Abstract
The study examines the status of corporate online reporting in the Indian services sector. It also explores the pattern and determinants affecting corporate online reporting. The paper uses content analysis for investigating the level and extent of corporate online reporting. A corporate online reporting index has been developed for the study, dividing the frame into three major headings namely, general, financial and presentation indexes. OLS regression is used for checking the determinants affecting corporate online disclosure. The study yields three major findings. First, results reveal that corporate online reporting measured by the three different indexes has a significant relationship with the size of the hotel. Second, there is negative and significant association between certain key determinants such as productivity, shareholders profitability and liquidity of the companies. Finally, other determinants such as profitability, leverage and growth are not significantly associated with corporate online reporting of the Indian service sector firms. The paper is built around the concept of transparency and reporting on the web that may facilitate the investors and stakeholders. The result is a novel approach to discuss corporate online reporting and transparency that contributes to other critical voices concerned about the value and effects of corporate online reporting.
TopBackground
The details of constructs such as corporate online reporting, determinants of corporate online reporting in Indian context are shown as follows
Key Terms in this Chapter
Content Analysis: Content analysis is a technique for systematically describing written, spoken or visual communication. It provides a quantitative (numerical) description.
Service Sector: Service sector is that portion of the economy that produces intangible goods. The service sector provides a service, not an actual product that could be held in your hand. Activities in the service sector include retail, banks, hotels, real estate, education, health, social work, computer services, recreation, media, communications, electricity, gas and water supply.
Web Page: Electronic (digital) document created with HTML and, therefore, accessible with a browser. In addition to text and graphics, web pages may also contain downloadable data files, audio and video files, and hyperlinks to other pages or sites. A website is usually a collection of Web pages.
Corporate Online Reporting: Corporate online reporting is a series of activities that allows companies to disseminate information to various stakeholders using electronic media at the end of each month or quarter.
Interactive Features: Interactive features are all the automated menus allow visitors to easily find what they require on the site.
Communication: Communication is defined as the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. Communication is the purposeful activity of information exchange between two or more participants in order to convey or receive the intended meanings through a shared system of signs and semiotic rules.
Determinants: Determinant is defined as a factor which decisively affects the nature or outcome of something.