Do stakeholder expectations shape organizational intellectual capital reports?

This paper positions the analysis of intellectual capital (IC) reporting within the stakeholder accountabilityparadigm. Within this paradigm, corporate information is seen as essential to provide an account to stakeholdergroups and for management to discharge its accountability. A good relationship with various stakeholderscould gain support and approval from them, which is beneficial for the organization to survive and succeedin a sustainable manner in society. IC information can be included in social accounting area including in thisgeneric term all accounts which go beyond the economic. The research question of the paper (do stakeholdersplay a role in shaping organizational IC report?) is addressed through a case study of a large Italian nonprofitorganization (NPO), ANPAS Piemonte, chosen because it is the only NPO producing audited IC reports in Italyfrom 2003. The research has been carried out under a qualitative approach and employed two qualitative tools(document analysis and semistructured interview). From the analysis of qualitative data, it emerges thatANPAS Piemonte adopts a management approach to stakeholders, trying to handle stakeholders’ expectationsfor his managerial purposes instead of involving stakeholders in organizational decision-making process.