United States ¦ The compliance driven reporting culture makes it difficult for companies to present a holistic view of their business. sometimes a brief introduction to the group strategy using photography, colour and graphics. • 10-K designed: Companies such as Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase seem to have taken the approach of providing the Form 10-K content but in a slightly more accessible way than the regulatory form. Overall, the information presented in the United States sample group is statutory based, as opposed to being a communication based document, therefore the companies are limited in how they can demonstrate the story of their business. In addition, due to the ‘form’ nature of the reports, links between core business areas such as strategy, performance, risk and governance are not identified. Upon researching the full sample group, we could categorise the US reports into having taken one of three different approaches to reporting: • Separate Form 10-k and Annual Report: Companies such as Johnson & Johnson use the ‘Annual Report’ document as a means of communication and produce the Form 10-k as their statutory filing. However, the issue with some of the companies who reported in this way is that these reports tended to err on the side of acting more as advertising material, with little strategic substance. • 10-k wrap: Companies such as Wal-Mart, Cisco Systems and GE presented the Form 10-K as the majority of the Annual Report with an additional, designed front section. This tends to include performance highlights and Key statistics 22% include sustainability as part of their overall vision Only 17% show a link between their sustainability strategy and group strategy 42% include non-financial information in their report Only 8% provide non-financial performance data Key highlights • The Management Discussions and Analyses are very text heavy and focus mainly on the financial performance of the business. • Due to the compliance driven approach to reporting, it is difficult for the companies to produce a ‘holistic’ view of the company and provide any detailed non-financial information. This information tends to be presented online or in separate documents. • Any discussion which looks outside the financial performance of the company, tends to be provided in the management statements. Average report length Average length of narrative Average length of financials Number of ‘integrated’ reports 106 pages 60 pages 46 pages 0 out of 12 reports www.blacksunplc.com © Black Sun Plc 2011 15