Stakeholder summary reports are crucial for building relationships with all the parties with a vested interest in a particular business. Such reports help to deliver information about the crucial ideas, plans, and achievements of the company. Stakeholder summary reports are vital instruments for building trust among customers, employees, and investors. The primary purpose of the report is to ensure all the stakeholders that the business has a stable performance, which will improve in the future. When creating a summary report, it is central to have an appropriate template or an example to ensure that all the aspects of business strategy are considered. One suitable example of building a stakeholder summary report is Estée Lauder’s (2021) 2020 Year in Review. This document vividly describes the top products that bring the most income, strategical decisions that were made during the year, and overviews the key performance indicators.
It is crucial to notice that in order to be trusted, a report needs to be specific and based on accurate data. Estée Lauder (2021) uses data very effectively, as it helps to tell the story of the company’s success. In particular, instead of providing raw numbers, the creators of the report compare the numbers with other appropriate data. For instance, instead of showing the compound average growth rate (CAGR) for 2020, Estée Lauder (2021) compares it with the global average in the sector and S&P500. This is crucial, as 2020 could have been associated with a reduction in growth rates due to the pandemic. Therefore, it is crucial to demonstrate how the results compared to crucial metrics.
In general, Estée Lauder (2021) put a significant emphasis on data visualization in the “Performance Highlights” section. This implies that the authors of the report know their audience and value their time. Estée Lauder (2021) understands that the report is to be read by the investors, who usually have extensive knowledge in metrics, the ability to read graphs, and understanding of financial terms, and little spare time. Thus, the report uses only graphs with little text to deliver the needed information. Moreover, financial terms are used excessively without explanations. Thus, Estée Lauder (2021) uses all the provided space in the report efficiently.
As for presentation, the design of the report is minimalistic with pale colors. The entire report is clearly structured to make the information easy to understand. These features of the presentation help the reader to focus on the information without distractions. Ultimately, such an efficient design saves time for the reader. As a result, the presentation helps to achieve the desired goal of building trust with all the stakeholders. It demonstrates that the company knows its audience and values the time all stakeholders and their knowledge, which contributes to creating trustful relationships.
In summary, Estée Lauder’s 2020 Year in Review is an excellent example of the composition of a stakeholder summary report. On the one hand, the content helps to demonstrate that the company’s performance is stable and will improve in the future. The efficient use of data supports this goal. Presentation, on the other hand, shows that the company leaders value all the stakeholders, which is demonstrated by the effective use of space and minimalistic design.
Reference
Estée Lauder. (2021). 2020 year in review. EL Companies. Web.