Culture in companies Research Project

Tender description

**THIS IS A CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE - THIS TENDER IS CLOSED** The Financial Reporting Council sets the UK Corporate Governance and UK Stewardship Codes; sets UK standards for accounting and actuarial work; monitors and takes action to promote the quality of corporate reporting; and operates independent enforcement arrangements for accountants and actuaries. As the competent authority for audit in the UK the FRC sets auditing and ethical standards and monitors and enforces audit quality. The FRC works in the public interest. Our work is aimed at investors and others who rely on company reports, audit and high-quality risk management. The Background of this Project: In 2016 the FRC published a report titled Corporate Culture and the Role of Boards (hereafter the '2016 Report') which sought to address how boards can influence and shape their company's culture, build trust with various stakeholders and deliver sustainable success through culture assessment, measuring and monitoring. In 2018 the FRC published the new UK Corporate Governance Code which places a greater emphasis on culture, encouraging companies to develop cultures that promote integrity and openness, that value diversity and are responsive to the views of stakeholders. The Purpose and Scope of this Project was: Research conducted by the FRC for its 2020 Annual Review of Corporate Governance indicated that only about a half of companies provided meaningful commentary on their culture in their most recent annual reports, while many companies made no mention at all of monitoring or assessing their culture. In light of these findings, the purpose of this research project was to answer three questions: 1. What externally sourced information, guidance and tools/concepts are boards using to frame and support their companies' internal discussions on culture? 2. How have companies' internal practical approaches to measuring corporate culture, embedding (implementing) culture change, and reviewing the impact of that change evolved in the five years since the FRC's 2016 report? 3. What obstacles do companies encounter in promoting the desired corporate culture and how have they been (or how can they be) addressed? ** This is a contract award notice **