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2019 | Book

Introduction: The Sustainable Development GoalsSustainable Development Goals and the Future of Corporate SustainabilityCorporate Sustainability Read chapter Read first chapter

Business and the Sustainable Development Goals

Measuring and Managing Corporate Impacts

Editors: Prof. Norma Schönherr, Prof. André Martinuzzi

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This innovative and engaging book discusses the contribution of business to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations in 2015. It critically analyses selected impact measurement and management tools to highlight their respective benefits and limitations, and also provides guidance on critical management decisions to support high-quality impact measurement and management. The analyses underlying this book are the result of a three year research project conducted by an international consortium in the EU-funded research project GLOBAL VALUE – Managing Business Impact on Development. The research is complemented by examples from corporate practice and expert interviews to demonstrate and measure the contribution of business to sustainable development in the context of the SDGs.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Introduction: The Sustainable Development GoalsSustainable Development Goals and the Future of Corporate SustainabilityCorporate Sustainability
Abstract
Martinuzzi and Schönherr provide a comprehensive summary of the evolution of corporate sustainability, spanning the range from philanthropy, via the systematic implementation of eco-efficiency and management systems, product differentiation and innovation, to contemporary strategies that directly link core business and sustainability impacts. They highlight successes and limitations of these strategies and discuss implications for the future of corporate sustainability, which they view as impact-oriented, collaborative, data-intensive, and systemic. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals are introduced as a business-relevant, universally applicable framework that may guide companies in better measuring and managing their impacts on sustainability in light of this expanded understanding of corporate sustainability.
André Martinuzzi, Norma Schönherr
Chapter 2. The Corporate Toolbox
Abstract
In light of the continuous proliferation of tools for measuring and managing corporate sustainability impacts, navigating the multiplicity of available tools remains a perennial challenge for managers. Schönherr et al. present a comprehensive stocktaking of extant tools and introduce 14 selected examples to illustrate how different tools can support companies. By mapping these tools against the Sustainable Development Goals, they show that extant tools are suitable for addressing sustainability issues to varying degrees, scopes, and depth. In the absence of a one-size-fits-all approach, they argue that companies need to develop skills to comparatively assess tools in order to build smart toolboxes for measuring and managing corporate impacts on sustainability.
Norma Schönherr, Lucia A. Reisch, Andrea Farsang, Armi Temmes, Adele Tharani, André Martinuzzi
Chapter 3. Scoping What Matters: An Introduction to Impact Mapping
Abstract
For companies to take advantage of the Sustainable Development Goals, it is essential that they have a well-founded understanding of the wider impacts of their core business and corporate sustainability engagement, and of the materiality of these impacts. Impact mapping draws on theory-based evaluation methods to sketch plausible causal pathways from corporate activities to sustainability impacts. It provides an effective approach for managers and other professionals to map the impacts of their organization with respect to the Sustainable Development Goals. Findler presents impact mapping as a research-based but practical approach to materiality assessment, which is suitable for screening and prioritizing sustainability issues in a corporate context. He illustrates the approach with best practice examples of how to link corporate activities with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Florian Findler
Chapter 4. Measuring What Matters: Standardized Versus Customizable impact Measurement Tools
Abstract
Tharani addresses critical management decisions for implementing high-quality impact measurement that relates to choosing the right tool for the right purpose. She introduces standardized, customizable, and hybrid approaches to impact measurement, and systematically analyzes the benefits and limitations of each approach. Her analysis draws on collaborative testing of all three approaches with multinational corporations from different industries. In addition, she reflects on their suitability for meeting different impact measurement objectives, such as reporting on sustainability impacts, enabling organizational learning, improving sustainability management systems, and supporting strategic decision making within companies. Tharani offers actionable recommendations for when to use each kind of approach and what to consider when interpreting the results.
Adele Tharani
Chapter 5. Managing What Matters: Integrating Impact Measurement into Corporate Sustainability Management
Abstract
Measuring and managing impacts can support companies in demonstrating their contribution to the sustainable development goals. However, there is a risk that firms will not manage to implement impact measurement and management effectively, leading to both dissatisfaction with existing tools and criticism of corporate sustainability management practices. Temmes uses the concept of decoupling to explain how it is possible for firms to maintain organizational structures that are legitimating and formal, despite activities differing in daily practice. She discusses three commonly occurring decoupling effects in sustainability management, pressure-policy decoupling, policy-practice decoupling, and means-ends decoupling, and makes recommendations on which types of tools may help overcome such decoupling for improved sustainability management.
Armi Temmes
Chapter 6. Implementing Impact Measurement and Management
Abstract
Summarizing the key lessons from the previous chapters, this chapter provides a set of critical questions for managers to systematically implement impact measurement and management. Schönherr et al. guide managers and other professionals through the critical decision points that are required to establish effective and efficient impact measurement and management within organizations. This includes defining the purpose of impact measurement, scoping and materiality assessment, choosing an assessment approach, implementing impact measurement, and, finally, integrating impact measurement and management in the organization.
Norma Schönherr, Lucia A. Reisch, Andrea Farsang, Armi Temmes, Adele Tharani, André Martinuzzi
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
Business and the Sustainable Development Goals
Editors
Prof. Norma Schönherr
Prof. André Martinuzzi
Copyright Year
2019
Electronic ISBN
978-3-030-16810-0
Print ISBN
978-3-030-16809-4
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-16810-0