Integrated Thinking, Corporate Local Identity and Disclosure Choices of Italian Companies

The internationalization of markets, the increased awareness of socio-environmental issues and of the holistic approach to value creation, as well as the pressure of the financial crisis, have made increasingly clear the role that companies play in maintaining a sustainable environment. In this perspective, the development of integrated management systems allows the definition of long-term strategies that are inclusive of goals aimed to balance individuals’, corporations’ and communities’ interests. This paper presents the results of an exploratory analysis on integrated reporting choices made by a sample of Italian entities, a s there is evidence of a positive relation between integrated reporting practices and the integration of sustainability issues in corporate strategies. Our hypothesis is that the strong link and the closeness of companies to local communities leads entities to look at sustainability as a basic objective of their strategies, thus influencing the adoption of integrated reporting and management practices.