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The purpose of this paper is to review and provide propositions about survey assessment tools of the key sustainability competencies (KSCs) of education for sustainability. UNESCO points out how education plays an important role in transforming societies towards a sustainable future and achieving the United Nations’ sustainable development goals. To plan education for sustainability, teachers need to know the students’ competencies for sustainability before they come to class. Thus, a formative assessment about student competence for sustainability is needed.

Firstly, a structured literature review of assessment tools used to measure sustainability competencies by questionnaire survey is presented. Secondly, the authors’ conceptualise how the competencies influence each other and provide propositions for future research.

The literature demonstrates that there is much ambiguity between prior research about the scales used and what they represent. A lack of validation across disciplines is apparent and an assessment tool that includes all eight KSCs could benefit education for sustainability. Future research could investigate how the competencies influence each other and which drivers are stronger for each discipline across different countries. A formative assessment tool can address this need.

The findings provide a new analysis about questionnaire assessment tools used in prior research to measure sustainability competence. The authors’ offer a discussion about the strengths and weaknesses found in prior research and propose suggestions for future research. Their conceptualisation also provides propositions for validating the KSCs presented in a recent framework.

This paper seeks to apply a structurational model of technology to reflect on the introduction, assimilation, and consequent industry change that accompanied the introduction of computer aided design (CAD) into the Swedish architectural industry.

The original research was designed to follow a change in an industry as it was occurring. A longitudinal study was used and the research design was centered on two surveys, taken 46 months apart during the adoption period, to examine the adoption and spread of the innovation. A structurational model of technology permits one to understand the interaction of people, technology, and institutions during these periods.

The competitive nature of the industry was affected. Adopters tended to adapt their business offerings to provide extended services whereas non‐adopters pursued an artistic emphasis in service provision. Technology came from suppliers to users, which in turn affected customers to the extent that they endorsed use. Understanding thus requires extending the two dimensional nature of the model to three dimensions involving supplier, user, and customers.

One could always be critical of the specific geographic focus (Sweden), the specific industry (architecture), the specific technology (CAD) and the model (structuration) to explain a specific competitive development. Extension to other situations, of course, would strengthen and extend understanding.

Just knowing the nature of these developments should be of use to managers during such periods. That is, there is likely to be a split in the industry and both organizational types are likely to see their businesses affected.

The structurational model is necessarily extended to three dimensions in rationalizing the development.

The present paper aims to extend an ongoing study of Swedish trade journal's, Privata Affärer, recognition of the “bank of the year.”

The information used in this paper came from Privata Affärer, which annually recognizes a “best” bank in Sweden. Each issue containing the annual recognition provides the rationale for selecting the specific bank as well as interviews with their CEOs. The data base is robust – every bank in Sweden is surveyed, so results come not from a sample, but a census of banks and banking practice; 17 year's selections are now available.

Results are interpreted in terms of Porter's five forces model and Stabell‐Fjeldstaad value model. For eight of the last 11 years, new entrants have dominated the award; in fact, in the last five years one winner was a virtual bank and another was a subsidiary of a retail grocery chain.

It is tempting to extend results to the USA and elsewhere in the industrialized world, but of course results relate only to Sweden. Nevertheless, it is suggested that competitors who enter with significantly new services can, and do, become popular leaders in this industry.

Sweden tends to be a leader in service theory and development. Consequently, a model exists for developing a competitive edge in other countries.

This paper provides an independent confirmation of service models of competition, which generally are lacking in the literature.