Configuring management control systems: Theorizing the integration of strategy and sustainability

Abstract

Although organizations have embraced the sustainability rhetoric in their discourse and external reporting, little is known about the processes whereby management control system contributes to a deeper integration of sustainability within organizational strategy. This paper addresses this gap and mobilizes a configuration approach to theorise the roles and uses of management control system (MCS) and sustainability control system (SCS) in the integration of sustainability within organizational strategy. Building on the levers of control framework, we distinguish two possible uses of a MCS and a SCS-a diagnostic use and an interactive use-, and we specify the modes of MCS and SCS integration. We rely on these two core dimensions to identify eight organizational configurations that reflect the various uses as well as their modes of integration of SCS and MCS. We characterize these ideals-type configurations, explain their impact on the triple bottom line, and describe which mechanisms allow organizations to move from one configuration to another. In so doing, we highlight various paths toward sustainability integration or marginalization within organizations. Finally, we explain how our framework can support future research on the role of MCS and SCS in the integration of sustainability within strategy.

Environmental Orientation in Swedish Local Governments

“…The potential role of specific environmental performance indicators and their connected control system in supporting environmental initiatives are addressed more frequently in the general management control literature (i.e., [41,42]). The aim with environmental indicators is to translate the environmental aspirations into improved environmental performance for the organization [43,44].…”

Sustainability Strategy and Management Control Systems in Family Firms. Evidence from a Case Study

“…The last few decades have witnessed increasing pressures for organizations to behave in a socially and environmentally responsible fashion, and businesses have started to acknowledge the importance of sustainability, embracing the sustainability rhetoric in their external reporting and in their mission statement [1][2][3][4].…”

“…Sustainability management accounting research has attracted increasing scholarly attention with a focus on external reporting [11], whereas only a limited consideration has been dedicated to the role of management controls in supporting sustainability within organizations [1] (Note 2, Appendix A). In other words, much has been written about "why" companies are involved in sustainability issues, such as the determinants of sustainability reporting and factors leading to the implementation of sustainability practices [12,13], while relatively little research has addressed the "how" question such as how companies integrate sustainability into corporate performance management systems (PMSs) [14] (Note 3, Appendix A).…”

Social Reporting in Italian Public Schools in Theory and Practice

“…It seems that social report should meet the main needs perceived by Italian schools today: the need to open concretely to local communities and the need to find an accountability system that provides a whole representation of school performance (Figgie et al, 2002;Paletta, 2005;Adam & Frost, 2008;Dutta & Lawson, 2009;Gond et al, 2012). The procedural and managerial value of social reporting is indirectly confirmed by the low number of schools (about 17% of the respondents) who consider social report as a marketing tool to increase the number of students enrolled.…”

“…It can overcame the two limits of the management tools currently used by schools: the inadequate interconnections between the management and the reporting documents produced by schools, and the limit of their insufficient focus on strategic planning and stakeholders' expectations (Figgie et al, 2002;De Anna, 2005;Adams & Frost, 2008;Gond et al, 2012). In Italian schools, in particular, it could realize an integration between the educational and financial planning and the educational and financial reporting, highlighting, for any project, the www.ccsenet.org/res Vol.…”