{"id":1238,"date":"2008-08-29T10:25:27","date_gmt":"2008-08-29T09:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/?p=1238"},"modified":"2008-08-29T10:23:01","modified_gmt":"2008-08-29T09:23:01","slug":"wbcsd-measuring-impact-methodology-a-brief-overview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/wbcsd-measuring-impact-methodology-a-brief-overview\/","title":{"rendered":"WBCSD Measuring Impact Methodology — A Brief Overview"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WBCSD<\/a><\/p>\n

In order for a form of measurement to be truly accurate it has to be implemented by a group, not a set of individuals. For instance, it\u2019s much easier for a group of five people to measure a thousand paces (the old mile) than five people counting a thousand paces individually.<\/p>\n

This is why the World Business Council for Sustainable Development<\/a> (WBCSD), in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation<\/a> (IFC), has recently launched the Measuring Impact Methodology<\/a> (MIM).<\/p>\n

The flaw it seeks to address is one of the oldest in the book: how can different companies produce comparable figures open to close analysis if they all use different methodologies to do the measuring.<\/p>\n

The area the framework aims to bring this rigour to is their impact among the most nebulous stakeholders: the communities within which they operate.<\/p>\n

Stating the Outcome, Not Guessing the Result<\/strong>
\nAttempts have been made before to introduce mechanisms into business to measure their impact upon the wider community. The most widely known is the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).<\/p>\n

These have been around in one form or another for over 20 years. Their place has always been as part of the project planning process in an attempt to gauge the likely impact a project will have on the wider environment.<\/p>\n

WBCSD\u2019s Measuring Impact Methodology is different. It aims to measure the impact a business has had upon the wider community after the event.<\/p>\n

In this sense it is a crucial part of the sustainability measurement and compliance jigsaw which is being built up. To date there has been no framework governing how companies do this, leaving the whole area open to interpretation and the spin of greenwashing.<\/p>\n

Now, however, companies have a framework to work within when assessing and reporting the impact they have had upon the wider community.<\/p>\n

Although only voluntary, companies who choose to operate outside this framework will always draw the cynical journalist who will look for the additional spin a company may be trying to introduce.<\/p>\n

<\/a>WBCSD Measuring Impacts
Four Stage Methodology<\/a><\/div>\n

The 4×4 Solution<\/strong>
\nThe framework itself is remarkably simple and rests upon four steps which a company should go through:<\/p>\n