The “trilemma” of non-financial reporting and its pitfalls

Pierre Baret () and Vincent Helfrich
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Pierre Baret: CEREGE (Université de Poitiers)

Journal of Management & Governance, 2019, vol. 23, issue 2, No 10, 485-511

Abstract: Abstract This research aims to show that the non-financial reporting tool collides with nexus of constraints which we will qualify as a “trilemma”: (1) the constraint linked to the complexity, the irreducibility and the scalability of corporate social responsibility (2) the constraint linked to inherent stakes of non-financial reporting (3) the constraint linked to company expectations. The inscription of the tool within the nexus of constraints can be more or less effective, depending on how the points of convergence or friction are managed between the different constraints. In this way, three categories of possible pitfalls appear. Idealistic reporting, lay reporting or technical reporting. To conclude we discuss the possibility that Integrated Reporting can be an “optimal” solution between these pitfalls and the limits of this possibility.

Keywords: Non-financial reporting; Complexity; Stakeholder-agency theory; Management tools; Organizational learning; CSR; Integrated Reporting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Working Paper: The “trilemma” of non-financial reporting and its pitfalls (2019)
Working Paper: The "trilemma" of non-financial reporting and its pitfalls (2019)
Working Paper: The "trilemma" of non-financial reporting and its pitfalls (2017)
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DOI: 10.1007/s10997-018-9430-z

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