The Share Investment Decision Process and Information Use: An Exploratory Case Study

This paper describes the use of accounting and other information in the share investment decision process of an institutional investor. The study was conducted within the context of an organisation's everyday working environment. The focus was on qualitative data and analysis of a case study rather than on quantitative data and general tendency analysis of a random sample. It is concluded that the significance of the annual report as an information source changes over the period of one year. It varies from serving as a primary information source to serving in a confirmatory role. Furthermore, the annual report also acts as a stimulus for identifying specific questions rather than merely as a source of information in response to prior questions.