At Insights7, we work to equip companies to operationalize integrated thinking–and we actively participate in the international community of practice for this emerging and important field. So we want to thank the Good Governance Academy and the ESG Exchange for their recent program on Integrated Thinking. The speakers and discussion were excellent. Thankfully, the exchange has created this helpful page with a concise introduction to the topic with plenty of helpful links, including a video of the meeting.
A few highlights: Jenna Moore talked about member presentations to investors in New York each year that are based on CECP’s integrated long-term planning framework. Nick Rockey shared the a great table (see the graphic above or click to view a video of his explanation) about the continuum of Integrated Thinking and Integrated Reporting (IR-IT). Nick and Jeremy Osborn talked about the fact that this is a journey requiring transformation and change management. Jeremy also highlighted the case studies (now at the IFRS website) which highlight an important value of integrated thinking coming from the ability to see the connections between strategy and alignment, value creation now and in the future.
These meetings always have a lively chat among the international audience. That’s where I learned about the new article in at Strategic Finance, Integrated Reporting Reflects Integrated Thinking, which draws heavily from the recently defended Ph.D. dissertation of Brigitte de Graaff. Here’s the reference for the thesis as well as some recent academic studies that were also suggested in the chat:
- The (r)evolution of integrated reporting: The impact of integrated reporting on the visibility of integrated thinking in performance management systems, Brigitte de Graaff, Ph.D. dissertation. Awarding Institution, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Award date: 7 Jul 2023 Print ISBNs 9789036107181 Publication status. Published – 7 Jul 2023
- A review of integrated thinking research in developed and developing economies by Dusan Ecim, Warren Maroun, Journal of Accounting in Emerging Economies. ISSN: 2042-1168. Open Access. Article publication date: 11 August 2022. Issue publication date: 5 July 2023
- Refining integrated thinking by Warren Maroun, Dusan Ecim, Dannielle Cerbone
Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal. ISSN: 2040-8021. Open Access. Article publication date: 30 August 2022
What I found especially striking in de Graaff’s thesis was her focus on the effect of IR-IT on performance management systems. It’s much more common today to hear people talking about integrated reporting which, while crucial, doesn’t itself lead to change. For that, you need integrated thinking that reaches into the way people do their work and the way organizations structure their internal decision systems for resource allocation and capex/opex decisions.
This ESG Exchange program was a great follow up to the panel we participated in at the IFRS Integrated Thinking and Reporting conference earlier this summer in Frankfurt Germany. If you are interested in how to operationalize integrated thinking, please download our Insights7 Brief: Operationalizing Integrated Thinking.