Corporate social reporting practices: the case of companies listed on the Nairobi stock exchange
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Date
2007-09Author
Kalunda, Elizabeth N
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
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This study aimed at examining the corporate social reporting practices of companies listed in
the Nairobi Stock Exchange in the year 2006. To achieve this, the researcher set out to
investigate the extent of social reporting; the guidelines used in preparing social reports and
assessing the quality of the social reports.
The study was based on all the forty two companies that had been listed and were actively
trading in the Nairobi Stock Exchange through out the year 2006. Primary data and
secondary data were used to facilitate in the accomplishment of the stated objectives. Primary
data was obtained through the use of questionnaires while secondary data was collected from
the annual reports of listed companies. The extent and nature of corporate social reporting in
annual reports was measured according to the number of sentences used. Corporate social
reports disclosures were classified according to six key themes. The mode of presentation
and the type of news disclosed were also investigated
The research showed, in summative, that corporate social reporting in Kenya is of low
quality and lacks completeness, uniformity and reliability. Most of the reporting is done in
the annual reports in the corporate governance section. Only two companies prepared
separate and stand alone reports. "The reports primarily focused on education, health and
social and charitable activities. All the information was good news and no bad news was
disclosed. The study concluded that corporate social reporting should be encouraged through
ethical considerations and social agreements and through external auditing of the social
reports.
Auditing of the reports by specialized auditors and enactment of laws and ethical
considerations will contribute greatly to the production of quality corporate social reports in
Kenya.
Publisher
School of Business, University of Nairobi
Description
Masters of Business Administration