The adoption of integrated
reporting: a developing
country perspective
Juma Bananuka and Zainabu Tumwebaze

Department of Accounting, Makerere University Business School,
Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, and

Laura Orobia
Department of Accounting and Finance, Mbarara Regional Campus,

Makerere University Business School, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish why firms in developing countries are slow to adopt
integrated reporting (IR) and what needs to be done to ensure such firms embrace the practice of integrated
reporting using evidence fromUganda.
Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a narrative cross sectional survey conducted using
qualitative data collection techniques specifically the structured interviews. We conducted interviews on
senior executive managers of Capital Markets Authority, Professional accountancy bodies, Uganda Securities
Exchange (USE) and firms listed on Uganda Securities Exchange. The study also involved an analysis of
annual reports of listed firms on USE from 2010 to 2016.
Findings – Results suggest that, firms are slow to adopt integrated reporting because of the scarce
resources, culture and leadership, stakeholders demand, the regulatory requirement, the effect of globalization
and the mindset, lack of awareness about IR and the nature of business and size. Results further suggest that
integrated reporting be made mandatory for all firms, especially those that are publicly interested, such as
financial institutions, and those that are listed on the stock exchange.
Originality/value – IR being an emerging phenomenon there are few empirical studies exploring IR
practices in a developing economy perspective. To the best of the authors’ knowledge this is the first paper
that provides some insights into IR from a Ugandan perspective using the Diffusion of innovation theory.

Keywords Uganda, Integrated reporting, Sustainability reporting, Listed companies,
Diffusion theory, Listed firms

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
The call by stakeholders of firms for enhanced reporting of corporate responsibility and
other information that impact business performance has gained pace worldwide due to
several impromptu corporate collapses and financial crises. The business environment has
drastically changed and has become complex whereby information spreads through social
media and internet networks as it happens. The spreading of such information has triggered
investors, society and governments to demand for information about the entire organization
operations (Abeysekera, 2013). The provision of such information can be done through
integrated reporting (IR). IR is gaining momentum in both the developed and developing
countries because of its potential to change the thinking of corporate actors; and thus,
leading to further integration of sustainability considerations into corporate strategic
planning and decision-making (Adams, 2015; Robertson and Samy, 2015; Gunarathne and

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Received 25 September 2017
Revised 12March 2018
17 April 2018
Accepted 4May 2018

Journal of Financial Reporting and
Accounting
Vol. 17 No. 1, 2019
pp. 2-23
© EmeraldPublishingLimited
1985-2517
DOI 10.1108/JFRA-09-2017-0089

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1985-2517.htm

http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JFRA-09-2017-0089


Senaratne, 2017). Studies on IR continue to emerge, but lament on scant literature on the
topic and call for further studies in different national settings (Gunarathne and Senaratne,
2017; Robertson and Samy, 2015; Steyn, 2014; Lodhia, 2014; Haji and Hossain, 2016;
Bommel, 2014). IR improves the quality of information available to providers of financial
capital, promotes a more cohesive and efficient approach to corporate reporting that draws
on different reporting aspects and communicates the full range of factors that materially
affect the ability of an organization to create value over time, enhances accountability and
stewardship for the broad base of capitals (financial, manufactured, intellectual, human,
social and relationship and natural) and promote the understanding of their
interdependencies and supports integrated thinking, decision-making and actions that focus
on the creation of value over the short, medium and long term (IIRC, 2013; Singh, Wei and
Kaur, 2012; PWC, 2013; Abeysekera, 2013; PKF, 2016; de Villiers et al., 2014; Haji and
Anifowose, 2016).

IR in some jurisdictions is not yet embraced by businesses, regulators and governments,
especially in the developing countries, for example, in Uganda, few firms such as Barclays
Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank have so far published their integrated reports beginning
2014. There is no legal requirement for both listed and none listed firms in Uganda to
prepare integrated reports and this implies that integrated reports are still voluntary. In
Kenya, the Institute of certified public accountants (ICPAK) urged companies to adopt IR
beginning with the financial year 2013-2014. The Nairobi stock exchange is also
emphasizing on IR for its listed firms. Elsewhere in the world, for example in South Africa,
the Johannesburg securities exchange (JSE) made IR mandatory [South Africa was the first
country in the world to regularize IR by requiring all companies listed on JSE to prepare
integrated reports and this was in March 2010(UNEP, 2013)] while in the United kingdom
(UK), USA, Europe and Asia, it has rapidly gained considerable prominence since the
formation of an International Integrated Reporting Committee in 2010 (Setia et al., 2015). In
the UK, majority of the firms prepare integrated reports, for example, Novo Nordisk (UK)
publishes one integrated report reflecting the company’s financial, environmental, social and
management review information.

Prior studies on IR in the African context are rare except for South Africa, where a
number of empirical studies exist (Haji and Anifowose, 2016; Steyn, 2014; Atkins and
Maroun, 2015; Setia, et al., 2015; Haji and Hossain, 2016). Majority of empirical studies have
used evidence from the UK, USA, Europe and Asia. Globally, there is still limited research
on IR (Lodhia, 2014; Wild and Van Staden, 2013; Robertson and Samy, 2015; Atkins et al.,
2015). The current debate on IR is focused on the outcomes and benefits of IR (Stubbs and
Higgins, 2014; Adams, 2015; Atkins and Maroun, 2015; Rowbottom and Locke, 2015), its
core issues and challenges (Cheng et al., 2014; Flower, 2015; Perego et al., 2016; Rensburg
and Botha, 2014) and the potential of reporting practices adopted by early adopters of IR
(Brown and Dillard, 2014; Frías-Aceituno et al., 2014; Higgins et al., 2014; Stubbs and
Higgins, 2014). Though these studies provide insights into the thinking, policy and practice
of IR, still a gap in knowledge exists in as to how IR is diffused globally and particularly in
an African developing country. To date, only Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) have
conducted a study on the diffusion of IR in an emerging economy using evidence from Sri
Lanka focusing mainly on why and how IR as a managerial technology is diffused in Sri
Lanka. Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) found that ample availability of professional
accountants, mounting stakeholder demands, the supportive accounting profession and
related industries, intense competition among organizations and national culture are the
factors affecting adoption of IR in Sri Lanka. The desire to understand why some firms are
slow to adopt IR in emerging economies yet in the developed economies, integrated reports

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are prepared by almost every firm motivated this study, and thus, in this paper, we aim to
establish why firms in developing countries are slow to adopt IR and what needs to be done
to ensure such firms embrace the practice of IR using evidence from Uganda. This aim is
achieved through interviewing senior executive officers such as technical managers,
supervision managers, chief finance officers and accountants of professional bodies, capital
markets authority, Uganda securities exchange (USE) and firms listed on USE.

Uganda is a landlocked country found in East Africa. Uganda has been selected for this
study because of its long history. Uganda was colonized by the British and got
independence in 1962 (Rohner et al., 2012). Uganda’s education system is similar to that of
the UK. Uganda has been characterized by civil wars and political unrest up to 1986 (Rohner
et al., 2012). In the early 1970s, Asians were chased from Uganda and these people had large
business enterprises including schools and hospitals, which they left behind to poor
managers and these later collapsed (Mamdani, 1993) and this saw Uganda’s economy
dwindle until 1990s when there were serious economic reforms and peace stability.
Uganda’s population is 34.6 million in 2014 with an average annual growth rate of 3 per cent
(UBOS, 2016). It has a total area of 241,551 Km2, of which the land area covers 200,523 Km2

and the rest is covered by water bodies. The high population growth rate has an impact on
the environment with a large population, cutting down trees and businesses being
established in wetlands and pollution being experienced everywhere, for example, the
wetland area of three business districts of Kampala, Mukono andWakiso reduced by 14 per
cent between 1995 and 2010 and this implies that in the next 100 years, there will be no
wetland in Uganda (Government of Uganda, 2016). Further to note is that the country’s
existing laws such as the National Environmental Act of 1995 and the governance systems
have not done enough to curb down environmental degradation (Government of Uganda,
2016), and thus, accountability on the sustainability of the natural resources remains
lacking. While Bananuka et al. (2018) argue that accountability can be in the form of
financial reports, physical output and record keeping that is only for financial
accountability. There is a need to account to the various stakeholders on the non-financial
activities of the organization through an integrated report.

The reason for conducting a study on IR using evidence from Uganda is that Uganda is
unique from other developing countries, for example, only 4.3 per cent of Uganda’s
population has attained tertiary education (UBOS, 2016) and this means that the majority of
Uganda’s population are unable to understand a large volume scale type of reporting. To
improve the education sector and develop the human resources who are ready to embrace
new innovations, Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Education has introduced
computer lessons in secondary schools, but computers are not used as there is no electricity
in some parts of the country while in other cases, there are no computer technicians and this,
therefore, means that adopting to a new technology such as IR will take much more time in
Uganda as compared to other developing countries. However, given the low levels of
education in Uganda and the high costs of adopting to new technologies, some firms
embarked on the journey to prepare an integrated report with the first firms preparing
sustainability reports by 2011 (ICPAU, 2017), but until 2016, only five firms had prepared
reports that qualify to be integrated reports. This study documents that resources such as
finance and human resources, culture and leadership, low stakeholders demand, regulatory
requirement, globalization issues and the mindset, lack of awareness about IR and nature of
business and size are the reasons why firms are slow at adopting IR in Uganda.

This paper makes several contributions. The study adds to the emerging body of
literature on IR by addressing the research gap that exists as to how an innovative reporting
practice such as IR is diffused at a societal level in a developing country. The study provides

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an initial empirical evidence on why firms in Uganda are slow at adopting IR such as those
of Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) and Robertson and Samy (2015). The study also
extends previous studies conducted outside Africa and compares the results. The study
further provides more insights on the innovation literature in the field of accounting using
diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory. The research results are useful for policy formulation,
especially the regulators of listed firms and the government, for example, the USE and other
stock markets authorities may use these results to enrich their listing requirements.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the literature review. In
this section, the theory of diffusion of innovation is explored to inform our study, the
relationship between IR and sustainability reporting is explained and literature relating to
adoption of IR in the world is deliberated upon in forming the research question. This
section is then followed by methodology in Section 3. Sections 4 and 5 presents the results
and discussion of findings; and finally, summary and conclusion drawn from the research
are presented in Section 6.

2. Literature review
2.1 Theoretical foundation
This study uses the theory of DOI in establishingwhy firms in developing countries are slow to
adopt IR. The DOI theory asserts that innovation diffusion is a general process not bound by
the type of innovation studied, by whom the adopters are or by place or culture (Rogers, 2003).
Rogers (1995, p. 5) defined diffusion as the process by which an innovation is communicated
through various channels over time among the members of a social system. The theory of DOI
has four important elements and these are, namely, innovation, communication channels, time
and social system. An innovation is an idea, practice or project that is perceived as new by an
individual or other unit of adoption (Rogers, 2003, p. 12). An innovation may have been
invented a long time, but if individuals perceive them as new, then the innovation is new
(Sahin, 2006), for example, the concept of IR is uncommon in many firms, especially in
developing countries. Communication channels is the second element of DOI and Rogers (2003)
defined communication channels as a process in which participants create and share
information with one another to reach a mutual understanding. The next element is time. The
timing of IR is proper for Uganda, given the stiff competition among existing firms and
the recent corporate collapses such as Crane Bank and National Bank of Commerce. Finally, the
social system is defined as a set of interrelated units engaged in joint problem-solving to
accomplish a common goal (Rogers, 2003, p. 24). In this paper, we consider the social systems to
include the various stakeholders of listed firms such as shareholders, management, regulatory
bodies, professional accountancy bodies, government and society.

In the context of accounting, diffusion refers to the spreading of new accounting
procedures to and within organizations where they had not previously been present (Mellett
et al., 2009, p. 747). The DOI theory is the most appropriate in investigating the diffusion of
IR among listed firms as IR is still new in the accounting arena, especially in developing
countries. DOI majorly focuses on physical technologies and managerial and or/accounting
technologies (Gunarathne and Senaratne, 2017). Managerial technologies include those tools,
devices and knowledge that mediate between inputs and outputs (Gunarathne and
Senaratne, 2017; Abrahamson, 1991). Thus, in this study, IR is viewed as a form of
managerial technology. Previously, in the Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) study, IR was
considered as a form of managerial technologies. Like any other technology, IR goes through
a cycle, but its process involves the relocation diffusion (this focuses on how ideas enter an
area without necessarily increasing the number of adopters) and the expansion diffusion
(this focuses on how the total number of adopters grow gradually). In this study, the use of

Integrated
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5



expansion diffusion is a more relevant type of diffusion process in explaining why firms in
developing countries are slow at adopting IR. Sahin (2006) suggests that for one to adopt an
innovation, he or she will have the knowledge of what should be adopted, persuaded to
adopt an innovation and a decision to adopt an innovation will be taken. Further, Rogers
(2003) argues that for an innovation to be adopted, there must be change agents (individuals
in responsible positions capable of taking decisions to influence others). Rogers (2003)
further argues that uncertainty curtails the speed of adopting innovation, but suggests that
the adopters of a given innovation should be alerted on the benefits and dangers of such an
innovation. For firms in Uganda to understand and share information regarding IR,
seminars and conferences need to be organized by various bodies such as USE, Institute of
Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU), CMA or Association of Chartered
Certified Accountants (ACCA).

Having considered the theory of DOI in explaining the adoption of IR, it is now suitable
to gain an understanding of what other researchers have found in the area of IR and how the
existing literature has led to the development of the research question to guide this current
study.

2.3 Integrated reporting and sustainability reporting
The International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC, 2013) defines IR as a process founded
on integrated thinking that results in a periodic integrated report by an organization about
value creation over time and related communications regarding aspects of value creation.
Value creation means the gross value created by an entity’s activities (Morley, 1978; Shaoul,
1996). Value creation includes the total returns attributable to employees, financial capital
providers and the state and society (Haller and Staden, 2014). The value created by an
organization over time exhibits itself in increases, decreases or transformations of the
capitals caused by the organization’s business activities and outputs (IIRC, 2013, p. 10).
Value creation benefits the organization itself by enabling financial returns to the providers
of finance and also benefits other stakeholders and the entire society. Under the
International Integrated Reporting Framework (IIRF) (2013), value creation is a process and
this process comprises of the following: the external environment (this includes economic
conditions, technological changes, societal issues, environmental challenges and the context
in which the firm operates); governance issues that support the organization to create value;
the business model, which draws on various capitals; business activities (these include
planning, design and manufacture of products; outcomes as a result of the effects of the
various capitals; identification of risks and uncertainties; setting the organization’s strategy
to mitigate risks and exploit opportunities; information regarding performance of the
organization to enable decision-making; and finally, the organization’s outlook in terms of
disclosure requirements (Figure 1).

The IIRF (2013) specifies the contents of an integrated report and these are;
organizational overview and external environment, governance issues, business model,
risks and opportunities, organizational strategy and resource allocation, performance,
challenges and uncertainties the organization is likely to encounter in its operations
(outlook) and how the organization determines and measures matters to include in the
integrated report (basis of presentation). Prior to the development of International Integrated
Reporting Framework (2013), the King III Code on Governance (2009) defined an integrated
report as “a holistic and integrated representation of the company’s performance in terms of
both its finance and its sustainability.” King III urged organizations to commit to the
principles of integrated thinking by promoting the concept of strategy, governance and
sustainability. He also suggested that organizations should integrate their reporting

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approaches and practices on risks and opportunities through financial and sustainability
considerations as this has enabled stakeholders to make a more informed assessment of the
economic value of a company. It is, thus, recommended that financial, environmental, social
and governance reports be produced by companies and made available in an integrated
fashion rather than being developed separately (King III, 2009; de Villiers et al., 2014).
Therefore, Sustainability reporting is a disclosure that provides information to stakeholders
about an organization’s attempts to balance its economic, social and environmental goals (de
Villiers et al., 2014), and thus, sustainability reporting is part of an integrated report.

2.4 Why integrated reporting was adopted in other jurisdictions?
IR has rapidly gained sizable status since the formation of the International IR Committee in
2010, and subsequently, renamed the International IR Council (de Villiers et al., 2014).
Various stock exchange entities have it as a requirement for firms to prepare integrated
reports such as the JSE, New York securities exchange and Nairobi stock exchange among
others. The ICPAK also emphasizes all firms to prepare integrated reports. In South Africa,
mandatory compliance with IR was the primary driver for IR and this means that
mandating IR would aid its diffusion (Robertson and Samy, 2015). In other Jurisdictions, like
Uganda, there is no law or any form of requirement for an integrated report. The USE listing
rules of 2003 only requires a listed firm or a firm seeking to be listed to present audited
financial statements. Given that IR is voluntary in Uganda, it is expected that there are low
levels of diffusion of IR. Previous studies such as Ullah and Rahman (2015) argue that
without regulation, voluntary reporting is unlikely to result in either the high-quality of
reporting or sufficient level of reporting.

In their study, Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) found that ample availability of
professional accountants, mounting stakeholder demands, the supportive accounting
profession and related industries, intense competition among organizations and national
culture are the factors affecting adoption of IR in Sri Lanka. In another study conducted in

Figure 1.
Value creation

according to IIRC
(2013, p. 13)

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7



the UK, Robertson and Samy (2015) found that the lack of incorporation of IR requirements
in both the national and international standards could be an explanation for low levels of
adoption of IR in the UK and note that companies will copy each other’s practice. Robertson
and Samy (2015) found that organizations in the UK still had a rigid mindset and suggests
that organizations will need to change existing practices through greater cross-functional
communication to facilitate diffusion of IR and the author goes ahead to argue that, if there
is willingness to innovate through a consensus mindset, to view stakeholders as one and
deliver the message in the locality, IR will be adopted by a number of UK firms.

Studies by both Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) and Robertson and Samy (2015)
directly investigated the factors that affect the diffusion of IR using evidence from firms that
have adopted IR. Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) studied the diffusion of IR in an
emerging South Asian nation, which is one of those countries that have recognized the
importance of sustainable development from ancient times by embracing integrated
thinking and accountability for example, Sri Lankan sophisticated irrigation systems were
constructed by their ancient kings, and thus, an evidence of integrated thinking and
sustainability. A total of 32 firms in Sri Lanka had already adopted IR by 2014 and the
country was noted as one of the fastest growing nations in the world (Gunarathne and
Senaratne, 2017). A study by Robertson and Samy (2015) was conducted in the UK
capturing issues on factors affecting the diffusion of IR in a UK perspective and the UK is
one of the developed countries well-versed with the highest level of technology. Studies by
both Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) and Robertson and Samy (2015) call for further
studies with the former calling for similar studies in other national settings without
specifying the methodology to be used and the later calling for future studies after the
release of the International Integrated Reporting Framework. The current study, thus,
responds to such calls to compare results reported by previous studies and also provide
initial empirical evidence on why firms in Uganda are slow at adopting IR and possibly
suggests what could be done to improve IR adoption in Uganda. The present study differs
from previous studies as it elicits responses from both the adopters and non-adopters of IR in
an African developing country –Uganda.

de Villiers et al. (2017) developed a conceptual model of influences around IR, new
insights and directions for future research using a narrative/discursive style of
methodology. de Villiers et al. (2017) proposed a model where the determinants of IR could
be both organizational features and external factors. The organizational factors identified
include size, profitability, growth potential, leverage, financial performance and position,
ownership structure, managerial attitude and motivations, organizational culture, corporate
governance and non-financial performance disclosure costs. The external factors identified
are institutional pressure, stakeholder pressure, regulators, media, industrial sector,
geographical location and cultural dimensions. de Villiers et al. (2017) call for empirical
studies on the identified determinants of IR. In another study by García-Sánchez et al. (2013),
it was found that culture is positively associated with IR adoption and their study excluded
financial and insurance sectors, as well as Asian and African countries. Specifically, García-
Sánchez et al. (2013) found that companies located in societies with stronger collectivist and
feminist values are at the forefront of information integration. Further, Steyn (2014), while
investigating organizational benefits and implementation challenges of mandatory IR and
focusing on the perceptions of senior executives at the South African listed firms using a
questionnaire survey, noted that corporate reputation, stakeholders’ needs and investor
needs are at the forefront for preparation of integrated reports, in addition to mandatory IR
(the primary reason for preparing IR). Setia et al. (2015), whose study provided an initial
evidence of IR adoption in South Africa not only reports that the primary driver of IR is

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requiring its adoption by the regulators but also notes that maintaining the legitimacy of the
organization is core in the adoption of IR.

In accounting, a number of reporting innovations have been introduced, for example,
segmental and sustainability reporting. Several factors are behind the adoption of the new
innovations, for example, Kobbi-Fakhfakh et al. (2018) note that the quality of segmental
reporting is affected by the size of the firm and auditor type while debt leverage negatively
affects segmental reporting and profitability has no relationship with segmental reporting
among the European Union listed companies. The social and environmental disclosures
within annual reports are largely motivated by organizational or managerial desires to meet
the perceived information requirements of the stakeholders, who hold the most economic
power in relation to a reporting organization given the emergence of social media and other
forms of communication where information moves as it happens (de Villiers et al., 2014; Neu
et al., 1998; Deegan, 2002). In Haji and Anifowose’s (2016) study, it was found that audit
committees have a positive association with IR practice in South Africa. de Villiers et al.
(2014) undertook a study on insights from accounting and accountability research into the
rapidly emerging field of IR and found that the rapid development of IR policy and early
developments of practice, present academic and experimental challenges because of the
different ways in which IR is understood and enacted within private and government
entities, and this provides a basis for the current state of IR practice .

Based on the foregoing discussion, the issue of IR cannot be underscored, for example, in
their guest editorial, Hussainey and Hassanein (2017 p. 266) argue that “the disclosure
requirements and practices are growing and the types of information that firms provide to
the investors are being changed.” Hussainey and Hassanein (2017) further state that
companies need to provide more detailed information to accommodate investors’ needs than
simply providing only financial information. Therefore, the desire to understand why firms,
especially in developing countries are slow at preparing integrated reports motivated this
study. The debate on the diffusion of IR in Uganda can best be resolved by answering the
following research question:

RQ1. Why are firms in developing countries slow to adopt IR?

3. Methodology
3.1 Research design
This study uses a narrative cross-sectional survey conducted using qualitative data
collection techniques, specifically the semi-structured interviews (see Appendix 2 and 3).
The interviews were used in this study primarily to gain an in-depth understanding of the
subject matter under the study and have been used in previous studies (Robertson and
Samy, 2015; Gunarathne and Senaratne, 2017). We further analyze annual reports of
companies listed on USE from 2010 to 2016 to ascertain the extent of IR practices in Uganda.

3.2 Selecting the respondent and respondent profile
The study was informed by 28 respondents. The respondents include; technical manager of
the regulator of accountants in Uganda (ICPAU), the senior market supervision officer and
head market supervision of stock markets (CMA) and USE. For firms listed on USE, chief
finance officers, finance managers, heads of sustainability reporting and heads of corporate
social responsibility officers were interviewed. The respondents were selected by contacting
the firms to identify the key personnel involved in preparing integrated reports and where
integrated reports were not being prepared, then we would obtain details of those key

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personnel involved in preparing annual reports. The key personnel involved in preparing
integrated reports or annual reports were subsequently interviewed on prior appointment.
The interviews lasted for between 30 and 70 minutes. In Uganda, there are only 16 firms
listed on USE (USE, 2017). These listed companies are categorized into five. The first
category is comprised of eight firms (financial services) representing 50 per cent, followed
by four firms (consumer services) representing 25 per cent. The third category are those
firms providing consumer goods (two of them) representing 13 per cent. Other firms listed
are those categorized as industrial (one) and utilities (one), which account for 6 per cent
respectively. For the respondent profiles; one senior officer was from the professional
accountancy bodies while two were senior officers of the capital markets authority
(regulator of listed firms in Uganda), and one senior officer was from USE and 23
respondents were from listed firms. Of the 23 respondents, 10 senior officers interviewed
were from those firms that had already adopted IR while 13 were from firms that have not
yet adopted IR. (See Appendix 1 for why each interviewee was selected). For anonymity
purposes, only the main person interviewed position and the industry in which the firm
resides were reported in this study. We promised the key contact persons that we would not
fully disclose their identities as this was their request.

3.3 Validity and reliability
To ensure reliability and validity, our data were subjected to triangulation. In research,
triangulation helps address the limitations of a given methodology by complementing its
weaknesses with the strength of other methods (Brewer and Hunter, 1989). Denzin (1984)
identified four forms of triangulation and these are; data source triangulation (retrieve data
from a number of different sources to form one body of data), investigator triangulation
(using multiple observers instead of a single observer in the form of gathering and
interpreting data), theoretical triangulation (using more than one theoretical position in
interpreting data) and methodological triangulation (using more than one research method
or data collection technique). This study used data source triangulation to ensure accuracy,
credibility and validity of the data. The views from respondents in listed firms were
triangulated/validated by views from the regulators that is to say, ICPAU and CMA, as well
as USE. Further, to ensure validity, interviews were read through and even played back to
the respondents to ensure that what has been captured is exactly what respondents have
actually said.

3.4 Data management and analysis
Annual reports of firms under study were obtained from the respective entity’s website,
downloaded and saved on the computer in a specified file. In some cases, hard copy annual
reports were obtained from responsible officers in the different firms understudy, especially,
where full annual reports were not found on the entity’s website. Annual reports were
analyzed following the content elements of the International Integrated Reporting
Framework (2013). The annual reports analyzed span a period of seven years, that is, to say
from 2010 to 2016. Annual reports were analyzed to identify firms that are already preparing
IR and also to trace the trend of IR adoption. The year 2010 was selected as a base year as the
first Financial Reporting (FiRe) awards organized by ICPAUwere organized in 2011. Further,
by 2010 some firms listed on the USE had prepared sustainability reports. While analyzing
annual reports, firms that had prepared integrated reports were identified and this enabled us
to identify those firms that had not prepared integrated reports or those that were under way
to IR. After analyzing annual reports, interviews were then conducted to ascertain why some
firms are slow to adopt IR. Interviews were recorded first through means of audio-recording

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and manual writing of the responses in a notebook, so that in the event that the audio is
corrupted or destroyed, a manual recording would be available and even then, for consistence
purposes. The responses were then transcribed to obtain emerging themes through a
methodology suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994), that is, qualitative data analysis
contains three linked sub-processes, namely, data reduction, data display and drawing
conclusions. First, we wrote stories from interviews. The post-interview analysis of the
transcripts involved a detailed search for underlying themes in the evidence collected.
Second, following the initial transcripts studied, a comprehensive coding system was
developed intuitively so as to facilitate the identification of issues and themes emerging from
the transcript analysis (“open coding”), as outlined by Parker and Roffey (1997).Third, in line
with Miles and Huberman (1994), matrices and templates summarizing the themes identified
were developed to display the core issues emerging from the coding process that aided in
identifying cross-case patterns in the data, with predominant ones becoming evident
partially by mapping the relative incidence of different codes. Detailed examination of these
matrices, therefore, enabled us to recognize regular patterns and explanations in the evidence
collected. Finally, detailed field notes, memos, interview summaries and post-interview
analyses were studied and analyzed together with the matrices and templates outlined above.
Doing this enabled us to formulate descriptions of the interview findings written in the form
of a narrative, thereby plotting the thought processes of the respondents interviewed.

4. Results
This study’s research question is “why are firms in developing countries slow to adopt
IR?” To answer this question, we first analyze 112 annual reports of listed firms on USE
to find out how many companies are already preparing integrated reports or having
information that qualifies into an integrated report, and also, ascertains the IR trend
among Uganda’s listed firms. We further conduct interviews of various members of
management of regulators of listed firms and accountants and of listed firms. Results
indicate that, of the 16 listed firms on USE, five (about 31 per cent) are already preparing
integrated reports though only two firms have expressly indicated the title of the report
as an integrated report. Of the five firms that had already prepared integrated reports,
four firms were from the financial services sector while one firm is from the utilities
sector. The adoption of IR in Uganda has been slow. Immediately, after the release of the
King III report in 2009 in South Africa, which gave birth to IR, ICPAU organized the first
FiRe awards and on the award categories, there was a special award for the best firm in
preparing sustainability reports. The first FiRe awards were organized in 2011 and a firm
from the financial services sector took the award (ICPAU, 2017). Given that previous
scholars such as Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) have documented that, those firms
that prepared sustainability reports before were found to have adopted IR. It can then be
expected that for a period of seven years, more firms could have embraced IR, but this
was not the case for Uganda. However, all those firms that are already preparing
integrated reports or including information in their annual reports that qualify or is
closer to an integrated report have previously prepared sustainability reports. Results
further indicate that two firms prepared an integrated report after the release of the IIRF
(2013), and by 2016, an additional three firms had prepared an integrated report. The
firms that had prepared integrated reports had to a larger extent followed the
international IR framework though not using exact words. On analysis of the annual and
integrated reports of listed firms, the following questions as enshrined in the IIRF (2013)
had been answered:

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11



Q1. What does the organization do and what are the circumstances under which it
operates?

Q2. How does the organization’s governance structure support its ability to create value
in the short, medium and long term?

Q3. What is the organization’s business model?

Q4. What are the specific risks and opportunities that affect the organization’s ability to
create value over the short, medium and long term and how is the organization
dealing with them?

Q5. Where does the organization want to go and how does it intend to get there?

Q6. To what extent has the organization achieved its strategic objectives for the period
andwhat are its outcomes in terms of the capitals?

Q7. What challenges and uncertainties is the organization likely to encounter in
pursuing its strategy, and what are the potential implications for its business model
and future performance?

Q8. How does the organization determine what matters to include in the integrated
report and how are such matters quantified or evaluated?

From the interviews, a number of reasons as to why firms are slow at preparing integrated
reports in developing countries, especially in an African country – Uganda were identified
and these include the following:

The resources in terms of human resources, time resources and financial resources. A
number of companies are aware of the benefits of integrated reports, but do not have the
necessary expertise in terms of human resources to prepare integrated reports. One head of
sustainability reporting had this to say:

[. . .] the biggest challenge I see is the issue of resources both in terms of time, skilled
manpower and the finances. You need the skilled manpower, the money resource to
disseminate the reports to the public but most important is the manpower. The same team
that prepares financial statements may not be the same team to handle the regulatory and
sustainability reports.

The finance manager of the same company had this to say:

[. . .] firms are still struggling with preparing financial statements that comply with International
Financial Reporting Standards. IFRSs are revised every time and again and some of our
employees are not up to date. It takes an extra cost to train existing staff in the newly developed
standard. Now, preparing integrated reports is another burden altogether.

Culture and leadership, in that some firms in Uganda do not like disclosing a lot of
information. There are tribes in Uganda who prefer to keep their information secret. The
leadership and management of a number of organizations is not mindful of full disclosure of
information. This is evidenced in a number of financial statements that did not disclose the
basic information about the company, for example, the company products, the number of
branches among others. Some annual reports had been written using two languages, that is,
English and in some other cases, other languages the researchers could not easily interpret.

The technical manager ICPAU also made the statement below:

[. . .] we organized FiRe (Financial Reporting) awards beginning the year 2011 but a number of
members believed that disclosing so much would increase competition.

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Stakeholders demand various information from companies, especially investors. Firms with
a number of stakeholders especially banks and those of public utilities such as UMEME
(electricity distribution to households company). Those with less stakeholders have no
motivation to prepare integrated reports. The chief finance officer of one company had this
to say:

[. . .] we are forced to prepare integrated reports because of the sophistication of investors who
demand a lot of information regarding environmental reports, management structure and
qualifications of members of management and the board composition. Otherwise, we would not
be preparing these reports.

The chief finance officer of another company had this to mention below:

[. . .] some companies are not preparing IRs because they are not publicly listed and so they have a
few shareholders who may define what they want. The more the stakeholders, the more
information needed.

The regulatory requirement is non-existent, that is to say, there is no law that requires firms
to prepare integrated reports though some regulators such as Bank of Uganda demand for a
lot of information while other regulators are silent. Companies prepare financial statements
because it is a legal requirement under the Uganda companies Act 2012.

The effect of globalization andmindset has an effect on the progress of Integrated reports
preparation. Local firms have been slow at preparing integrated reports unlike the
multinational companies. Companies that have their parent companies elsewhere that
prepare integrated reports are also forced to do so as their parent firms do so. This is further
confirmed by the excerpt below:

[. . .] the issue of globalization is critical. Once companies expand, there is need to disclose more
information. If you compare annual reports of most local firms, there is less information being
disclosed as compared with those of multinational companies.

Lack of awareness on the importance of integrated reports. Some organizations in Uganda
are not aware of the concept of IR, and thus, cannot see the importance of preparing
integrated reports. In one organization, the chief finance officer did not know any
information regarding IR, but only remembers colleagues debating about it in one of the
seminars organized by one of the accountancy bodies. He had this to say:

[. . .] Integrated reporting is completely a new concept but what I know is preparing financial
statements that comply with IFRS. It’s not a concept that has widely been publicized and taught.
However, listed firms in Uganda are supposed to disclose their governance structure,
sustainability reports and risks and expectations. When you disclose a lot, there are issues with
competition, government will also get closer to you and you know the implications.

The nature of the businesses and the size of the stock market. Some respondents argued that
the size of the stock markets also determines whether a company should prepare integrated
reports. In some countries, the stock markets are big and firms are under pressure to disclose
as much information as possible to be able to fit in such a community. The implication of
such finding is that USE may opt to revise its listing requirements and market itself so that it
can expand and have more members. Once USE is big, then it will create competition among
listed firms. However, in the meantime, USE may revise its listing requirements to include an
integrated report.

During the interviews, it was also discovered that those firms that have already prepare
integrated reports have the support of management while others are forced by their parent
companies. Some firms prepared integrated reports because they aspire to suit the standards

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reporting

13



of a global entity. The competitions that were introduced by ICPAU have also encouraged
firms to prepare annual reports with a lot of information being disclosed. The demand by
various stakeholders, especially the shareholders and the regulators make prepare one
single report that answers all the questions from such stakeholders. One finance manager
had something to say:

[. . .] the organization does not survive in an island. The so many stakeholders demanding for
more information make us prepare one single report that answers all our stakeholders. We also
aspire to suit the standards as a global entity. The issue of globalization is important. We want to
meet the requirements for say the Global Reporting Initiatives. We want to be competitive
globally. The ICPAU requires us to prepare not only the financial statements but also the aspects
of environment and corporate social responsibility.

Finally, suggestions were made on how IR can be improved in developing countries.
Interviewees suggested that there is need for governments to make integrated reports
mandatory for all firms, especially those that are publicly interested. The international
standard setting bodies may also make IR mandatory. Creation of awareness on the
importance of IR also needs immediate attention. Universities and professional accountancy
bodies need to include in their curriculum, IR. While ACCA– UK is already sensitizing its
members on IR using various means, it is important that it strengthens its efforts. The head,
sustainability reporting of one of the best companies in IR in Uganda had this to say:

[. . .] ACCA was among the first professional accountancy bodies to adopt integrated reporting.
ACCA gives a real life experience and identifies the following key issues like value creation,
connectivity, performance measurement, materiality, conciseness, reliability among others. Africa
is still in a transition period unlike in other countries. Countries elsewhere especially in those
industrialized nations are already ahead in integrated reporting. Our local accountancy bodies
like ICPAU must do a lot to train their members in the area of integrated reporting. ICPAU has
encouraged firms to disclose more information about their operations by organizing FiRe awards
and companies are awarded for best annual reports especially those reports that focus on value
creation and to be specific, the reports that clearly bring out sustainability issues, corporate
governance and communication.

Given that in this study we used a methodology that was suggested byMiles and Huberman
(1994), our results are presented in two tables. Table I is transcript analysis of interview
responses while, Table II is frequencies of the major patterns and trends.

5. Discussion of results
This study’s present results suggest that IR is still at a low level of development in Uganda
with a number of listed firms, especially the local firms not even closer to providing
information that may qualify to an integrated report. However, there are other firms who are
getting closer towards a full integrated project while others are struggling. Some firms do
not use the exact words as in IIRF (2013), but the information contained in their annual
reports depict an integrated report. While the study confirms 31 per cent of the firms already
preparing almost an integrated report, another 35 per cent is getting closer to preparing an
integrated report. This finding is so encouraging and it can be expected that in the next six
years, the majority of the firms listed on USE will prepare integrated reports. From an
analysis of annual reports, it was discovered that within a period of three years (2013-2016),
five firms had prepared annual reports depicting an integrated report. The results further
suggest that the resources, culture and leadership, stakeholders demand, the regulatory
requirement, the effect of globalization and the mindset, lack of awareness about IR and the
nature of the business and size are possible reasons as to why firms are slow at preparing

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Sample quotes from respondents Emerging themes

. . . The issue of experts is critical in the process of
preparing an integrated report. As we become global and
Africa getting exposed, there is need to prepare an
integrated report. Our investors are now keen on
environment management. The reports over time have
had more information being disclosed. There are no legal
requirements for any company to prepare integrated
reports in Uganda. . . . the biggest challenge I see is the
issue of resources both in terms of time, skilled
manpower and the finances. You need the skilled
manpower, the money resource to disseminate the
reports to the public but most important is the
manpower. The same team that prepares financial
statements may not be the same team to handle the
regulatory and sustainability reports”

The resources in terms of time, finances,
structural and human resources
No legal requirements

“. . . firms are still struggling with preparing financial
statements that comply with International Financial
Reporting Standards. IFRSs are revised every time and
again and some of our employees are not up to date. It
takes an extra cost to train existing staff in the newly
developed standard. Now, preparing integrated reports is
another burden altogether”

The resources in terms of time, finances and
human
Lack of awareness

. . . I have seen companies like Centenary Bank, National
Social Security Fund and UMEME preparing big reports
with a lot information. . . . we are forced to prepare
integrated reports because of the sophistication of
investors who demand a lot of information regarding
environmental reports, management structure and
qualifications of members of management and the board
composition. Otherwise, we would not be preparing these
reports. . . . In fact, there is much support from ICPAU in
terms of training accountants. We are given the ICPAU
magazine called the Todays Accountant and it normally
has information on integrated reporting. ICPAU also
organizes competition for firms in financial reporting
called FiRe awards

Stakeholder demands/pressures

. . . some companies are not preparing integrated reports
(IRs) because they are not publicly listed and so they
have a few shareholders who may define what they want.
The more the stakeholders, the more information needed”

The nature and size of the business
Stakeholder demands

. . . the issue of globalization is critical. Once companies
expand, there is need to disclose more information. If you
compare annual reports of most local firms, there is less
information being disclosed as compared with those of
multinational companies. “. . . the organization does not
survive in an island. The so many stakeholders
demanding for more information make us prepare one
single report that answers all our stakeholders. We also
aspire to suit the standards as a global entity. The issue
of globalization is important. We want to meet the
requirements for say the Global Reporting Initiatives. We
want to be competitive globally. The ICPAU requires us

Globalization effects
Culture and leadership

(continued )

Table I.
Transcript analysis

of interview
responses

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reporting

15



integrated reports in Uganda and these results tie together within the dimensions of the
expanded perspective of the DOI theory. The DOI theory suggests that for any innovation to
be successful among members of a societal system, there is a need for change agents. This
study identifies regulators and top management as change agents in the adoption of IR. The
resources are very important given that the economic environment is tricky where there are

Sample quotes from respondents Emerging themes

to prepare not only the financial statements but also the
aspects of environment and corporate social
responsibility. Some managers do not want to reveal
what they do and even when employees are ready to
adopt the new reporting framework, they may have
negative attitude
. . . Integrated reporting is completely a new concept but
what I know is preparing financial statements that
comply with IFRS. It’s not a concept that has widely been
publicized and taught. However, listed firms in Uganda
are supposed to disclose their governance structure,
sustainability reports and risks and expectations. When
you disclose a lot, there are issues with competition,
government will also get closer to you and you know the
implications”

Lack of awareness
Culture

. . . ACCA was among the first professional accountancy
bodies to adopt integrated reporting. ACCA gives a real
life experience and identifies the following key issues like
value creation, connectivity, performance measurement,
materiality, conciseness, reliability among others. Africa
is still in a transition period unlike in other countries.
Countries elsewhere especially in those industrialized
nations are already ahead in integrated reporting. Our
local accountancy bodies like ICPAU must do a lot to
train their members in the area of integrated reporting.
ICPAU has encouraged firms to disclose more
information about their operations by organizing FiRe
awards and companies are awarded for best annual
reports especially those reports that focus on value
creation and to be specific, the reports that clearly bring
out sustainability issues, corporate governance and
communication”

Stakeholder demands/pressure

Table II.
Frequencies of the
major patterns and
trends

Emerging themes Frequency

Resources 22
Culture and leadership 25
Stakeholders demand/pressures 27
The regulatory requirement 25
The effect of globalization and mindset 15
Lack of awareness about integrated reporting 13
The nature of the business and size 10

Table I.

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high interest rates, fluctuating foreign exchanges rates and inflation especially in Uganda.
The decision to allocate the scarce resources lies with those charged with governance as DOI
suggests. Companies are downsizing while others are closing down some branches and
other closing down completely to be able to cope with the situation, and yet, there is a need
to hire more accountants to prepare integrated reports.

Prior studies acknowledge that the process of preparing an integrated report is
lengthy and requires commitment and a skilled labor force (Chatelain-Ponroy and
Morin-Delern, 2016) and this is consistent with the present study findings. Further,
Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) found that ample availability of professional
accountants in an organization to come up with an integrated report is a critical aspect
that cannot be neglected and this is in consistence with our findings. In terms of
regulation, there is no law in Uganda that requires companies to prepare an integrated
report and like in many other developing countries, integrated reports are optional and
this means that unless there is a demand for an integrated report, then nobody may
prepare one. This finding is consistent with previous studies such as Ullah and Rahman
(2015), who found that voluntary reporting such as IR may not be of high-quality of
reporting or may not have sufficient level of reporting given that it is optional. As can
be evidenced from the works of Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017), the firms that have
prepared integrated reports fully are those listed on stock exchanges such as the JSE in
South Africa where it is a requirement to prepare integrated reports. The present study
results are consistent with the previous studies especially on the findings such as
resources, culture and leadership, stakeholders demand, the regulatory requirement,
the effect of globalization and the mindset, lack of awareness about IR and the nature of
the business and size. The cultural system was found to be associated with IR (García-
Sánchez et al., 2013) while the availability of professional accountants (in this study
human resources), stakeholder demands, supportive professional bodies and culture
were found to be behind adoption of IR by Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017). However,
factors such as globalization effects and the nature of business were identical to this
study. It should be noted that the majority of the firms that had prepared an integrated
report were multinational and only one firm was local.

Uganda’s accountancy professional body, ICPAU has encouraged firms to prepare
elaborate reports and has consistently organized seminars and workshops on IR and others
on sustainability reporting. The ICPAU has further examined students on IR so that every
newly qualified accountant is aware of an integrated report and can ably prepare one. The
ICPAU has consistently published information on IR in theToday’s Accountantmagazine (a
quarterly magazine published by ICPAU and distributed to universities, public offices and
members of ICPAU) and various concept papers have been presented at different
workshops. The ICPAU has further gone ahead to arrange competitions for all firms to
compete for the best FiRe award. The technical manager ICPAU had this to say:

The international integrated reporting framework was issued in 2013 and we had engagements with
the integrated reporting council in South Africa. We immediately picked interest. The integrated
reporting council in South Africa said that there is need to create awareness and we immediately
started awareness programmes on IR and we started developing articles on IR. Our biggest
contribution has been through the FiRe awards. We have shared our awareness campaigns with our
members and also our magazine (Today’s Accountant) has information about IR.

He further stated that:

The CPAs (Certified Public Accountants) and students are given papers say conference papers,
discussion papers and framework papers to try to enrich their knowledge on IR.

Integrated
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17



In the presence of the efforts made by the ICPAU, there is need for further effort in spreading
the concept of IR. Given that there are some companies in Uganda that are not aware of IR,
there is a need for regulatory bodies to make it a mandatory requirement for all firms registered
under the Companies Act of 2012. Robertson and Samy (2015) found that it is important to
make IR compulsory in the UK so that there is a standard format. The Companies Act may be
amended to pave way for compulsory IR. Also, the USE and the CMA need to encourage firms
or evenmake it mandatory for members to prepare integrated reports.

6. Summary and conclusion
The main purpose of this paper was to find out why companies are slow at adopting IR and
what needs to be done to ensure IR is embraced by all firms in developing countries,
especially those on the African scene. Our purpose was achieved through an interview of
senior officers of the professional accountancy bodies and regulators and various officers
responsible for the preparation of integrated reports in listed firms in Uganda. Results
suggest that firms are slow to adopt IR because of the scarce and minimal resources, culture
and leadership, stakeholders demand, the regulatory requirement, the effect of globalization
and the mindset, lack of awareness about IR and the nature of business and size.

This study provides further insights and gaps into IR and adds to the existing
knowledge on how IR is being dispersed among firms in developing countries. The study
provides initial empirical evidence on why firms in Uganda are slow at adopting IR such as
those of Gunarathne and Senaratne (2017) and Robertson and Samy (2015). The study also
extends previous studies conducted outside Africa and compares the results. The study
further provides more insights on the innovation literature in the field of accounting using
DOI theory. The standard setters and other regulators can now use this study’s findings to
influence the various stakeholders to speed up the process of making IR mandatory, so that
all companies can provide elaborate information that encourage integrated thinking.
Mandating IR was a finding in Robertson and Samy (2015) and this is consistent with the
current study results. Policymakers such as government through their process of developing
laws may come up with a law that requires all firms, especially those that are publicly
interested (listed firms, financial institutions and government entities) to prepare integrated
reports. Through IR, society and the entire world gets aware on what companies are doing
for people and the planet. There is no more time for companies to exploit the environment
given the current situation of global warming. In the meantime, regulators may encourage
firms under their authority to prepare integrated reports. The accountancy bodies may also
encourage their members to prepare integrated reports and this may be achieved through
accountancy bodies disseminating information on the benefits of integrated reports and how
to prepare them. It is now time for universities as well, to also include in their curriculum
aspects of IR.

Results of this study may be interpreted with caution. While we interviewed a good
number of managers, these managers were selected from a small stock exchange market.
The USE has only 16 firms listed and is the only stock exchange in Uganda. However,
these results are still useful to countries that are still developing. Further research could
be carried out in other national settings and also in non-listed firms. Also, there is a need
for research in what are the determinants of IR using a quantitative approach, for
example, future studies may examine the effect of corporate governance actors on
adoption of IR and also test whether intellectual capital, organizational culture, firm-
specific characteristics and isomorphic forces have a hand in IR adoption or even quality.
Future research may also use a mixed methods design in examining the determinants of
IR adoption and or quality.

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http://www.pwc.de/de_DE/de/rechnungslegung/assets/integrated_reporting.pdf


Appendix 1

Appendix 2. Interview guide for listed firms

RQ. Why are firms in developing countries reluctant to adopt IR?

(1) The concept of integrated reporting is becoming popular across the world, do you have
any knowledge about it? If yes, how do you understand it?

(2) Are you aware of any firms preparing IRs in Uganda? If yes, which are these? If few,
why are they reluctant to prepare IRs?

(3) What internally drives you to adopt IR?
(4) What externally drives you to adopt IR?
(5) What kind of support do you receive from top management in respect to the

preparation of IRs?
(6) What kind of support do you receive from ICPAU regarding preparing IRs?
(7) What challenges do you face in preparing IRs?
(8) In your opinion, what needs to be done to ensure Ugandan firms adopt IR?

Thank you so much for your time.

Table AI
Purpose of the
interviewee selected

Main person interviewed Sector Purpose

Chief finance officer Financial services Has vast knowledge and experience in the area.
He participates in the strategic decision-making

Finance manager Financial services Has vast knowledge and experience in the area.
He participates in the strategic decision-making

Head, sustainability
reporting

Utilities Is responsible for ensuring sustainability reports
are prepared on time. Is knowledgeable in the
subject area especially in environmental
management and corporate social responsibility

Technical manager Regulator and/or
professional body

Is responsible to ensure that professional
accountants remain updated and the professional
accountants are informed of the current issues in
the accounting fraternity

Head, market supervision Regulator Supervises the stock markets and ensures that the
various stock markets operations are in
accordance with the law. Participates in strategic
decision-making

Senior supervision Officer Regulator Is always in the field to check whether the stock
market authorities are complying with the
requirements of the capital markets authority

Accountants Consumer services Is the in charge for preparation of sustainability
reports and management accounts

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Appendix 3. Interview guide for regulators and professional accountancy bodies

RQ. Why are firms in developing countries reluctant to adopt IR?

(1) Are you aware of any firms preparing IRs in Uganda? If yes, which are these? If few,
why are they reluctant to prepare IRs?

(2) What have you done to ensure that firms prepare IRs?
(3) What is your impression of the current trend of IR in the country?
(4) What factors motivate companies to prepare IRs?

Thank you so much for your time.

Corresponding author
Juma Bananuka can be contacted at: jbananuka@mubs.ac.ug

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Integrated
reporting

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mailto:jbananuka@mubs.ac.ug

	The adoption of integrated reporting: a developing countryperspective
	1. Introduction
	2. Literature review
	2.1 Theoretical foundation
	2.3 Integrated reporting and sustainability reporting
	2.4 Why integrated reporting was adopted in other jurisdictions?

	3. Methodology
	3.1 Research design
	3.2 Selecting the respondent and respondent profile
	3.3 Validity and reliability
	3.4 Data management and analysis

	4. Results
	5. Discussion of results
	6. Summary and conclusion
	References
	Appendix 1
	Appendix 2. Interview guide for listed firms