Elsevier

European Management Journal

Volume 23, Issue 6, December 2005, Pages 628-647
European Management Journal

Responsible Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility:: Metrics for Sustainable Performance

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2005.10.009Get rights and content

Many companies have initiated a variety of sustainable development initiatives to address the demands and expectations of society. Although most analysts argue that these initiatives contribute to making businesses more profitable, there are many managers who are not yet convinced of the validity of this argument. The reason is that most sustainable development initiatives have been developed in isolation of business activity and are not yet directly linked to business strategy. One way to strengthen the link between the two is to measure the extent to which a company’s performance increases as a result of implementing sustainable development initiatives. This article examines the best available metrics used by twenty major German companies to measure sustainability.

Section snippets

Sustainability, Responsible Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility

Many large and medium-sized companies have started to incorporate sustainability into their business strategies. However, they report on their initiatives in ways that are difficult to understand and compare. There is a need to establish clear, user-friendly methodologies and tools to measure the progress that companies are making toward sustainability.

Methods and Tools to Measure Corporate Sustainability Performance

Companies are increasingly being asked to provide more and better information on how they identify and manage social and environmental issues. They are also being asked to explain how these opportunities and threats affect short- and long-term value.

The comparative analysis of sustainability is a complex task due to the wide range of reporting practices for environmental, social and corporate governance risks/opportunities and also due to the difficulty of verifying the accuracy of the

How German Companies Measure Sustainable Performance

The German companies that have been analyzed within the context of this project are:

  • Financial companies

    • 1.

      Allianz

    • 2.

      Deutsche Bank

    • 3.

      Munich Re Group

  • Information and communications companies

    • 4.

      Axel Springer

    • 5.

      Deutsche Post

    • 6.

      Deutsche Telekom

  • Energy companies

    • 7.

      EON Ruhrgas

    • 8.

      RWE

    • 9.

      Thyssen Krupp

  • Automobile and transportation companies

    • 10.

      BMW

    • 11.

      Daimler Chrysler

    • 12.

      Deutsche Lufthansa

    • 13.

      Volkswagen

  • Manufacturing companies

    • 14.

      BASF

    • 15.

      Henkel

    • 16.

      Robert Bosch

    • 17.

      Siemens

  • Pharmaceutical companies

    • 18.

      Beiersdorf

    • 19.

      Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma KG

    • 20.

      Schering.

The analysis of the

Conclusions

  • 1.

    There are various approaches that have been used to measure, monitor and assess a company’s progress toward sustainability, including: sustainability surveys, sustainability metrics, sustainability indexes, performance indicators, award schemes, investor criteria, accountability, reporting, internal and external communication tools, benchmarking, accreditation processes, standards, codes, social screening services, screening systems, and sustainability performance ranking. None of these methods

FRANCISCO SZÉKELY, ESMT European School of Management and Technology Schlossplatz 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]

Francisco Székely is Adjunct Professor of Sustainable Leadership at ESMT European School of Management and Technology, Berlin, and Visiting Professor and Member of the Board of Copenhagen Business School. He specialises in business sustainability, environmental management, technology assessment and energy policy.

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    FRANCISCO SZÉKELY, ESMT European School of Management and Technology Schlossplatz 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]

    Francisco Székely is Adjunct Professor of Sustainable Leadership at ESMT European School of Management and Technology, Berlin, and Visiting Professor and Member of the Board of Copenhagen Business School. He specialises in business sustainability, environmental management, technology assessment and energy policy.

    MARIANNA KNIRSCH, ESMT European School of Management and Technology Schlossplatz 1, 10178 Berlin, Germany. E-mail: [email protected]

    Marianna Knirsch is Research Assistant to the Metrics for Sustainable Performance Project at ESMT, Berlin. Her previous experience includes working for a number of international aid agencies in the field of humanitarian relief projects.

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