scholarly journals The Social Dimensions of Corporate Sustainability: An Integrative Framework Including COVID-19 Insights

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ikram ◽  
Qingyu Zhang ◽  
Robert Sroufe ◽  
Marcos Ferasso
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Response Planning ◽  
Fuzzy Delphi ◽  
Climate Vulnerability

Corporate sustainability is considered a fundamental paradigm and solution in creating a prosperous future for organizations. However, social sustainability issues and pandemic problems from COVID-19 have affected corporations and interrupted plans for sustainable development. To date, corporate sustainability frameworks have taken a relatively narrow view of this paradigm. This study highlights serious challenges to corporate sustainability while providing a framework in an attempt to enable more sustainable business practices. To fill the gap in the literature, we have developed a framework to organize and prioritize important sustainability indicators. The first phase of the study involves the classification of 45 sub-criteria of corporate sustainability under nine main categories by using a literature review and novel Fuzzy Delphi method. The resulting categories are Corporate Governance, Product Responsibility, Transparency and Communication, Economic, Environmental, Social, Natural Environment and Climate Vulnerability, Energy Consumption along with Energy Saving, and includes Pandemic COVID-19 as a new aspect of social sustainability. Next, we applied the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchical Process (FAHP) to help determine the weights and prioritizing the criteria and sub-criteria. The results revealed that the Pandemic, along with the Natural Environment and Climate Vulnerability, ranked higher among the main criteria category. Whereas, emergency response planning, social distances, modification of working hours, and just-in-time delivery are the most influencing sub-attributes among the 45 sub-barriers of different categories. Contributions of this study include new insights regarding corporate sustainability criteria and subcriteria, application of novel methods, and integrated framework for dimensions of corporate sustainability. This study is among the first of its kind to consider the COVID-19 pandemic as an essential category and social sustainability attribute of corporate sustainable business practices. Outcomes of this study can help assist scholars, corporations, and decision-makers in understanding sustainable development initiatives while simultaneously improving social sustainability practices.

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.

Responsible entrepreneurship: outlining the contingencies

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 538-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Vallaster ◽  
Sascha Kraus ◽  
Norbert Kailer ◽  
Brooke Baldwin
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Responsible Innovation ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Society Business ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to give an up-to-date assessment of key topics and methods discussed in the current literature on responsible entrepreneurship. In the past years, sustainable development itself has become a more popular and important topic in the academic literature and hence the field of sustainable entrepreneurship has become a greater topic of interest and opportunity for solution. Therefore, a systematic literature review is conducted to assess new contributions to the field and its potential for the future of sustainable development, with a focus on responsible innovation.Design/methodology/approachSystematic, evidence-informed literature review following Tranfieldet al.(2003).FindingsBased on a conceptual literature review, five streams of research that responsible entrepreneurs distinguish from purely for-profit entrepreneurs are identified and discussed: walking the line between profit creation and value creation for society; business models of responsible entrepreneurs; their role in transforming society; getting ready to innovate responsibly; and the role of market incentives to foster sustainable business practices.Originality/valueThe structured literature review allows to identify future research paths. In detail, ideas as regards the management of upcoming tensions when trying to combine profit creation and value creation for society, and finally, the way innovation processes need to be rethought when innovating responsibly are discussed and outlined.

Biomimetic economy: human ecological-economic systems emulating natural ecological systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 772-785
Author(s):  
Unai Tamayo ◽  
Gustavo Vargas
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Ecological Systems ◽  
Economic Systems ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Levels Of Abstraction ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Sustainable Development

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of biomimicry to inspire sustainable development in economic systems. The research purpose is to explore the link between ecological systems and economic systems to highlight applied environmental solutions. The goal is to propose some driver to develop sustainable business practices inspired on the principles of biomimicry. Design/methodology/approach This paper provides a theoretical approach that builds the basis for a better understanding of the relationship between nature and sustainable economic decisions. The premise is that in the field of sustainable development, strategies based on “learning from nature” are useful. Furthermore, the concept of biomimicry provides principles and tools specifically aimed at design practice. Findings The complexity of economic systems has shown that high levels of abstraction are required when conceptualising problems and explanations related with nature-inspired solutions. Stakeholder engagement and transdisciplinary collaboration are required to face long-term environmental challenges. Moreover, the exploratory analysis applied in this paper appeared suitable to compile existing literature. Practical implications The study provides some general guidelines and empirical approach through case studies that could help decision makers convert nature-inspired alternatives into valuable strategic business opportunities. Although presented practical cases are framed in the local sphere (i.e. the Basque Country), they can serve as references in other international contexts. Social implications New business models should recognize the positive synchronization between well-managed social, environmental and economic systems. Originality/value The proposed ideas deepen the understanding on the sustainable development and the link between ecological and economic systems. In fact, the concept of biomimetic economy has not been dealt with or developed in depth in previous academic works, nor has it been published thoroughly in the field of research.

The transformation of corporate sustainability model in the context of achieving the UN SDGs: evidence from the leading Russian companies

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yury E. Blagov ◽  
Anastasia A. Petrova-Savchenko
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Model Transformation ◽  
Corporate Social Performance ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Sustainability Model

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the current status and identify the main trends in leading Russian companies’ corporate sustainability model transformation in the context of achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Design/methodology/approach A theoretical approach is based on the interpretation of corporate sustainability model transformation within the corporate social performance (CSP) framework. The corporate sustainability model is described according to Dyllick and Muff (2016) business sustainability (BST) 1.0-3.0 spectrum. The analysis is settled on survey data collected from leading Russian companies participated in the “Report on Social Investments in Russia” project conducted by the Russian Managers Association from 2008 to 2019. Findings This paper finds that the BST 2.0 is becoming a dominant model based on the “creating shared value” goal. The related CSP is characterized by their orientation to the principles of the UN Global Compact; by the emergence of a coordinating role for specialized departments of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and/or sustainability; and by the regular sustainability reporting. The SDGs are generally correlated with responsible business practices that are already in existence in companies. The emerging trend towards the advanced BST 3.0 model including the SDGs integration into the main business processes is constrained by the lack of active cooperation between companies. Research limitations/implications The research sample includes only large Russian companies with a significant industry diversity, participating in the “Report on Social Investments in Russia” project, thereby restricting the analysis of non-participants. The relatively low repetition of participants in this long-term project does also restrict the degree of generalization. Future research could be based on the findings of this paper to create and test hypotheses via a nationwide study of Russian businesses as well as cross-national comparative studies. Practical implications The analysis of the corporate sustainability model transformation through studying the key CSP framework elements could support Russian companies in creating systemic changes of their principles, processes and outcomes measurements in the context of achieving the UN SDGs. Originality/value This study contributes to existing literature by combining the corporate sustainability model transformation analysis with the CSP framework. It describes the experience of large Russian companies that publicly position themselves as national leaders in the field of CSR and sustainable development.

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 An Innovative Approach to the Implementation of Sustainable Business Ideology in Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 48-63
Author(s):  
Borys Burkynskyi ◽  
Natalya Andryeyeva ◽  
Nina Khumarova ◽  
Katyeryna Konstetska
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Innovation Policy ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Expert Assessment ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Business Decision ◽  
Economic Criterion ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

According to the Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2015), making sustainable business decisions should be the driving force in achieving environmentally-oriented improvements. The key document that supports the 10 principles that ensure SDGs is the United Nations Global Compact Strategy 2021–2023 (UN, 2021). Achieving the goals of the Strategy requires the use of an improved business decision-making model that simultaneously increases revenues and revises the distribution of domestic funds for meeting the principles in the sphere of human rights, economic growth, satisfactory working conditions and the environment, and combating corruption as a key driver of corporate sustainability and responsible business practices. The authors have developed a methodological approach to the assessment of business sustainability, which is based on a combination of elements: analysis of world best practices and trends, determination of the impact of business on the social status and environment, quality assessment of relevant certification, and analysis of compliance with social indexes of sustainable development. The analysis of economic indicators of sustainable business (The B Impact Assessment, 2021) for 2020–2021 allowed singling out companies that finance the environmental sphere. Today, a quarter of the world’s countries carry on sustainable business and finance the environmental degradation impact. The 8 leaders include: France, USA, Brazil, India, Germany, Norway, Ireland and South Korea. Methods of rating and expert assessment constitute an applied aspect of research for identification of prospects of sustainable business formation in Ukraine in the regional context. The result shows that only 8 regions are suitable for sustainable business conduct, while the environmental criterion is more than 9.2 points of 10, the economic criterion does not exceed 5, and the social criterion is 4.02–5.02. Therefore, it is necessary to focus on the organization of sustainable business according to the key strategic state priorities in formation of the mechanisms for the investment and the innovation policy of a sustainable development support system through the use of regulatory tools for reformation of existing business approaches to internationally regulated ones, such as business for nature.

scholarly journals A New Concept of Circular Model of Management for Achieving Sustainable Success and Growth

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Keerthan Raj ◽  
P. S. Aithal
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Environmental Economic ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Sustainable Growth ◽  
International Institute ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Base Of The Pyramid ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Circular Model ◽  
Model Of Management

According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), sustainable development has been defined in many ways, and it states that: “Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” We have seen a lot of focus on sustainable development starting from the initiative of the United Nations which has made all nations focus on Sustainable Goals to be achieved by 2030, to large conglomerates and small business enterprises likewise focussing on sustainable business practices, which if well planned would yield success and growth. In light of the global challenges faced in relation to environmental, economic and social resources sustainable development leading to sustainable success and growth calls for a significant rethinking in the management of resources within the, and external to the organization. In this paper, we propound the furthering of a circular economy concept to management as ‘circular model of management’. Borrowed from the concept of circular economy, a circular economy (as against a linear economy) is an economic system aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of resources. Moving towards a circular economy delivers benefits such as reducing pressure on resources, increases competitiveness, stimulates innovation and boosts growth. This study is developed through extensive work in subsistence communities (base of the pyramid customers) in emerging markets. A circular economy promotes social, environmental, economic and overall restorative and regenerative capabilities, similarly, a circular model of management will as envisaged promote regenerative and restorative capability in the organization which will ensure sustainable growth and success by means of ensuring the reduction of leakage of resources to the minimum and applicability to the maximum.

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 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.

Students’ perceptions of education for sustainable development in the accounting and business curriculum at a business school in New Zealand

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umesh Sharma ◽  
Martin Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Business School ◽  
Business Students ◽  
Education For Sustainable Development ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Business Curriculum ◽  
Development Education ◽  
Sustainable Business ◽  
Content Type

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore students’ perceptions and understandings of, and attitudes towards, education for sustainable development (ESD) at Delta Business School (DBS) in New Zealand[1]. The aim is to extend the limited literature on students’ perceptions of ESD within an accounting and business curriculum. Design/methodology/approach – To ascertain the students’ evaluations of their ESD, a survey was administered to 60 accounting and business students at DBS. The survey data were supplemented with interview evidence from 20 of the 60 students to obtain a deeper understanding of the students’ evaluations. Findings – A majority of the students perceive ESD as a “good thing.” Students were supportive of the sustainable business learning experience offered at DBS. The results suggest that students’ knowledge of sustainable business practices improved significantly from their studies. Practical implications – The paper should assist education providers to assess how students perceive ESD. This may help bring about changes, to improve the teaching of sustainable development. Universities can be the main providers of ESD, but other educational providers such as the professional accounting bodies will also need to manage the development of ongoing education processes. Most students at DBS believe they are obtaining a good understanding of the concept of sustainability. Originality/value – There is a shortage of research concerning how students perceive sustainable development education. This paper contributes to the discussion of what to incorporate in sustainable education programmes, to help students properly to understand sustainable development. We believe accounting and business education should develop graduates into broad-minded thinkers with a capacity for independent and critical thought. This will prepare them for future leadership roles.

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