Digital transformation voluntary disclosure: Insights from leading European companies

Abstract

Purpose

The first goal of this paper is to propose guidelines for digital transformation (DT) voluntary disclosure, using as a starting point the DT voluntary disclosure practices followed by leading European companies. As a second goal, we analyse the factors that may be influencing the DT reporting practices adopted by these companies.

Design/ methodology/ approach

This paper combines qualitative text data mining and panel least squares methodologies to explore current DT disclosure practices followed by leading European companies in their annual reports, and to test our hypotheses identifying the factors that may be influencing the DT reporting practices.

Findings

Our findings show that leading European companies are currently disclosing information about DT on a voluntary basis. However, we find significant differences in their reporting practices, which means that there is still a lack of standardization that can be overcome through DT voluntary disclosure guidelines. Our study contributes to the literature by showing the significant effect of company size, economic sector, the Covid-19 pandemic and CEO gender on DT voluntary disclosure practices.

Originality

We created DT voluntary disclosure guidelines for leading European companies. Having globally harmonised disclosure practices may lead to making meaningful comparisons among companies. Furthermore, results from the panel least squares method significantly contribute to our understanding of the factors that shape the disclosure practices of companies regarding their DT voluntary disclosure initiatives.