Businesses nowadays are expected to comply with societal values to ensure business sustainability. The social issues in the workplace, community, and marketplace require proper management to avoid such issues becoming a social risk that could affect the reputation and tarnish the corporate image. The aim of this study is to examine the disclosure of social information by plantation companies in Malaysia and Indonesia for a two-year period (2012 and 2014). Content analyses of the annual and sustainability reports of forty (40) public-listed companies in Malaysia and fourteen (14) public-listed companies in Indonesia were undertaken to evaluate the quantity and quality of social information provided. The location of social information in the annual and sustainability reports, the extent of information disclosed and the changes in disclosures between the two years form the basis of the investigation.

The results of the study revealed that regarding the location of information, Malaysian companies were moving from disclosure in the general section of the report to specific type information in the specific sections of the annual reports. However, the reverse trend was observed for the Indonesian companies. Overall, the Indonesian companies had a higher disclosure for all key elements for the two-year period as compared to the Malaysian companies. The quality of information provided by the companies in both countries for the two years, however, can be further improved regarding extensiveness of the disclosure.

The overall upward trend of social information provided suggests that companies in the sensitive industries such as the plantation industry are concerned about the social issues that they faced and are taking the initiatives to manage these issues to ensure they remain incongruent with societal expectations.