Structural Analysis of the Drivers Affecting the Future of Corporate Reporting in Iran

Corporate reporting in its general sense refers to all communication channels between companies and stakeholders and is the main mechanism for transmitting information to users. In recent years, there have been growing concerns about the inadequacy of traditional corporate reporting. This highlights the need to think about the factors that influence the future of corporate reporting. As a result, the purpose of this study is to identify and structural analyze of drivers that affect the future of corporate reporting in Iran.

In the first stage, in order to identify the list of drivers, semi-structured interviews with experts in the field of corporate reporting (including managers, auditors, regulatory and standard setting body representatives, investors and analysts, and university professors) were used, and then fuzzy Delphi analysis was used to validate and consensus on important drivers. In the second stage, using the cross-impact analysis method using MICMAC software, the structural analysis of the drivers identified in the first stage was performed. At the interview stage and like most qualitative studies, the sample was selected purposefully using a snowball or chain sampling method. This process has continued until the achievement of theoretical saturation about the drivers that affect the future of corporate reporting.In addition, theoretical sampling method was used to distribute the questionnaire and use "fuzzy Delphi" and "interaction matrix" methods. Purposive sampling was used to select a sample to collect data in different stages of the research. In the first phase, 17 interviews were conducted with experts. The first round Delphi questionnaire was distributed among 35 experts and in the second round among 27 respondents of the first stage. Structural analysis questionnaire was redistributed among 35 people in the first stage of Delphi, from which 20 answers were received.

Based on the results of the first phase of the study, 52 drivers were identified in exploratory interviews. After two rounds of fuzzy Delphi implementation, 37 drivers were accepted as important drivers and consensus of experts. In the second stage, after structural analysis of the drivers, the position of each driver was determined as driving variables, linkage variables, dependence variables and autonomous variables.

The results show that the three drivers of "entering the global economic arena, lifting sanctions and expanding ties with foreign investors", "privatization of property" and "development of social networks" have the greatest impact on shaping the future of corporate reporting. The results of this study can be used as a basis for identifying the major trends and forces affecting the future of corporate reporting in Iran and optimal policy in this area. The results of this study are expected to be an effective step in providing a structured and systematic interpretation of the main variables affecting the future of corporate reporting and the relationships between them. In addition to the final drivers enumerated in this study, can be used to analyze and design possible scenarios for corporate reporting.