Rebalancing Capitalism or Delaying Real Progress? A Critical Examination of Impact Measurement

Can measuring the impact of business on society and the planet lead to a more socially and environmentally-oriented style of capitalism? This is the main hope and assertion of impact measurement and valuation (IMV). This PDW introduces participants to the key processes of IMV and critically examines the ethics and politics of IMV and its standardization. While proponents of these methods call on organizations to measure their negative and positive impacts (externalities) on their stakeholders and the environment, the PDW brings together leading experts in the field in an Oxford-style debate to discuss IMV’s potential merits and risks. In the second half of the PDW, attendees will join the experts in thinking through potential narratives of change beyond more measurement in an open-dialogue format. The purpose of this PDW is to place IMV under deep investigation and envision new processes that work with or replace organizations’ desire for management via quantification.