TRUE VALUE METRICS
Accounting and Accountability
for PEOPLE, PLANET and PROFIT
A VERY COMPLEX SYSTEM

THE DOMINANT METRICS ARE NOT FIT-FOR-PURPOSE
Numbering the Triple Bottom Line ... Accounting for ALL the Capitals
Accountability for everyone, everything, everywhere, all the time!
SOCIAL
CAPITAL


SOCIETY
NATURAL
CAPITAL


ENVIRONMENT
ECONOMIC
CAPITAL


ECONOMY
WE WANT TO MAINTAIN AN OPEN KNOWLEDGE MODEL
A MODEST DONATION WILL HELP MAKE THAT HAPPEN
This page accessed on : 2024-07-27 at 08:29:30
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COLOR CODE

DISTANT PAST

PRESENT NOT GOOD

FUTURE COLLAPSE


SECTION 1-1
HOW THE WORLD WORKS
SOCIO-ENVIRO-ECONOMIC SYSTEM
GO TOP MoreLinks More L07-01-SEES-OVERVIEW NextSection (TVM Management)
IT'S A COMPLEX WORLD!
Managing complexity is difficult. In modern times, the system has been managed for the benefit of those who own financial capital. The dominant economic metrics have been GDP growth, corporate profit growth and stock market wealth.
.
THESE METRICS ARE USED FOR DECISION MAKING
GDP GROWTH CORPORATE PROFITS STOCK PRICES
Management metrics have been aligned to financial goals, and have been very effective giving owners of capital and investors good results. But for the myriad of matters that make up quality of life for people and a sustainable natural environment, the results are not good.
THERE ARE MANY GOOD OUTCOMES
HOWEVER, MANY OF THE RESULTS ARE CATASTROPHIC
ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION EXTREME WEATHER
Luxury Yachts Homeless camp Deforestation Ocean plastic Eye of storm Hurricane
While there has been impressive financial performance, it has come at the expense of catastrophic inequality with far too many left behind, degradation of the environment and climate instability with extreme weather events.
.
TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL THE CAPITALS
GOING BEYOND FINANCIAL CAPITAL AND MONEY WEALTH
SOCIAL
CAPITAL


SOCIO
NATURAL
CAPITAL


ENVIRO
ECONOMIC
CAPITAL


ECONOMIC
Social and economic progress has been achieved over the past 200+ years by expoiting natural capital. All value originates with nature and everything depends on nature. This is unsustainable, but technological innovation can (must) be used to change things for the better.
.
ACTIVITIES HAVE MULTIPLE IMPACTS
IMPACTS ON ALL the CAPITALS
IMPACT ON QUALITY OF LIFE
IMPACT ON FUNCTIONING OF NATURAL SYSTEMS
AGRICULTURE / FOOD
The flow of food is of immense importance. It is essential for life itself, and the flow has impact on society and the wellness of people, on the degradation of the environment and is also a big employer and wage payer as well as an economic source of profit.
PRODUCTS / Economic and Social Benefit with Environmental Cost
The flow of product through the supply chain, into use and then the post use waste chain is the life blood of the socio-enviro-economic system. There is deep management analysis of business operations and performance, not so much for performance of products. Every product should have an SVP.
ENERGY
Energy has been essential for the amazing progress realized since the beginning of the industrial revolotion, but the damage to the environment has not been accounted for, and now poses an existential threat to almost everything that have been normal for thousands of years.
PLACE
Where people live, and how they live is important for quality of life. The management of place needs to be a holistic process taking into consideration social impact, environmental impact and economics. Good infrastructure and the availability of services are essential.
WORK / PAYROLL
Workers should be paid a decent wage that reflects a fair allocation of the benefits of productivity between workers and owners. This has not happened since the 1980s. Companies must be held accountable for their payroll profiles, including the payrolls that are embedded in their material and product flows.
MATERIAL / EXTRACTION then DISPOSAL
The flow of material from extraction to eventual post use waste has impacts on society and the environment at every stage. All of this should be accounted for and all the actors should be held accountable in a meaningful way. Every material should have a standard value profile (SCP) to enable accountability.
SOCIAL IMPACT Income flows and consumption support quality of life
The contributions people make are both paid work and a variety of unpaid valuable services.
There is net benefit AND change to capitals (hopefully positive)
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT Ecosystem services are a source of all value
System changes are happening faster now that at any time in history
Extreme weather events have become more frequent and dangerous
ECONOMIC IMPACT There are operating costs for all economic activities
There are benefits from economic activity
There is net benefit AND change to capitals (hopefully positive)
.
MANAGE ALL THE ACTIVITIES AND ACTORS
.
CONSUMPTION DRIVING THE MODERN ECONOMY
CONSUMPTION IMPACTS OF PRODUCTION
Quality of Life
SOCIO
Pollution
ENVIRO
Profit
ECONOMIC
Consumption is driving the modern economy. It looks like success as long as the depletion of natural resourcs and the degradation of the environment is ignored.There is strong correlation between better quality of life and more consumption in poor economies, but less so in mature rich economies. Rich economies are increasingly associated with catastrophic pollution, waste, inequality and inefficiency.
.
MOST ACTORS ARE PEOPLE ... WHO SHOULD BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
PEOPLE HAVE A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT ROLES
MANAGE SO THAT EVERYONE IS ACCOUNTABLE
AS INDIVIDUALS

Live life ... work & family
IN ORGANIZATIONS

Do the work ... make the decisions
AS INVESTORS

Allocate financial resources
Prevailing metrics and financialization have had mixed results ... very good economic ouitcomes for an elite few, but extremely disappointing for everyone else. The concentration of wealth and power is fueling global discontent in very destabilizing ways, including social discontent and anger at the establishment elites and increasingly out-of-control climate instability.
.
NATURE IS ALSO AN ACTOR ... AND SHOULD BE RESPECTED
NATURE PREDATES PEOPLE BY BILLIONS OF YEARS
AND IS THE SOURCE OF ALL VALUE
FOR EXAMPLE NATURE MAKES A FISHERY SUSTAINABLE
JUVENILE NURSERY INDUSTRIAL FISHERY SEAFOOD MARKET
  • Natural Capital is foundation for this fish and food flow
  • Economic Activity captures fish, employs fisherfolk and earns profit.
  • Social Capital benefits from employment and food
.
CONSIDER ALL THE PERSPECTIVES
NOT ONLY PROFIT, BUT ALSO PEOPLE, PLACE & PRODUCT
PROFIT

Economic goal
PEOPLE

Men, women & children
PLACE

Where people live
PRODUCTS

Quality of Life
There is valueadd when there is a positive balance from every perspective. Profit alone is not enough, people should also progress. And the progress of people is enhanced by the characteristics of the place. Products impact everything. The production of products is a factor in the generation of profits. The consumption of products is a factor in the quality of life of people. Not least, the place influences where products may be and are produced.
BUT ALSO CATASTROPHIC DAMAGE TO SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
GEOPOLITICS
WAR / DESTRUCTION
WATER SHORTAGE
DEATH from DROUGHT
EXTREME WEATHER
GETTING WORSE
POLLUTION
NATURE AT RISK
The value destruction associated with a wide range of negative externalities are ignored in the assessment of investment and the performance of the modern economy. Taking these matters into consideration changes the picture of performance dramatically and explains the modern crisis of confidence in leadership.
.
.

SECTION 1-2
PROGRESS and PERFORMANCE
UNDERSTAND THE RESULTS
GO TOP MoreLinks LastSection (TVM Management) L07-03-PROGRESS-PERFORMANCE NextSection (Problems/Possibilities)
Aggregated Socio-Enviro-Economic Trends
What has been happening ... What needs to happen in the immediate future
THE WHOLE SYSTEM THE ACTUAL PAST A NO CHANGE FUTURE A BETTER FUTURE
More and more DEPLETION and DEGRADATION of NATURAL CAPITAL is UNSUSTAINABLE
.
IMPRESSIVE TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS
MEDICAL SCIENCE MATERIALS

Genetic code / DNA

Antibiotics

3D Printing

Composite materials

Plastics

High strength steels
ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATIONS

IBM

Microsoft

Oracle
Apple
Print Media

Digital Media
SOCIAL MEDIA PASSENGER TRANSPORT

Google

Facebook

Twitter
Passenger Rail Passenger Car
Passenger Bus
FREIGHT / LOGISTICS AEROSPACE

Shanghai new port

Container Ships

Freight rail

Jet engines

Passenger Aircraft

Satellites
.
FROM 1945, THE END OF WWII, TO THE 1970s
SUBSTANTIAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
PRODUCTIVITY UP
PROFITS UP

From end WWII to around 1980
STRONG
GDP GROWTH

GDP growth has been very strong
CAPITAL MARKETS
STOCK VALUES UP

Stock market has been spectacular
BETTER
HOUSING

More decent housing to around 1980
.
SINCE THE 1970s, MOST WORKERS LEFT BEHIND
ALL THE BENEFIT OF IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY
WENT TO INCREASE WEALTH OF OWNERS
PRODUCTIVITY UP
WAGES FLAT

From around 1980 to present time
GDP GROWING
GPI FLAT

While GDP is up, progress (GPI) is flat
GROWING
INEQUALITY

More obscene luxury
DEGRADED
HOUSING

Slums proliferating since 1980
.
TOP 1% ... HUMUNGOUS WEALTH and EXPENSIVE TOYS

Real Estate

Luxury Yachts

Private Jet

Hermes handbag
.
TOP 10% ... HIGH WEALTH and FEW WORRIES

Real Estate

Luxury Yachts

Private Jet

Hermes handbag
.
MIDDLE 50% ... DEPENDS ON THE PLACE
USA

Going Down
China

Going Up
Quatar

New Wealth
Nigeria

Wasted Wealth
.
BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID - CATASTROPHIC SITUATION

Terrible Poverty

Malnutrition

Starvation

Genocide

Telling the truth

Urban slums
.
SECTION 2-1
STATE
THE STATE OF ALL THE CAPITALS IN 3 SEGMENTS
GO TOP MoreLinks LastSection (Problems/Possibilities) L07-05-STATE-CAPITALS NextSection (Flow/Activites)
THREE SEGMENTS OF CAPITAL
SOCIAL CAPITAL ... SOCIETY
It should be obvious that getting the best possible quality of life for people ... for society as a whole ... should be the 'raison d'etre' for everything that is done in the human-built economy. Sadly, modern metrics, politics and media messaging do not have this as their primary goal. This has to change.

NATURAL CAPITAL ... ENVIRONMENT
Since early times, humankind has made the most use it could of natural resources, but in recent times the scale of economic activity has grown enormously and the depletion and degradation of natural resources is no longer sustainable.

ECONOMIC CAPITAL ... ECONOMY
Scientific knowledge and technology has enabled an economy that is amazingly productive ... and becoming more efficient all the time. Sadly, this amazing productivity had not been used in an optimum manner and the results for most people are unsatisfactory. People with financial wealth, power and influence have done and are doing well when measured simply by the aggregation of financial wealth, but by almost every other measure, not so much.

SOCIAL CAPITAL
THE STATE OF SOCIETY
.
FIVE SEGMENTS OF SOCIAL CAPITAL
HUMAN
CAPITAL
RELATIONSHIP
CAPITAL
LOCATIONAL
CAPITAL
CULTURAL
CAPITAL
SPIRITUAL
CAPITAL
Individual

The basis for everything important ...
Family / Community

The family an important part of the social structure
Place / Community

The place factors into quality of life
Tradition / Arts
History, music, dance, drama give flavor to life
Religion
Has had an important role for millenia

Individual ... Human Capital
Quality of life at the individual level
Past: Value emerging from childhood, parenting, education, healthcare, family and friends, experience ...
Present: Current situation, job and earnings, family and friends, housing, health, wealth, etc. ...
Future: How well prepared. Possibilities in the place.
Family & Friends ... Relationship Capital
The family and friends are important parts of the social structure
The relationships associated with family, friends and connections magnifies or diminishes human capital.
A good idea that is never shared has no value, but the network effect of many connections may make it valuable.
Place / Community ... Locational Capital
The place factors into quality of life ... the place really matters.
A high potential place augments social capital and is diminished by a low performance place.
A really smart place is driven by strategy where the potential of people is well understood and used to good effect.
Tradition / Arts ... Cultural Capital
History, music, dance, drama give flavor to life. Without all these different aspects of culture, the world is far less interesting and quality of life much more limited.
Religion ... Spiritual Capital
Religion had an important role for millenia. At some level the spiritual dimension of life is more important than materialism. The fact that the supernatural has been of interest for ever says something about its importance.
.
PEOPLE ARE THE ACTORS IN THE SYSTEM
It is people (actors with identities) that must be held accountable.
AS AN INDIVIDUAL AND/OR AS FAMILY
The individual, and family and friends are at the center of everything. Everyone should be progressing towards a better life, both individually and collectively. Individuals should have the freedom to succeed, but enough support never to fail.
AS AN INDIVIDUAL IN AN ORGANIZATION
Most economic activity is driven by decisions made in the corporate business setting. These decisions are made by people and it is people that must be held accountable. Better decisions will be made when there is effectiving numbering of social, environmental and economic performance.
AS AN INDIVIDUAL MAKING INVESTMENTS
It is also individuals that make investment decisions that allocate financial resources. Better socio-enviro-economic performance will be achieved when stock prices are decoupled from profit performance, but rather linked to social, environmental and economic performance.
AS AN INDIVIDUAL CONSUMING PRODUCTS
One of the measures of the modern economy has been consumption. In a world of shortage, the ability to consume more is a useful measure, but in a world where excess production is available, this measure is flawed.
.
NATURAL CAPITAL
NATURE / SOURCE OF ALL VALUE
.
SEVEN SEGMENTS OF NATURAL CAPITAL
.
SUN LAND
WATER
AIR
RESOURCES
BIODIVERSITY
ECOSYSTEMS
.
SUN
The sun is the source of ALL the energy that is available on planet earth. Energy from the sun is stored in fossil fuel deposits that have accumulated for millions of years, and more solar energy reaches earth every day!
LAND
There is a limited amount of land on the planet. Land is one of the key planetary limits. It is vital that land is used in a sustainable manner rather than being degraded in the interest of unsustainable economic performance.
WATER
Without water, life as we know it cannot exist. In conventional economics, water is undervalued because for a big part of history it has been abundant and easily accessed. This is changing and water must now be valued more appropriately.
AIR
Clean air is good for human health as well as fauna and flora. Many steps have been taken to reduce the problem of air pollution that we can see, but not enough for the air pollution like CO2 that we cannot see, yet still dangerous.
RESOURCES
Natural resources have helped power the industrial revolution and enabled massive improvements in quality of life, but there are limits because of both depletion and egradation of natural capital. Better use of resources is essential.
BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity is important. Humankind has emerged over millions of years as a result of massive biodiversity and complex evolution. The future of life depends on the continuing health of the biosphere in all its manifestations.
ECOSYSTEMS
There is genius in the way ecosystems have evolved over millions of years to stabilize natural systems in a way that has enabled life as we know it. We should be concerned that in the past 200 years this stability is being compromised.
  • Nature is the source of ALL value
  • To improve quality of life, nature has been exploited, depleted and degraded.
  • Nature is rapidly degrading but ignored in conventional financial and economic analysis.
  • This is NOT sustainable.
.
.
.
ECONOMIC CAPITAL
ECONOMY
.
THREE MAIN SEGMENTS OF ECONOMIC CAPITAL
FINANCIAL

Adding to wealth is dominant goal ...
PHYSICAL

Tangible physical structures ...
INTANGIBLE

Knowledge. education, governance, etc ...
.
FINANCIAL CAPITAL
THE FINANCIAL ECONOMY
CORPORATE PROFITS Profits up CAPITAL MARKETS Stock Prices Up INEQUALITY Inequality Up
In modern times, the dominant economic metrics have been GDP growth, corporate profit growth and stock market wealth. Management metrics have been aligned to these same goals, and have been very effective. The outcome for wage earners had not been as good and there has been a massive increase in inequality. TrueValueMetrics seeks to enhance accountancy to include Social Impact and Environmental Impact.
.
MOST WORKING MIDDLE CLASS OUTCOMES NOT GOOD
STOCKS UP
Stock market has been spectacular
WAGES FLAT
Productivity grows but wages flat.
GDP growing / GPI flat
While GDP is up, progress (GPI) is flat
AND IMPACT ON NATURAL CAPITAL IGNORED
RESOURCE
DEPLETION

Mining for natural resources
ENVIRONMENTAL
DEGRADATION

Deforestation for agriculture
SYSTEM
DESTABILIZATION

Extreme weather events
.
PHYSICAL CAPITAL
THE PHYSICAL (REAL) ECONOMY
.
LAND & BUILDINGS INFRASTRUCTURE PROCESSES EQUIPMENT
WORKING CAPITAL
  • Modern engineering and technology is deployed and exploited to improve profit performance.
  • Rather little technology is deployed to make society and the world a better place.
  • The modern 'real' economy is pretty amazing, but not so much in the news (Western news, that is).
  • Many of the more amazing things are going on in the Middle East (e.g. Dubai) and Far East (China).
.
LAND AND BUILDINGS
COMMERCIAL FARMLAND HOTEL APARTMENTS ROW HOUSES SUBURBAN Buildings represent a big part of the physical economy, and are a big part of life. They have a long life and require a substantial amount of materials to build. They are where people live their lives. Buildings have impact on the environment during construction and again during their life because of operational energy use.
.
INFRASTRUCTURE
BRIDGES ROAD RAIL PORTS WATER TELECOM Infrastructure makes a big difference to a place. The lack of infrastructure is one of the root causes of poverty in a place. Infrastructure has substantial cost to build, but long life means that infrastructure benefits accrue over a long time. The question of pubic or private ownership of infrastructure is an important ongoing debate.
.
MINING AND MANUFACTURING PROCESSES
MINING I MINING II IRON & STEEL
CONCRETE
PETROCHEMICALS
PULP & PAPER
Processes make products which are needed to satisfy the needs of people ... but the social and environmental efficiency of processes is not accounted for effectively. Business understands the profit performance of processes, but without better metrics, social and environmental improvement get ignored.
.
MACHINERY, EQUIPMENT & VEHICLES
SHIPS AIRCRAFT BUSES
AUTOMATION
MINING
OIL & GAS
The performance of machinery, equipment and vehicles has progressed enormously over the last century. Human brawn is no longer an important part of the production process, rather it is the machine that gets the work done. In the future is is not only going to be the brawn of the machine but also the brain of the machine. The challenge is to make this a benefit to society, the environment and the economy.
.
PRODUCTS / WORKING CAPITAL
SHIPPING TRUCKING
FULFILLMENT
WAREHOUSE
RETAIL
E-COMMERCE
Working capital is a vital component in the economy enabling the efficient function of essential organizations. Technology has enabled substantial improvement in the operation of the supply chain and indeed has made possible global logistics that have become a key part of the modern economy.
.
INTANGIBLE CAPITAL
THE INTANGIBLE ECONOMY
Some of the things that make life worth living
.
KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL INSTITUTIONAL CAPITAL ORGANIZATIONAL CAPITAL
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY GOVERNMENT / LAW ORGANIZATIONS
.
KNOWLEDGE CAPITAL
EDUCATION / RESEARCH / TECHNOLOGY
KNOWLEDGE
Albert Einstein
EDUCATION
Cambridge
BIO-TECH
Genetic code / DNA
AUTOMATION
Auto Assembly
DIGITAL TECH

Quantum Computing
AEROSPACE

Space Shuttle
It is human imagination that makes knowledge possible. Humankind now has more easy access to knowledge than at any time in history in all sorts of fields. This knowledge has the potential for both good and bad ... nuclear power or nuclear bombs ... digital distribution of news or dangerous misinformation ... cures for disease or biological warfare ... and so on. There are huge possibilities if well used.
.
INSTITUTIONAL CAPITAL
GOVERNANCE / RULE OF LAW / ORGANIZATIONS
Legislation Cooperation Police Courts Military Prisons The challenge of ordering society in an effective way has been in play for a very long time, and getting this right continues to be a subject of great debate. What is clear is that when the enabling environment of governance, rule of law and justice becomes dysfunctional, society and quality of life rapidly degenerates and the system doesn't work.
.
ORGANIZATIONAL CAPITAL
BIG COMPANIES / SMALL COMPANIES / NOT FOR PROFITS
Big Oil Computers Technology Small Bsiness Engineering Informal Economy Organizations are important, and especially big for-profit corporate organizations which account for as much as 90% of all profit and financial value-add. They have enabled much of modern progress, while not being held to account for environmental and social degradation. Small business and not-for-profits struggle to survive! Investors thrive, workers struggle!
.
.
.

SECTION 2-2
PROBLEMS / POSSIBILITIES
AMAZING TECHNOLOGY / UNIMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE
GO TOP MoreLinks LastSection (Progress/Performance) L07-04-PROBLEMS-POSSIBILITIES NextSection (State/Capitals)
PROBLEMS
SOME EXAMPLES OF UNIMPRESSIVE RESULTS
ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION EXTREME WEATHER
Luxury Yachts Homeless camp Deforestation Strip Mining Eye of storm Hurricane
PHYSICAL DESTRUCTION AIR POLLUTION DROUGHT
Aleppo Syria Mosul Iraq Greenhouse Gas Traffic Somaliland Ethiopia
HUMAN DESTRUCTION SOLID WASTE FLOODS
Liberia Rwanda Ocean plastic Landfill Houston, Texas Mozambique
REFUGEES BIODIVERSITY AT RISK HUMAN HEALTH
IDPs in Chad Refugess in Jordan Elephants Habitat Malnutrition Expensive Medicine
ROADS and BRIDGES WATER INDUSTRIAL DETRITUS

Bridge Collapse

Road Congestion

Not enough water

Polluted water

Abandoned factory

.
It makes no sense that the amazing power of technology is producing such poor social and enviromental performance. A part of the problem has been that most of management decision making has been all about profit and financial wealth creation with little or no attention being paid to the impact on society as a whole nor the impact on the environment.
.
POSSIBILITIES
.
SOME EXAMPLES OF AMAZING TECHNOLOGY
MEDICAL SCIENCE MATERIALS

Genetic code / DNA

Antibiotics

3D Printing

Composite materials

Plastics

High strength steels
ELECTRONICS COMMUNICATIONS

IBM

Microsoft

Oracle
Apple
Print Media

Digital Media
SOCIAL MEDIA PASSENGER TRANSPORT

Google

Facebook

Twitter
Passenger Rail Passenger Car
Passenger Bus
FREIGHT / LOGISTICS AEROSPACE

Shanghai new port

Container Ships

Freight rail

Jet engines

Passenger Aircraft

Satellites
The power of technology has increased at an ever increasing rate over the last several decades since the end of WWII. This power could be used to enable every person on planet earth to have a 'decent' standard of living, but that is not the way technology has been used. Rather, the power of technology has been used in a way that has made it possible for relatively few to become financially wealthy, and the vast majority of the people of the world excluded from the potential bounty that is possible.
.
SECTION 3-1
FLOW - ACTIVITIES
THINGS THAT SHOULD MAKE A BETTER WORLD
GO TOP MoreLinks LastSection (State/Capitals) More L07-06-FLOW-ACTIVITIES NextSection (Flow/Actors)

STREAMS / STRANDS / STRINGS
WHAT ARE ALL THE IMPACTS FOR THE LIFE CYCLE OF PRODUCTS?
NATURE EXTRACTION
SUPPLY CHAIN PRODUCTION
USE
POST USE
Everything that is used to support a high standard of living and quality of life has a long supply chain, then production and distribution, then use, and then a post use waste chain. For metrics to be meaningful, all of these stages must be brought into account.

CONSIDER ALL THE PERSPECTIVES
EMPOWER ALL THE ACTORS
AND ACCOUNT FOR IMPACT ON ALL THE CAPITALS
TECHNOLOGY

Enabler of progress
ORGANIZATIONS
More than profit
PEOPLE

Men, women & children
PLACE

Where people live
PRODUCTS

Quality of Life
Some people are very fortunate, and others less so. The accident of birth should not be the main determinant of success and a happy productive life. There should be opportunity for everyone. The characteristics of the place make a big difference to quality of life. The choices people make regarding the products purchased and consumed impact the person, the economy and the environment.
.
ROLE PLAYED BY TECHNOLOGY
PRODUCT CONSUMPTION IS A DRIVER OF THE MODERN ECONOMY
CONSUMPTION
PROCESSES
MATERIALS
ENERGY
PAYROLL
Consumption is driving the modern economy. It looks like success as long as the depletion of natural resourcs and the degradation of the environment is ignored.There is strong correlation between better quality of life and more consumption in poor economies, but less so in mature rich econmies. Rich economies are increasingly associated with waste, luxury and inefficiency.
Innovation / Disruption
There is a celebration of innovation and disruption in the modern world that makes a good story for the media, but maybe is part of the reason for social malaise. In a market economy disruption usually means less work for ordinary people and lower incomes, but for the entrepreneur it can mean quite substantial wealth and power. The way the modern system is organized, the losers are on their own, and the winners are celebrated!
.
ROLE PLAYED BY INDIVIDUAL PROCESSES & FACTORIES
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT?
MINING
LOGISTICS ENERGY
ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
OIL REFINERY
Every sector, every industry, has become very specialized and over a long period of time has been optimized for profit performance. Profit performance has been exceptional for decades, but too little attention has been paid to social and environmental issues. This must change. Process improvements are essential and must focus in improving social impact and environmental impact as well as merely being more profitable.
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MANAGE FOR THE SECTORS / INDUSTRIES
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT?
MINING
LOGISTICS ENERGY
FOOD - Vegetables HOUSING HEALTH
AG-GRAIN
PRODUCTION
REFINERIES
FOOD - Meat EDUCATION HEALTH
AG-LIVESTOCK RAIL ELECTRICITY CLOTHES MOBILITY HEALTHCARE
Every sector, every industry, has become very specialized and over a long period of time has been optimized for itself, and especially for its own profit performance. This sort of performance has been exceptional for decades, but very little attention has been paid to associated but external social and environmental issues. This must change. Process improvements are essential and must focus in improving social impact and environmental impact as well as merely being more profitable.

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SECTION 3-2
FLOW - ACTORS
DECISIONS MAKERS MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE
GO TOP MoreLinks LastSection (Flow/Activities) More L07-07-FLOW-ACTORS NextSection (PeterBurgess)

PEOPLE ... THE ULTIMATE ACTORS
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PEOPLE AS CONSUMERS
Food - Vegetables Food - Meat Housing Clothes Mobility Recreation
More consumption correlates to a better quality of life up to a certain level. Beyond that level more consumption may well have negative consequences, as for example too much food may result in obesity and diabetes or worse.
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PEOPLE AS CONTRIBUTORS
AS INDIVIDUALS ... Live life ... Work & family
Every individual is different, both in what they are capable of doing and how they want to live their lives. People should have the freedom to succeed in all sorts of good ways, and should be helped so that they never fail. People need the facts about themselves and everything around them.
IN ORGANIZATIONS ... Do the work ... Make the decisions
Companies are important drivers of the economy. Within companies it is people that make the decisions, and for many decades the dominant metric for success has been profit without taking into consideration impact on society and nature. This must change. Profit performance on its own is not enough!
AS INVESTORS ... Allocate financial resources
The allocation of capital shapes the future of the economy. People make the decisions about what investments should be made and have been guided mainly by the potential for growth of financial wealth without taking into consideration issues relating to society and the environment. These other issues matter.
AS RESIDENTS ... part of the community in a place
More than anything else, people are the essence of a place. Much of what works in a place is because of people, and most of the things in a place are those that are needed by people and give pleasure to people.
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ROLE PLAYED BY CORPORATE ORGANIZATIONS
ALL HAVE SUBSTANTIAL IMPACT ON SOCIETY AND THE ENVIRONMENT
DIGITAL TECH
Google
OIL & GAS
ExxonMobil
AERO ENGINES
Rolls Royce
BANKING
HSBC
ENGINEERING GE FOOD Unilever
Most of the global economy comprises products that are produced by very big organizations that are complex with multiple factories in many different locations, and supply chains that span the globe. It is not easy to understand these companies in a way that makes it possible to hold them accountable for their behavior. Nevertheless, despite their complexity, they are able to communicate their profit performance to investors, but not their social impact nor their environmental impact, even where these are material. This has to change.
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PLACE
THE CRITICAL VALUE ADD FROM LOCATIONAL CAPITAL
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CITIES / COMMUNITIES
Cities and Communities are where people live their lives
MAIN ST.
SCHOOLS CHURCHES POLICE RECREATION HOSPITALS
SUBURBS
UNIVERSITIES HOUSING FIRE RELAXATION PERSONNEL
All living is local. Everything is needed in the place to enable a decent quality of life (QoL). Everything is interconnected. Nothing important can be missing ... multi-sector is essential. When the place is dysfunctional life is much more difficult.
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COUNTRIES
More than 200 countries ... with vastly different characteristics
There is plethora of data averaged at the country level. These data at the country level useful for broad comparisons, not so much for management of performance and decision making. Specifics of different locations within a country are essential for better allocation of resources and problem solving.
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PRODUCTS
PRODUCTS IMPACT PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS AND NATURE
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NEEDED FOR A DECENT QUALITY OF LIFE
Food - Vegetables Food - Meat Housing Clothes Mobility Recreation
More consumption correlates to a better quality of life up to a certain level. Beyond that level more consumption may well have negative consequences, as for example too much food may result in obesity and diabetes or worse.
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PRODUCTS START WITH NATURE AND HAVE A LONG LIFE CYCLE
NATURE SEA
STEEL
EATING
WASTE RECYCLING
NATURE ROAD
REFINING
CONSUMING
LANDFILL RECYCLING
EXTRACTION
RAIL
POLLUTION
DRIVING
FLOODS
NO WASTE
Products enable consumption that improves quality of life. The production of products is a critical economic activity and source of profit for companies. Production and products are only sustainable if they do not degrade the environment. Most modern industrial process are catastrophically unsustainable. Smarter processes are needed together with smarter products, smarter consumers and systems to enable a circular economic model.
NATURE AND NATURAL SYSTEMS ARE FOUNDATIONAL
SUN NATURE NATURE BIODIVERSITY
Everything starts with nature ... but the importance of nature is ignored in most of economics, business management and politics. Natural ecosystems make clean water and air, maintain the productivity of soil, stabilize the climate and so much more.
Energy from the sun provides the energy for all sorts of natural production, as well as agrticulture for food production
There are complex networks that link the lifecycles of animals (including fish) and plants and are essential for life to go on season after season.
ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONS PRODUCE AN ABUNDANCE OF GOODS
FARMING
MINING
STEEL
SEA
ENERGY
RAIL
REFINING
ROAD
The scale and complexity of the modern global economy is difficult to comprehend. It has been enabled since the start of the industrial revolution by impressive improvements in technology and this has accelerated over the years.
Customers have very little knowledge about the complete life cycles of the goods and services they buy and use. They know about price, and the messages associated with the product and the brand, but not much more.
Most companies optimize for profit and to generate wealth. Some companies know about the social and environmental impacts ... good and bad ... associated with the supply chains for what they produce and sell, but this information is closely held to the extent that it is known because almost all production is unsustainable into the future.
The flow of goods and services at the present level of economic activity is dangerously unsustainable, and will become more so as countries like India and China become more affluent and consumption increases. It is estimated that if everyone on planet earth had the lifestyle associated with the USA, it would require between 7 and 10 planets to be sustainable.
THE CONSUMPTION OF PRODUCTS IS CENTRAL TO QUALITY OF LIFE
EATING
MOBILITY
HEALTH
CONSUMING
RELAXATION EDUCATION
In a world of shortage, more is better ... and for most of history this has been the reality, but less so in modern times where productivity enables an abundance of material goods and services. The limiting factor is no longer production but the ability of nature to sustain such production without catastrophic degradation.
Quality of life improves when there is an abundance of goods and services from which to choose ... however too much results in negative impacts like obesity and diabetis.
For companies, more production and more sales results in more profits while at the same time more corporate responsibility results in more costs and less profits. Advertising is mainly about getting more sales, no matter the misinformation.
It is time for better metrics!
WASTE, INDUSTRIAL DETRITUS AND ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
AIR POLLUTION WATER USE LANDFILL FLOODS
GHGs
POLLUTION PLASTIC HURRICANES
The modern economy produces a massive amount of waste. There is waste at every stage of the produce life cycle, and the costs of this waste are ignored in conventional financial management accounting.
Industry has a history of doing the minimum to reduce air pollution both as regards human health and the impact on the environment.
Agriculture and industry are using more water than the natural replenishment, and there are massive flows of polluted water into most major watersheds
Industry has also embraced the use of plastic ... including single use plastic ... without doing much about the way the plastic pollutes both land and seas and kills wildlife.
In addition industry has had little interest in ensuring that important ecosystems remain viable, both as regards biodiversity and also climate stability. Many scientists now consider that the climate situation has morphed into a climate crisis.
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SECTION 4
MANAGEMENT

MOVING THE NEEDLE ON IMPORTANT ISSUES
GO TOP MoreLinks GO LastSection (System Overview) More L07-02-TVM-MANAGEMENT NextSection (Progress/Performance)
INTRODUCING THE TVM INITIATIVE
TRANSPARENCY and ACCOUNTABILITY
METRICS TO MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
ACCOUNTING FOR EVERYTHING THAT MATTERS
MANAGEMENT TO MOVE THE NEEDLE
  • Uses the core concepts of conventional accountancy.
  • Enhances the concepts to address the issue of social impact.
  • Also incorporates the impacts linked to environmental changes.
  • Considers multiple perspectives beyond the corporate reporting entity.
  • Accounts for impacts of any activity on social, natural and economic capitals.
  • Accounts for energy use in processes and embedded in products.
  • Accounts for social impact associated with profile of payroll.
  • Accounts for impacts that have material impact on sustainability.
Peter Drucker famously said you manage what you measure ...
This is undoubtedly true ... in the corporate world, the components that go into making profit are measured intensely in order to improve profit performance ... and it works!
Unfortunately, we don't do anything like the same amount of measuring in order to improve society and avoid degrading the environment ... and we don't have any easy way of talking about social performance and environmental performance in the same way that we are able to talk about corporate performance and investment portfolio performance. This has to change
We argue that you had better measure the right things
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IMPERATIVE FOR RADICAL ACCOUNTABILITY
EVERYTHING FOCUSED ON PROFIT PERFORMANCE MAKES NO SENSE
We talk about profit and money and wealth But not about low wages, poverty and deprivation And how the system is rigged in favor of the wealthy And all sorts of abysmal hidden corporate behavior
The only group that are protected systemically are investors ... everyone else may be lied to with impunity. In the USA it is called the First Amendment. But there is nothing to stop society from doing RADICAL ACCOUNTABILITY so that misfeasance in every aspect of society is exposed.
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Data at the Center Data Everywhere
These schematics were drawn around 1995 early in the days of electronic data collection. What was expensive then, has now become relatively low cost. However, the challenge remains to make use of data in a meaningful way so that better decision get made.

SECTION 5
ABOUT PETER BURGESS
DECADES OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
GO TOP MoreLinks LastSection (Flow/Actors) More L07-08-TPB-PETER-BURGESS
Peter Burgess grew up in post-war Britain. He was born in Lancashire, spent the war years in the suburbs of London, and after the war moved to rural Devonshire. He was educated at Blundell's and played schoolboy rugby for the English Public Schools against Scotland before entering Cambridge. His academic training was in engineering and economics, and later a professional qualification as a Chartered Accountant. He migrated to the USA in 1967. He worked in corporate financial management until 1978, then as an independent consultant. He did intensive consultancy work with the World Bank, the UN and corporate clients, doing assignments in over 50 countries. He was an early adopter in the field of EDP and later personal computers and applied information technology. In recent years he has become deeply concerned that modern leadership has failed to address the issues of inequality, the climate crisis and corruption and lacks effective management tools for accountability ... hence his current work on the development of TrueValueMetrics (TVM).
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