Revival of the fittest? Intellectual Capital in Swedish companies

Abstract

In today’s globalized and interconnected world, the negative impacts of past financial crises have resulted in a growing need for financial stability and sustainability development among investors and stakeholders around the world (International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC), 2013). It is argued that there is a gap between current corporate reporting and investors’ demands (KPMG, 2013a, 2013b). The traditional way of disclosing only historical financial information has started to lose its importance as investors become more concerned about the future outlook and how to manage the risks and opportunities that organizations will face in the future (IIRC, 2013; KMPG, 2013a). New forms of reporting required by stakeholders, including investors, incorporate narratives about non-financial voluntary information on the broad issue of sustainability (IIRC, 2015).