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

Chapter 4Motives

Six groups of actors, each with their own motives, comprise the integrated reporting movement: (1) companies, (2) the audience or users of integrated reports and integrated reporting, (3) supporting organizations, (4) supporting initiatives, (5) regulators, and (6) service providers. Each group's motives are a function of whether they are mission-driven, profit-driven, or some combination of the two. Companies are largely profit-driven, although some have a strong mission element as well. Audience includes a diverse set of report users: investors and other providers of financial capital (e.g., debt and project finance), sell-side analysts, rating agencies, employees, customers, suppliers, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). With the exception of NGOs, which are by definition mission-driven, these are largely profit-driven and interested in financial information. The mission-driven members are interested in nonfinancial information. One of the challenges a company practicing integrated reporting faces is to educate these different members on the value of taking a more holistic view of the company's performance. Regulators and supporting organizations and initiatives are mission-driven. Regulators can also be considered members of the audience. Finally, service providers are profit-driven.

These actors' relationships with each other make positive action possible. When two actors are both profit-driven, their relationship is one of shared economic self-interest ...