Gifts 10 standard guidelines for calculating the social return on investment (SROI) - a quantitative summary of the company social and environmental impacts, actual or projected. SROI is a technique to take stock of the environmental and social benefits of the companies in the dollar equivalent value. Using data and examples of 88 actual business plans, this article discusses the most common errors in these estimates and makes recommendations for standardization. The goal is to make the SROI metrics more complete, reliable, and useful for entrepreneurs, managers and analysts. Such a general framework will also allow investors to compare the social consequences of different companies in the same industry. "Hide
by Alison Lingane, Sara Olsen Source: California Management Review 22 pages. Publication Date: 01 May 2004. Prod. #: CMR287-PDF-ENG