What we do
QBIS is short for Quantifying Business Impacts on Society. We specialize in socio-economic impact assessments of investments and day-to-day business activities of private companies. Through these impact assessments, we assist our clients in understanding how they can, and often do, contribute to sustainable economic growth through profitable business and investment activities and how they can demonstrate this towards customers, employees, investors and policymakers.
Why we do it
Companies are major drivers of socio-economic impact. By expanding access to their products and services as well as creating jobs, training workers, building physical infrastructure, procuring raw materials, transferring technology and paying taxes, companies significantly impact the societies in which they operate.
At the same time, socioeconomic impacts are a major predictor of business success. Therefore, companies can use their socio-economic impacts as an important way of maintaining license to operate, improving the business-enabling environment, fueling product and service innovation, strengthening value chains as well as increasing their customers’ willingness to pay for value-adding products and services.
However, benefitting from these impacts requires documentation.
The purpose of QBIS' impact assessments is to document how companies can and do bring value to both societies and shareholders. Thus, the impact studies document current impacts as well as advise on how to expand business through new ways of increasing shared value for business and society at the same time. However, QBIS' impact assessments may also reveal areas where businesses fail to bring value to societies, and show a necessity for improvement. Therefore, looking into the impact of your business can only serve as beneficial for future operations.
How we do it
QBIS is an expert-based consultancy, meaning that we use external experts hand-picked for each project. This is in contrast to employee-based consultancies, which use their own employees for each project. The differences are many, and one of the most important is the first question asked when starting a new project. In an employee-based consultancy, the first question is often who do we have available, whereas in QBIS, the first question is who are the best – i.e. most knowledgeable, experienced and recognised – experts in the relevant fields.
Case in point. If a project needs an econometric analysis, QBIS will use recognised professors, who specialise in econometrics to carry out the analysis. If a project needs a food waste expert, we use researchers from food-waste think tanks. These experts will collaborate with QBIS if the scope, purpose and objectives are sufficiently interesting.
Why should you measure your
company’s impacts?
The mutual dependency of business, government and civil society becomes increasingly clear as social and environmental challenges grow, whether locally or globally. Many companies create significant socio-economic impact in the communities where they operate, and they depend on authorities to create a business-enabling environment. There are numerous opportunities for those businesses who can document their positive socio-economic impacts:
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First, measuring socio-economic impact is a powerful way to show policy-makers how business activities contribute to public policy goals and local development.
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Second, it can help companies achieve a better understanding of the impacts of their products and services in local markets, including the needs, aspirations, resources, and incentives of their customers.
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Third, paired with a company’s financial returns, measuring socio-economic impact is likely to raise investor interest.
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Fourth, it can generate a strong connectivity to the socio-economic challenges facing local markets where you operate. Being part of the solution is simply the best argument for staying in business.
What are the potential benefits from measuring your company’s socio-economic impact?
Customer sales
An impact assessment can enhance your customers’ understanding and willingness-to-pay for the value-added of your company’s products and services
Investor relations
An impact assessment can increase investor interest through documentation of both socio-economic and financial return of your company
Government goodwill and access
An impact assessment can create goodwill and attention of government officials and legislators on issues important to your company and your customers
Employee loyalty
An impact assessment can increase the loyalty of your employees documentation of your company’s economic, social and environmental contributions to sustainable growth