Making Information Measurement Meaningful: The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Social and Human Capital Protocol
Drucker’s saying that “What gets measured gets managed” is examined in the context of corporate social responsibility. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals have encouraged sustainability reporting, and a reporting tool, the Social and Human Capital Protocol, has been developed to assist...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-08-01
|
| Series: | Information |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/12/8/338 |
| _version_ | 1797523495932919808 |
|---|---|
| author | John P. Wilson |
| author_facet | John P. Wilson |
| author_sort | John P. Wilson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Drucker’s saying that “What gets measured gets managed” is examined in the context of corporate social responsibility. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals have encouraged sustainability reporting, and a reporting tool, the Social and Human Capital Protocol, has been developed to assist measurement and provide information to support the achievement of sustainability. This information should be valid and reliable; however, it is not easy to measure social and human capital factors. Additionally, companies use a large number of methodologies and indicators that are difficult to compare, and they may sometimes only present positive outcomes as a form of greenwashing. This lack of full transparency and comparability with other companies has the potential to discredit their reports, thereby supporting the claims of climate change deniers, free-market idealogues and conspiracy theorists who often use social media to spread their perspectives. This paper will describe the development of environmental reporting and CSR, discuss the natural capital protocol, and assess the extent to which the Social and Human Capital Protocol is able to fulfil its purpose of providing SMART objective measurements. It is the first academic article to provide a detailed examination of the Social and Human Capital Protocol. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:42:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-554d43fa8bae4f748cea78f62dde4c32 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2078-2489 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T08:42:50Z |
| publishDate | 2021-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-554d43fa8bae4f748cea78f62dde4c322023-11-22T08:06:20ZengMDPI AGInformation2078-24892021-08-0112833810.3390/info12080338Making Information Measurement Meaningful: The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Social and Human Capital ProtocolJohn P. Wilson0School of Management, University of Sheffield, Conduit Road, Sheffield S10 1FL, UKDrucker’s saying that “What gets measured gets managed” is examined in the context of corporate social responsibility. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals have encouraged sustainability reporting, and a reporting tool, the Social and Human Capital Protocol, has been developed to assist measurement and provide information to support the achievement of sustainability. This information should be valid and reliable; however, it is not easy to measure social and human capital factors. Additionally, companies use a large number of methodologies and indicators that are difficult to compare, and they may sometimes only present positive outcomes as a form of greenwashing. This lack of full transparency and comparability with other companies has the potential to discredit their reports, thereby supporting the claims of climate change deniers, free-market idealogues and conspiracy theorists who often use social media to spread their perspectives. This paper will describe the development of environmental reporting and CSR, discuss the natural capital protocol, and assess the extent to which the Social and Human Capital Protocol is able to fulfil its purpose of providing SMART objective measurements. It is the first academic article to provide a detailed examination of the Social and Human Capital Protocol.https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/12/8/338corporate social responsibilityinformation managementsocial mediasocial and human capital protocolnatural capital protocolSMART objectives |
| spellingShingle | John P. Wilson Making Information Measurement Meaningful: The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Social and Human Capital Protocol Information corporate social responsibility information management social media social and human capital protocol natural capital protocol SMART objectives |
| title | Making Information Measurement Meaningful: The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Social and Human Capital Protocol |
| title_full | Making Information Measurement Meaningful: The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Social and Human Capital Protocol |
| title_fullStr | Making Information Measurement Meaningful: The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Social and Human Capital Protocol |
| title_full_unstemmed | Making Information Measurement Meaningful: The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Social and Human Capital Protocol |
| title_short | Making Information Measurement Meaningful: The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and the Social and Human Capital Protocol |
| title_sort | making information measurement meaningful the united nations sustainable development goals and the social and human capital protocol |
| topic | corporate social responsibility information management social media social and human capital protocol natural capital protocol SMART objectives |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/12/8/338 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT johnpwilson makinginformationmeasurementmeaningfultheunitednationssustainabledevelopmentgoalsandthesocialandhumancapitalprotocol |