With this paper, KPMG and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) aim to lay the foundations business practitioners need in order to integrate social capital into their thinking and actions. Through the course of this study we have gained insights from forward-looking companies and partners who are already tackling this challenge, with a view to better understanding the connection between social capital and business value creation. The results put the decision-maker at the heart of the issue and illustrate how appropriate social capital information can drive business value by enabling better decision-making.

The findings of this study provide the initial building blocks required for the ongoing development of the Social Capital Protocol: a collaborative initiative to produce a harmonized approach for businesses to measure and value their interactions with society that will bring greater rigor and consistency to companies' efforts in this space. As the Social Capital Protocol is developed and adopted, companies will increasingly be able to use social capital information to improve business decision-making and enhance performance.