Methodology companies from different parts of the world. Secondly, to achieve a greater understanding of the international integrated reporting landscape. For those companies that are yet to take their first steps in integrated reporting, producing a report presents several challenges. For a start, it cannot be achieved without a fundamental rethink of business activities and processes. Closer collaboration is also needed between different teams and individuals within an organisation. We recognise these challenges and have created this suite of research documents to shed light on key issues and stimulate debate. By analysing the progress already made in this relatively new field, the documents are intended to support senior managers as they embark on their integrated reporting journey. They aim to help companies seize the opportunities and maximise the benefits that integrated reporting presents. Finally, they aim to show that, by embedding sustainability within their business model, strategy and management processes, companies can begin to rebuild trust and confidence in the reporting world. The focus for this survey is the narrative part of international Annual Reports, which for the purposes of this exercise includes everything except for the financial statements and notes. Annual Reports come in many shapes, sizes and formats around the world so we have taken our lead from the companies we surveyed and taken their definition of the ‘Annual Report’: sometimes this has been purely financial statements, other times a Sustainability Report and for others, a combination of the two. We have not considered separate Sustainability Reports, corporate websites, brochures, announcements or any other material that may have been produced during the year. This is because we argue that the Annual Report should explain a company’s material non-financial, environmental, social and governance issues and evidence the relationship between financial and nonfinancial performance. One report cannot and should not try to satisfy the needs of every stakeholder, and other reports and online channels should be used to present relevant information in a timely manner to different stakeholder groups. A total of over 100 companies were reviewed from a mix of capital and emerging market countries from the G20. The countries chosen included Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the United States and Europe. The European sample group contained companies from Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Spain and the UK. Sample groups for each country were made up of a combination of the top ten companies by market capitalisation from the FT Global 500 survey and the top five companies by market capitalisation from the Dow Jones Global sustainability index. In the case of Europe, the top 40 companies were surveyed. See Appendix A for a full list of the sample group. This study does not evaluate the accuracy of the information, compliance with industry regulations or sustainability performance. It is a study of how effectively companies have communicated financial, social, environmental and governance information. It was undertaken to develop insights into how companies are meeting the challenges of integration of these critical elements. The objective of the research is to determine, to what extent has financial, environmental, societal and governance reporting been integrated into the Annual Reports of companies in different international countries? www.blacksunplc.com © Black Sun Plc 2011 3