Business model
- Value creation
- Stakeholder relationships
- Strategic focus and future orientation
Key observations:
The ‘How we create value’ section uses a diagram and narrative to explain HSBC’s role in a broader economic and societal context. Through straight-forward language and an almost conversational style, this section explains to readers how the business generates income. The report’s ‘Long-term sustainability’ section provides HSBC’s own interpretation of long-term corporate sustainability, a concept for which there are arguably as many definitions as there are companies. HSBC’s definition draws connections to the economic, environmental and social landscape in which it operates. The discussion proceeds to list key stakeholders, dependencies and sources of differentiation, all of which set the scene for the strategy and business model discussions that follow.