The International Financial Reporting Standard 8: Operating Segments: An Analysis of Jordanian Listed Companies' Disclosure Practices and Some Jordanian Stakeholders' Perceptions

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued International Financial Reporting Standard No. 8 (IFRS 8) “Operating Segments” in November 2006 as a part of its convergence programme with the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB); the new standard became effective for periods beginning on or after 1/January/2009 (IASB, 2006a). IFRS 8 supersedes the previous international accounting standard (IAS): IAS 14 Revised (IAS 14R) “Segment Reporting” (IASC, 1997). There are two main objectives to this study: (i) to assess the impact of IFRS 8 on the segmental disclosures of Jordanian listed firms in their annual reports for 2009 when the standard became effective; and (ii) to explore the perceptions of external auditors, preparers and users (investors and analysts) of financial statements about this new segmental reporting standard. A decision usefulness theoretical framework underpins the research; the research was carried out by using a disclosure index analysis and semi-structured interviews. The research is located in Burrell and Morgan’s (1979) functionalist paradigm using a decision usefulness theory lens.