Business model in non-financial information reporting. Research results of selected Polish listed companies

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to determine the scope and form of information currently disclosed by enti-ties under the concept of a "business model" based on the disclosure of non-financial information in the annual reports of fourteen WIG20 index companies. The study involved analysing disclosures about the business model, analysing the content of annual reports of companies, and checking the scope and con-tent of the disclosed information in the section of the report regarding the business model. In total, 28 annual reports for 2017 and 2018 were analysed. The survey included 22 types of non-financial infor-mation systematically disclosed under the definition of “business model”. The study used descriptive analysis, comparative analysis, and deduction methods. As a result of the research, it was found that information on the business model disclosed in annual reports can be comparable between entities and can be and often already are comparable over time – when the same entity reports the information over two different years. In addition, it was found that in the set of reported information about the business model, there was clearly a common part in all the surveyed companies, which was information on the value creation chain. The article is the result of an original empirical study and closes the gap in scientific research on the mandatory disclosure of information about the business model in annual reports. The survey is one of the first attempts to analyse non-financial information compulsorily disclosed by Polish companies after 2018.