guest lecture given to startup students at University of Salford in April 2013 as part of wider enterprise programme; this session supported participants to explore the options and benefits of identifying the social impacts that their businesses will be creating, and how these might be used to enhance their competitive advantage

1. How to value the impact your business
makes for competitive advantage
www.adrianashton.co.uk

2. introductions
I know why I’m here, but why are you?
Adrian Ashton

3. How do you get noticed?
• Marketplaces are crowded
• How do you strand-out? What is it about you
that makes you attractive to your customers?
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4. Marketplaces are changing
• Consumers and
customers becoming
more ‘ethically aware’
• Rise of the ‘ethical
pound’
• Introduction of Social
Value Act
• Changes to regulatory
reporting requirements
(companies house,
environment agency,
etc)
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6. So how will you do it?
• Make up your own system or adopt an
existing standard?
– Time
– Complexity
– Credibility
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7. Some of the options:
• AA1000
• LiM
• SROI
• Social Accounting & Audit
• LM3
• Investors in People
• ...
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8. AccountAbility 1000
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9. LIM tool
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10. SROI
• Identify stakeholders and impacts
• Assign values to outcomes and recognise
‘deadweight’
- Useful to generate ‘headlines’ and understand
how you’re valued by stakeholders
- Risk of inconsistent measures and values, not
consulting all groups, not considering all variables
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11. Social Accounting & Audit
• Explores links between vision, mission,
objectives, activities and values from internal and
external perspectives
• Generates indicators appropriate to the
enterprise
- Very comprehensive and seen by many as
‘ultimate’ and best model
- Difficult to compare report with others’
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13. Local Multiplier 3 (LM3)
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14. Investors in People
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15. But do your customers care?
Lets take it as read that customers will like you if
you can show how you’re making the wider
world (as well as theirs) a better place...
- But what are the wider issues they care
about?
Benefits of understanding your impacts in
making decisions about your business as
well...
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16. So what?
• Is this relevant to your marketplace?
• Is there a clear option for how your business
can create social impacts of interest to your
customers – and should you trade on these?
The risk of not doing anything and
conducting ‘business as usual’...
Adrian Ashton