Summary

The Tomorrow’s Global Company Inquiry examined what it would take for the global company of the future to survive and prosper.  One key theme it found was that successful companies should expand their view of success and redefine it in terms of lasting positive impacts for business, society, and environment.

 

On the fifth of January 2009 Tomorrow’s Company and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales soft launched ‘beyond accounting’, a programme of dialogue and discussion, which looks at the best practice for ensuring that ‘non-financial’ impacts on business are fully incorporated into business strategy.  As the HRH the Prince of Wales said in December 2008, a vital part of businesses incorporating the wider and long term consequences of their actions “is better information, and better and more comprehensive approaches to measurement”.  We hope that, in time this program will be broadened to include detailed research to build on some work undertaken by Grahame Hubbard of Adelaide University.

 

Those new definitions of success then become the basis for strategy and decision making, as well as performance measurement and reporting and external communication.

 

You can click here to read that section of the report, here for more on the beyond accounting program, or here to find out more about the report as a whole.

 

If you wish to view, comment or write blogs on this issue please click here, for resources on this issue see below.

 

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posted by Admin  on December 3, 2008

This recording is taken from the 2009 Tomorrow's Company Parliamentary Reception a the House of Lords. Speaking at the event were C.S. Kiang, Chairman of Peking University Environment Fund and a Council member of the World Future Council, Rajeev Dubey, Member of the Group Management Board of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd,  as well as Tony Manwaring and Mark Goyder of Tomorrow's Company and Lord Haskell, who kindly hosted the event. Through two fascinating and complimentary speeches, Rajeev and C.S. provided a fresh understanding of the challenges facing the new world economy and the opportunities to create value through achieving sustainability.
Playing Time: 50:04 (format: mm:ss)

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posted by Admin  on December 3, 2008

Pavan Sukhdev, Managing Director & Head of Global Markets, Deutsche Bank India and Director of Green India States Trust (GIST), discusses what 9 per cent growth GDP really means for India. He argues that a different measure is needed; the net increase of wealth (natural capital, human capital and physical or financial capital).
Playing Time: 03:48 (format: mm:ss)

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posted by Admin  on December 3, 2008

A recording of a Tomorrow's Company event on the economics of ecosystems and biodiversity including an introduction by Tony Manwaring, Chief Executive of Tomorrow's Company, and speakers Pavan Sukhdev (of Deutsche Bank and the Green Indian States Trust (GIST)) and Herman Mulder (former Head of Risk at ABN AMRO). Pavan is the study leader for TEEB, a project emerging from out a discussion at the meeting of G8+5 environment ministers in 2007. In his eye opening presentation he details a compelling economic case for the conservation of biodiversity. Herman Mulder then describes from his own personal experience how the economics of biodiversity could be embraced by business for recognising potential risks, externalities and new opportunities. You can listen to an interview with Herman here.Read Aditi Mehta's blog on the event here.
Playing Time: 63:34 (format: mm:ss)

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posted by Admin  on May 12, 2009

A key note speech given by Mark Goyder, Founder Director of Tomorrow's Company at the Strategic Planning Society's 2009 'Strategic Value in Corporate Reporting Awards'.
Playing Time: 09:47 (format: mm:ss)

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posted by Admin  on December 3, 2008

Pavan Sukhdev, Managing Director & Head of Global Markets, Deutsche Bank India, talks about adjusted GDP metrics in the context of Indian sustainable development and in particlular a piece of work the Green Accouniting Porject, being being conducted by his organisation, the Green Indian States Trust.
Playing Time: 04:20 (format: mm:ss)

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CommentsPost New Comment
REDEFINING SUCCESS BEYOND ACCOUNTING
Accountants have been refining the old methods of accounting ever since the double entry bookkeeping was invented in the fifteenth century. The time is now right to ask whether we have been measuring the right things in the right way and communicating them appropriately to the right people.
“What measures truly predict long-term financial success in our businesses?”
As we face profound challenges for people, profit and planet alike, our need for an effective and ‘fit for purpose’ compass to plot a sustainable and successful course for the future has never been more urgent or important.
Grafting new measures onto the old accounting-driven performance system or making slight adjustments in the existing in the existing incentives accomplishes little.
With time there is increasing awareness that what was once considered a management fad has now strengthened its roots many thanks to the growing understanding of the need to save our planet. But organizations and companies should think about the people and the employees? How long would firms make people trade their freedom for money duping them with an environment fit for the body but one which confines their mind by means of mechanical job descriptions, fostering assembly-line thinking?
Understandably, early proponents of assembly line structures were wooed by cost-reducing methods to boost efficiency and profits thus they could not see its detrimental consequences on the society. But as human knowledge expands and as experience has shown, there is plenty of evidence which proves that robotic work behavior is playing havoc with the very fabric of society by means of dehumanizing people.
Society is increasingly demanding that businesses take account of their impacts but also recognizes that they have a strong positive role to play as well. Business, society and the environment are inextricably linked and inter-dependent for their survival and must be held in balance.
So a firm should take into consideration defining success in away that integrates the social, environmental and financial aspects of their work. Commercial success should go in hand in hand with the taking over the shared challenges such as environmental degradation, poverty and the abuse of human rights.


AMRUTA KAPOOR,INDIRA SCHOOL OF BUSINEES STUDIES,PUNE,INDIA
Posted By : Amrita Kapoor
Posted on : November 24, 2009

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