The non-financial reporting practices of co-operative managed enterprises in South Africa

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Authors

Fouche, Karel Bodenstein
Uys, Meon

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

AOSIS

Abstract

ORIENTATION : This paper reports on how co-operative managed enterprises in South Africa address non-financial reporting requirements. RESEARCH PURPOSE : The purpose of the study is to obtain a deeper understanding of the non-financial reporting practices followed by co-operatives in South Africa, from the perspective of stakeholders. MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY : The benefits of co-operative enterprises can only be fully realised if the non-financial reporting is effective in describing whether the values and principles unique to this type of enterprise have been met. Although the non-financial reporting practices of co-operatives have been the subjects of many international studies, limited research has been performed from a South African perspective. RESEARCH, DESIGN, APPROACH AND METHOD : A case study approach was employed in which semi-structured interviews were conducted. Three co-operatives were selected as the case studies, and interviews were held with stakeholders, including management, employees and suppliers. A thematic analysis was performed by means of ATLAS.ti, where a codebook was developed and used to analyse interview data and to develop a findings framework. The findings were documented with reference to the framework. PRACTCIAL / MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS : The research demonstrates that the relevance, reliability, quality and completeness of non-financial information are influenced by the co-operative’s age, size, industry, level of stakeholder participation and the reporting guidance by the co-operative preferred. CONTRIBUTION / VALUE ADDED : This study illustrates how improving the quality of non-financial reporting of co-operatives in South Africa could enhance the achievement of their goals.

Description

DATA AVAILABILITY : The data will be made available upon request from the corresponding author.

Keywords

Governance, Integrated reporting, Management reporting, Non-financial reporting;, Sustainability reporting, Corporate social responsibility (CSR)

Sustainable Development Goals

Citation

Fouché, K.B. & Uys, M., 2023, ‘The non-financial reporting practices of co-operative managed enterprises in South Africa’, Acta Commercii vol. 23, no. 1, art. a1128, pp. 1-13. https://doi.org/10.4102/ac.v23i1.1128.