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What Is Sustainability? A Review of the Concept and Its Applications

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Integrated Reporting

Abstract

Whereas the concept of sustainability is broadly acknowledged as being multidimensional, its various dimensions have brought to light different discourses over time and have often been treated separately. In some cases, this separation has limited the actual implementation of sustainability to its mere rhetoric. By relying upon a review of the relevant literature which addresses the notion of sustainability (or of sustainable development), the present chapter aims to explore this notion by identifying its key dimensions and the intertwining relationships between them. In so doing, the challenges and opportunities brought out by an integrated approach towards sustainability are also emphasised, together with the role played by governance structures, business models, management, measurement and reporting systems in implementing ‘integrated sustainability’ within organizations. In this context, the contribution of integrated reporting is explored.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    In line with Gray (2010), in this chapter we will use the expressions ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable development’ as two analogues. In so doing, we also acknowledge a slight difference between the two expressions, in which ‘sustainability’ refers to a state, while ‘sustainable development’ refers to the process for achieving this state (see Gray 2010).

  2. 2.

    Although this chapter is the result of the joint efforts and collaboration of the two authors, Elena Giovannoni is the author of Sects. 2.1, 2.4, 2.5 and 2.6; Giacomo Fabietti is the author of Sects. 2.2 and 2.3. This chapter is based on the outcomes of a broader research project entitled “From governance and risk management rules to performance: roles, tools and enabling conditions in Italian firms”. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of this research project provided by national funding within PRIN 2009.

  3. 3.

    Given the numerous theoretical streams which have approached the concept of sustainability from different perspectives, it would be impossible to provide a comprehensive review of the literature which has addressed this notion in only one chapter. More generally, as argued by Kidd (1992, p. 3) “the literature relating to sustainability is so voluminous that full analysis were not practical. And if it were practical it would probably not be worth the effort”. Far from attempting to provide an exhaustive review, in this section we draw on some key studies which have addressed the concept of sustainability from different perspectives in order to outline some of the key discourses which have informed the debate regarding this concept.

  4. 4.

    This report is also known as the Brundtland Report.

  5. 5.

    In general, hybrids have been defined as new phenomena (practices, tools, organizations, etc.) produced out of two or more elements that are normally found separately (Miller et al. 2008).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business and Law, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Elena Giovannoni & Giacomo Fabietti

Authors
  1. Elena Giovannoni
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  2. Giacomo Fabietti
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Correspondence to Elena Giovannoni .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Econ., National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland

    Cristiano Busco

  2. Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois, USA

    Mark L. Frigo

  3. University of Siena, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Angelo Riccaboni

  4. The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    Paolo Quattrone

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Giovannoni, E., Fabietti, G. (2013). What Is Sustainability? A Review of the Concept and Its Applications. In: Busco, C., Frigo, M., Riccaboni, A., Quattrone, P. (eds) Integrated Reporting. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02168-3_2

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