Perception of important information in corporate social disclosures: evidence from Indonesia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the most important corporate social disclosure (CSD) as perceived by the Indonesian stakeholders and the disclosures in Indonesian listed companies' annual reports. Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaire and content analysis methods were applied for the purpose of the study. A total of 306 people from six primary stakeholder groups (shareholders, investors, customers, employees, suppliers, and communities) provided their opinions by ranking the importance of every theme of disclosure. Further, the information disclosed by 119 Indonesian listed companies in their 2003, 2004, and 2005 annual reports was examined. Findings – The results show that there are gaps between the most important information perceived by the stakeholders and the information disclosed by the companies. This result may indicate that the information disclosed by the companies has not fulfilled the stakeholders' needs. Therefore, the stakeholder theory should be investigated further in this context. Research limitations/implications – The study is expected to assist Indonesian businesses to focus on the information they disclose in their CSD particularly as a consequence of their corporate social responsibility (CSR). Originality/value – The paper is based on an original study that addresses the current gap between the CSD needed by the stakeholders and the fact that CSD has been disclosed in the companies' annual reports. The study is particularly valuable for both stakeholders and companies.