An empirical study of accountability: delegation of responsibility and external disclosure in some Swedish companies

There are increasing requirements for disclosure of future-oriented information, segmental reporting and information about financial risk management, i.e. information traditionally used internally in the management control process. The increasing influence of transnational corporations has contributed to pressure for wider accountability. An empirical study encompassing six transnational companies has been made. The research results suggest that information disclosed about goals for the group and outcome values for segments does not necessarily reflect how the company is managed. For industrial operations there appears to be a clear relationship between organization structure and goal parameters. None of these goal parameters and only certain outcome values for these parameters are disclosed which makes it difficult for external users to find out how the industrial operations are managed. For the financial activities there is no goal parameter used which is related to the goal for the group. Choice of organization structure and risk policy seems to influence disclosure. A lack of clear definitions and guidelines for futureoriented information makes difficult the comparison of what is disclosed with what it is required to disclose. The research results suggest the benefit of dealing with both management accounting and financial accounting when studying accountability.