• Connectivity of information
• Materiality
• Strategic focus and future orientation

Key observations:

The section titled “Report by the Managing Board” is a concise introduction to the entire report, demonstrating insightful views about the interrelationships of the global megatrends and the implications on the business, while also explaining how these future events could affect the company’s strategy and performance. The readers obtain an understanding of DSM’s positioning in the focus business areas of Life Sciences and Material Sciences, as well as the strengths the company possesses.

This section also exhibits the financial and non-financial mid-term targets and aspirations up to 2015. This quantitative information corroborates the company’s intentions to meet the challenges and the opportunities that future megatrends may bring.

The rest of the report supports and substantiates the “Report by the Managing Board” section with further supporting, detailed information. For example, the company’s major growth drivers are identified and explained in detail, while the review of business illustrates the business-specific consequences of the megatrends and DSM’s intentions on how to respond to them. Finally, the materiality analysis also identifies the significant megatrends.