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The growing importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues, as well as related performance planning, measuring and reporting, has spurred interest in linking corporate sustainability and performance management systems (PMSs). In this context, the aim of this paper is to provide companies with a framework for implementing the requirements of the corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD) through a sustainability balanced scorecard (SBSC). The framework will further the integration of sustainability with corporate governance.

The framework was grounded in the relevant literature and the CSRD requirements.

This paper provides companies with a novel framework for implementing the requirements of the CSRD through a SBSC. The framework specifies four key steps (i.e. identifying material themes, initial assessment, strategic formulation and action, and sustainability reporting) to integrate sustainability with corporate governance.

The framework supports managers’ decision-making processes in linking sustainability with strategy and providing a basis for integrating sustainability with corporate governance in organizations. The paper provides a way to practically address the CSRD requirements.

This is the first study integrating the emerging CSRD requirements with corporate governance. The paper advances discussion and debate by management scholars on how a SBSC can be practically implemented, providing details on how this may be achieved.

Organizational theorists and strategy scholars are both interested in how organizations deal with ambiguity, especially in relation to implementation. This chapter examines one source of ambiguity that organizations face, which is based on their efforts to implement moral mandates. These mandates, which are related to areas such as environmental sustainability and diversity, are inherently ambiguous, as they lack a shared understanding regarding their scope and associated practices. They are also often broad and systemic and may be unclearly aligned with an organization's strategy. Due to these challenges, in this chapter, we theorize that collective action at the field level is necessary for organizations to advance and concretize moral mandates. We examine this theorizing through the case of the implementation of sustainability in higher education. We hypothesize and find support for the idea that when an organization's members engage in collective action at the field level, those organizations have an increased likelihood of achieving sustainability implementation. To gain insight into this field-to-organization relationship, we qualitatively examine 18 years of conversations from an online forum to develop a process model of moral mandate implementation. We theorize that collective action functions as a field-configuring space, in which actors from a variety of organizations come together to (1) refine the scope of the mandate and (2) create an implementation repertoire that actors can draw on when seeking to bring sustainability to their own organizations. Overall, our study provides a model of how ambiguous moral mandates can be implemented by highlighting the important role of collective action across organizations in concretizing those mandates and providing actors with the tools for their implementation.

Industrialization is a major contributor to pollution and the worsening of some social problems. A change in this context would help in a new industrial model aiming at a viable and sustainable manufacturing system. This research aims to verify the state of the art of sustainability within the industrial production process through a systematic literature review, verifying the main characteristics in relation to industrial sustainability that the literature demonstrates.

The development of the research took place in three stages: a survey of articles with Journal Citation Reports (JCR), the construction of the database and descriptive analysis and text mining analyses of social networks and content. The survey took place through academically endorsed research platforms, totaling a total of 352 scientific articles, which included 18 quality management tools and worked with at least one sustainability indicator (financial, social and environmental).

Lean manufacturing, integrated management system and Six Sigma were the most cited quality tools, and articles containing the three indicators were found more frequently. It was found that most authors treated sustainability only as an environmental contribution. Knowledge of the organization's structural and management issues is essential for implementing sustainability and production process improvement.

This work is the first to develop a systematic analysis regarding the use of sustainability implementation in the industrial production process, considering a wide scope of production process tools, guiding on the characteristics of sustainability relating to the main critical success factors (CSFs), motivations, difficulties and benefits that lead industries in different parts of the world to implement sustainability.

This study aims to examine the relationship between sustainability initiatives and student satisfaction in accommodation services at the University of Northampton.

Four main sustainability factors, including energy consumption, waste management, environmental responsibility and green infrastructure, are explored in relation to their impact on student satisfaction. A quantitative research approach was used, using a structured questionnaire distributed to 224 students. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to assess the associations and predictive power of the sustainability factors on student satisfaction.

The findings underscore the pivotal role of sustainable initiatives in shaping student satisfaction with accommodation services. Particularly, energy consumption, environmental responsibility and green infrastructure emerged as significant factors influencing higher levels of student satisfaction. These outcomes align with the core principles of sustainability and emphasize the importance of implementing effective strategies in these domains to enhance student experiences. Existing literature supports these findings, indicating that sustainable practices significantly contribute to enhanced satisfaction levels. It is crucial to acknowledge that this study focused on a specific context, namely, the University of Northampton, and caution should be exercised when generalizing these findings to other settings.

This study contributes to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence of the specific sustainability factors that influence student satisfaction in university accommodation. Findings offer valuable guidance for universities and accommodation providers in developing and implementing sustainable practices to create a conducive living environment for students.

The purpose of this study is to identify the most prevalent initiatives undertaken by leading universities in sustainability and offer a roadmap for other institutions seeking to undertake similar actions and contribute to more effective implementation of sustainability practices.

By using a quantitative assessment approach, the study sheds light on successful initiatives implemented by universities worldwide, spanning six categories: transportation, waste management, curriculum, food and dining, water and energy. Each category is clearly related to one or more of the 17 sustainable development goals. A cluster analysis was also applied to identify regional trends in preferred initiatives.

The study underlines the importance of integrating sustainability principles into the curricula of higher education institutions (HEIs) as well as educating staff members on energy and water management. The most common and impactful initiatives in the studied six categories have been identified. Many of the initiatives mentioned in the study do not just result in reducing ecological footprint but also provide economic savings as well. Differences among regions and countries were observed in the implementation of initiatives. Cultural and habitual factors should not be disregarded during the selection process of initiatives.

The findings of this study may help universities to take their first steps toward implementing initiatives that can effectively promote sustainable development. Results will aid other HEIs in planning for next steps while outlining the more common initiatives.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought tremendous changes in society. Universities were among the few organisations with some previous knowledge of online education, being able to rapidly adapt by transferring already known best practices to the new context. As teaching moved to online, students encountered less sustainable implementation by their universities. This allowed the development of previously planned sustainable strategies so that when face-to-face teaching resumed, universities could be even more sustainable. This paper aims to explore loyalty to the sustainable university during the later COVID-19 pandemic based on the university’s efforts to manage a green campus.

To investigate loyalty towards the sustainable university during the later COVID-19 pandemic, a conceptual model is proposed. This research is grounded in an empirical investigation using a quantitative online survey implemented with online interviews, the relations between all latent constructs being analysed with SmartPLS.

The results show that university sustainability reflects student loyalty, outlining the image developed under the influence of green campus management. The results show that universities must intensify their efforts to support the sustainable agenda and create a sustainable academic brand, inducing student loyalty. The findings may attract the attention of other universities wishing to gain knowledge about the factors that students consider important in generating their loyalty.

As this research was carried out in the later COVID-19 pandemic context from 2021, the students already had experience of online teaching, so their assessment of the sustainability strategies implemented could be quite different from their perceptions in the first months of the pandemic. This research provides a comprehensive insight into the overall strategy that a sustainable university might apply in a crisis context.

Research has shown that green campus management has a positive impact on the sustainability of a university’s image, on how students perceive the university at which they study and on the university’s efforts to ensure efficient campus management. These factors contribute to the development of a strong and sustainable image of the university within the community.

The originality of this paper lies in the research questions designed to conceptualise and operationalise the generation of students' loyalty towards their university by encouraging and implementing sustainable strategies on campus. This paper highlights a structural model that combines strategic practices to determine students' loyalty towards a sustainable university during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Operationalizing R-imperatives in firms is seen as vital to bolstering circularity through reduce, reuse and recycle and building circular supply chains (CSCs). However, this process introduces various uncertainties to firms within CSCs. This is a gap that still requires an in-depth analysis, particularly to answer the question of how firms align the operationalization of R-imperatives with uncertainty management to improve sustainability performance and accelerate the transition toward CSCs.

This paper fills this gap through a multiple-case study, whereby nine firms from varying structures, regions and manufacturing industries were examined. Qualitative content analysis was employed to examine the collected primary (27 semi-structured interviews) and secondary data (internal management reports, publicly available corporate reports and website content).

The findings support the evidence that the operationalization of R-imperatives is not a straightforward process. Within-firm and SC uncertainties largely emerged and made the building of CSCs complex. Consequently, strategies aimed at reducing uncertainty were paramount to managing uncertainties and enhancing sustainability performance. For instance, implementing durable or modular designs helped firms easily reuse, repair and recycle products. In turn, firms achieved material efficiency and contributed to extending the life cycle of products.

This paper explains how firms can align R-imperatives operationalization with uncertainty management to improve sustainability performance and enhance CSCs. Accordingly, firms should complement R-imperatives operationalization with proactive uncertainty management and an assessment of all environmental, economic and social sustainability dimensions.

This paper fills a critical gap in circular supply chain management literature by unveiling its linkage with uncertainty management and sustainability performance. Empirical insights from nine firms within CSCs are provided to guide scholars and managers interested in implementing R-imperatives.

This paper aims to propose a stepwise method to improve the sustainability of manufacturing processes.

The proposed approach is based on an extensive literature review and research around the environmental, economic and social pillars of sustainability in manufacturing firms. Considering the lean approach, the manufacturing processes are mapped in a value stream and analyzed through the extensive identified sustainability criteria.

The findings reveal the consumption and waste of natural and nonrenewable resources, through going beyond the existing boundaries and focusing on relevant derived production pieces and tracing to their origins. The findings also present the effect of the time value of money on sustainability by using the cost–time profile as a sustainability criterion. This research finds out the employees’ impacts on sustainability improvement through an effective focus on technical, cultural and personal aspects.

The research outcomes provide operations managers and decision-makers in the field of sustainability with a practical platform to comprehend and assess the factors contributing to the manufacturing process sustainability and to plan relevant corrective actions accordingly.

The extended view of sustainability criteria in this research as well as its visual-analytical approach will help practitioners to assess and improve sustainability in their operations in a more holistic way.

Drawing insights from institutional theory, this paper aims to examine whether and to what extent banks have reconfigured their management control systems (MCSs) in response to growing institutional pressures towards sustainability, understood as environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.

The authors conducted an exploratory study at the three largest Italian banking groups to shed light on changes made in MCSs to account for ESG issues. The analysis is based on 12 semi-structured interviews with managers from the sustainability and controls areas, as well as from other relevant operational areas particularly concerned with the integration process of ESG issues. Additionally, secondary data sources were used. The Malmi and Brown (2008) MCS framework, consisting of a package of five types of formal and informal control mechanisms, was used to structure and analyse the empirical data.

The examined banks widely implemented numerous changes to their MCSs as a response to the heightened sustainability pressures from regulatory bodies and stakeholders. In particular, with the exception of action planning, the results show an extensive integration of ESG issues into the five control mechanisms of Malmi and Brown’s framework, namely, long-term planning, cybernetic, reward/compensation, administrative and cultural controls.

By identifying the approaches banks followed in reconfiguring traditional MCSs, this research sheds light on how adequate MCSs can promote banks’ “sustainable behaviours”. The results can, thus, contribute to defining best practices on how MCSs can be redesigned to support the integration of ESG issues into the banks’ way of doing business.

Overall, the findings support the theoretical assertion that institutional pressures influence the design of banks’ MCSs, and that both formal and informal controls are necessary to ensure a real engagement towards sustainability. More specifically, this study reveals that MCSs, by encompassing both formal and informal controls, are central to enabling banks to appropriately understand, plan and control the transition towards business models fully oriented to the integration of ESG issues. Thereby, this allows banks to effectively respond to the increased stakeholder demands around ESG concerns.

Studies have shown that higher education institutions (HEIs) need to achieve deep organizational learning to develop and implement long-term strategies for responding to the climate crisis. This study aims to analyze the sustainability efforts of HEIs, in particular those who use the sustainability tracking, assessment and rating system (STARS), to ascertain what type of organizational learning is being achieved.

This paper does this by analyzing perceptions of learning amongst this group of HEIs. More specifically, it analyzes survey data regarding perceptions of types and system levels of organizational learning achieved by 116 HEIs in the USA that currently use or have used STARS in the past. The approach also aims to develop a macro view of the relationships between practicing campus sustainability, using sustainability reporting tools and learning as an organization.

An examination of the practice of campus sustainability and its relationship to organizational learning reveals that the use of sustainability reporting promotes broad learning, but deep learning at the level of the organization is seldom achieved.

Given the success of using sustainability reporting tools to diffuse knowledge and foster broad learning, this paper argues that such tools should incorporate more metrics relative to soft organizational characteristics of HEIs to shift organizational cultures and foster deeper organizational learning.

This work constitutes one of the few studies analyzing empirical data on campus sustainability, sustainability reporting and organizational learning for a large number of HEIs.