Integrated thinking

Integrated thinking leads to integrated decision making and actions that consider the creation, preservation or erosion of value over the short, medium and long term. To learn more about integrated thinking, see Transition to integrated thinking: a guide to getting started to assist senior leadership and those charged with governance in an organisation on their journeys towards embedding integrated thinking. The report Integrated Thinking: A Virtuous Loop, details how leading businesses have mapped out and implemented their integrated thinking journey.

About the Integrated Thinking Principles v1.0

The Integrated Thinking Principles v1.0 (‘Principles’) – together with the Integrated Reporting Framework and the SASB Standards – can help embed sustainable business practices into your organisation and provide a foundation for long-term value creation. Integrated thinking and integrated reporting have long gone hand-in-hand and our case studies provide inspiring examples of how integrated thinking has supported the design and execution of strategies underpinning value creation for both investors and other key stakeholders. This version of the Principles was, updated following stakeholder feedback on the prototype Principles.

The Principles, which are interconnected, are implemented on three levels: the first comprises questions to the Board and CEO on how widely each Principle has been adopted across the organisation; the second offers the opportunity to test how deeply the Principles have been embedded into the organisation; and the third consists of management tools, practices and processes to bring integrated thinking to life.

→ Download the Principles v1.0

Transition to integrated thinking: a guide to getting started

The Guide introduces integrated thinking and the Principles, as well as explores the benefits and challenges of practicing integrated thinking. It delves further into the three levels of the Principles, helping organizations assess the extent to which integrated thinking has been adopted through questions and statements.

Integrated thinking case studies

The integrated thinking case studies have been developed to set out how individual organizations globally have developed their approach to integrated thinking and strategy. The case studies demonstrate how integrated thinking has had a transformative effect on the business models and strategies of these international organizations from a diversity of sectors.

Integrated thinking: A virtuous loop

This Integrated Thinking & Strategy Group report details how leading businesses have mapped out and implemented their integrated thinking journeys. The report explores integrated thinking as a constantly evolving loop. It examines case studies from some of the world's most innovative organizations, including Solvay and Novo Nordisk, and how they base their decisions on interconnected information across multiple capitals.