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Shobha Kumar

Shobha Kumar ... Senior Knowledge and Learning Specialist at The World Bank ... Washington D.C. Metro Area ... Professional Training & Coaching

Burgess COMMENTARY
A message sent via LinkedIn on September 5, 2013

Congratulations ... knowledge and learning is, in my view, at the core of a successful future, and i am pretty sure you would agree.

The question then becomes what sort of learning is going to be the best for people, place, planet and profit ... and I am not sure that there is an easy consensus on that.

I did my first assignments for the World Bank in 1978 ... and over a period of several decades I never came across anyone in the World Bank who was really world class in the field of accountancy, though there were high profile people responsible for accounting issues. During this same period issues of corruption and all sorts of money control issues kept cropping up, yet the lack of basic accounting was never brought up (within my earshot, anyway) even though this should have been the first thing that got addressed.

Fast forward to now. Double entry accountancy is more than 400 years young, and I argue it is time it was reformed so that it is more relevant to the 21st century. I want to see accounting that address not only the money profit for organizations, but also impact on people and planet. This needs a different perspective than the one that is the present norm. We need metrics around each and every economic activity in a place, so that these data may be aggregated (consolidated) into the implementing and financing organizations, into the place and also into product.

Place is important because it is in a place where there can be accountability, and it is where profit, people and planet come together. Profit is what we already understand ... revenues minus costs equals profit. Impact on people is more complicated because people have multiple roles in society: as investors; as executives; as workers; as family members; as community residents; as customers; as people in the supply chain; as people in the waste chain. Impact on planet also has many elements: depletion of resources; degradation of the land, consumption of water, pollution of air, water and land, and so on.

All of this is best understood in an economic activity in a place ... and even then it is fairly complex.

There also has to be rigor around the understanding of product. Economic activity is associated with the consumption and the creation of goods and services ... product. Product has a life cycle starting with the supply chain, through the use cycle and eventually into the waste chain. A product will usually pass through many economic activities during this life cycle.

Product is important because product is directly affected by buy / not to buy decisions. The dominant information at the present time at this decision point is that associated with corporate advertising and brand PR, but in a smart society the buyer should also be able to see the whole life cycle impact associated with the product as well as its price.

None of this is particularly revolutionary ... but getting economic decision making to be based on data flowing through a framework like this would change a lot of things. I have been bothered for a long time that if profit is the dominant metric, then there will never be much capital flowing into the things that really matter ... getting 2 billion people into a better economic environment with potential, for example. There is not much money profit to be made doing this, but a huge amount of impact valuadd. There are thousands of issues that could be addressed if impact valuadd could be the goal as powerful as money profit.

So my big question! Where is discussion of this sort going on in the World Bank and in the society served by the World Bank?

With best regards

Peter Burgess TrueValueMetrics

Shobha Kumar 1st Shobha Kumar Senior Knowledge and Learning Specialist at The World Bank Washington D.C. Metro AreaProfessional Training & Coaching Previous The World Bank Education University of Southern California 166 connections Send a messageMore options www.linkedin.com/pub/shobha-kumar/8/a66/1b3/ Contact Info Activity Charles Fields endorsed the skills and expertise of Shobha Kumar Shobha Shobha is endorsed for E-Learning, Program Evaluation, Policy Analysis, Program Management, and Instructional Design. Endorse Connections Like Comment 2 hours ago Shobha Kumar has added a publication: The Art of Knowledge Exchange (Add publications to your profile) Like Comment 1 day ago Say congrats on the new job! Shobha Kumar Shobha Kumar Senior Knowledge and Learning Specialist The World Bank Like Say congrats (1) 2 days ago No Photo Wangari Kamau Congrats! Hope you are keeping well. Regards Wangari 2 days ago Shobha Kumar has an updated current title: Senior Knowledge and Learning Specialist at The World Bank Like Comment Send a message 2 days ago Shobha Kumar has added a language: English (Add languages to your profile) Like Comment 2 days ago Shobha Kumar is now connected to Maurya Meiers, Evaluation Officer at World Bank and Julio Pacheco, Consultant at The World Bank Group 2 days ago See More Background Summary A seasoned knowledge and learning specialist and project manager with over 10 years of experience and expertise in: • results-oriented design of learning and knowledge exchange • facilitation of group processes • leading multidisciplinary teams to design and deliver large multimedia-based knowledge and learning projects; • managing the design and implementation of staff-learning and capacity-development solutions for enhanced organizational performance • developing the capacity of task teams to improve the effectiveness of their knowledge and learning programs through use of appropriate knowledge and learning tools and techniques; • application of effective monitoring and evaluation tools; • designing and facilitating on-line learning communities and knowledge-exchange interventions. Experience The World BankSenior Knowledge and Learning Specialist The World Bank July 2009 – Present (4 years 3 months)Washington D.C. Metro Area The World BankLearning Specialist The World Bank 1998 – 2009 (11 years)Washington D.C. Metro Area Publications The Art of Knowledge Exchange(Link) The World Bank 2 authors Shobha Kumar Shobha Kumar Senior Knowledge and Learning Specialist at The World Bank Aaron Leonard Aaron Leonard Capacity Development & Knowledge Management Professional Languages English Native or bilingual proficiency Hindi Native or bilingual proficiency Skills & Expertise Most endorsed for... 12Program Evaluation 6Policy Analysis 6Program Management 5E-Learning 4International... 4Community of Practice 4Knowledge Management 3Blended Learning 3Instructional Design 3Research Shobha also knows about... 3Public Policy 2Capacity Building 2Distance Learning 2International Relations 1Economics 1International... 1Policy Education University of Southern California University of Southern California Master of Science (MS) 1985 – 1988 Recommendations Peter, would you like to recommend Shobha? Recommend Shobha ConnectionsAll (166)Shared (1) Oxana MinchenkoOxana Minchenko2nd Learning specialist at The World Bank Connect2Chirine AlameddineChirine Alameddine2nd Regional Coordinator Connect1Michael Randel CPFMichael Randel CPF2nd Organization Development and Learning Professional Connect3Alexandra HummeAlexandra Humme2nd Senior Communications Strategist at Global Partnership for Education/World Bank Connect4Han FraetersHan Fraeters2nd Manager at World Bank Connect4Adarsh DesaiAdarsh Desai2nd Program Manager, Innovation Labs at The World Bank Connect9Steffen Soulejman JanusSteffen Soulejman Janus2nd Knowledge Exchange Practice Connect2Scott YannScott Yann2nd retired at Cambridge, Maryland Connect2Nicolas MeyerNicolas Meyer2nd Learning Officer at World Bank Institute Connect3Ibrahim AJAJAIbrahim AJAJA2nd Information Analyst at The World Bank Connect2 PreviousNext Groups Innovative Learning & Education Innovators Innovative Learning & Education Innovators Join Knowledge for Development Knowledge for Development Join Open Data Innovations Network Open Data Innovations Network Join Open Development Technology Alliance Open Development Technology Alliance Join The Official USC Alumni Association Group The Official USC Alumni Association Group Join Following The World Bank International Trade and Development