A Commentary on ‘Rhetoric or Reality? Do Accounting Education and Experience Increase Weighting on Environmental Performance in a Balanced Scorecard?'

In this Commentary on Wynder, Wellner and Reinhard (2013), I find it helpful to refer to two different views about how sustainability is integrated in business decision-making. On the one hand, Gray (2006) contends that notions of success in economic organizations and performance assessment are generally intertwined with increasing levels of unsustainability; further, Owen (2008) contends that theoretical arguments and empirical findings are failing to influence social accounting practice. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the attitude of individuals within organizations could explain environmental performance (Husillos andÁlvarez, 2008) and accountability (Adams, 2002), opening a window of hope for those willing to transform current forms of economic organization and performance measurement. The rationale for such hope is that attitudes are likely to develop along with the evolution of ideas and, particularly, with education. I understand that the latter is the standpoint of the paper.