Are SMEs Ready for Integrated Reporting? The Malaysian Experience of Accountability

Abstract

The Integrated Reporting (IR) provides businesses with a reporting approach that is conducive to the understanding and articulating their business strategy. By doing so, businesses will be able to drive performance internally and attract financial capital for investment, as well as helping investors to understand how the strategy being pursued that creates value over time. Changing market trends due to technology advancement had jeopardized the traditional way of reporting performance. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are typically vulnerable entities against such changes and therefore challenged to sustain their life spans. This paper offers an introduction of IR, as well as assessing IR usability and benefits for SMEs in Malaysia. Furthermore, the paper discusses relevant literature and opportunities available for SMEs regarding the applicability of such reporting philosophy. Applying the qualitative method, themes and key success factors were identified using NVivo application software. The annual reports of SME Corporation Malaysian from the year 2014 to 2016 were analysed showcase growing evidence of integrated communications to SMEs in the areas of access to markets, better business understanding and enhancing reputation. IR offers invaluable benefits to SMEs, shifting their focus from merely financial performance measures to a more holistic integrated approach to accountability, which emphasises on value creation.