NEWS & INSIGHT
FINANCIAL VALUE AND SOCIETAL COSTS OF COMPANIES COMBINED IN NEW INDEX SCHOOL : Nyenrode Business University COUNTRY: Netherlands
The top companies in the Netherlands collectively cost society more than they yield, according to a study involving Nyenrode professor of finance Willem Schramade. The study probed the Euronext Amsterdam (AEX), formerly known as the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, to produce an integrated value for each company that combines its financial, social and ecological value. Referred to as a company’s Futureproofing Ratio, these values then allowed the researchers to rank the 23 largest AEX companies. Overall, the AEX Futureproof Index Report found that 30 per cent of the financial value of these AEX companies comes at the expense of society. This total was brought down by the report’s worst performers, Heineken, Shell and steel producer ArcelorMittal, whose negative scores relate to carbon emissions and air pollution, as well as the social cost of alcohol and its effect on health. Intriguingly, 15 of the 23 companies analysed generated a positive integrated value, with conglomerate Philips, retail multinational Ahold Delhaize and HR consultancy Randstad leading the way.
Produced in collaboration with Rotterdam School of Management, strategic agency ftrprf and a team of 400 master’s students, the researchers say this ranking offers a fresh perspective because it allows for comparisons between companies of all categories rather than just competitors in a single industry, as is the case with other sustainability ratings and impact analyses. “The results from our research are absolute. We give an intrinsic valuation in the language of business: hard euros,” reasoned Schramade. The hope is that demonstrating the monetary value of social impact will heighten awareness of the relationship between business and society. “Ultimately, you want to do this for thousands of companies, so that large investors and pension funds will use this information when making their investment decisions. I hope this research will make companies look at their activities and strategic decisions in a different way,” Schramade added. TBD
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Ambition • ISSUE 2 • 2025 11
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