The evolution of management control systems to support sustainability management

Journal title MANAGEMENT CONTROL
Author/s Giuseppe D’Onza
Publishing Year 2022 Issue 2022/1 Language Italian
Pages 11 P. 5-15 File size 186 KB
DOI 10.3280/MACO2022-001001
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

To ensure a real engagement of organizations toward sustainable development, and to avoid them perhaps falling into the trap of "sustainability washing," researchers agree that the goal of being a sustainable organization should first of all be embedded in the values and beliefs of company business leaders. Through the combination of formal and informal controls, the Sustainability Management Control System (SMCS) can support the development of the sustainability DNA of organizations. Studies have also argued that an effective SMCS should help companies translate the sustainability strategy into action. In fact, the SMCS can be used to direct actions of all organization members toward the achievement of the sustainability strategy objectives; to monitor the organization's progress toward economic, social, and environmental objectives and targets; and to develop a sustainability culture within organizations. Yet, little is known about how organizations should redesign their traditional management control system (MCS) to effectively support the formulation and implementation of a sustainability strategy. The articles collected in this issue provide theoretical and practical contributions on how management and control tools and processes can be reconfigured to support the integration of sustainability into the manner in which organizations do their business. The articles therefore also enhance the debate not only on the manners in which to integrate environmental, social, and economic goals into the performance measurement systems but also on the influence that organizational variables exercise to favor/hinder the development of sustainability-oriented management.

Keywords: Sustainability management control systems, Sustainability strategy, Sustainability-oriented management

  1. Bertini U. (1990), Scritti di politica aziendale, Torino, Giappichelli editore.
  2. Brundtland G.H. (1987), Our Common Future, Oxford, Paperbacks.
  3. Castellano N., Felden C. (2021), Management Control Systems for Sustainability and Sustainability of Management Control Systems, Management Control, 2, pp. 5-10. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2021-002001
  4. Cinquini L., Passetti E., Tenucci A. (2016), La sostenibilità ambientale in azienda: quale relazione tra disclosure volontaria e gestione interna? Management Control, Suppl. 2, pp. 15-32. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2016-002002
  5. Coda V. (2020), Lo scopo dell’impresa, Impresa progetto, pp. 1-26
  6. Corsi K., Arru B. (2020), Role and implementation of sustainability management control tools: critical aspects in the Italian context, Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal.
  7. Dodd Jr E.M. (1931), For whom are corporate managers trustees, Harvard Literature Review, 45, 1145.
  8. D’Onza G. (2013). La prevenzione delle frodi aziendali: alle radici della responsabilità sociale, Milano, FrancoAngeli.
  9. Fiorentino R., Garzella S., Lamboglia R., Mancini D. (2016), Strategie di sostenibilità: dalle motivazioni ai sistemi di misurazione della performance, Management Control, Suppl. 2, pp. 115-142. DOI: 10.3280/MACO2016-002006
  10. Marchi L. (2019), La creazione e la misurazione del valore dalla prospettiva finanziaria alla prospettiva economico-sociale, Lectio Magistralis tenuta presso l’Università di Pisa
  11. Matacena A. (2021), Responsabile e valori delle imprese profit, in Scritti in onore di Luciano Marchi, Creazione di valore nella prospettiva economico-aziendale, Volume I, Torino, Giappichelli editore.
  12. Mio C. (2006), Integrated reporting. A New Accounting Disclosure, London, Macmillan.
  13. Porter M.E., Kramer M.R. (2019), Creating shared value. In Managing sustainable business (pp. 323-346). Dordrecht, Springer.
  14. Riccaboni A., Leone E.L. (2010), Implementing strategies through management control systems: the case of sustainability, International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.
  15. Rusconi G. (2019), Ethical Firm System and Stakeholder Management Theories: A Possible Convergence, European Management Review, 19, pp. 147-166.

Giuseppe D’Onza, L’orientamento delle aziende ad uno sviluppo sostenibile: quale contributo da parte dei sistemi di management e controllo? in "MANAGEMENT CONTROL" 1/2022, pp 5-15, DOI: 10.3280/MACO2022-001001