Title: Unlocking the potential: investigating key factors in adopting digital reporting effectively

Authors: Sanjay Gupta; Meenu Gupta; Anchal Arora; Nidhi Walia

Addresses: Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management, Ludhiana, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India ' Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management, Ludhiana, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India ' Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management, Ludhiana, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India ' University School of Applied Management, Punjabi University, Patiala, India

Abstract: In the age of rapid technological progress, digital corporate reporting has emerged as a crucial tool, offering timely, transparent information that fosters trust and informed decision-making in today's business landscape. This research seeks to identify and prioritise the key criteria and sub-criteria influencing organisations' decisions to embrace digital corporate reporting. We selected a panel of 25 experts from leading NIFTY 50 firms using purposive sampling. Employing an empirical and descriptive research approach, we utilised the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (fuzzy-AHP) technique to rank criteria and sub-criteria associated with digital corporate reporting adoption. Our findings highlight the critical role of the technological context (global weight - 27.67%) influencing the adoption of digital reporting practices. Furthermore, the firm's information environment (global weight - 18.21%) and organisational context (global weight - 17.83%) emerged as significant factors, emphasising their impact on the adoption process. Additionally, top five influential sub-criteria affecting digital reporting adoption are compatibility (global weight - 0.0867%), corporate infrastructure requirements (global weight - 0.0836%), complexity (global weight - 0.0709%), reduced cost of capital (global weight - 0.0542%), and improvements in the firm's stock liquidity (global weight - 0.0523%). These findings offer actionable insights for organisations to effectively address these factors, thereby increasing the likelihood of successful adoption.

Keywords: digital corporate reporting; extensible business reporting language; XBRL; compatibility; corporate infrastructure requirements; adoption decision; fuzzy analytic hierarchy process; fuzzy-AHP.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMFA.2026.150661

International Journal of Managerial and Financial Accounting, 2026 Vol.18 No.1, pp.75 - 104

Received: 28 Oct 2023
Accepted: 03 May 2024
Published online: 19 Dec 2025 *

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