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This study explores how balanced scorecard format and reputation from environmental performances interact to influence performance evaluations.

Two general options exist for inserting environmental measures into a scorecard: embedded among the four traditional perspectives or grouped in a fifth perspective. Prior balanced scorecard research also assumes negative past environmental performances. In such settings, and when low management communication levels exist on the importance of environmental strategic objectives (a common practitioner scenario), environmental measures receive less decision weight when they are grouped in a fifth scorecard perspective. However, a positive environmental reputation would generate loss aversion concerns with reputation, leading to more decision weight given to environmental measures. Participants (N=138) evaluated performances with scorecards in an experimental design that manipulates scorecard format (four, five-perspectives) and past environmental performance operationalizing reputation (positive, negative).

The environmental reputation valence’s impact is more (less) pronounced when environmental measures are grouped (embedded) in a fifth perspective (among the four traditional perspectives), when the environmental feature of the measures is more (less) salient.

Findings provide the literature with original empirical results that support the popular, but often anecdotal, position of advocating a fifth perspective for environmental measures to help emphasize and promote environmental stewardship within an entity when common low management communication levels exist. Specifically, when positive past environmental performances exist, entities may choose to group environmental performance measures together in a fifth scorecard perspective without risking those measures receiving the discounted decision weight indicated in prior studies.

Environmental consequences increasingly influence management strategy and choice. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects on attention and investment of: incorporating environmental data into a balanced scorecard (BSC), called the sustainability balanced score card (SBSC) and the organization of environmental accounting information.

In a between‐participant design, participants (n ≈ 95) chose from among two investments using BSCs. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: no environmental data (control or BSC condition); environmental data embedded within the traditional BSC (four‐perspective SBSC); or environmental data added to a BSC as a standalone fifth perspective (five‐perspective SBSC).

Investment to achieve environmental stewardship objectives was greater with the four‐perspective SBSC than the traditional BSC. In addition, participants were most efficient, i.e. spent the least total time, and least time per data element examined, with the four‐perspective SBSC. Finally, the time spent examining, and decision weight given to, environmental data were unrelated.

Professional managers and accountants may have greater knowledge of environmental metrics than do students, who are the participants in this study; hence, the results may not generalize to higher knowledgeable professionals since their processing of environmental data may differ from the lower knowledge participants of this study.

The form (i.e. organization) of environmental accounting data changed the allocation of participants' attention while the presence of environmental accounting data changed participants' investments; hence, both the presence and form of environmental accounting information influenced decision making.

This study is among the first to show differing influences from both the presence and organization of environmental accounting data on attention and investment.

Discusses a quality assurance approach to environmental management with reference to case material from Lucas Rists Wiring Systems. Concludes that an environmental management system should be relatively easy to implement in an organisation with a solid strategy foundation.

The purpose of this research is to study the strategies used by construction organizations in dealing with environmental issues. It identifies the factors which govern a firm's performance in respect of environmental management and explores the management strategies which are used to generate good environmental performance. The paper also seeks to consider the techniques adopted in pursuit of these strategies and to compare their effectiveness.

The research reviews the strategic management and environmental management and then proceeds to a case study investigation of six construction organizations. The case studies seek to uncover the variables that influence strategies for managing environmental issues. A cross‐case analysis provides an indication of the characteristics of those companies that demonstrate a higher environmental concern.

As environmental strategies are developed, the competencies in managing environmental issues will grow and lead to improved business performance. The growth in an organization's environmental competence provides the opportunity for increased competitive advantage.

A model is developed which illustrates the relationship between environmental management, business strategy and competitive advantage.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the several methodologies and activities taken to assess the environmental impacts of a $33 million pilot project undertaken through a loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) jointly with significant Chinese government investments. The ADB biogas utilization project has supported construction of over 7,500 biogas digesters in more than 140 rural villages. An additional 10,000 biogas digesters are programmed as well as significant investment in biogas production through large‐scale animal agribusinesses. The latter will be supported through investments utilizing the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The paper provides a longitudinal perspective by: looking at the project's Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) undertaken at appraisal; assessing the ongoing energy and environmental monitoring plan currently under way; and examining the potential for the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) as a tool for integrating environmental policy considerations on a regional or provincial level in China.

Improved technologies for application of renewable energy – in particular successful application and adoption of biogas digesters at the village level – offer the potential to promote sustainable, cost‐effective growth in agriculture with concurrent positive environmental impacts.

Based on the relative success of ongoing efforts to promote the adoption of biomass technologies, a significant expansion of the bioenergy program is under consideration by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The case study suggests that there is potential for use of SEA as a tool for the establishment of regional or provincial environmental priorities by taking account of information on the economic, social and environmental benefits, costs and risks of adopting a national strategy for biomass utilization. SEA is a recent innovation in China and must be adapted to local conditions.

Firms need to develop absorptive capacities to effectively source and exploit knowledge relevant to environmental behaviour for their own innovation activity. Business-to-business interactions can represent a significant route through which knowledge and resources about environmental innovations are transferred along the supply chain. The purpose of this paper is to explore how firms exploit business partnerships in order to build capacity for environmental innovation. In order to do so, it investigates two elements of B2B interactions – partner alignment and compatibility – and their influence on absorptive capacity-building.

This paper is based on a qualitative interview study of knowledge intensive business services (KIBS) operating in the environmental goods and services sector and their clients involved in adopting environmental innovations. Matched pairs of engineering consulting firms and their clients – tourism accommodation establishments – were selected as a sampling frame in order to study the influence of partner alignment and compatibility on the exchange of environmentally relevant knowledge and competencies.

The findings show that the synergistic attributes of business partners influence absorptive capacity-building and give rise to different patterns of interaction of KIBS with their client. The B2B interactions investigated are characterised by alignment along multiple objectives about the relevance of environmental behaviour. Furthermore, the compatibility of the partners’ competences is a key determinant of environmental innovation outcome.

The study highlights the role of managers in identifying and selecting those business partnerships that accrue greater potential benefit for accessing resources and competencies for eco-innovation.

The study contributes to the literature on absorptive capacity and innovation by demonstrating how B2B interactions – in this study, the interaction of KIBS with their clients – influence the capacity of firms to adopt environmental innovations which is an area of study that deserves further attention.

This study aims to assess the current state of research on the use of sustainability balanced scorecards (SBSCs), as they relate to environmental performance-related outcomes. It also seeks to present a conceptual framework proposing relationships between SBSC and environmental performance.

This paper conducts a systematic literature review of articles published in double-blind peer-reviewed journals that are listed on Scopus and/or Web of Science databases.

The first part of the paper reveals that two architectures of SBSC appear to be dominant in the literature (SBSC-4 where sustainability parameters are integrated with the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard and SBSC-5 where sustainability is shown as an additional standalone fifth perspective). The next part of the paper presents a conceptual model relating SBSC as decision-making tools to environmental performance outcomes. The paper also indicates that SBSC knowledge mediates the above relationships. Furthermore, based on the theory of expert competence, the presence of experts possibly moderates the relationship between SBSC architecture and environmental performance outcomes.

The literature indicates a lack of consensus on establishing a clear linkage on the relationship between SBSC architecture and environmental performance outcomes. As a result, a holistic conceptual framework where SBSC knowledge acts as a mediator and presence of experts as a moderator may be able to provide a more consistent relationship between SBSC architecture and environmental performance outcomes.

The conceptual framework proposed provides factors to be considered by decision makers, for effective outcomes when aiming to achieve environmental stewardship objectives.

Environmental performance by business organisations have come under close scrutiny of stakeholders. As a result, the holistic model proposed in the current study may pave the path for decision-makers to achieve superior environmental outcomes, leading to greater satisfaction of stakeholders such as the communities that are impacted by the business operations of an organisation.

This is the first paper to propose a model for future research regarding the link between SBSC and environmental performance outcomes – with expert managers acting as moderators and SBSC knowledge acting as a mediator.

In strategic planning and management of environmental resources, traditional multicriteria analysis is usually adopted for evaluating alternative development scenarios against a set of criteria. However, the modeling of the problem is often inadequate for representing the complexity which characterizes the decision. To overcome this problem, this paper aims to suggest the application of an advanced version of the analytic hierarchy process: the analytic network process (ANP).

The ANP is the first mathematical approach that makes it possible to systematically deal with all kinds of dependencies and feedback among elements. It requires the identification of a network of clusters and nodes, as well as pair‐wise comparison to establish relations within the network elements. The number of comparisons is dependent on the number of interrelations among the elements.

The method is applied to the Strategic Management Plan of the River Po Basin in Italy. The result obtained is a surprising ranking which places major weight on the cultural heritage and landscape rather than on traditional environmental categories, such as land and water. This result reflects the recent River Po Basin Authority strategy to institute an integrated and coordinated policy action in the field.

The proposed approach has improved the integration of the strategic evaluation in the decision‐making process within the management of territorial development policies, thanks to a better representation of the interrelations among issues within the decision model.

The study was set to determine the environmental objectives of building end‐user organizations in an office environment and to anticipate the environmental management demands this could set on facility management.

This qualitative study uses four independent data sets and triangulation approach by combining data archives with time series analysis method, semi‐structured interviews, case study and a survey.

The results of the paper state the gap between the environmental objectives and practical management of environmental issues. Same environmental management themes, namely energy efficiency, waste management and reduction of climate change emissions, seem to be important for end‐users of buildings. A new trend, in which the end‐users require facility organizations to provide environmental management services, was observed as well. End‐user companies wish to receive comprehensive reporting and recommendations on improving a company's or facilities' environmental performance.

Since the study included only globally and/or environmentally active end‐users, the results of the survey are most representative for large European or North American companies which are progressive in environmental management. Future research is suggested to focus on information management, collaboration and communication between facility and end‐user companies.

At the practical level, the potential of FM has not yet been well utilized due to the lack of communication and understanding by both parties. Facility management companies can make use of the findings, e.g. when developing more comprehensive services or evaluating their own operations.

The results anticipate present and upcoming trend of end‐users' setting environmental requirement for FM organizations.

This chapter reviews empirical studies into the relationship between management control, strategy and sustainability.

The review explores the theoretical frameworks and models used in previous empirical research as well as the research questions and methods applied to empirically explore this emerging research area.

Even if a growing body of empirical research has emerged over the last decade, our knowledge of how companies design or use management control to support sustainability strategy appears to be limited, providing considerable scope for further research.

This review structures the state of our empirical knowledge in the area of management control, strategy and sustainability and makes suggestions for future research paths.