Integrating sustainability reporting into management practices

TLDR

The study investigates how sustainability KPIs are developed and applied in decision‑making, planning, and performance management. The authors interviewed staff from seven companies (four in the UK and three in Australia). Findings show that organisations are integrating environmental and increasingly social indicators into strategic planning, performance measurement, and risk‑management decisions, though the specific sustainability issues and management impacts differ across firms, highlighting implications for practice, voluntary guidelines, and legislation.

Abstract

This paper examines the process of developing key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring sustainability performance and the way in which sustainability KPIs are used in decision-making, planning and performance management. Interviews were conducted with personnel from four British and three Australian companies. The findings indicate that the organisations are integrating environmental indicators, and increasingly also social indicators, into strategic planning, performance measurement and decision-making including risk management. However, the sustainability issues on which our sample focus and the management operations on which they impact vary considerably. This has implications for the development of practice, voluntary guidelines and legislation.