Abstract
This paper investigates the theoretical relationships among Integrated Reporting (IR) and the theory of the firm. The review of the integrated reporting literature is focused on the Business Administration perspective. The paper aims to understand what is the possible innovations which can be grasped about the theory of the firm underpinning IR.  A qualitative research is carried out on the basis of three different phases: the search for relevant key words, the content analysis applied to Network Italian Business Reporting (NIBR) Guidelines for SMEs in Italy, and finally an in-depth interview to an expert belonging to NIBR committee. The results show that the idea underpinning the integrated reporting (IR) seems to underline the value of other capitals rather than financial one that are considered only according to their contribution to the company's wealth. Nevertheless, the empirical research of this paper as well the most recent Business Administration literature review showed that despite all the premises the results are still quite disappointing. This paper contributes to both literature and practice by offering an in-depth analysis of the link between the theoretical aspects of business theory, the current evolutionary trends in accounting (expressed by IR) and their application in the real world. The results of this paper can offer interesting insights to scholars and accounting professional bodies who must lead accountability strategies and tools.
Highlights
The issue of some stimuli about new concept of the firm underpinning the integrated reporting is relevant in the European context and in Italy
The frequency of the keywords is measured on the NIBR-Network Italian Business Reporting- Integrated Reporting for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)- Implementation Guidance (2018) to deduct the novelties regarding the theory of the firm, that aforementioned guidelines suggest in voluntary implementation of integrated reporting (IR) (Flower, 2015)
The insights that derive from this study of the theoretical framework of IR and after the empirical analysis are that no strong signals emerge that encourage a truly different, new conception of the firm
Summary
Despite widespread acknowledgement of the invaluable corpus of knowledge of the Business Administration in the field of the theory of the firm, the Economics approach had influenced the ways and aspects of corporate performance that have to be disclosed (Magistro, 1989; Ferraris Franceschi, 1998). This is essentially due to the reason that Business Administration, in its systemic vision of the firm (Amaduzzi, 1969), has accepted and incorporated the important contributions on the behaviour and strategies of firms offered by managerial theories formulated by Economists.
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