The points below provide some possible topics ideas for future research on integrated reporting and integrated thinking in South Africa.
Please do let us know if you will be addressing a topic from the list below and the expected completion date.
- The challenges encountered or expected to be encountered by organisations adopting S1 and S2 and how these may be overcome;
- Synthesising the sustainability discourse: highlighting key similarities and tensions between existing sustainability frameworks (both minor and major frameworks);
- The extent to which interoperability between the ISSB’s standards and those issued by other bodies (such as the EU) could be achieved in practice keeping in mind the existing variations in sustainability reporting guidelines and requirements in different jurisdictions;
- The advantages and disadvantages of the ISSB’s approach to framing sustainability-related reporting as part of an economic discourse including its approach to materiality determination;
- How the notion of “impact” and “financial materiality” have informed standard-setters and the implications for theory and practice;
- Technical and conceptual analyses of the differences between “financial” or “ economic impact” materiality and “double materiality” including the implications for preparers, users and regulators;
- Methods for incorporating environmental, social and governance factors into management systems, internal controls, valuations, key performance indicators and risk appraisals;
- The challenges of collecting credible and complete data for compiling sustainability reports under S1 and S2 and the GRI with recommendations for addressing existing limitations including, for example, the application of data management techniques, refined internal control systems and the use of artificial intelligence;
- How academic research on issues like biodiversity reporting, extinction accounting and ecological accounting can be incorporated practically into sustainability reports prepared under S1 and S2 and/or be adapted by the ISSB when it develops further standards.
- What is the association between implementation of integrated thinking and ‘business success’ or ‘improved firm value’?
- How is integrated reporting best communicated? (e.g. the use of visuals and interactive web formats).
- How can organizations operationalize integrated thinking?
- Over ten years of integrated reporting: what has been achieved; what have been the lasting effects?
- Outcomes and organisational cash flow: do outcomes/ impacts on society and the environment affect cash flow at some stage (short, medium or long term)?
- What is the effect of disclosure of strategy, business model, and outlook on market competitiveness and other measures of a successful business?
- Long-term versus short-term considerations in reporting and corporate decision-making processes.
- How organisations have embedded integrated thinking.
- Stakeholder-inclusive reporting vs investor-focused models – does taking a specific slant really make a difference?
- The relevance of outcomes-based governance for the successful application of integrated thinking.
- Adapting integrated thinking frameworks/measurement criteria/indicators for organisations increasingly relying on artificial intelligence and automation in decision-making.
- How companies are integrating climate resilience scenarios into their strategic outlook and capital allocation decisions and how this is disclosed in integrated reports.
- The extent to which organisations are applying integrated thinking principles beyond their boundaries. Put differently, how is integrated thinking impacting the value chain such as, for example, upstream suppliers and downstream users.
- What are the behavioural drivers and barriers to adopting integrated thinking within senior leadership and operational teams?
- How national or organisational cultures influence the implementation and understanding of integrated thinking.
- The skillsets and competencies required across disciplines (such as, for example, finance, sustainability or technology) to produce meaningful integrated reports?
- A cross-disciplinary analysis of integrated thinking. In other words, how can practices of integrated thinking in professions such as engineering, medicine etc. be adapted and applied to assurance and sustainability reporting.
- How machine learning and natural language processing tools can enhance assurance processes for non-financial disclosures.
- The role of blockchain in enhancing data verifiability and trustworthiness (assurance) in integrated/sustainability reports?
- The role of incentive structures and performance management systems in promoting or inhibiting integrated thinking.
- Tensions between financial materiality and double materiality and their implications for preparers, users and assurance providers
- The practical challenges of interoperability between ISSB, GRI and ESRS frameworks (both minor and more common frameworks).
- The development of assurance methodologies for forward-looking and scenario-based disclosures (e.g., climate risk).
- The extent to which integrated thinking can be measured as a cognitive capability of decision-makers, rather than inferred from disclosures or performance indicators.
- The economic costs and organisational trade-offs associated with implementing integrated reporting and integrated thinking frameworks and whether these outweigh the perceived benefits.
- The influence of algorithmic and AI-driven decision-making systems on the application (or erosion) of integrated thinking principles within organisations.
- How AI can be leveraged by organisations in developing an integrated report, implementing integrated thinking, supporting data collection and monitoring for extra-financial information.
Contribute to suggestions for research topics
If you would like to add a suggestion for potential research topics, please send it to admin@integratedreportingsa.org