Moral Capital: A Proposal to Incorporate a Seventh Capital into the Six Capitals Framework.

• In Event: Public Interest

Abstract

The International Integrated Reporting Council’s introduction of the Integrated Reporting Framework grounded the principles of human, social, and natural environmental capital into the very foundation of business management processes. But did the Council go far enough in providing a solid foundation for its Six Capitals methodology?

The landmark document “The International IR Framework” does not include any references to morals, morality, or moral behavior. It only includes a few scattered references to ethical behavior. Any Framework that incorporates ethics without incorporating morality allows for the possibility that ethical codes of conduct can be crafted without reference to underlying moral judgments of right and wrong.

Thus, to accomplish its goals, it may be necessary for the IIRC to inject a seventh capital into the existing Six Capitals framework. The inclusion of a Moral Capital construct may ensure the use of the IR as an objective framework, and may prevent its employment as a greenwashing device.

Author

• Michael Kraten, Providence College