Management Control for Sustainability Strategy
A CIMA-funded project, led by the International Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility at Nottingham University Business School, explored the usefulness of organisational control systems for formulating and implementing sustainability strategies. While past research has often attended to the development and adoption of individual approaches to sustainability control, the CIMA study improves our understanding of the relationship between conventional and sustainability control, and of the organisational processes enabling or hampering control systems to advance sustainability integration within companies. Particular focus is placed on the interactions between top management, management accountants and other actors such as environmental/sustainability or production managers (main providers of sustainability information). In specifying the modes of integration of MCSs and SCSs and explaining their strategic uses, the study gives guidance to managers for improved strategic integration of sustainability.
The research uses a multi-case study research design and compares and contrasts the uses and interactions of the control systems within and across three UK corporate contexts. The study draws upon insights provided by: Boots UK, a retailer of health and beauty products; Halcrow, which specialises in the provision of planning, design and management services for infrastructure development; and The Commercial Group, an independently-owned office services company. The cases reported in the CIMA study exemplify important levers and barriers to facilitate the progressive integration of sustainability.
The findings of the CIMA funded project were presented at a very well attended CIMA event ‘A Strategic Approach to Sustainability’ in London in November 2011.