Reporting

There is a lot of discussion lately about integrated reporting and its importance to the future of CSR/Sustainability. Missing from most of this dialogue is the definition of integrated reporting, what exactly is it? Many CSR professionals speak of it in very definitive terms but when pressed find it difficult to define or  perhaps worse the definition varies widely from profession to professional. While many non-CSR professionals, especially those tasked with managing and driving their companies CSR forward, blankly stare with glazed eyes when the topic comes up.  So, what it is and why should it matter to the reporting process? Defining Integrated The first step to better understanding what is meant by integrated reporting is to finally define a standard.  This may become a herculean task. Most CSR professionals  are still waiting for one global standard for CSR reporting and that prospect seems elusive. One of the biggest challenges is that many companies have already begun creating "integrated reports" that adhere to nothing more than their own internal definition of integrated. Examples of these reports are abundant; from Takeda Pharmaceuticals which melded some CSR data into their annual report and labeled it 'integrated' (a common approach) to Novo Nordisk's annual report which strategically reports on ESG data that is directly related [...]