A year on from the Singapore Accountancy Commission’s (SAC) introduction of the integrated reporting theory to Singapore, Black Sun, SAC and the SCFOI will be coming together to host a series of monthly workshops aiming to help senior executives on their organisation’s integrated reporting journey.

Exploring five critical ‘building blocks’ of developing an integrated report, exploring international reporting trends and stimulating the debate on how to move towards best practices, the workshop series will cover the following aspects:

• Value proposition & business model
• Linking communication around strategy
• Bringing governance to life
• Integrating sustainability
• Effective use of channels and communication

 

The inaugural workshop focused on the first ‘building block’ on successfully articulating the organisation’s value proposition and how it relates to the communication of the business model and overarching purpose.

Moderated by Ms Sallie Pilot, Director of Research and Strategy, Mr David Christopherson, Group Chief Executive & Founding Partner and Mr Uantchern Loh, Chief Executive of SAC, “value creation” was the keyword for the day.

“Tone at the top, the tune in the middle and the beat of the feet at the bottom” a quote from Professor Mervyn King, Chairman of IIRC shared during the workshop, aptly depicted a big picture of how integrated reporting will help communicate a holistic approach to business sustainability.

In the past, annual reports were used to report the company’s story. Today, it is used to tell the company’s story. In the future, it is envisioned that stakeholders will live the company’s story. Integrated reporting requires integrated thinking and a change in the questions management asks. Questions needed for tomorrow would include ‘what the customer wants’, ‘how has the company created value for its stakeholders’, ‘the reasons the company exists’ and ‘what differentiates my company against my competitors’.

Looking forward, the implementation of integrated reporting will be a long-term journey as Ms Sallie Pilot summed up. There will be many different ways of doing it and no one right way. Take small steps forward, along the way asking difficult questions that nobody has dared to ask before and tell a good, clear, concise and holistic story.

Echoing her sentiments, Mr Uantchern Loh commented that integrated reporting is a concept and that the application of this concept will be dependent on what works best for the organisation. There is no manual to follow. It is a journey that the organisation has to embark and everyone will have a role to play in this journey.

The SCFOI aims to be a globally-recognised body of CFOs and CFO aspirants and is dedicated to advancing the role of CFOs as strategic partners in business and the community, by driving thought leadership, promoting best practices and enabling their professional development. The second of this workshop series will be taking place later this year.