New trends and directions in CSD: the Integrated Reporting

In chapter 3, Pistoni and Songini critically discuss the Integrated Reporting, with the aim to present its objectives and the framework, but especially to underline the antecedents of this emerging proposal, main critical issues in its implementation, positive impacts, points of strength and weaknesses. The authors point out that implementing the IR framework, in terms of contents and form of the document, represents only the more visible side of the coin. The other side refers to the process of integrated reporting, that requires a strong interaction among functions and the diffusion of an integrated thinking inside the company. Prerequisite of an IR should be a re-organization of processes, organizational roles and units, and a revised approach to strategy. Only if the various steps of the integrated reporting process are really integrated, we can expect to read in the integrated report a clear narrative flow that connects financial and non-financial performance with strategy, actions and measures. Moreover, Songini and Pistoni highlight some critical issues in the adoption of IR that may explain why its diffusion among companies is still limited. Main relevant issues concern communicating the firm strategy and the process of value creation, the absence of connectivity among strategy, business model, performance and future outlook, the presence of an informative gap in areas such as governance, stakeholder engagement and materiality process, the inadequate description of the business model, and the necessity of a third-party verification.