Shifting the paradigm of return on investment: a composite index to measure overall corporate performance

Purpose – This paper seeks to present a model which connects performance measurement at the business level to the concept of public goods usage, and thus incites a linkage between the micro- and macro-economic aspects of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the essentials of a public goods cost perspective in order to agitate discussion between statisticians, standard-setters for business reporting and practitioners who wish to explore new approaches in the topic of building performance indicators. Findings – The paper illustrates what has been achieved in measuring the outcomes of sustainable development efforts and what still needs to be done in order to arrive at aggregate values for national and global commons. Research limitations/implications – The viability of the concept will depend on the co-operation of businesses and national statistics which test the feasibility of the proposed micro-macro-link through numerical studies. As the paper is published, efforts are under way with a piloting group to initiate a pertinent study, but the results have yet to be attained. Practical implications – For practitioners in both the statistics profession and management accounting who are concerned with measurement of socioeconomic and environmental phenomena, this attempt at integrating sustainable development indicators to the managerial control system of companies might provide a valuable proposition. It also is a helpful contribution to the ongoing debate about the value and credibility of sustainability reporting. Social implications – If businesses make no attempts to exhibit numerically how they contribute to preserve and expand the societal commons, they will be confronted with ever-growing agitation from pressure groups and they might be bypassed in the discussion on the issue of sustainability parameters that those groups are advocating. Originality/value – This is the first academic paper that demonstrates a reporting model that unites business accounts and national accounts.