CARBONE ILARIA – Forlì Campus
Extended abstract
“The importance of the Integrated Report: an analysis in the banking and the insurance sectors”
The aim of this thesis is to highlight the importance of Integrated Reporting, particularly in the banking and
insurance sectors.
Chapter 1 describes the objectives, the benefits and the challenges of Integrated Reporting. It is then
discussed the importance of IR through the process of Integrated Thinking, which consists in the relations
between the operating units and the functions of an organization, as well as the capital that the company
uses or influences to remark the importance that the IR holds in the current context.
Chapter 2 highlights the evolution of reporting, starting from the traditional balance sheet and identifying
the criticalities and differences with the Integrated Report. The goal is to describe the inadequacy of
financial and quantitative reporting alone, in the Annual Report tool, in order to meet the new information
needs of the market.
Then the relationship between the Sustainability Report and the Integrated Report is introduced, together
with the deepening of regulatory bodies. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the GRI Guidelines are of
fundamental importance to date, in most of the Integrated Reports of companies.
In Chapter 3, an analysis of the Principles and Contents of the IIRC Framework is carried out, as a reference
point for the preparation of the Integrated Report, highlighting in particular the so-called "materiality"
(relevance) information in the process of creating value for companies and stakeholders.
In Chapter 4 and 5 it is highlighted the importance of Integrated Reporting in the banking and the insurance
sectors, taking respectively into account one organization for each of them: Unicredit S.p.A. and Generali
Assicurazioni S.p.A. Starting by describing the sectors under analysis (mission and vision and so on), the
economic and financial position of both the companies has been analysed. Then their Integrated Reports
were analysed, with a focus on Human Capital, through the measurement of the most relevant
performance.
Finally, a critical evaluation of the results obtained from the analysis of the Integrated Reports of both
companies was carried out, highlighting the common points, the peculiarities and the prospects for
improvement.