Social and positive sustainability performance measurement : theories, conceptual frameworks, and empirical insights

Abstract

Over 30 years have passed since the World Commission on Environment and Development published its famous Brundtland report including its definition of sustainable development. Since then, sustainability performance measurement looking beyond traditional financial performance measurement is becoming increasingly important in academia, business practice, and regulation to assess and ultimately manage economic, ecological, and social benefits and damages of organizational behavior along corporate supply chains and product life cycles. However, two overarching critical shortcomings prevent sustainability performance measurement from becoming a truly holistic and relevant decision-supporting instrument. First, the field is characterized by differing levels of maturity in terms of measuring performance of the three triple bottom line sustainability dimensions. Unlike established approaches for measuring ecological performance (e.g., with environmental life cycle assessment; ELCA) and economic performance (e.g., with life cycle costing; LCC), measuring social performance (e.g., with social life cycle assessment; SLCA) is still at a developmental stage, because the field is understudied and fragmented, and lacks empirical experience. Thus, the field of sustainability performance measurement is imbalanced in terms of the integrated assessment of the three sustainability dimensions. Second, the field is characterized by a negative perspective and a focus on becoming less unsustainable instead of making positive progress to sustainable development. Current sustainability performance measurement approaches primarily assess negative burdens or footprints and their reduction during product life cycles and in supply chains (e.g., accidents and fatalities, carbon dioxide emissions, or total cost of ownership) and neglect capturing positive benefits occurring throughout product life cycles and corporate supply chains. A critical reason is that research lacks a fundamental understanding of the general construct of positive sustainability performance. Thus, the field of sustainability performance measurement is incomplete because it fails to characterize and assess the important positive perspective of sustainability-related value creation and positive contributions to sustainable development. Triggered by the overarching critical shortcomings, this dissertation aims at advancing the level of maturity of social performance measurement and at advancing the understanding of positive sustainability performance measurement to promote a more balanced and complete assessment of contributions to sustainable development. To achieve these overarching aims, this dissertation builds on a multitude of research methods (especially, systematic reviews of research and corporate practice, an extensive Delphi study, and qualitative interviews), a resulting richness of empirical data, and various theoretical reflections. This dissertation comprises five studies (i.e., two systematic literature reviews and three empirical papers based on multiple research methods and data sets). Together, the five studies highlight the trends, coherences, inconsistencies, and gaps in social and positive sustainability performance measurement. Furthermore, the studies establish and explain the interrelation between social and positive sustainability performance measurement, advance their conceptual and theoretical foundation, promote standardization by prioritizing relevant indicators, and suggest an approach to measure and evaluate positive contributions to sustainable development. The individual studies presented in this dissertation offer valuable findings for research and managerial practice in the field. Together, the five studies highlight the trends, coherences, inconsistencies, and gaps in social and positive sustainability performance measurement. Furthermore, the studies establish and explain the interrelation between social and positive sustainability performance measurement, advance their conceptual and theoretical foundation, promote standardization by prioritizing relevant indicators, and suggest an approach to measure and evaluate positive contributions to sustainable development. Overall, this dissertation provides an important step to measure and ultimately manage social and positive sustainability performance. Thus, it establishes a foundation for the development of sustainable business practices that go beyond merely counteracting negative business outcomes toward actually delivering positive sustainability benefits for business and society.

Sowohl die kurz- als auch die langfristige Planung, Steuerung, Kontrolle und Anpassung unternehmerischer Nachhaltigkeitsaktivitäten erfordert die Versorgung mit adäquaten Informationen. Daher stellt die Entwicklung von Ansätzen zur Bewertung und Messung von ökonomischen, ökologischen und sozialen Aspekten eine Schlüsselkomponente unternehmerischer Nachhaltigkeitsaktivitäten dar. Im Gegensatz zu etablierten Ansätzen zur Bewertung von ökonomischen und ökologischen Kriterien (z.B. mittels Ökobilanzierung), gibt es derzeit noch kein allgemein anerkanntes Vorgehen zur unternehmensübergreifenden und produktübergreifenden Bewertung sozialer Aspekte. Ferner können Forschung und Praxis derzeit nur ein unvollständiges, einseitiges und insbesondere negatives Bild unternehmerischer und produktbezogener Nachhaltigkeit erfassen und bewerten, da es im Gegensatz zu bereits existierenden Ansätzen zur Bewertung belastungsorientierter (negativer) Fußabdruck-Konzepte derzeit weder eine allgemeine Charakterisierung positiver Nachhaltigkeit gibt, noch ein anerkanntes Vorgehen zur Bewertung positiver Nachhaltigkeitswirkungen existiert. Vor diesem Hintergrund, liegt das Hauptanliegen dieser Dissertation darin, das Verständnis einer umfassenden, sozialen und positiven Nachhaltigkeitsbewertung von Unternehmen und Produkten zu verbessern. Durch die Kombination aus theoretisch fundierten Einblicken, systematischen Analysen von Literatur und Praxisansätzen und empirischen Erkenntnissen aus umfassenden Delphi-Studien und interviewbasierten Fallstudien, schafft diese Dissertation ein grundlegendes konzeptionelles und theoretisches Verständnis sozialer und positiver Nachhaltigkeitswirkungen, treibt die Priorisierung und Standardisierung relevanter Indikatoren voran und bildet die Grundlage für zukünftige Entwicklung von umfassenden Bewertungsansätze. Somit liefert diese Dissertation einen entscheidenden Beitrag zur Bewertung und dem letztlichen Management sozialer und positiver Nachhaltigkeit von Unternehmen und Produkten.