Demand for knowledge-based products is changing the structure of global economy and the role of intellectual capital in business, especially human capital. Although a large number of studies have been done on intellectual capital, the literature on specific human capital disclosure and its relation to contextual variables is limited. Hence, the present study tries to fill the existing gap in research and contribute to the body of literature by investigating the impact of contextual variables (continent of origin and growth status of country) on the inclusion/disclosure of Human Resource Management (HRM) information (human capital) in annual reports of the foreign companies operating in India. Data collected from 202 companies identified on the basis of shareholding patterns (more than 50% foreign shareholding) and information availability (annual report and official website) is analyzed using the content analysis approach. The findings highlight that continent of origin has more impact on HRM information disclosure as compared to growth status of the country of origin. However, there are a number of unaccountable variables that may affect the research findings and need to be explored. Nonetheless, documenting the variations in HRM inclusion/disclosure of companies from different continents and countries of origin enables a greater understanding of the prevalent voluntary disclosure practices and importance given to HRM in corporate disclosures. Being the strategic key area, human resource skill, potential and abilities affect the way company performs and explicitly impact the content of annual report. Such an understanding holds the potential to guide researchers, HR professionals and policy makers.

nclusion of intellectual capital in public disclosure document has become a topic of interest amongst the research scholars of different disciplines. Researches indicate that intellectual capital has direct/indirect linkage with the wealth creation of companies’ stakeholders. Being one of the strategic key areas along with other intellectual capital, human resource skill, knowledge, potential and abilities affect the way the company performs and explicitly impact the content of annual report in terms of performance.

With the advent of new economic structure, knowledge is the prime weapon in today’s globalized battlefield. Competitiveness of the nations as well as companies depends on knowledge residing and embedded in their workforce, process, strategy, technology and other intellectual assets rather than availability of physical resources (Shukla, 2014). The role of intellectual capital in creating value to the firm is well known by researchers as well as professionals. At the one end, knowledge-based economies are having intellectual capital as the main source of competitive advantage, while on the other, demand for including intellectual capital in public disclosure document is also increasing day-by-day. Researchers start arguing for greater emphasis on intellectual capital in various corporate disclosure means. In spite of having an impact on companies’ wealth creation, many intellectual issues are lagging behind in terms of finding a place in public disclosure documents of business organization. It is rightly said by Albert Einstein that “What counts cannot always be counted, what can be counted does not always counts.” Even responsible organizations like ICAI are still looking at the measurement issues related to intellectual capital.

Management Research Journal, Analyzing HRM Inclusion/Disclosure, A Context-Based Approach