136 THE ROI OF HUMAN CAPITAL
opposed to probable. Business executives are held account-
able for results. Only the most enlightened and secure are
going to fund complex research.
At the time of the first edition of this book, there was a
groundswell of calls for the reform of standard accounting,
such as including nonfinancial data and reporting in so-
called real time. There are demands for the Securities and
Exchange Commission to open its mind to a parallel system
that will evolve over the next decade into a system that re-
flects the realities of 2000 and beyond. Unfortunately, noth-
ing has come from this proposal, despite the efforts of
Baruch Lev and others, and the passion for reform has
cooled—at least for now.
AHumanCapitalP&L
Granted, the accounting ...