scholarly journals Assessing Corporate Sustainability with the Enterprise Sustainability Evaluation Tool (E-SET)

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aarcha Zenya ◽  
Øystein Nystad
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Graphical Representation ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Evaluation Tool ◽  
Sustainability Evaluation ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Global Sustainability

Implementing a sustainable business strategy entails assessment of corporate sustainability. In this communication, the Enterprise Sustainability Evaluation Tool (E-SET) is presented and its importance is illustrated. E-SET was developed using the indicators from six global sustainability reporting frameworks and the programming language R. The platform, which can be used for self-assessment and comparison purposes, will provide a comprehensible sustainability score and its graphical representation. Although different sector-specific indicators are proposed in existing literature, E-SET, which is intended to promote sustainability in business practices, incorporates indicators relevant to the three pillars of sustainability. The free and easy tool is expected to help managers of all industries assess their companies, and, based on the results, they would be able to judge their sustainability standing and take remedial steps founded upon the low-scoring sustainability elements. Wider adoption of E-SET will help firms to contribute significantly to national sustainability goals.

Sustainability reporting: meeting stakeholder demands

2014 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 38-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Azlan Amran ◽  
Say Keat Ooi
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainability Performance ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure ◽  
Governance Effectiveness ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Stakeholder Needs

Purpose – This paper aims to illustrate the emerging trend and importance of sustainability reporting, and proposes that stakeholder engagement helps gain insights into this rising trend to better understand stakeholder concerns. Pressure for sustainable business practices continues to rise. Findings – Pressure from stakeholders compels businesses to prove their governance effectiveness, accountability and transparency through corporate sustainability disclosure. To cater to diverse stakeholder needs and achieve continuous improvement, it is important that businesses engage with targeted stakeholders and obtain meaningful feedback on their sustainability performance and reporting processes, which helps to meet stakeholders’ demands and improves businesses’ future sustainability agenda. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Relationships among triple bottom line elements

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sitalakshmi Venkatraman ◽  
Raveendranath Ravi Nayak
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Financial Performance ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Triple Bottom Line ◽  
Performance Outcomes ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Performance Outcome

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to gain more insight of the nature and strength of relationships among the three triple bottom line (TBL) outcomes, namely corporate environmental performance outcome (CEPO), corporate social performance outcome (CSPO) and corporate financial performance outcome (CFPO) and to evolve a roadmap for integrating sustainable business practices that facilitates in managing and improving their sustainable performance. Literature reports that currently businesses try to achieve economic, social and ecological goals independently resulting in silos. The interrelationships of TBL elements have not been explored and integrated. The literature has already pointed out that to achieve corporate sustainability, managers need to integrate TBL goals in all their business decisions. However, the question remains – how to integrate these three competing goals and this paper attempts to answer this question. Design/methodology/approach – In the research design, the authors use a quantitative research methodology with data collected by means of a survey questionnaire that included both descriptive and exploratory flavour. The empirical study examines the relationships of TBL elements as perceived by 85 different Australian-based large, medium, as well as small business organisations. The data collected were analysed by performing factor analysis on 21 items resulting in three latent factors that were aligned to TBL outcomes and the correlations among them were analysed to assess their interrelationships. Findings – The results of the study report weak, positive relationships existing between the TBL. This result has useful implications well-supported by the qualitative feedback. The paper argues that Australian managers do not see any strategic advantage in pursuing “beyond compliance” sustainable business practices, as they perceive no added value to their organisations’ financial performance outcomes. Integrating economic, social and ecological performances is seen as an additional management burden. Originality/value – While most of the TBL studies conducted worldwide focus on predominantly assessing large organisations toward responsible and sustainable business practices, this paper considers large, medium as well as small businesses. Also, economic, social and environmental issues are explored by organisations individually, while this study investigates their inter-connections. Through the empirical study, this paper provides recommendations and proposes a four-step roadmap with the participation of quality circles that would facilitate the integration of the social responsibility and environment protection practices into the core business operations paving way towards achieving corporate sustainability.

scholarly journals sustainable business strategy during the new normal era: lesson for Indonesian academic

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-285
Author(s):  
Abdul Samad Arief ◽  
Mulyadi Mulyadi ◽  
Fahrina Yustiasari Liriwati
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
New Normal ◽  
Business Opportunity ◽  
Sustainable Value ◽  
New Thinking ◽  
Business To Business

This study examined ten sustainable business strategies that more experts have advised use running a business in the new normal era. Many findings went publication on a variety of profitable business strategies. However, very little has discussed in a balanced proportion between gaining profitable business and design with high sustainable value. Conditionally, running a business requires a variety of strategic approaches that are sustainable following the policy of the COVID-19 protocol. Understanding which strategies align with the above expectations, we have conducted a series of online literature studies using qualitative methods based on a phenomenological approach. Then, they were analyzed using the conceptual framework of higher education research skills. Through this process, the authors ensured that these findings are valid and reliable. Finally, we summarized ten relevant, sustainable business strategies that are relevant to be applied in the new normal business era in Indonesia. They include continuity strategy, business to business, opportunity strategy, rethinking, lesson learned strategies, working from home, affected policies, new thinking patterns, flexibility strategies, and understanding of new processes. Therefore, these findings will provide profound insight for business people and academicians to work on business practices' sustainability to facing the pandemic disruption.

scholarly journals The Concern of Energy Companies in Obtaining and Maintaining their Sustainable Value

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camelia Cătălina Mihalciuc ◽  
◽  
Maria Grosu ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Business And Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
Competitive Prices ◽  
Energy Companies

The last years are distinguished by increasing the awareness of companies towards sustainable business, going beyond their traditional role of providing goods and services at competitive prices to meet customer requirements. Thus, companies will have to consider the effects of their best practices on the environment and society, in order to contribute to the progress of society and the protection of the environment, the essence of sustainable development being the coexistence of economic and social relations and environmental protection by implementing economic, social and environmental objectives. We can see that every company that seeks to become sustainable must consider approaches based on sustainable business practices geared to meeting customer needs. For companies listed on the stock market, the index that stands next to each company is the one that shows the level of sustainability, through corporate sustainability, long-term value is created for shareholders, taking into account all social factors, those related to the environment, as well as economic ones. All these considerations have led to the establishment of the general objective of the paper, through which the authors aim to explain and present the importance of sustainability/sustainable development in energy companies in conjunction with the UN guidelines on business and human rights, which will address with priority to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030.

A Systematic Literature Review of The Importance of Sustainable Business Strategy

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 829-839
Author(s):  
Kurniawan Kurniawan ◽  
Yusuf Iskandar
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Business Strategy ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Sustainability Research ◽  
The Status

This study undertakes a systematic review of the literature concerning the importance of a sustainable business strategy for any business. While systematic reviews are a vital source of information and are widely utilized in the health sciences, they are seldom employed in sustainability research. Systematic reviews are a type of scientific research that aims to integrate the results of empirical studies objectively and systematically to determine the status of the question in its field of study. This study provides a brief survey of literature reviews in sustainability in business and proposes a systematic review as a method of recovering, analyzing, evaluating, and appraising relevant literature on sustainability in business. This systematic review of the literature suggests that interest in sustainable business practices has increased in recent years. It discusses the subject of sustainability in the perspective of business.

scholarly journals The Practice of Environmental Training: A case of ISO 14001 Certified Businesses in Durban, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne Sennoga ◽  
Fathima Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Environmental Attitudes ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Iso 14001 ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Environmental Management Systems ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Iso 14001 Certification

Environmental management has moved from a policy concept to a proactive strategy defining business responsiveness to stakeholder and market-related pressures towards improved environmentally sustainable business practices. There is increasing business responsiveness through corporate sustainability and environmental management practices. A growing number of environmental regulations make the adoption of environmental management systems such as ISO 14001 more common and this necessitates training. While environmental training is receiving international attention, it is seemingly less prominently investigated in the South African context. In this article, results from an empirical study into the environmental training practices of Durban businesses are presented. By applying the ISO 14001 certification criterion, 24 businesses were identified as research participants. The practice of environmental training was investigated considering three themes i.e. environmental attitudes and culture, training resources and commitment, and impediments to environmental training. In exploring these themes, the main questions of the extent of environmental training and its effectiveness are determined. It was found that environmental training is widely practised across all businesses sampled, with impact-focused training topics supported by positive environmental attitudes. However, other areas emerge as problematic, including limited organisational prioritisation of environmental training as well as insufficient further training topics which can limit the efficacy of training activities.Keywords: environmental training; environmental education; ISO 14001; Environmental Management Systems; corporate sustainability

scholarly journals IMPACT OF CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY REPORTING PRACTICE ON CORPORATE PERFORMANCE: A REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 19-34
Author(s):  
Nusirat Ojuolape Gold ◽  
Fauziah Md. Taib
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Performance ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Measurement Tool ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Reporting Practice ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sustainable Practice

Stakeholder pressure on corporations to adopt sustainable practice has been a subject steering constant argument in recent times. The reason could be due to the awareness of the environmental impact and concern in preserving the planet. This study, through a literature review of prior studies, examined the impact of corporate sustainability reporting practice on corporate performance. Numerous researchers investigated this relationship in the past, but there is still a lack of consensus with regards to outcomes. Findings have been inconsistent and contradictory, varying from positive to a negative relationship, to statistically insignificant or mixed outcomes dependent on several factors such as cost exceeding benefits, shareholders perceiving sustainability initiative as a cost object, investors not valuing disclosure, firms using disclosure as legitimization tool for prestige, weak legislation, proxies used for measurement tool, country/ region of study, methodology, the period covered, industry sector covered and/or sample size. Our study reviewed 35 works of literature and found 13 studies with positive outcomes, 8 with significant negative outcomes, 5 with no significant relationship and 9 with mixed result. Overall, we concluded that it pays for corporations to adopt sustainable business practices as the benefit of adoption will span across the long term. Not denying the fact that companies would incur some huge costs in the short run at the time of investment, but the long-run benefits would far outweigh whatever cost they might have incurred. Hence, corporations are advised to start incorporating the sustainable practice into the management process and subsequently report on them to avoid legitimacy cost and to gain long-run competitive advantage. Future studies may conduct a systematic review to disaggregate the approaches, so as to examine the different dimensions of sustainability practice and provide a more concise and clear result.

Sustainability Reporting Insights: The Case of Ford Motor Company

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne G Bremser ◽  
Eva K Jermakowicz ◽  
Alan Reinstein
Keyword(s):  
Business Strategy ◽  
Sustainability Reporting ◽  
Ford Motor Company ◽  
Financial Accounting ◽  
Managerial Accounting ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Business Reporting ◽  
Accounting Courses ◽  
Or Team ◽  
Sustainability Report

This case will help students comprehend the materiality concept within the context of sustainability reporting in the automotive industry. Students researching sustainable business reporting frameworks can use Ford Motor Company's sustainability report to understand how that firm assesses the materiality of sustainability issues and integrates sustainable development initiatives within its overall business strategy. Students will gauge Ford's sustainability performance and explore how the company and its peers assess the materiality of sustainability issues. They thus can assess the motivations and judgmental nature behind sustainability reporting and challenges facing preparers. Assignable on an individual or team basis, this case introduces important, and interesting, sustainability reporting concepts and issues. With increasing investor interest in sustainability factors, we argue that accounting programs should provide an overview of sustainability reporting to accounting majors. Because it focuses on disclosures relevant to investors and other stakeholders, we view Financial Accounting courses, including International Accounting courses, as the most appropriate opportunity to employ this case. However, we also adapted this case successfully in a Managerial Accounting course.

scholarly journals Guest Editors’ Introduction:Corporate Sustainability Management and Environmental Ethics

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 213-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Schuler ◽  
Andreas Rasche ◽  
Dror Etzion ◽  
Lisa Newton
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Special Section ◽  
Intrinsic Value ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Sustainability Management ◽  
Sustainability Standards

ABSTRACT:This article reviews four key orientations in environmental ethics that range from an instrumental understanding of sustainability to one that acknowledges the intrinsic value of sustainable behavior (i.e., sustainable resource use, conservation and preservation, rights-based perspectives, and deep ecology). It then shows that the current scholarly discourse around corporate sustainability management—as reflected in environment management (EM), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and corporate political activity (CPA)—mostly favors an instrumental perspective on sustainability. Sustainable business practices are viewed as anthropocentric and are conceptualized as a means to achieve competitive advantage. Based on these observations, we speculate about what corporate sustainability management might look like if it applied ethical orientations that emphasize the intrinsic value of nature. This discussion also includes an introduction to two articles in this special section focused on the role of the environmental manager and sustainability standards, both of which offer paths for incorporating intrinsic valuation of the environment into sustainability management.

Corporate sustainability: accounting standards vs tax by design

2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Russell
Keyword(s):  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Accounting Standards ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Legal Form ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the contradiction between sustainability and accounting practices, underpinned by reporting standards and question whether financial statements prepared in this way represent a true and fair view? The paper highlights the disregard for externalities as a fundamental obstacle to sustainable reporting and proposes taxation designs to recognise the costs associated with externalities as the basis for equitable reporting, pricing and sustainable business practices. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken uses Smith’s (1776) tenets of a good tax, to consider characteristics of taxation that may be harnessed for financial reporting, valuation, economic substance and legal form. Findings – The findings reveal a case for further examination of the efficacy of taxation, alongside a full-cost accounting approach, to benefit sustainable reporting. Research limitations/implications – The implications of the research are a possible whole reappraisal of costs and prices to recognise the sustainability dimension and place it at the heart of the corporate agenda. The limitations arise from contestable valuation of sustainable matters, arising from a lack of an agreed theoretical framework. Originality/value – The paper proposes a realignment of costs and prices to correct market imperfection through the innovative application of taxation, but without a fundamental reappraisal of the economic status quo upon which Western-style capitalism is underpinned.

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