Stakeholder engagement through narrative-based disclosure: a critical case study application of structuration theory to IC practice

The parallels between Corporate Social Responsibility and Intellectual Capital discourse suggest possibilities for shared learning. One problem in common is how the respective discipline can progress beyond measurement and disclosure to provide more dynamic interpretive schemes, thereby meeting strategic management’s demand for the activity to “make a difference”. Via a case study, we observe an evolving use of narrative in disclosing IC and the manner and impacts of that change, set in a real example of the struggle encountered by an organisation attempting to realise the potential value of managing IC amidst rapid business change. To frame the discussion, elements of Giddens’ ‘structuration theory’ are critically applied to understand the recursiveness of the change that occurred from within the organisation. We find that the strategic benefits have not yet been fully realised by the studied organisation due to inadequacies of the modalities employed to bring about recursive change.