Pssst... here comes the silent revolution

European research on non-financial performance

What are the crucial elements in measuring a company’s performance? There is a lot of disagreement on this subject, in-house and beyond. The crisis in the financial markets has prompted investors and analysts involved in this dialogue to concentrate increasingly on non-financial performance.

Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School is working with Cranfield School of Management (UK) and Bocconi School of Management (IT) on research to determine how a range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are linked to a company’s financial performance; the research uses a filter made up of the most important non-financial factors, such as human capital, customer relations, partnerships, environment, innovation and corporate governance. The research is to culminate in a set of international guidelines to help companies incorporate financial and non-financial performance into their communications with important stakeholders, mainly investors. The project is part of the joint “laboratories” of the European Alliance for CSR and receives support from the European Commission.