The AICPA & CIMA, together as the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, in partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), has produced a new framework designed to facilitate strategy delivery excellence.
The framework is based on new research from the organisations. The Integrated Performance Management framework, taken from phase two of the Integrated Performance Management (IPM) research project, will:
- Focus on strategy execution and refinement founded on a clear, defined organisational purpose, a robust strategy, and effective corporate governance.
- Embrace multi-capital, multi-stakeholder, and long-term value creation principles. It provides mechanisms for continuous feedback on the performance of strategies and supports their refinement to deliver value creation for a broad range of stakeholders.
- Include components related to leadership, culture, resource management, and processes. The application of the framework is ongoing and cyclical, with each component providing feedback loops on the execution of strategy.
- Facilitate the provision of management information that drives insights into effective strategic execution, providing data on productivity, functional utilization, and moral hazard risk reduction. It helps drive performance by engaging and empowering employees and building trust.
“Modern business strategy must incorporate a wide range of capitals, notably environmental and social capital, and it must recognise that most value is driven by people,” Peter Spence, FCMA, CGMA, associate technical director of management accounting at AICPA & CIMA, said in a news release. “Our research identified gaps that can open up in this environment between strategic intent and delivery.
“To address these issues, we created the [framework], which organisations can use to optimise performance and deliver sustainable value to all their stakeholders. It links leadership, culture, resource management, and processes together to form a new blueprint for the high-performing organisations of the future.”
According to the news release, the framework is intended to “build a performance culture in an environment where people are empowered, trusted, and engaged”.
“As much as 90% of a company’s value is now made up of intangible [assets],” Pepijn Rijvers, executive vice president at WBCSD, said in the release. “These are the thoughts, experiences, and expertise of people in the workforce. It was staggering to us to discover that even in successful companies, many leaders are struggling to make the connection between individuals and the strategic objectives of the organisations.”
IESBA releases Q&A to support standard on group audits
The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA) has released a Q&A publication on the pronouncement Revisions to the Code Relating to the Definition of Engagement Team and Group Audits, which is intended to address independence considerations in an audit of group financial statements.
The Q&A is designed to highlight, illustrate, or explain aspects of the revisions in the IESBA’s International Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants and is intended to complement the Basis for Conclusions for the final pronouncement, according to the news release.
The publication aims to assist firms, national standards setters, and professional accountancy organisations in adopting and/or implementing the revisions. It will also assist regulators and audit oversight bodies, the corporate governance community, investors, preparers, educational bodies or institutions, and other stakeholders in understanding the revisions.
IAASB releases FAQ on sustainability assurance proposal
The International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) has released a set of FAQs designed to help stakeholders better understand the recently proposed International Standard on Sustainability Assurance (ISSA) 5000, General Requirements for Sustainability Assurance Engagements.
The Application of Materiality by the Entity and the Assurance Practitioner aims to address several questions, including how the concept of materiality applies to sustainability reporting and assurance, and the definition of double materiality, and how an assurance practitioner considers an organisation’s “materiality process” during a sustainability assurance engagement, according to the news release.
The comment period for proposed ISSA 5000 is open until 1 December 2023.
To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Kevin Brewer at Kevin.Brewer@aicpa-cima.com.