization and preparation of written business reports. Data for this study were collected by the use of a questionnaire which was devised, validated, and pilot testes. Questionnaires were mailed to 50 systematically, selected members (200 total) of each of the four major group categories (banking and finance, government and education, manufacturing and utilities, and sales and services) from Region V's 1985-1986 Association of Records Managers and Administrators membership roster. One hundred six responses were received, representing a 53 per cent return. Additional information was obtained from sample records and telephone interviews.

The thesis conveys three discrete, yet interconnected, studies embracing issues revolving around the exploration of integrated reporting adoption and embeddedness using an institutional theory lens. Integrated reporting can be described as ‘a holistic and integrated representation of the company’s performance in terms of both its finance and its sustainability’ (King III, 2009, p. 54). The first study explores the mimetic, normative and regulative institutional factors, at both an organisational field (meso) and country (macro) levels, affecting the adoption of integrated reporting. Moreover, it provides a portrayal for the adoption of the new practice among corporations. The study uses a relatively large sample driven from the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) report list and tests it empirically using panel data from 2002- 2010. The second study develops a measure to capture sustainability embeddedness in corporate reports and uses the measure to explore and describe sustainability embeddedness in the integrated reports. Additionally, indicators on sustainability embeddedness in the de facto GRI guidelines are highlighted in comparison to the measure developed. Finally, the third study explores the determinants of sustainability embeddedness in integrated reports using a decoupling lens. More specifically, the study examines the effects of integrated reporting age (as a proxy for early and late adoption), the level of reporting of GRI sustainability guidelines (GRI application level), report assurance and corporate governance on sustainability embeddedness in integrated reports. The study finds that the application of integrated reporting emerged in 2001 amongst only a few corporations in Europe and South America, and was spread among all continents by 2010. While mimetic and normative factors at a meso level were significantly related to integrated reporting adoption, regulative and normative factors at a macro level were found to be of limited association with integrated reporting adoption. Interestingly, corporate size, a firm characteristic control variable, was found to be negatively associated with IR adoption. Exploring sustainability embeddedness in integrated reports in the second study reveals that on average integrated reporters covered 54.4% of the indicators on sustainability embeddedness on the constructed index. Integrated reporters were found to show that sustainability is embedded in some aspects as stakeholder dialogue, executive members’ commitment to sustainability and developing measures to report on various environmental impacts. Conversely, integrated reporters conducting business as usual and prioritised financial aspects in others aspects as remuneration, promotion and appraisal, employee sustainability engagement and investor dialogue regarding sustainability. The results also show that there are great discrepancies in the levels of sustainability embeddedness coverage between integrated reporters. Sustainability embeddedness scores were found to decline, especially in the most recent years of adoption. Regression results in the third study did not find evidence that early adopters of integrated reporting had significantly higher sustainability embeddedness than later adopters. Additionally, corporate governance mechanisms were also unable to explain sustainability embeddedness scores, with the exception of the positive association between corporate two-tier boards and sustainability embeddedness. Embedding sustainability was found to be mainly associated with GRI application level. There was limited evidence to suggest that integrated reporters providing assurance for their reports had higher sustainability embeddedness scores. The studies, taken together, contribute to the body of literature on CSR adoption in general and the adoption of integrated reporting and its practices in particular. The studies also provide contribution and implications by testing institutional theory in a new context.

Syfte: Tidigare forskning har visat på en bristande användning av hållbarhetsrapporter i analysprocessen vilket kan hänföras till en misstro för hållbarhetsinformation och avsaknad av kvalitetskriterier för informationsvärdering. Därför är syftet med studien att skapa förståelse för vilka kvalitetskriterier finansanalytiker efterfrågar i hållbarhetsrapporter. I syftet ingår även att belysa huruvida en reglering kan tänkas möta finansanalytikernas behov. Metod: Vår studie anammar ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv därav präglas forskningsgapet som studeras av socialkonstruktivismen. Genom att ta fasta på en abduktiv forskningsansats samlas teori och empiri genom en iterativ process. Studien tillämpar en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod där den empiriska datainsamlingen sker genom intervjuer. Den teoretiska referensramen är uppbyggd av tidigare forskning och där samma teman och rubriker även går igen i både empiri- och analysdelen. Resultat & slutsats: Resultatet av studien tyder på att det inte går att tillämpa samma värderingsmetoder som för den finansiella redovisningen. Finansanalytiker efterfrågar andra typer av kvalitetskriterier för att säkerhetsställa och värdera hållbarhetsinformation. Det viktigaste kriteriet för hållbarhetsinformation visar sig vara relevans, vilket ligger i grund för efterfrågan på branschspecifika information. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Hållbarhetsrapportering fortfarande är ett relativt nytt fenomen inom finansvärlden och flera av respondenterna tror på en snabb utveckling av området samt möjligheten att utveckla nyckeltal inom området. Det gör att det skulle vara intressant om en liknande studie gjordes i ett senare skede om cirka fem år för att se om det utvecklats några branschspecifika standarder för och nyckeltal inom hållbarhet. Uppsatsens bidrag: Vår studies bidrag som kan hänföras till praktiken är förståelsen att hållbarhetsinformation och finansiell information inte kan avläsas på samma sätt, utan andra värderingsmetoder bör användas för hållbarhetsinformation. Den här studien bereder väg i hur hållbarhetsinformation ska värderas och hänvisar till att olika intressegrupper tillsammans med företag, gemensamt ska komma fram till olika branschspecifika standarder och värderingssystem för information. Det anser vi skulle underlätta utförandet av hållbarhetsrapporteringen men även hur den ska avläsas för bästa tillämpning. / Aim: Previous research has shown a lack of use of sustainability reports in the analysis process, which can be assigned to distrust in the information and a lack of criteria for the evaluation of information. Therefore, the aim of this study is to understand which criteria financial analysts demand in sustainability reports. The aim is also to illustrate whether a regulation can meet the needs of financial analysts. Method: The study adopts a hermeneutic perspective and the research gap that’s being studied is considered to be characterized by social constructivism. By taking part in an abductive research our theory and empiricism approach together through an iterative process. The study applies a qualitative research where empirical data are collected through interviews. The theoretical framework is constructed of previous research and the same themes and headlines runs throughout both empirical and analytical sections. Result & Conclusions: The results of the study suggest that it isn’t possible to apply the same kind of reporting and key performance indicators in sustainability reports as used in the financial statements. A sustainability report is aimed more towards qualitative key indicators, which isn’t always possible to measure and compare. The main criteria for sustainability information prove to be relevance, which we can see is one of the causes for the demand of industry-specific key indicators. Suggestions for future research: Sustainability reporting is still a relatively new phenomenon in the world of finance, and several of the respondents believe in the rapid development in sustainable thinking and the possibility of developing key indicators in the field. This means that it would be interesting to do a similar study at a later time to see the development of industry-specific standards and indicators of sustainability.  Contribution of the thesis: The study's contributions relate to the practice, understanding that sustainability information and financial information can’t be read in the same way, that other methods should be used for sustainability information. This study shows how sustainable information should be valued and refer to various interest groups together with the companies to jointly come up with various industry-specific standards. These we believe would facilitate the execution of sustainability reporting, but also how it should be read for the best application.

Syfte: Att ta reda på om och hur bostadsrättsköpare använder föreningens årsredovisning i deras köpbeslut samt undersöka om de förstår den. Metod: Studien är genomförd med en kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Intervjuer av presumtiva bostadsrättsköpare genomfördes utanför visningar. Empiri: Studien visade att majoriteten av de 22 tillfrågade inte helt förstod årsredovisningar och att flertalet bad om hjälp att bedöma den. Det visade att bostadsrättsköpare oftast använder årsredovisningen för att se “varningstecken” som indikerar att en BRF eventuellt kommer att höja sina avgifter. Det var 14 av 22 som tittade på skuldsättningen för att bedöma föreningens ekonomi. Majoriteten ansåg att årsredovisningen påverkar ”till stor del men att annat väger tyngre” i köpbeslutet. Analys: Studien pekar på att då många bostadsrättsköpare inte helt förstår årsredovisningen kan det vara svårt för dem att ta beslut utifrån den. Detta har kopplats till tidigare forskning som uppmärksammat liknande problem. Det finns likheter mellan de förbättrings- och förändringsförslag, som tagits fram av FAR tillsammans med borättsorganisationerna, och de resultat som studien har uppvisat. Slutsats: En bostadsrättsköpare går igenom tre beslutssteg. Det första är att avgöra om lägenheten känns rätt. Steg två är att bedöma föreningen och dess ekonomi utifrån årsredovisningen. Då många inte förstår eller vet hur man ska bedöma en förenings årsredovisning tar majoriteten hjälp av omgivningen. I steg tre tas beslut om hen ska lägga ett bud på lägenheten eller ej. Vidare drogs slutsatsen att oavsett vilken förståelse individen har för en BRF:s årsredovisning kommer hen i stor utsträckning att ta hjälp av sin omgivning då det är ett stort och omfattande beslut. / Purpose: Find out how and in what way buyers of housing co-operatives use the association ́s annual report in their purchase decision and investigate whether they understand it or not. Method: The study is conducted using a qualitative method in the form of interviews. The Authors stood outside viewings and interviewed presumptive buyers of housing co-operatives in Stockholm. Empiricism: The study was conducted on 22 respondents, all interviewed outside a total of six different viewings around Stockholm. It turned out that the majority of respondents did not fully understood annual reports and most of them asked for help. The majority of those who felt they understood the annual report also asked someone in their surroundings to help them determine the stability of the housing association's economy. The result showed that homeowners usually use the annual report to see "warning signs" that indicate that a association will raise its fees. To evaluate the association ́s economy, most of the respondents used indebtness. Analysis: The study points out that since many homeowners did not fully understood the annual report, it could be difficult for them to make decisions based on it. This has been linked to previous research that highlighted similar problems. There are similarities between the improvement and change proposals developed by FAR together with other organizations and the results the study has shown. Conclusion: Presumptive buyers of housing-cooperatives generally do not understand annual reports so well that they can make a financial decision based on it. At the same time, the study has shown that even those homeowners who felt they understood asked for further help and advice from their surroundings. The study's conclusions are that there is a great deal of room for changing the accounting for housing co-opratives associations to make them more transparent and understandable to it ́s users. Furthermore, it was concluded that regardless of the individual's understanding of an annual report, he largely takes advantage of his surroundings as it is a major and comprehensive decision.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Commerce, 2017 / The success of integrated reporting depends on whether or not corporate South Africa communicates with its stakeholders to gauge their perceptions, allowing for their interests and expectations to drive the content of the reports. This study explores the consistencies between the emphasis placed on certain integrated reporting themes by companies within the financial services sector of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the perceived importance of these themes by stakeholders. By analysing the differences in emphasis between companies and respondents, this paper will prove that a perception gap has developed because of a lack of understanding by companies about what information users value. In addition, by experimenting with the sophistication characteristic of respondents, this study will demonstrate that sophistication has an effect on the type of disclosures which users value and the method by which they wish it to be conveyed / GR2018

The phenomenon of the case law and publication of the case law reports has been present in our legal culture at least since the 13th century, as well as in some other European countries. Court decisions in writing occurred through several types of documents and sources. We can trace the case law documents in the public royal records ("the plates"), the law books and the first constitutional codifications of law. There is even particular group of the law collections which we can actually name as the original case law reports. The case law reports were designed even before this period of time. Unfortunately, no such original law reports survived up to the present day. We can strongly state the sustainable tradition of typical case law collections in the Czech legal culture since the medieval times. The very first case law reports in modern sense of meaning came in late 1850`s. But the periodicals case law reports in the Czech language eventually appeared with the year of 1918 when the Czech state was restored. Creating the case law reports and its headnotes falls within the process of court decisions publication. The courts, which constitute the top of the judicial pyramid, operate with their special individual instruments on their case law publication. The official law reports have been established...

O modo de ser e existir na contemporaneidade é marcado pelo aumento de necessidades, como o desejo de ampliar a própria visibilidade, caracterizando a dissolução das fronteiras entre público e privado. Diante da conjuntura em que imperam as novas tecnologias de comunicação no ambiente digital, novos comportamentos são fomentados, quando fenômenos como o nudes passam a merecer atenção. Nesse contexto, esta pesquisa abordou a temática da divulgação de relatos íntimos em plataformas de redes sociais, precisamente o Facebook, considerando a fragmentação da identidade do sujeito pós-moderno que se baseia na lógica da identificação. O objetivo geral da pesquisa foi investigar as interações comunicacionais no grupo Ousadia permitida que tem como prática a postagem de imagens e relatos íntimos. Quanto aos procedimentos metodológicos, trata-se de uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa e caráter descritivo-exploratório apoiada em revisão de literatura e pesquisa documental. Com relação ao trabalho de campo, a técnica da etnografia virtual foi adotada para a observação das interações no interior do grupo por um período de três meses. Por fim, foi aplicada uma enquete junto aos participantes e conduzidas entrevistas de tipo semiestruturada com administradores da comunidade Ousadia permitida. Como resultados da pesquisa, a comunidade estudada age como mecanismo para a construção de si pela postagem de selfies e nudes, as formas principais de interação. A intenção é alcançar visibilidade e aprovação do outro quando aglutinados em tribos no ciberespaço. A fundadora da comunidade, por sua vez, figura como a personificação desse sujeito contemporâneo em busca de um eu visível amado por seus pares, ao galgar seu espaço como celebridade / The way of being and existing in contemporaneity is marked by the increase of needs, such as the desire to expand ones visibility, characterizing the dissolution of the boundaries between public and private. Given the current situation of new communication technologies in the digital environment, new behaviors are encouraged, when phenomena such as nudes become worthy of attention. In this context, this research addressed the theme of the dissemination of confidential reports on social networking platforms, namely Facebook, considering the fragmentation of the identity of the postmodern subject that is based on the logic of identification. The general objective of the research was to investigate the communication interactions in the Ousadia permitida group that has as practice the posting of images and intimate reports. As for the methodological procedures, it is a research of qualitative nature and descriptive-exploratory character supported in the literature review and documentary research. About the field work, the technique of virtual ethnography was adopted to observe the interactions within the group for three months. Finally, a poll was applied to the participants and conducted semi-structured interviews with administrators of the Ousadia permitida community. As results of this research, the studied community acts as a mechanism for the construction of self by the posting of selfies and nudes, the chief forms of interaction. The intention is to achieve visibility and approval of the other when agglutinated in tribes in cyberspace. The founder of the community, in turn, figures as the personification of this contemporary subject in search of a visible self-loved by his peers, as he gains his space as a celebrity

Ett lagenligt sätt att förmedla väsentlig information till intressenter är genom organisationers årsredovisning. Förvaltningsberättelsen i årsredovisningen skall enligt årsredovisningslagen innehålla en rättvisande översikt över utvecklingen av företagets verksamhet, ställning och resultat för det föregående räkenskapsåret. Vidare skall förvaltningsberättelsen innehålla en prognos för den förväntade framtida utvecklingen för verksamheten. Dock har forskare som studerat sambandet mellan legitimitet och skriftliga företagspresentationer, kommit fram till att organisationer kan förfina retoriken i skriftliga dokument för att upprätthålla sin legitima ställning. Forskning visar att skriftlig manipulation är ett kraftfullt verktyg för att vidmakthålla legitimitet och vinna inflytanden hos intressenter. Vidare visar forskning att organisationer kan tillämpa ett organisatoriskt hyckleri, vilket implicerar en löskoppling mellan det organisationer redovisar och det som i praktiken genomförs. Det indikerar att organisationer kan välja vilken information som framförs i ljuset och vilken information som redovisas varsamt. Med hänsyn till att organisationer själva skall prognostisera sin framtida ställning i en förvaltningsberättelse, inbegriper det också möjligheten att konstruera presentationen av sin nutida och framtida ställning på marknaden.  Syftet med denna studie var att analysera huruvida innehållet i förvaltningsberättelser kan vara konstruerade utifrån ett legitimitetssökande syfte. Metoden för studien var en kvalitativ innehållsanalys och 30 förvaltningsberättelser från tre företag inom detaljhandeln har analyserats. Resultatet visar tendenser till att företagen konstruerar innehållet i förvaltningsberättelserna utifrån ett legitimitetssökande syfte. Detta utmärker sig genom en utpräglad retorisk optimism: företagen framhäver positiva resultat men sällan negativa. Negativa resultat rättfärdigas snarare med hjälp av retorisk optimism, eller redovisas varsamt alternativt sällan. Resultatet visar att företagen genom sin retorik framhäver att de är anpassningsbara och kan möta samhällets föränderliga krav och normer. Avslutningsvis visar resultatet tendenser till organisatoriskt hyckleri. / By using annual reports, companies can mediate essential information to the stakeholders. According to the Swedish law an administration report within annual report should include a fair overview of the development of the company’s operations, position and results for the previous financial year. It should also include a future forecast. Research have found that organizations tend to use rhetorical manipulation as a powerful tool for obtaining legitimacy. However, companies can choose what information they want to communicate and apply organizational hypocrisy, a gap between talk and actions. Through the administration report, the company can construct the presentation of their position on the market, both today and for the future.  The purpose of this study was to analyze whether the content of administration reports could be constructed for a legitimacy-seeking purpose. The method of the study was a qualitative content analysis and included thirty administration reports from three different retail companies. The result shows tendencies that the company’s construct the content in their administration reports through a rhetorical optimism: the companies highlight the positive results but rarely the negative aspects. Instead, the negative results are justified by the rhetorical optimism. However, the result shows that there is a desire, through the company’s rhetoric, to become a company that is adaptable and can face the society’s changing demands and norms. The results show tendencies for using organizational hypocrisy.

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Narrativas clínicas são normalmente escritas em linguagem natural devido a seu poder descritivo e facilidade de comunicação entre os especialistas. Processar esses dados para fins de descoberta de conhecimento e coleta de estatísticas exige técnicas de extração de informações, com alguns resultados já apresentados na literatura para o domínio jornalístico, mas ainda raras no domínio médico. O presente trabalho visa desenvolver um classificador de laudos de anatomia patológica que seja capaz de inferir a topografia e a morfologia de um câncer na Classificação Internacional de Doenças para Oncologia (CID-O). Dados fornecidos pelo A.C. Camargo Cancer Center em São Paulo foram utilizados para treinamento e validação. Técnicas de processamento de linguagem natural (PLN) aliadas a classificadores bayesianos foram exploradas na busca de qualidade da recuperação da informação, avaliada por meio da medida-F2. Valores acima de 74% para o grupo topográfico e de 61% para o grupo morfológico são relatados, com pequena contribuição das técnicas de PLN e suavização. Os resultados corroboram trabalhos similares e demonstram a necessidade de retreinamento das ferramentas de PLN no domínio médico. / Clinical reports are usually written in natural language due to its descriptive power and ease of communication among specialists. Processing data for knowledge discovery and statistical analysis requires information retrieval techniques, already established for newswire texts, but still rare in the medical subdomain. The present work aims at developing an automated classifier of pathology reports, which should be able to infer the topography and the morphology classes of a cancer using codes of the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD-O). Data provided by the A.C. Camargo Cancer Center located in Sao Paulo was used for training and validation. Techniques of natural language processing (NLP) and Bayes classifiers were used in search for information retrieval quality, evaluated by F2-score. Measures upper than 74% in the topographic group and 61% in the morphologic group are reported, with small contribution from NLP or smoothing techniques. The results agree with similar studies and show that a retraining of NLP tools in the medical domain is necessary.