Continuities in the use of the intellectual capital statement approach: elements of an institutional theory analysis

The Danish Guideline Project and its principal output, the intellectual capital statement, have attracted only a very limited extent of empirical attention since the conclusion of the initiative in December 2002. The paper reports the findings of a series of semi-structured interviews with individuals employed in the small subset of companies that were found to have persevered with intellectual capital reporting during most of the following decade. Interviews explored three themes: motivations for initiating intellectual capital reporting; reasons for continuing to do so; and details of the implementation and evolution of these practices. The paper utilises a number of elements of institutional theory to organise the findings and to discuss the continuities in intellectual capital reporting practice documented therein.