Corporate social reporting, embracing the triple bottom line reporting concept, entails
the reporting of economic, social and environmental performance as opposed to the
more narrow focus on conventional financial reporting. Many corporations are now
engaging in environmental and social reporting in an effort to communicate the social
and environmental effects of organisations‟ operations to particular interest groups
within society.
The main objective of this thesis is to examine corporate motivations and hesitations
to undertake social reporting in Malaysia. Most studies have so far applied
quantitative method on themes identification to determine rationales for corporate
social reporting. Little attention has been given to in-depth primary and secondary
data to understand rationales for corporate social reporting in a national context. In
addition to motivation, this study fills the gap in the literature by investigating
corporate reluctance for social reporting.
A qualitative approach was adopted for this study. A mixed method of data
collection, consisting of both semi-structured interviews and corporate social reports,
was used. A total of 20 interviews were conducted with representatives of six
reporting and six non-reporting corporations, and eight non-corporate respondents
representing the Malaysian political and social sectors. In addition to primary data,
corporate social information in annual reports and corporate websites of six reporting
corporations was also collected to support the interviews. Thematic analysis was
applied to identify salient themes to explain both corporate motivation and hesitation
for social reporting. The analysis was divided into two levels: corporation and
society.
At the corporate level, results identify public relations as the central motivation for
social reporting. More specifically, the concepts of image and identity, issues
management, two-way symmetrical and asymmetrical communication, autocommunication,
and publicity are used to explain the adoption of social reporting.
Image and identity and issues management were also among the concepts applied to
explain corporate hesitation for social reporting. However, the results also support
stockholder theory and reveal the lack of public relations understanding to be the
cause of the low acceptance of social reporting. In-depth analysis revealed
organisational legitimacy as the main reason to explain both motivation and
hesitation for social reporting.
Corporations require stakeholder support for their continual existence. At the societal
level analysis, the concept of political economy was applied to explain the limited
social reporting practice in the Malaysian context. Finally, the implications for both
practising as well as neglecting social reporting are discussed using the concept of the
risk society.
