Corporate social reporting in Malaysia : the current state of the art and future prospects

Corporate
social reporting has, since the early seventies, attracted the interest
of
various user groups. As a result, a
long history of research
into
corporate social
disclosure
practice
is observable
in developed countries particularly the United States
and Western Europe. However, very
little attention has been focused
on developing
countries. This
research
investigates the extent of corporate social disclosure in
Malaysia,
the type of disclosure made and the relationship between disclosure practice
and company characteristics. The study also seeks to understand why corporations
in
Malaysia
are disclosing
social
information. A content analysis
is presented, centring
on 100 1993 annual reports of major Malaysian companies, to find
the extent of
disclosure
and personal
interviews are conducted
to find out the reasons
for
disclosure.
Content
analysis demonstrates that Malaysian companies are actively disclosing
social
information
with size of company
being a major determinant factor. Human
resource
information
is
the main social
theme disclosed. Personal interviews
reveal that most
companies are disclosing social
information due to top management awareness
together with a desire to comply with the government's social policy and enhance
corporate image. The study highlights the communication gap that exists between
Providers and users of social
information and
the dilemma faced by companies
in
seeking a balance between transparency and
Islamic teachings. The
research provides
further insights
towards an understanding of the reasons
for
social disclosure in
developing
countries where
the culture, values and religious beliefs are different from
those of western countries.