Global Compact International Yearbook Ausgabe 2013

Agenda
Integrated Reporting
thereby necessary prerequisites. EnBW’s path is signposted by
a continual convergence process that includes many internal
stakeholders in different working groups. EnBW’s integrated
report is adapted on a homoeopathic dosage level so as not
to overburden the reader with this new form of reporting.
As an interim result, EnBW has published a combined report
for fiscal year 2012. EnBW consciously uses the term “combined
report” – in other words, a combination of the sustainability
and business reports – because not all central concepts of
integrated reporting have been implemented yet. This report
was created based upon an optimized sustainability strategy
and it already combines key aspects of the business and sustainability
reports to a major degree. In addition, first steps
were made to reduce the amount of facts provided to limit
the report to the most crucial information.
EnBW’s project organization
EnBW’s path encompasses at its heart a company-wide project
that was set up by the EnBW Board of Directors to implement
the idea of integrated reporting across business units. The project
is under the leadership of one employee from the finance
branch and one employee from the sustainability branch (both
authors). This step is an important signal for a change from
internal “silo thinking” – irrespective of what degree this
situation is present in a company – to an integrated approach.
For achieving the project goals, a close mesh of all relevant
business units is crucial, therefore they are all integrated into
the project team. This means that various representatives
from the fields of strategy, communications, investor relations,
corporate accounting, legal affairs, controlling, environmental
protection, human resources, and sustainability are involved
throughout the process of the project.
Open questions
Although significant progress has been made in a number
of fields with regard to content elements and guiding principles,
some questions remain unresolved. It still needs to be
clarified whether integrated reporting is a renunciation of the
traditional shareholder value reporting. In the Consultation
Draft, investors are described as the main addressees, but at
the same time the concept fosters the idea of a stakeholder
orientation, which is advocated by many companies. There are
different opinions out there as to whether integrated reporting
is more than pure report optimization – in terms of reducing
and trimming business reports. Corporate experience will
highlight whether an integrated governance concept has to
be at the heart of a process that addresses corporate steering
components for assessing the main corporate objectives as well
as presenting the company strategy and performance results
in a new address-orientated format. In addition, a number of
national particularities will have to be resolved. In Germany,
there are discussions as to whether the German management
report (Lagebericht) already fulfills the recommendations of the
Consultation Framework on integrated reporting. The initial
view that there are no major changes in comparison to the
requirements of the German management report (s. DRS 20,
German Accounting Standard, a regulatory standard for the
group management report in Germany) has to be taken into
consideration. But upon closer examination, significant changes
can be identified when compared to the current legal requirements.
These affect the accuracy of the report, the expectations
of the linked representations, stakeholder-oriented reporting,
and future orientation.
These and other questions are being discussed on a regular
basis together with other German pilot program companies
(SAP, Munich Airport, BASF, and Deutsche Bank) at the German
IIRC Round Table. It is the objective of the Round Table to
have regular exchanges of experiences concerning the central
question of implementing IIRC recommendations.
Integrated reporting can definitely not be classified as “old
wine in new bottles.” It constitutes a new approach for company
reporting as well as for corporate governance. This new
approach has led – and will lead – companies in the near
future to alter their approaches to collecting, linking, and
preparing financial and non-financial information and to
external reporting. In comparison to compliance with rulebased
approaches, it has the potential. The discussion entails
the promise that, in the future, corporations can gain more
trust and confidence in the reporting of its stakeholders
through more clarity, conciseness, and transparency in their
main communication tool.
By introducing integrated reporting, companies can achieve
reputational advantages with key stakeholders by using a
precise, transparent, and representative form of reporting.
Both authors supervise EnBW’s project on Integrated
Reporting. Dr. Lothar Rieth is project manager in the
Sustainability Department, Christoph Dolderer is Chief
Group Accounting Officer at Energie Baden-Württemberg
(EnBW AG).
Global Compact International Yearbook 2013 181