Aligning integrated data management with corporate reporting: the role of sustainability reporting

The EU/2014/95 Directive represents a point of discontinuity in corporate reporting which has produced several effects on corporate practices and communication. Cor-porate control systems also had to be updated to include financial and non-financial issues such as environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues within the con-trol and reporting mechanisms. Integrated data management can represent a crucial tool for managing the changes in progress and improving performance. This study aims to investigate the relationship between integrated data management and corpo-rate reporting by assessing whether the Directive has had an impact on the imple-mentation of integrated systems. The analysis of two virtuous cases in the field of sustainability reporting, as well as a public interest entity, highlights the effects of the Directive on corporate control and data management. The findings suggest dif-ferent effects on companies with different sustainability reporting experience. The study has theoretical and practical implications contributing to the literature about integrated data systems and sustainability reporting.