Earlier today Jordan Kimmel interviewed Bob Eccles on Trust Across America radio. The archived interview will be available in the next 48 hours.
www.voiceamerica.com/voiceamerica/vshow.aspx?sid=1713
Robert G. Eccles first joined the faculty of Harvard Business School in 1979. After receiving tenure, he started doing research on corporate reporting, a topic which remains of great interest to him from a research, managerial practice, and public policy perspective. His book One Report: Integrated Reporting for a Sustainable Strategy (with Michael P. Krzus) is the first book on this subject. This is the Amazon link.
Bob is a member of the Steering Committee of the International Integrated Reporting Committee (www.integratedreporting.org).
Jordan and Bob spent the hour talking about Integrated Reporting and why it is so timely. Highlights from the interview are reproduced below.
What is integrated reporting?
It is a single report produced by a company that combines material financial and nonfinancial data into one document.
Why is integrated reporting gaining in popularity?
Bob highlighted four main reasons:
1. Technology has made it easier for companies to share information with their stakeholders via their website.
2. Sustainability is becoming more mainstream.
3. The recent financial crisis has prompted companies to provide their stakeholders with added transparency.
4. Companies are becoming more aware of the importance of corporate repuation as an intangible asset.
Who benefits from integrated reporting?
1. Employees
2. Customers
3. NGO’s
4. Investors
5. Society
What are the key challenges in implementing an integrated report?
1. Companies must gather information from many different (and often independent) silos within the organization.
2. Internal measurements of nonfinancial reporting are not well developed.
3. Companies are not always willing to be, or comfortable in being, more transparent.
4. CEO”s must embrace the integrated reporting concept.
5. A lack of clear integrated reporting standards makes auditing difficult.
But the good news is that, over the next year, there will be more examples of public companies issuing integrated reports and more groups will be developing standards and frameworks.
In mid-October a workshop entitled “Workshop on Integrated Reporting: Framework & Next Steps” was held at HBS and sponsored by their Business and Environmental Initiative. This culminated in the release this week of a new e-book on integrated reporting, reflecting the input and efforts of 64 workshop attendees. The Landscape of Integrated Reporting: Reflections and Next Steps is now available at the following link:
www.smashwords.com/books/view/30930
In summary, the development of corporate integrated reporting (IR) standards is potentially one of the great business innovations of the 21st century, and could be pivotal in restoring public trust in business institutions. We are all stakeholders in some way, whether as employees, customers, or investors. As such, we can all play a role in encouraging companies to adopt IR into their culture.
Professor Eccles can be reached for comment at reccles@hbs.edu
or you can direct questions and comments to:
barbara@trustacrossamerica.com
Thank you Professor Eccles and Jordan! Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Barbara Kimmel, Executive Director, Trust Across America
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