Flavio Hourneaux Jr, Marcelo Luiz da Silva Gabriel and Dolores Amalia Gallardo-Vázquez
The purpose of this paper is to propose a minimum set of indicators to be measured by industrial companies to represent the triple bottom line (TBL) approach.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to propose a minimum set of indicators to be measured by industrial companies to represent the triple bottom line (TBL) approach.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is both descriptive and quantitative. Three hypotheses establish associations among the degrees of use of TBL indicators and their different degrees of use in firms. The authors used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to validate the scale and structural equation modelling to represent the final measurement model. The survey gathered 149 industrial companies.
Findings
The results pointed out that there are positive associations among the degree of use of environmental indicators and social indicators, economic, environmental and social indicators have different degrees of use in firms, a positive association between the degree of use of environmental and social indicators and the use of economic indicators was not confirmed. The findings suggest how to measure sustainable performance for industrial companies and highlight the differences in the degree of use for the three dimensions of TBL.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations refer to the non-probabilistic sample, applied in a specific context, industrial companies.
Practical implications
This set of indicators is intended to be used by industrial companies as a reliable instrument to sustainable performance assessment of the current stage of the TBL deployment and provide alternative approaches to address specific issues related to the environmental, social and economic sustainability.
Social implications
The results offer tangible results for measuring and reporting firm’s social and environmental performance.
Originality/value
This paper intends to offer an integrated and consistent way of measuring sustainability in industrial companies.
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Flavio Hourneaux Jr, Julio Araujo Carneiro-da-Cunha and Hamilton Luiz Corrêa
Managerial usage of performance measurement and management systems (PMMS) is commonly far from what theory advocates as ideal. Based on this, the purpose of this paper is to…
Abstract
Purpose
Managerial usage of performance measurement and management systems (PMMS) is commonly far from what theory advocates as ideal. Based on this, the purpose of this paper is to identify the justifications for using PMMS and how much each of them explains the actual use of these systems.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical survey was conducted with 149 manufacturing companies’ managers as respondents. Descriptive statistics analysis and factorial analysis were performed with multivariate analysis to test proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The results for all the companies surveyed are similar for the four dimensions – monitoring, focus, strategic decision-making and legitimization. Only monitoring dimension presents a difference between larger and smaller companies. There is no difference in the other three dimensions. As for the source of capital, there is no difference in any of the four dimensions. It evidences that companies do not seem to be mature enough in the full usage of their PMMS.
Research limitations/implications
Data are related only to a sample of São Paulo manufacturing companies and should not be fully considered in different contexts without the proper awareness of ambiance differences.
Practical implications
There is still room for organizations to improve their performance measurement systems as managers could learn how to better avail themselves of the information from the PMMS. Brazilian policymakers could support this process through policies and programs that incentivize manager to gain education in PMMS.
Social implications
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be supported by policymakers (through learning programs or internal monitoring incentives) to improve their measurement performance systems usage capabilities.
Originality/value
Discussion was based on data from an emerging country where there are mostly SMEs and companies have to deal with more contingencies and restrictions. Although the lack of resources tends to diminish a more effective usage of these systems, PMMS are mostly directed to monitoring issues.
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Barbara Galleli, Flavio Hourneaux Jr and Luciano Munck
The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss human competences required for sustainability management in organisations.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss human competences required for sustainability management in organisations.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on a systematic review of the literature, through qualitative thematic analysis.
Findings
The research covered 15 years of scientific publications and was summarised in 43 articles. It revealed that education, more than management, was the field of knowledge with more references in human competences, through exploratory methodological approaches. The competences found were plenty, but there is still some misunderstanding regarding their conceptual and theoretical bases.
Research limitations/implications
This research provides evidence that the academic knowledge on the subject is still at its initial stage, and it exposes the debility of the management area in addressing the subject.
Practical implications
The authors intend to indicate to managers some fundamentals for the adoption of human competences for sustainability aiming at a more sustainable performance in organisations.
Social implications
The results may instigate studies concerning the fit of sustainability competences developed on higher education institutions and the job market. From it, curricula and pedagogical projects can be proposed and revised with better alignment to the organisational context.
Originality/value
This paper presents a theoretical contribution by building bridges among different perspectives and fields of knowledge on the topic. The paper also offers a managerial contribution by stimulating practical discussions to develop sustainability in organisations through individuals.
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Riya Sureka, Satish Kumar, Sachin Kumar Mangla and Flavio Hourneaux Junior
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management (IJPPM) is one of the prominent journals publishing on general management with a particular focus on performance…
Abstract
Purpose
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management (IJPPM) is one of the prominent journals publishing on general management with a particular focus on performance management and productive sciences. The objective of this study is to provide an academic structure overview of the journal between 2004 and 2018 using bibliometric tools.
Design/methodology/approach
Data used for this study were extracted using the Scopus database. Bibliometric analysis using several bibliometric indicators are adopted to know the major trends and themes of the journal. Mapping of bibliographic data is carried using VOSviewer and Gephi software.
Findings
Authors: Most of the IJPPM contributors are affiliated to the UK and India. Journal Performance: It is gaining pre-eminence in terms of total citations as well as CiteScores. Main themes: Major themes published in the journal are “performance management”, “productivity”, “six sigma”, “lean” and “supply chain management”.
Originality/value
IJPPM's growing influence in the scientific community has generated the interest to analyse the journal's publication and growth pattern. Moreover, no such retrospective bibliometric study for IJPPM is conducted so far.
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Barbara de Lima Voss, David Bernard Carter and Bruno Meirelles Salotti
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in…
Abstract
We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.
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Alan Bandeira Pinheiro, Joina Ijuniclair Arruda Silva dos Santos, Ana Paula Mussi Szabo Cherobim and Andréa Paula Segatto
This study aimed to investigate the role of the country's institutional quality on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of its companies.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aimed to investigate the role of the country's institutional quality on the environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance of its companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Over a four-year period (2016–2019), the study examined the ESG performance of 412 organizations situated in 19 countries. ESG performance was the dependent variable, and the independent variables were rule of law, economic freedom, education index and international trade freedom. These factors described the institutional quality of countries in the authors’ study.
Findings
The findings reveal that institutional quality has a major impact on ESG performance. Companies engage in more ESG practices when they operate in countries with greater economic freedom and international trade freedom. The authors corroborated the core assumption of institutional theory (IT), which argues that organizational behavior is determined by the country's institutional setting.
Research limitations/implications
The findings, like all research, should be interpreted with caution. The authors’ research focused solely on large energy corporations. As a result, the conclusions cannot be applied to small companies or other industries. ESG performance can also be measured using different datasets.
Practical implications
If managers want their companies to perform better in terms of ESG, the authors recommend that they form a CSR committee and sign the Global Compact. This study may be valuable to international policymakers because they can underline that greater economic freedom, better education and greater international trade freedom all promote higher ESG performance.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, nearly all of research explores the relationship between ESG and financial performance. As a result, this study built on past research by investigating how national aspects affect corporate ESG performance.