Integrated reporting in action: mobilizing intellectual capital to improve management and governance practices

In management studies, the relevance of intellectual capital (IC) in value creation processes has been a research topic for many years. Several attempts have been made to develop measurement and reporting systems for this relevant source of value, but managerial literature has highlighted the limits and difficulties of some of those endeavors. Integrated reporting, the general purpose of which is to provide transparent and integrated disclosure, has also entered this field with the aim of improving disclosure of intangibles, along with a strategic perspective on communication. An accurate description of a company’s IC is indeed one of the focal elements of an integrated report. This paper describes an exploratory study based on the case study research method of three companies, all of which have applied the integrated reporting IIRC framework and are operating in different business contexts. Following a performative approach, the first aim of this work is to verify the ability of integrated reporting to support the mobilization of IC and to encourage companies to take advantage of this process. This should lead to positive effects on management and governance practices, with respect to both external and internal users. Additionally, from a critical and performative perspective, this research investigates how business context influences the processes of measurement, management, and reporting of IC.