Tagged - opinion

Current guidance on how to prepare a financial report ignores their biggest user – one that's interested in much more than just money. It's causing billions in wasted resources, writes our columnist. 

OPINION: Coca-Cola did $3bn-worth of environmental damage in 2019, and the negative health impact of Danone’s products was nearly $8bn, reveals a new accounting approach. The time is up for self-serving, inaccurate ESG reporting.

“If you don’t measure it, it didn’t happen” – so says the boss of the award-winning social enterprise Noise Solution, which matches young people with professional musicians to learn new skills and boost self-confidence.

A city centred on the circular economy, inclusive entrepreneurship and civic engagement: too good to be true? Not if we tap into startup-led innovation – and are willing to take some risks.

From venture competitions to hackathons to master’s degrees, students have more opportunity than ever to explore social entrepreneurship. Universities – and wider society – have much to gain, says Manchester University’s Robert Phillips.

There is almost no early-stage, innovation-friendly impact investing, says serial social entrepreneur Mitra Ardron. Should we just admit that all we can do is make impact investors feel good about applying band-aids without fixing the problem?

Two common refrains – hoping for the day when “every business is a social enterprise”, and claiming that social entrepreneurship “is a verb, not a noun” – sound positive. In fact, they hold us back from true progress, says the Trico Charitable Foundation boss. 

Whether an impact measure corresponds with reality is irrelevant for impact investors, who want to demonstrate credibility, not truth. So methodological dilemmas are a distraction: third-party certification brings legitimacy. 

As the conversation about business purpose has spread, it has become more confused and contradictory, says Tom Rippin. Only one school of thought on purpose – the systems-driven one – holds a lasting solution.