CURRENT DEVELOPMENT IN CORPORATE REPORTING

Prof Mawutor has recently been appointed as the CEO of Grace Plc, a listed company. The company develops specialist software for use by accountancy professionals. The specialist software market is particularly dynamic and fast changing. It is common for competitors to drop out of the market place. The most successful companies have been particularly focused on enhancing their offering to customers through creating innovative products and investing heavily in training and development for their employees.

Turbulent times

Grace Plc has been through a turbulent time over the last three years. During this time there have been significant senior management changes, which resulted in confusion among shareholders and employees as to the strategic direction of the company. One investor complained that the annual accounts made it hard to know where the company was headed. The last CEO introduced an aggressive cost-cutting programme aimed at improving profitability. At the beginning of the financial year the annual staff training and development budget was significantly reduced and has not been reviewed since the change in management.

Future direction

In response to the confusion surrounding the company's strategic direction, Prof Mawutor and the board published a new mission, the primary focus of which centres on making Grace Plc the market leader of specialist accountancy software. Prof Mawutor was appointed as the CEO having undertaken a similar role at a competitor. The board were keen on her appointment as she is renowned in the industry for her creativity and willingness to introduce 'fresh ideas'. In her previous role Prof Mawutor over saw the introduction of an integrated approach to reporting performance. This is something she is particularly keen to introduce at Grace Plc. During the company's last board meeting, Prof Mawutor was dismayed by the finance director's reaction when she proposed introducing integrated reporting at Grace Plc. The finance director made it clear that he was not convinced of the need for such a change, arguing that 'all this talk of integrated reporting in the business press is just a fad, requiring a lot more work, simply to report on things people do not care about. Shareholders are only interested in the bottom line'.

Required:

1. Discuss what is meant by 'integrated reporting', highlighting how it differs from traditional performance reporting. (5 marks)

2. State and explain any FIVE principles that guide preparers of Integrated Reports in shaping the content to meet the aspiration of stakeholders [Reference: IIRC Framework] (5 marks)

3. How may integrated reporting help Grace Plc to communicate its strategy and improve the company's strategic performance? Your answer should make reference to the concerns raised by the finance director. (5 marks)

4. Advise on the likely implications of introducing 'integrated reporting' which Grace Plc should consider before deciding to proceed with its adoption. (5 marks)