Exploring the effects of corporate governance and human governance on management commentary disclosure

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of corporate governance and human governance on management commentary disclosure among Malaysian Public Listed in the Main Market, Bursa Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachThe annual reports of 150 companies listed on the main market, Bursa Malaysia, for the year ended 2014, are examined to analyze the company’s management commentary disclosure using content analysis. A management commentary disclosure index was developed based on the five elements that had been established by the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) in Practices of Management Commentary’s framework. The study considers four corporate governance mechanisms such as board composition, board size, board’s education and ownership structure. Structural equation modeling (SEM -PLS), partial least squares (PLS) and SmartPLS software were used to measure the impact of corporate governance and human capital on management commentary disclosure.FindingsThe results reveal that most of the information disclosure by Malaysian Listed companies was not presented in a complete and balanced manner and not providing an insight because they are more focused on describing the process. Besides, there was no clear link between companies’ strategies and performance measure. Consequently, the reporting is not balanced and cannot assist the shareholders in understanding the opportunities and risk associated with the business. The results, based on a structural model, indicated that only two variables, namely, board size and board independence, showed a positive and significant influence on the degree of disclosure information of management commentary. Board independence is the most significant variable that influences the degree of corporate governance and human capital on management commentary disclosure.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the information disclosure literature as it presents in empirical evidence proving that governance mechanism affects the management commentary disclosure of information by companies. This study also provides additional information which is expedient to other researchers since there is lack of studies in management commentary which relates the attributes of corporate and human governance mechanisms as key drivers in providing management commentary information. Importantly, this study will stimulate the interest of academics in research activities concerning the attributes of governance mechanisms and corporate and human governance on management commentary activities.