“I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things.”

Benjamin Franklin

In the wake of the recession, the collapse of large parts of the financial sector and the crisis of legitimacy faced by leading corporations, the words of Benjamin Franklin ring true.

In response to these challenges, CIMA and Tomorrow’s Company have together created ‘The Tomorrow's Value lecture series’. This outstanding series of lectures is bringing together some of the most senior figures from the global business world to explore, question and probe what we mean by value - how it is created, how it can be measured, and what the drivers of value creation are.

Tomorrow’s Company argues that business can, must and should be a ‘force for good’ – and that enduring value is increasingly created by aligning economic imperatives with social and environmental drivers. This ‘triple context’ frames the operating environment for business, with the result that for global companies, business success and sustainability are mutually reinforcing.

CIMA has a unique relationship with finance directors and others who together must ‘earth’ this new value agenda with its practical translation into metrics of performance, providing essential data and informing the critical decisions of management teams, company boards, investors and other key stakeholders.

The lectures so far offer no easy solutions but we are convinced that the questions they have posed are essential to raise – and we are confident that this programme has begun the dialogue and inspired the robust and rigorous thinking needed to start to provide much-needed answers.

It will not be sufficient, we believe, to rely on propping up the economy using the policy levers of the last century – rather we need to create a new mindset, which provides a far clearer understanding of what shape the economy of the future will take.

We argue that recognising the responsibilities of stewardship, to create economic, social and environmental capital, will provide a powerful framework for financial, investment and other critical business decisions.

In understanding how to do this in practice, we will be creating Tomorrow’s Value.

Tony Manwaring                                        Charles Tilley

Chief Executive                                          Chief Executive

Tomorrow’s Company                             CIMA