Black Sun launches research tracking changes of companies on their journey towards Integrated Reporting
Black Sun's new research produced in association with the IIRC, finds that 93% of companies that participated in the report believe that moving towards an Integrated Reporting framework helps to breakdown siloes between teams and leads to better connected departments. The report ‘Understanding Transformation: Building the Business Case for Integrated Reporting’, tracks the behavioural changes of companies on their journey towards Integrated Reporting during the first year of the IIRC’s Pilot Programme initiative.
Integrated Reporting provides an opportunity for companies to present a holistic and complete picture of the business in a clear, concise, connected and comparable manner. The organisations participating in the research are at different stages but are all involved in the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)’s Pilot Programme, which aims to help develop an International Integrated Reporting Framework. The Pilot Programme involves more than 80 private and public organisations in the business network and 25 institutional investors. Drawn from all over the world, participants are trialling the principles, content and practicalities of the Framework to provide feedback and build business momentum towards its implementation. The Black Sun report provides a baseline for follow-up research that will track the progress these organisations are making.
Paul Druckman, CEO of the IIRC commented “It is clear that much of the change to achieve Integrated Reporting needs to be driven by companies themselves. It is up to them to demonstrate what constitutes good business, and an Integrated Report is an important tool to achieve this. I think that the report by Black Sun highlights this thinking and I am encouraged by its results. I am looking forward to further shaping the future of the framework with the Pilot Programme participants and welcoming the next phase in our journey towards Integrated Reporting”
Some of the other key findings from the report include:
- 98% agreed that the shift towards Integrated Reporting leads to a better understanding of how the organisation will create value over time; 74% agreed that it will lead to more consistency in external communications.
- 93% agreed that it leads to better quality data collection
- 64% think that analysts will benefit significantly from Integrated Reporting in future
- 95% think that employees will benefit
- 28% are already seeing significant benefit to the Board from Integrated Reporting; 56% expected to see significant benefit to the Board in future, with 97% anticipating positive change overall.
Sallie Pilot, Director of Research & Strategy at Black Sun commented “As advocates for Integrated Reporting, we undertook the research to track the positive changes and trends which the Pilot Programme participants were experiencing since partaking in the initiative. I find the initial research findings promising as they evidence and bring to life both the internal and external benefits of Integrated Reporting. As the title suggests, I anticipate that the findings will help support the business case for not just Integrated Reporting but also good reporting right across the globe and encourage other organisations to get involved in the programme.”