Future scenarios for corporate reporting and stakeholder dialogue
Corporate reporting is rapidly evolving, influenced by environmental, societal, technological, and managerial trends. The Corporate Reporting Monitor, launched in 2019 by the Center for Corporate Reporting (CCR) in collaboration with leading academic institutions, serves as a strategic guide to master these changes. Reimagined as a “Future Lab” in 2022, it explores future scenarios for corporate reporting and stakeholder dialogue. Specifically, the study has resulted in three distinct scenarios — the “Public Value Report”, “Reporting without a Report”, and “Report-on-Demand”— each representing conceivable but radical ideal types. While distinct in their approaches, these scenarios highlight the diverse and potentially transformative paths corporate reporting could take.
By Christian Pieter Hoffmann, Sandra Binder-Tietz and Anna Kremer
Corporate Reporting Monitor: the Future Lab
In 2022, the Corporate Reporting Monitor, a collaboration between CCR, the Center for Research in Financial Communication at the University of Leipzig, and FH St. Pölten, was reimagined as a “Future Lab,” focusing entirely on the future development of corporate reporting and stakeholder dialogue. The guiding question for the “Corporate Reporting Monitor: Future Lab” is:
“What are future scenarios for corporate reporting and stakeholder dialogue?”
The project began by identifying numerous trends in the environment, society, technology, and leadership/management fields which were then evaluated for their potential influence on reporting. The project team developed hypotheses on how these trends might impact future reporting and stakeholder dialogue. The 30 most relevant hypotheses were presented to independent experts in reporting, design, communication, and auditing for plausibility testing. Finally, the hypotheses were refined through stakeholder consultations, leading to the development of scenarios for the future of corporate reporting and stakeholder dialogue.
Each of the following three scenarios is an aggregate of various changes and developments that portray a similar picture and require similar adaptations in corporate reporting. Each scenario represents an extreme point that may contradict the other two scenarios. The scenarios are deliberately radical and idealized visions of the future of corporate reporting. They challenge current reporting practices and support corporations in refining their reporting strategies and ensuring their resilience to potential future disruptions.
Scenario #1: Public Value Report
The annual report evolves from a tool for investor relations to one that addresses a broad socio-political audience, aimed at securing corporate legitimacy and acceptance. Reporting focuses on the company’s impact on society and the environment, with financial success conditional upon public acceptance. Current political debates and public demands for transparency continuously shape reporting requirements. Therefore, public affairs and government relations play a crucial role in reporting by anticipating and influencing relevant political developments.
Corporate communication takes charge of reporting and stakeholder dialogue, utilizing corporate publishing, websites, and social media. Powerful stakeholders expect companies to take a stance in current debates, making the public value report a tool for positioning and conveying company values. The report must be accessible, understandable, and engaging in its content, visualization, and usability. Reporting includes scenario planning to foresee changes in public value and business performance in different political, technological, and ecological scenarios. Companies experiment and adapt to new reporting requirements, using diverse success metrics like resilience, acceptance, and diversity.
Scenario #2: Reporting without a Report
Technological advancements, particularly artificial intelligence (AI), transform reporting into an optimized data exchange process that may ultimately eliminate traditional reports. Companies feed data into third-party databases, which process and tailor information for various end users (investors, analysts, rating agencies, journalists). These intermediaries gather extensive usage data, enabling personalized access to company information. Companies also provide raw data on their platforms, but target audiences prefer optimized intermediary offerings, making it crucial for companies to understand these intermediaries’ requirements.
Since data conveyance is no longer under corporate control, investor relations gain importance for explaining the company’s perspective and addressing potential misunderstandings. Large financial institutions use AI tools to pull, aggregate, and analyze company data. Standardization is essential for automated data handling, leading to high regulatory density. The push for real-time reporting creates data validation, verification, and security challenges, as various actors seek instant access to corporate data.
Scenario #3: Report-on-Demand
“Which report would you like?” epitomizes the report-on-demand scenario. Reporting teams develop core content, which is then tailored to meet specific audience needs, creating a consistent yet varied report portfolio. Capital market professionals prefer straightforward data reports, while a digitally enhanced, narrative report is designed for the broader socio-political audience, emphasizing sustainability and core messages with fewer technical details.
A brief downloadable version of the public report is used in customer communication, and concise, data-driven reports are utilized for political briefings. Internal audiences receive a report highlighting social responsibility, product innovation, and success stories, featuring interactive and gamification elements to engage employees. Short versions of this internal report are also used for employer branding, focusing on strategy, business success, and corporate values.
Understanding audience needs through corporate listening is crucial for optimizing the report portfolio. A strategic approach to reporting, prioritizing target groups, and evaluating their feedback is essential. The integrated, cross-functional reporting process involves corporate communications, HR, investor relations, government relations, and marketing, requiring an agile approach to compiling content and designing reports.
Navigating the scenarios
Some of the developments outlined by the three scenarios are already visible today. However, each scenario constitutes an ideal type. Ultimately, annual reports will remain as diverse as companies’ cultures and business models. Yet, every company may be affected by the trends incorporated in the three reporting scenarios. None of the scenarios should therefore be ignored. Each of the scenarios could be technologically feasible and fulfill disclosure requirements in the future. Companies must navigate these possibilities, integrating elements from each scenario to stay ahead in an ever-changing reporting landscape.
Study Results
The results of the Corporate Reporting Monitor study (2019-2021) and the interim reports from the Future Lab (2022-2023) are available to CCR members in the protected area of the CCR website. The final report from the Future Lab will be published at the end of 2024.
Public content from the Future Lab can be ordered here.
CCR Webinar “Key findings from the Corporate Reporitng Monitor's Future Lab”
Over the course of three years, the Future Lab conducted research, expert interviews, interdisciplinary workshops and finally surveys to identify trends that challenge reporting and stakeholder dialog in order to develop scenarios for the future.
The highlights from the Future Lab final report 2024 (to be published at the end of the year) will be presented in a public webinar by Prof. Dr. Christian Hoffmann on December 5, 2024.
Prof. Dr. Christian Pieter Hoffmann
is a Professor of Communication Management at the University of Leipzig and Academic Director at the Center for Research in Financial Communication.
Dr. Sandra Binder-Tietz
is Managing Director at the Center for Research in Financial Communication and receives a CCR scholarship for her research in capital market communication.
Anna Kremer
is Senior Advisor at the Center for Corporate Reporting.