Information Resources Management Journal, 19(3), 1-17, July-September 2006 1 Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited. Corporate Web Site Reports: Some Evidence on Relevance and Usefulness Ram S. Sriram, Georgia State University, USA Indrarini Laksmana, Kent State University, USA ABSTRACT We investigate whether corporations are following the “best disclosure practices” when presenting business reports on their Web sites. As a benchmark, we use the recommendations made by the Jenkins Committee (1994) to improve corporate reporting practices, to evaluate reports presented on corporate Web sites for their value, relevance, and quality of information. We compute a disclosure score using 26 items recommended by the Jenkins Committee and Meek et al. (Meek, Roberts, & Gray, 1995) as indicators of best reporting practices. Our findings reveal that most corporations do not follow “best disclosure practices” when reporting information on their Web sites. Only about half of the 26 disclosure items recommended by the Jenkins Committee are reported, and less than 50% of the sample firms in our study make such disclosure. Some of the items that the Jenkins Committee recommends as essential for improving quality and relevance of reporting such as forward-looking information (e.g., plans, opportunities and risks, forecasts, critical success factors), nonfinancial items (e.g., changes in operating performance, research and development activities), or off-balance sheet financing, are least often reported. The findings suggest that corporations must improve their Web site disclosures for investors to find them valuable, relevant, and useful. Keywords: adequacy of information; corporate Web site; information quality; relevance of information; Web site content INTRODUCTION The World Wide Web or Internet is be- coming an important medium to communicate information about an organization and its ac- tivities. A survey of the members of the Na- tional Institute of Investor Relations finds that investment relations departments are striving to fulfill investors’ demands for online informa- tion (Investor Relations Business, 1999, 2001). Corporations recognize that providing informa- tion online is operationally and strategically advantageous (Berk, 2001; Clarksworthy, 2000; Ettredge, Richardson, & Scholz, 2001; Stewart, 1998). Studies indicate that corporations dis- closing information derive benefits in the forms of increased market liquidity (Welker, 1995), lower cost of capital (Botosan, 1997), and en- hanced institutional and analyst interest in the IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING This paper appears in the publication, Information Resources Management Journal, vol. 19, issue 3 edited by Mehdi Khosrow-Pour © 2006, Idea Group Inc. 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Suite 200, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.idea-group.com ITJ3218