In the spring of 2006, the WBCSD embarked on a two-year journey to develop a framework to assess the contribution of business to the economic and broader development goals in the societies where business operates.

This grew out of a request by WBCSD member companies to develop a measurement framework that could underpin the license to operate, improve the quality of stakeholder engagement, help manage risks more effectively and identify ways to enhance the business contribution to society.

The resulting Measuring Impact Framework is designed to help companies understand their contribution to society and use this understanding to inform their operational and long-term investment decisions and have better-informed conversations with stakeholders.

The company executives who steer the WBCSD’s Development Focus Area declared their commitment to creating a more sustainable and inclusive form of globalization. They identified four key objectives:

• Develop a deeper understanding of how global issues such as poverty, the environment, demographic change and globalization affect individual companies and sectors;
  
  
• Use the understanding of these issues to search for more inclusive business solutions that help to address the issues at both a local and global scale;
  
  
• Align core business strategies with the solutions identified;
  
  
• Incorporate long-term measures into the definition of success, targeting profitability that is sustainable and supported by a responsible record in managing social, environmental and employment matters.
  

 

Key features of the WBCSD Measuring Impact Framework

• Grounded in what business does - built by business for business
  
  
• Moves beyond compliance - attempts to answer questions about what business can contribute beyond traditional reporting
  
  
• Encourages stakeholder engagement - supports open dialogue with stakeholders to create a shared understanding of business impacts and societal needs, and to explore what business can and cannot do to address these needs
  
  
• Flexible - designed for any business and/or industry at any stage in its business cycle, operating anywhere in the world
  
  
• Complements existing tools - makes use of what is already out there (for example, the Global Reporting Initiative and IFC Performance Standards)
  
  
• Externally reviewed - reviewed by over 15 stakeholders from NGOs, academia and government including Oxfam, WRI, IFC and Harvard University

There are several sources of valuable information on this subject that have been assembled by the World Business Council. These are definitely worth reviewing by company executives seeking to better understand their relationships with their client communities.

Measuring Impact Framework

• Business case brief - Why measure?
  
• Framework Methodology
  
• Excel-based user guide
  
• PowerPoint Presentation

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Source: World Business Council - WBCSD