According to a new report from Deloitte, an organization's understanding of how its stakeholders perceive and value the organization's environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is central to developing a strategy that may lead to financial benefits.

The report, titled "Drivers of Long-Term Business Value: Stakeholders, Stats and Strategy," discusses the impact employees, suppliers, shareholders, community members and other people or groups involved with an organization can have on business performance.

Today, there is a broader range of stakeholders than there was in the past. This is contributing to raising the bar on business performance as evidenced by regulatory pressure, consumer boycotts and decreasing market valuations for organizations reporting labor, health or environmental issues. The Deloitte report provides strategic considerations for creating stakeholder value to generate long-term business value.

"It is essential for businesses to understand what their stakeholders consider to be of value in the business and how those stakeholders perceive the business's actions," says Eric Hespenheide, a partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP who serves as audit and enterprise risk global leader for sustainability and climate change services. "By determining a value for ESG issues, a company can better articulate the interdependencies of various stakeholders and their role in how the company generates long-term business value."

To view the "Drivers of Long-Term Business Value: Stakeholders, Stats, and Strategy" report visit:

www.deloitte.com/us/driversoflongtermbusinessvalue

About Deloitte's Sustainability Services Group

Deloitte's sustainability services group draws on the insights and experience of Deloitte's four primary businesses — consulting, audit, tax, and financial advisory services — and industry-specific practices across corporate strategy and operations, supply chain, mergers and acquisitions, human capital and enterprise risk management. The result is a broad set of capabilities that address a range of domestic and global business opportunities and risks related to energy supply, demand and efficiency, water and other resource scarcity, carbon and greenhouse gas regulation and demand for increased transparency and confirmation of non-financial performance.

For more information, visit: www.deloitte.com/us/sustainability

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.