Systemic Complexity in Integrated Thinking

Erik Bjurstrom, Tadanori Yosano and Ulf Johanson
Additional contact information
Erik Bjurstrom: School of Innovation, Design and Technology, Marlardalen University
Tadanori Yosano: Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University
Ulf Johanson: Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University

No 2014-34, Discussion Papers from Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration

Abstract: In this article, we set out to understand and interpret the meaning of Japanese lenders perspective on non-financial, or soft, information of technology based small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and look for its implications for the IR agenda. To our surprise, the initial findings showed a focus on network relations, at the cost of just about any other item of soft information about corporate strategy, organizational structure, human resources, technologies and intellectual properties. However, a deeper factor-analysis found a strong correlation between the different factors, revealing a holistic thinking among lenders with regard to the companies' soft information. In other words, lenders have difficulties in measuring detailed soft items. In consequence, the details did not matter as much as the broader picture, in which detailed measures of different items were interpreted through the firms' credibility, revealed by their network relations. We further conceptually generalized this insight as an expression of the concrete character of the business reality of the companies, as interpreted through the lender-borrower relationship.

Keywords: Integrated Reporting; Integrated Thinking; Network; Lender-borrower relationship; SME' s; Industry strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 20 pages
Date: 2014-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.b.kobe-u.ac.jp/papers_files/2014_34.pdf First version, 2014 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kbb:dpaper:2014-34

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Discussion Papers from Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Yasuyuki Miyahara ().