The effects of strategic choices and sustainability control systems in the emergence of organizational capabilities for sustainability
Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal
ISSN: 0951-3574
Article publication date: 30 September 2021
Issue publication date: 4 April 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study explores the relations among corporate sustainability strategies, the intense use of sustainability control systems (SCSs) to implement these strategies and the emergence of organizational capabilities for sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
Using survey data from a sample of 157 European firms across different industries, the authors explore differences between reactive and proactive sustainability strategies in their impact on the intense use of SCSs. The authors analyze the joint impact of a proactive sustainability strategy and an intense use of SCSs on the emergence of the organizational capabilities of sustainable market orientation, sustainable organizational learning and sustainable innovation. Furthermore, we explore the relevance of single levers of control for these capabilities.
Findings
The results show that a proactive sustainability strategy is associated with an intense use of SCSs and with the development of the three organizational capabilities. The authors provide evidence that the intensity of use of SCSs mediates the association between proactive sustainability strategy and the emergence of the three organizational capabilities. An interactive use of controls is constantly more important than a diagnostic use of controls in the emergence of the three capabilities.
Originality/value
The findings provide novel empirical evidence on the mechanisms through which corporate sustainability strategy is implemented in European organizations. The results contribute to an improved understanding of the organizational determinants underlying the development of organizational capabilities for sustainability.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Previous versions of this paper have been presented at the Management Accounting Research Group Conference 2019, Birmingham, at the Annual VHB Meeting 2020 (digital), at the European Accounting Association Annual Meeting 2021 (digital), and in workshops held at Technical University of Berlin and the University of Bochum, Germany. The authors are very grateful for the comments received from conference and workshop participants. The authors would like to thank in particular the Editor, Lee Parker, and the anonymous referees for their insightful comments and suggestions on previous versions of the paper.
Citation
Bastini, K., Getzin, F. and Lachmann, M. (2022), "The effects of strategic choices and sustainability control systems in the emergence of organizational capabilities for sustainability", Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 1121-1153. https://doi.org/10.1108/AAAJ-04-2020-4515
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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