ABSTRACT

Efforts to establish the measurement and control of sustainability have produced notable tools, but those instruments lack applicability in practice. Increasing the level of standardization of such tools also seems difficult to achieve, because the contexts surrounding the focal organizations differ considerably. Therefore, what we need is a systematic, interdisciplinary assessment of how to measure and control sustainability, so that we can establish an essential definition and up-to-date picture of the field.

Measuring and Controlling Sustainability attempts to provide such an assessment in 17 chapters, organized into four main topic sections: (a) organizations and social value creation: concepts, responsibilities, and barriers; (b) accounting, measurement, performance, and diffusion of social value; (c) practical and managerial insights from real-life cases; and (d) choices, incentives, guidance, and ethics.

This research anthology provides a comprehensive collection of cutting-edge theories and research that will further the development and advancement of measuring and controlling sustainable efforts in theory and managerial practice.

part 1|30 pages

Organizations and social value creation

chapter 1.2|13 pages

Mind the gap!

Existing barriers to standardizing the measurement of social value creation

part 2|108 pages

Accounting, measurement, performance, and diffusion of social value

chapter 2.1|21 pages

The sustainability balanced scorecard

An introduction to the SBSC and its links to accounting and reporting

chapter 2.2|17 pages

Sustainability accounting standards in the USA – procedural legitimacy

Governance, participation, and decision-making processes

chapter 2.6|17 pages

Diffusion of sustainability

A road map for developing corporate compliance programmes with high diffusion potential

part 3|84 pages

Practical and managerial insights from real-life cases

chapter 3.2|13 pages

Disclosing the invisible

Measurement and disclosure pitfalls of carbon dioxide emissions

chapter 3.3|10 pages

Social entrepreneurship and social impact assessment

The case of euforia

chapter 3.5|17 pages

The growth of social banks

A new measurement approach

part 4|61 pages

Choices, incentives, guidance, and ethics