MGT 538 Reporting with Purpose
This course focuses on the interaction between reporting and corporate transformation. Corporate reporting used to be limited to annual financial reports describing past performance in combination with quarterly earnings updates for shareholders. Currently, most companies provide far more than financial updates, either because of legal requirements or voluntarily. Shareholders, but also many other stakeholders, want a better understanding of a company’s purpose and progress towards a more sustainable future, based on a clear narrative and relevant metrics. This is particularly true for companies planning to transform their business in response to climate change and other major social and environmental challenges.
Transforming a company typically requires a change in the product or service offered, but also a change in the way a company operates (internal transformation) and how it relates to the outside world (external transformation). Furthermore, with intangibles such as corporate reputation and intellectual and human capital often representing 80% or more of enterprise value, non-financial metrics become increasingly important to capture the essence of a company’s competitive edge and long-term value.
This course explores the role of integrated reporting, and how the reporting process both reflects and reinforces corporate transformation by building alignment and trust with both internal and external stakeholders. Key topics that will be discussed are materiality analysis, business transformation metrics, target setting, statement of purpose, ESG standards and raters, and sustainable finance.