Case question

Long-Term Examination Project

Danone: Adopting Integrated Reporting.

(9B18B017)

Due Dates: see below (by midnight via email).

Sources you may want to access: https://integratedreporting.org/ and

https://ecgi.global/content/codes.

Since that this is a real case, there should be plenty of information available on Danone and integrated

reporting overall, given that this is a so called “hot” topic. There is, for example, a relevant YouTube video

produced by Danone. Also, you can check what Danone did. Finally, your work on SABIC forms a minor

basis for comparison.

There are two due dates:

The first due date is January 30 @ midnight, where you are required to answer questions 1 through 4.

The second due date is February 6 @ midnight where all questions are required (you will receive feedback

on questions 1 through 4 to help you prepare the final report).

Presentation will take place on Monday February 10. All team members must present, and it is a formal

presentation. The report is formal (see below).

Questions:

1. Why do companies report on non-financial dimensions of their business? TWO-page maximum.

2. What different frameworks and standards are available to Danone for reporting non-financial

information? There are four standards (GRI, IIRC, SASB, and company specific standards, in this

case Danone’s). List and analyze eight takeaways. One takeaway is corporate culture, for

example. Draw at least three overall conclusions from your analysis. You may want to use a table

with the four major reporting standards and list pros and cons for each. Using single spacing (can

be done with bullet points and tables). FOUR-page maximum.

3. What are the key differences between Danone’s view and the IIRC’s view on integrated financial

reporting (IR)? How important are these differences to a company’s reporting process?

4. What are integrated KPI and why is it so difficult to develop good ones?

5. If you had to develop integrated KPIs for any of Danone’s capitals, which one would you select?

Why? What do you think about the notion of capitals?

6. Would you advice Danone to monetize its capitals to report the process of value creation by the

company? What would be your pros and cons? What is the value creation process of integrated

reporting? For whom? For what? Concerning monetization, do you prefer quantitative or

qualitative metrics? Why? How can intangibles such as human capital be valued?

7. If you were Laura Palmeiro, what would you decide and why?

8. Suggest (either in table or bullet point format) improvements to Danone’s report. This should be

on the last two pages of the body of your report.

Finally, use a stakeholder approach in your analysis. Internal stakeholders include: Nature team, investor

relations manager, communications manager, environmental reporting team, sustainability reporting

manager, and risk manager. External stakeholders include: shareholders, society, governments, NGOs,

academia, suppliers, and consumers. An efficient way to take into account stakeholder interests is to list

each stakeholder and their respective interests (one or two sentences for each) on a separate page (last

page of the report as an appendix). Then, you can simply refer to the stakeholder by name in the body of

the report. Report length: 10 to 12 pages. WORD FILE ONLY (Turnitin will be used), NO EXECUTIVE

SUMMARY. However, a PROFESSIONAL REPORT IS REQUIRED. Distribute the text evenly between the

margins (Ctrl+J) and use 1.5 line spacing. Good Luck!