A new conceptual model of influences driving sustainability based on case evidence of the integration of corporate sustainability management control and reporting

Abstract

Case study evidence from a large industrial firm is analysed with the purpose of constructing a new conceptual model of the influences that drive companies towards sustainability, and showing the advantages of integrating sustainability reporting with management control systems, specifically the balanced scorecard. The new conceptual model suggests an important role for external stakeholders to influence balanced scorecard measures, sustainability report measures, and management focus. These three constructs influence each other and are reinforced by a system of assigning and enforcing the assumption of individual employee responsibility, whilst supporting a drive towards sustainability. The advantages of integration include better operationalization and internal communication of sustainability ideals through the use of the balanced scorecard (BSC), and a better understanding of BSC causality (between the BSC perspectives) through the more extensive stakeholder engagement that sustainability reporting calls for.