The Integrated Reporting Movement: Meaning, Momentum, Motives, and Materiality

Foreword

True leaders aim to take people to a place they have never been, and they have a plan to get them there.

For those among us who dream of leading our companies toward economic, environmental, and social sustainability, “integrated reporting” is a key part of the plan to get us where we need to go.

This is why Robert Eccles's and Mike Krzus's The Integrated Reporting Movement is such an important book; it arms today's leaders with reasons to continue the movement's momentum.

More than a trend, a public relations (PR) incentive, or just “the right thing to do,” sustainability is about growth and innovation. It's about winning the war for talent and winning in the marketplace. It recognizes that, today, people care as much about a company's purpose, values, and global impact as they do about its products, packaging, and prices. Integrated reporting is a big idea because, as a methodology, it helps create the strategies, the business models, the cultures, and the thinking that lead to a more sustainable business—and a more sustainable world.

From my own front-row seat as a chief executive officer (CEO), I've been a proud champion of the movement that Professor Eccles and Mike Krzus so thoroughly describe and enthusiastically support. SAP is a global technology company with 66,000 employees and more than 260,000 customers. As we went from having a stand-alone sustainability strategy to creating a corporate strategy that is sustainable (a huge difference), we began presenting ...