Oh yes, these which emerged from the MDGs but which are much better thought through, I agree. I am, though, reminded of one of the key failings of the recent job summit - and I think it was Alan Winde, former Economic Development MEC in the Western Cape who pointed it out, and as has often been lamented, of the Skills Development System (and I know that legislation and all the policies backwards) - that small and micro businesses are often ignored, and werelargely absent from the job summit. Even though all the policies and legislation pay lipservice to them. Hell, Zuma even established a ministry for small business. To what end? To set it apart rather than to include it, is the result, I would argue.

So big corporates, like Unilever, and PHP, the big banks, can and do "re-engineer" and integrate their reporting, and many have been doing it for a years - in the guise of first, public affairs or relations, then corporate social "responsibility" which later became known as "investment" and now "sustainability" the the integrated reporting you mention (I was, in a past life, a fundraiser(!)). Small and micro businesses focus only on the bottom line. Having had a share in a small company that went to the wall, the costs involved in participating in these initiatives outweighed any real return - unless there were funds to invest and there was a guaranteed ROI. Often there isn't. And yes, sometimes it has to do with the leadership (or lack of it - ethical or otherwise), but often it is simply a matter of resources with a focus on the stakeholders closest to the entity: the customer, the employee and the owners/shareholders. Usually in that order.

These are such interesting and challenging issues. Thanks for stretching me to think about them - it's been a while :)