This is not a conspiracy theory, but rather an exposé of how the inadequacies of the Accounting Model could be used as a “weapon” against us.
The accounting fraternity has been aware of the serious shortcomings of the Accounting Model for the past two decades or more. They know they have problems, and that they are getting progressively worse, but have done little, or nothing to address them.
This all stems from: -
1) The Accounting Model’s inability to measure the true value within business.
2) Its inability to identify and measure the true wealth creating capacity of the business.
3) Its tendency to mask, or hide business’s true underlying value, as there is no direct correlation between value creation and financial profit.
These problems are understandable, as the Accounting Model is a financial measurement model, while these issues deal with matters of value creation. Financial measures are important, but they only form a small part of business’s wider requirements in providing a complete and accurate picture of business. This is nothing new – accountants have been saying this for years, but what have they done about it? The longer they leave it, the less relevant the Accounting Model becomes, to the point where on its own, it will become a liability rather than an asset.
However, this article isn’t about it being a business liability, but rather the security liability it represents as we have dragged our heels for so long in addressing these known weaknesses. Many people can identify with the problems presented here, but few, if any, have seen the potential security threat it presents. Let me explain …
I’m a business theorist – a person who concerns themselves with affairs affecting business. I have been lobbying for many years to have a more inclusive measurement system implemented, incorporating all business processes, and based on “value added”, the common denominator for business measurement.
During my work investigating alternative measurement standards, I came to the realisation of how vulnerable our international economy is to attack. I also became increasingly frustrated with the lack of enthusiasm shown for change. What is going to shake accountants out of their rut? Are they waiting for some cataclysmic event to occur before taking action? This got me thinking – perhaps I would present the vulnerability of our international economy in a novel, showing people the horrors we could face due to our indolence in not addressing known problems with the Accounting Model. The book has recently been published and is called “A Silent War”. It graphically describes the nightmare we could face as our enemy uses these weaknesses as a catalyst in a masterful plot which could see us lose the free democracies of the world and face regime change worse than that of Nazism or Communism.
Perhaps this threat will not materialise, (I certainly hope not) even although the storyline is highly plausible, and based entirely on current circumstances. If nothing else, I hope it provokes thought and makes us see the inadequacies of the Accounting Model in a new light. Hopefully, it makes people appreciate the need for change and how we cannot afford to allow the problem to continue to “slide”. Let’s hope the book will be the cataclysmic event accountants are waiting for, rather than the real thing.
In this article, I would like to explain, in a simple and succinct manner, (without giving away too much of the story) how the inadequacies of the Accounting Model could be used as a “weapon” to destroy our international economy. What should strike you is how plausible and relatively easily the antagonist’s plan is implemented; showing just how vulnerable our economy, and therefore, our society is to major attack.
Marketing is most affected by the Accounting Model’s inability to measure “value added”, as most of the tasks undertaken by Marketing are about adding value, which cannot be measured in strict financial accounting terms. Businesses spend money on Marketing because they know it works, but do so reluctantly as “accountability” is poor. Is the Marketing budget being wisely and optimally employed? We cannot answer these questions as we cannot measure their performance using our sole and universally accepted Accounting Model.
If we cannot measure, then the probability of funds being misappropriated, for whatever reason, are extremely high. This is the premise upon which I base part of the plot. I have a Marketing Association, which represents the global interests of national Marketing Associations around the world, served papers by a British University claiming damages, on behalf of the business community, for Marketing “being irrelevant and a squanderer of critical resources.”. A court case ensues where clear and concise evidence is led on both sides, with the finding that Marketing is not “irrelevant”, but because of ineffective measurement standards, the probability of money being “squandered” is high and as a result, a judgement is made against Marketing.
This is where everybody, except the antagonist, thought it would end. He, however, knew that being armed with an important precedence, the likelihood of getting identical rulings around the world against national Marketing Associations would be high. Consequently, almost simultaneously, similar court actions are brought against all national Marketing Associations globally.
The reason behind this action is that legally, you can draw a direct relationship between a company and the Association to which it belongs through its membership. So if there is no evidence that the company disagreed with the direction the Association was taking, then by inference you can conclude the company supported the Association’s direction. If the Association is found guilty of being aware of practices that knowingly squander resources, and have done little or nothing to address the problem, then the company through its membership is equally guilty as they should have been equally aware of the problem. This then leaves the road open for individual shareholders to bring class actions against these companies for knowingly squandering shareholder funds. Such claims could amount to multiple millions per claim.
Members of these national Marketing Associations will, likely, comprise all major listed companies in their respective countries, so by going global on these court cases the antagonist can implicate nearly every publicly listed company in the world as being a potential “squanderer of resources”.
Only one or two of these class actions needs to be brought anywhere in the world, and every major corporation knows it faces the same fate. This sets off a chain reaction on the global stock markets, where investors rush to divest funds in businesses likely to be affected. Problem is, every major corporation will be affected, so we see a crash in global markets like we’ve never seen before.
This all happens because our stock markets operate on the principles of fear and greed, not solid investment criteria. The antagonist has played stock traders at their own game – fear, but on a much larger scale. Stock markets around the word shed trillions over night – we face an international crisis like nothing ever before; all because we have done little, or nothing to address the inadequacies of our measurement methods.
There’s a lot more to this novel than just this, as it explains how our apparently benign business and social networks are nothing of the sort. How easily they have been “infiltrated” and manipulated, with the ability to debilitate governments in time of crisis. It’s an exciting, easy read, which I hope will provoke thought on several issues as the story brings us to the brink of losing the free democracies of the world without us knowing we are at war or who our enemy is.
I hope “A Silent War” is the jolt we need to institute change, and that we don’t wait around for the real event to unfold. I also hope that our enemies will not see this as their blueprint, as we remain highly vulnerable if we continue to do nothing.
For more details and to purchase “A Silent War” (ISBN 9781843866442) published by Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers Limited, Cambridge, United Kingdom, please use the link below.
“A Silent War”
For more details and to purchase “Modern Value Management” , a book about a new, fully inclusive measurement standard, please use this link.
“Modern Value Management”
Adrian Dore
Wrington
North Somerset
United Kingdom
email : adrian.dore@growingvalue.net
