Sustainable development reporting of selected socially responsible listed companies

The RESPECT Index (RI) is the first index of socially responsible companies in Central and Eastern Europe and has been operating in Poland since 2009. In accordance with its philosophy, the RI includes listed companies showing the highest standards of quality in corporate governance and information governance regarding their impacts on the natural environment, society, and employees. Do the non-financial reports of these companies confirm that they meet these standards? This article attempts to answer that question, which aim can also be described as the qualitative assessment of the non-financial reports of the largest listed Polish companies in the RESPECT Index, with particular emphasis on analyzing the structure and content of the companies’ non-financial information disclosures. In order to achieve this goal, the paper first defines non-financial information and its usefulness to stakeholders in modern enterprises. Secondly, the paper discusses problematic aspects of non-financial reporting. And the third part of the paper is a qualitative analysis of the non-financial reports of 12 out of the 31 Polish companies in the RESPECT Index. Finally conclusions are that the research conducted confirmed a wide variety of these companies’ disclosures, and on the other hand, exposed some deficiencies in published reports, including their narrative character, limited comparability across time and space, and lack of external verification. All this shows that it is not enough to be a socially responsible company; you must also report this activity skillfully. This study used the following research methods: literature review, analysis of legal regulations, desk research, and inductive and synthetic reasoning strategies, in order to formulate conclusions.