TY - JOUR
T1 - Performance Management, Impact Measurement, and the Sustainable Development Goals
T2 - The Fourth Wave of Integrated Social Accounting
AU - Mook, Laurie
N1 - Funding Information:
Viewing the paradigm of impact measurement through an interpretivist lens instead one mediates these complexities: “This shifts the framing … from calculating a precise number to generalize and predict to understanding lived experiences to improve impact and to mobilize resources. Calculations are still important, but they are not the ends” (Mook et al., 2015, 237). This alternative “way of knowing” informs a holistic framework of integrated social accounting that could be adopted by all types of organizations in the social economy, as well as in other sectors. By moving away from the need for precise measurements and precise attribution in a short period of time, the fourth wave of integrated social accounting pays more attention to the progress of moving behaviour in the direction of positive impact, or away from negative impact. This also necessitates recognizing that there are many ways to reach a goal (Cabaj, 2014). As Kate Ruff and Sara Olsen (2016) argue, The market is best served when each organization can measure its social impact in the way that is most meaningful and insightful to its aim and operations, as long as it follows common principles for good measurement. Drawing insights from financial accounting,4 good analysts focus on measures that are flexible and adaptable to different contexts (within limits), applied consistently (organizations pick an approach and stick to it), and well disclosed (bring on the fine print!). (p. 2) This is the perspective taken by the Common Approach to Impact Measurement initiative. Led by accounting professor Kate Ruff of Carleton University, it is funded by federal and provincial government agencies as part of the Ontario Social Enterprise Strategy. The aim of the project is to equip social enterprises with solid business fundamentals, connect social enterprises to markets and capital to grow and scale, and demonstrate the value of social enterprise and social finance (Common Approach, 2019b; Ministry of Economic Development and Growth, 2016). Guidance on how to self-report data for impact measurement is available, for instance, through the Impact Management Project (IMP, 2019). Collecting data through hubs such as the Common Approach to Impact Measurement allows for aggregation and analysis at the community, regional, and national levels.
Publisher Copyright:
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PY - 2020/12/17
Y1 - 2020/12/17
N2 - Integrated social accounting places social and environmental performance alongside financial performance. In the history of social accounting, it is possible to identify four waves of integrated social accounting statements: corporate social responsibility (1970s), triple bottom line (1990s), standardized reporting (2000s), and today, with the popularization of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, standardized goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a common language and shared purpose for a multitude of actors, spanning networks, organizational types, and geographical levels. To illustrate the fourth wave of integrated social accounting, this article1 proposes an integrated social accounting model that focuses organizational attention on the internal and external impacts of an orga-nization’s activities through the lens of the SDGs.
AB - Integrated social accounting places social and environmental performance alongside financial performance. In the history of social accounting, it is possible to identify four waves of integrated social accounting statements: corporate social responsibility (1970s), triple bottom line (1990s), standardized reporting (2000s), and today, with the popularization of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, standardized goals. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a common language and shared purpose for a multitude of actors, spanning networks, organizational types, and geographical levels. To illustrate the fourth wave of integrated social accounting, this article1 proposes an integrated social accounting model that focuses organizational attention on the internal and external impacts of an orga-nization’s activities through the lens of the SDGs.
KW - Balanced scorecard
KW - Impact measurement
KW - Performance management
KW - Social accounting
KW - Sustainable Development Goals
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U2 - 10.29173/cjnser.2020v11n2a353
DO - 10.29173/cjnser.2020v11n2a353
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85133594623
SN - 1920-9355
VL - 11
SP - 20
EP - 34
JO - Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research
JF - Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research
IS - 2
ER -