Integrated reporting and the performativity of intellectual capital

Abstract

The research investigates how intellectual capital (IC) is problematised in the context of integrated reporting. Drawing on a performative approach to IC, the paper explores the role of organisational actors in defining, classifying and valuing IC within the process of preparing an integrated report (IR). The analysis relies on in-depth interviews with IR preparers of a European oil and gas company that has been issuing IRs since 2012 and considers IC to be a core element of its business model and value creation story. The case study reveals that IC definition, classification and valuation stimulate ongoing interaction among various actors. An active role is played by the staff of the department responsible for the IR preparation process, but also by organisational actors who are not directly involved in this process and by external actors, such as the company’s peers, IIRC representatives and the company’s accounting advisors. Some sketches, matrixes and maps inspired by the IIRC Framework (i.e., the business model sketch, the KPIs matrix and the connectivity map) were pivotal in defining concepts and categories of IC and its connection to value creation, although the quantification of IC’s effect on value creation remains disputed. In showing how organisational actors problematise and engage with IC inscriptions within the process of IR preparation, the paper enriches the scant research that examines the performativity of IC in the context of corporate external reporting and answers the call for more research on how IC affects the management of organisations.