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Measuring the developmental impact of small enterprise development using social accounting techniques
01.09.1998
Evaluating the performance of organizations undertaking small enterprise development is usually the preserve of NGO evaluation specialists. This article describes the social accounting methodology, whereby all the recognized stakeholders of an organization are involved in measuring the performance of the organization against its defined social objectives and ethical values. The origins of these methods in the West are described, followed by an outline of the steps involved in a social audit. Three case studies are given of social accounting procedures being introduced into developing country small enterprise development organizations. Finally, social accounting is distinguished from evaluation in that the latter is usually concerned with fulfilling the objectives of an external agency, rather than all the organization's stakeholders.