The crippled bottom line – measuring and managing sustainability

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -Sustainability can be assessed in the dimensions Profit, Planet and People. A problem with the approach is that these dimensions cannot be added. Another problem is that performance seldom is related to global system boundaries. The purpose of this paper is to study the "what" of sustainability by linking this to global boundaries and proposing "how" the authors could manage change toward sustainability. Design/methodology/approach -Sustainability definitions are reviewed to identify main stakeholders. People value defined as utility is compared to Planet harm as carbon emissions and People harm as prices of products. This approach is examined in business studying the global processes of housing, transporting, providing food and cement manufacturing. Findings -The relative indicators with focus on People utility compare to Planet and People harm seem to be relevant for measuring the level of sustainability. The Crippled Bottom Line of People value/ Planet harm and People value/Planet harm is proposed as the "what" to measure and the change process of "understanding-defining-measuring-communicating-leading change" is proposed as the "how" to change.Research limitations/implications -The research is based on identifying the main stakeholders based on sustainability definitions and from that point mostly on deductive reasoning. Practical implications -The practical implications are that organizations could define sustainability indicators with objectives that are linked to global limits. Social implications -Advocating the use of price as a social indicator could have social implications. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the discussion of how to link global limits to organizational measurements and targets.

Organizational Sustainability Practices: A Study of the Firms Listed by the Corporate Sustainability Index

“…This time period was selected because sustainability involves a set of actions in medium to longterm, requiring constant analyses, updates, and adaptations when necessary [10,26,35]. Therefore, it was possible to find the current sustainable practices in the market and their maintenance by the firms.…”

“…Despite the set of guidelines, there is still a certain difficulty to observe and collect the information contained in the reports, due the individuality of the organizations and the lack of understanding on how the firms measure the results of those practices, which is not informed by the reports [26].…”

“…Since organizations are part of a system, they must not merely solve a problem, but rather act in a preventive manner, in which those social investments become tools that contribute to the sustainable development of the entire system [26]. Although there are market segments that downplay the social responsibility of organizations, penalizing society and hatching new businesses [55], it is noticeable that business sustainability creates a knowledge set capable of integrating several organizational sectors, contributing to the establishment of objectives and goals toward the gradual and practical implementation of sustainable practices in firms [67].…”

“…Suppliers must be engaged in the organizational processes, assuming their responsibility in them [40]. Firms need to interact in environmental and humanitarian matters, seeking to contribute to the implementation of sustainability as a whole with more social activities [26].…”

Sustainability and Triple Bottom-Line Performance in the Horticulture Supply Chains in Nairobi, Kenya

“…Situational variables and sustainability in multi-attribute decision making established that the environmental dimension of sustainability is the most influential followed by economic and social [10]. A study on crippled bottom line-measuring and managing sustainability concluded that the relative indicators with focus on people utility compared to planet and people harm seem to be relevant for measuring the level of sustainability [11].…”