Malaysian Corporate Responsibility Disclosure: Miscommunication Between Providers and Users of Information?

As concerns for accountability, social responsibility and the environment grow, users of the financial reports expect more social information to be included in the financial statements for decisionmakings. Although the amount of social information has increased over the past decades, it has not yet fulfilled the needs of the users. This paper identifies the miscommunication between providers and users of information as the main reason for the failure. The preparers of financial report do not appear to be in communication with the users and visaversa. The preparers seldom provide the information needed by the users and the users seldom communicate to the preparers the information they require. It then gives suggestions and recommendations to bridge this gap. In order to bridge this gap, the cooperation from all parties involved is greatly necessary. The users have to identify the kind of information they need and the importance of the preparers to communicate what information they can realistically provide. To make sure that the information provided is accurate and credible, the accounting profession has to play a role in formulating guidelines and standards. The profession needs to communicate with the universities and academicians in their effort to develop a suitable curriculum to link teaching with research. Universities on the other hand need to develop a curriculum that fits with what is practiced and is foreseen will be practiced. Apart from reeducating the public and companies on the importance of moral, ethical and religious values the government will have to weigh and decide whether to impose environmental regulations or not. On part of the companies, they will have to be more aware of the social responsibilities, develop training programs in order to educate the staff and the community about social responsibilities.