The expected benefits of DESIRE TO INNOVATE
Governance is a content element of the integrated report, but that alone does not explain its
importance. The involvement of the company s governing body (board of directors or supervisory
committee) and senior management is vital, as they alone can drive innovation by:
→ providing strategic direction and breaking it down into a business model that they can monitor
closely,
→ striking the right balance between the different components of the integrated report with
regard to risks and opportunities,
→ ensuring that, in addition to visibility, the process uses effective differentiation enablers to
create medium and long term value,
→ providing reassurance concerning the advantage of communicating with key stakeholders
about new aspects (based on the thresholds and criteria they have validated),
→ fostering a trust-based environment conducive to a culture of transparency and constructive
self-examination,
→ monitoring the process efficiency.
Without this leadership, the company will struggle to generate the cross-functional cooperation
and commitment it requires from all of its members. The integrated report would be an empty
concept without integrated thinking and, therefore, the dynamic that leverages all the expected
benefits of Several factors helped make the process a success. Firstly, the
support of our governing and managing bodies (the Board of
Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Financial Offi-
cer), which supported the «Corporate Reporting Evolution»
project aimed at adopting Integrated Reporting.
The commitment of my colleagues (CSR, finance, investor rela-
tions, communications, strategy) was key to producing the report.
MASSIMO ROMANO,
HEAD OF INTEGRATED REPORTING & CFO HUB AT GENERALI
15)
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