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Impact 2020 Principles
As a harmonizing framework to guide enterprises to appropriately
measure their non-financial performance, IMPACT 20/20 is based
on six foundational principles that articulate the accountability
challenges faced by organisations and institutions operating
in the South African region. These principles are:
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Innovation in approach to applying global standards locally
is critical. This is particularly important in the development
of indicators of success, aligned to strategic and operational
objectives, that are informed by stakeholders and which are
appropriate for the South African context where issues of sustainable
development and human rights are paramount. |
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Measurement criteria should stem from national agendas,
regulatory standards, business mission, and stakeholder expectations.
Rigor, relevance, comparability and integration are criteria
to assess a performance measurement system. Measurement is about
gathering valid information to inform strategic positioning
and stakeholder dialogue and will ensure reliable, replicable,
and timely stakeholder expectations. Such data must be objectively
verified. |
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Partnership is a prerequisite for the successful implementation
of a non-financial accountability system. Meaningful particiation
of stakeholders is critical to such processes. Stakeholder participation
must be secured through a sincere invitation, on the part of
an enterprise, to its stakeholders, as it endeavours to measure
and account for its non-financial performance. To minimize stakeholder
scepticism, an enterprise must make adequate and appropriate
awareness and trust building interventions. |
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Ability of an enterprise to efficiently, effectively
and economically use resources to attain objectives is often
not xplicitly addressed in measurement systems. Global standards
tend to focus on the measurement side of performance, as a post-implementation/output
evaluation, rather than input/capacity requirements but deficiencies
in an enterprise's ability/capacity are often linked to performance
gaps. Capacity includes capital (financial, technological, physical,
etc.), human (people, knowledge, skill, experience, leadership,
management, etc.), organisational |
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Commitment to ensure a positive non-financial impact
must be embedded in an enterprise's management ethos and practices.
Non financial accountability adds value to an enterprise only
when its stakeholders understand its significance for the sustainability
of the enterprise and themselves. |
Transformation for the respect, protection, promotion
and fulfillment of human rights are the core standards to measure
impact. Measurement is at three levels - voluntarily standards
from an enterprise or industry (e.g., codes of conduct and guiding
values/principles), global standards (e.g., SA8000, ISO9000,
ISO14000, etc.) and national regulatory frameworks (Constitution-Bill
of Rights, Labour legislation, etc.).
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following schematic captures the IMPACT 20/20 non-financial
accounting management process: |
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The first step in the IMPACT 20/20
process requires an organisation to refocus its activities by
revisiting its mission, vision, and guiding values and to clarify
its legal obligations. This must be balanced with stakeholder
expectations and organisational capacity. This activity is called
ANCHORING where the enterprise holds itself still for a moment
to develop a picture of itself in the present and the future.
Source data for this stage are institutional documents such
as business plans, evaluation reports, and strategic planning.
The challenge is to accurately assess the relevance and sustainability
of organisational mission, organisational capacity to achieve
this, and the degree of variance between mission and impact
determined through stakeholder perceptions and operational/business
unit statistics. This assessment requires that the |
organisation set up systems for the collection
of qualitative and quantitative MEASUREMENT data. Stakeholder
dialogue provides data on how the organisation is perceived
which can then be compared and contrasted with operational/business
statistical data. Quantitative and qualitative data need
to be analysed and summarized in a report that then gets
VERIFIED by an external auditor. Once the auditor signs
off on the report, this information informs strategic
and operational decision-making and becomes the basis
for COMMUMICATION with stakeholders. The enterprise reports
on its impact in terms of objectives and stakeholders
expectations and sets out the commitments it has made
for the next operational cycle.
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