IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v26y2017i2p142-162.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Measuring Corporate Environmental Performance: A Methodology for Sustainable Development

Author

Listed:
  • Elena Escrig‐Olmedo
  • María Jesús Muñoz‐Torres
  • María Ángeles Fernández‐Izquierdo
  • Juana María Rivera‐Lirio

Abstract

Assessing corporate environmental performance (CEP) that is both comprehensive and consistent with sustainable development both for society and companies, while at the same time taking heed of the facts and interests of each stakeholder, is not a simple feat. Due to the multidimensional character of the sustainability concept, several questions must be considered in the evaluation process: (i) the qualitative nature of indicators and the complexity of developing a synthetic index; (ii) the difficulty of choosing properly statistical techniques for aggregation and (iii) the difficulty of introducing stakeholders’ preferences in the assessment models. This paper is an attempt to address this challenge by developing a framework for the assessment of CEP, based on the application of a fuzzy multi‐criterion decision‐making (MCDM) method. To achieve positive scores in a CEP assessment, an organization should be strategically committed and engage in environmental management and governance structures that are translated into good results in terms of both engagement and operational performance. Unless such premises are explicitly incorporated into the assessment criteria, the results would reveal that the CEP measurement could not be brought into a line with an earnest ambition of achieving true sustainable development. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Suggested Citation

  • Elena Escrig‐Olmedo & María Jesús Muñoz‐Torres & María Ángeles Fernández‐Izquierdo & Juana María Rivera‐Lirio, 2017. "Measuring Corporate Environmental Performance: A Methodology for Sustainable Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 142-162, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:26:y:2017:i:2:p:142-162
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.1904
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1904
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.1904?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    2. Salvati, Luca & Zitti, Marco, 2009. "Substitutability and weighting of ecological and economic indicators: Exploring the importance of various components of a synthetic index," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 1093-1099, February.
    3. Thomas Berry & Joan Junkus, 2013. "Socially Responsible Investing: An Investor Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(4), pages 707-720, February.
    4. Graafland, J.J. & Eijffinger, S.C.W. & Smid, H., 2004. "Benchmarking of corporate social responsibility : Methodological problems and robustness," Other publications TiSEM 730f0e78-0c51-4c83-bbab-c, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Moon Seop Kim & Dong Tae Kim & Jae Il Kim, 2014. "CSR for Sustainable Development: CSR Beneficiary Positioning and Impression Management Motivation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(1), pages 14-27, January.
    6. Giovanni Azzone & Giuliano Noci & Raffaella Manzini & Richard Welford & C. William Young, 1996. "Defining Environmental Performance Indicators: An Integrated Framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 5(2), pages 69-80, June.
    7. Gunther Capelle-Blancard & Aurélien Petit, 2016. "The weighting of CSR dimensions: one size does not fit all," Post-Print hal-01297088, HAL.
    8. C. Trumpp & J. Endrikat & C. Zopf & E. Guenther, 2015. "Definition, Conceptualization, and Measurement of Corporate Environmental Performance: A Critical Examination of a Multidimensional Construct," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 185-204, January.
    9. Bruce Clemens & Lynn Bakstran, 2010. "A framework of theoretical lenses and strategic purposes to describe relationships among firm environmental strategy, financial performance, and environmental performance," Management Research Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(4), pages 393-405, March.
    10. Ilinitch, Anne Y. & Soderstrom, Naomi S. & E. Thomas, Tom, 1998. "Measuring corporate environmental performance," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(4-5), pages 383-408.
    11. Giles Atkinson & Simon Dietz (ed.), 2007. "Handbook of Sustainable Development," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1818.
    12. Ivana First & Deepali Sinha Khetriwal, 2010. "Exploring the relationship between environmental orientation and brand value: is there fire or only smoke?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 90-103, February.
    13. Abdelillah Hamdouch & Bertrand Zuindeau, 2010. "Sustainable development, 20 years on: methodological innovations, practices and open issues," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 427-438.
    14. Dima Jamali & Asem M. Safieddine & Myriam Rabbath, 2008. "Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Synergies and Interrelationships," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(5), pages 443-459, September.
    15. Ziegler, Andreas & Busch, Timo & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2011. "Disclosed corporate responses to climate change and stock performance: An international empirical analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 1283-1294.
    16. Banerjee, Subhabrata Bobby, 2002. "Corporate environmentalism: the construct and its measurement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(3), pages 177-191, March.
    17. Timo Kuosmanen & Mika Kortelainen, 2005. "Measuring Eco‐efficiency of Production with Data Envelopment Analysis," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 9(4), pages 59-72, October.
    18. Ans Kolk, 2008. "Sustainability, accountability and corporate governance: exploring multinationals' reporting practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, January.
    19. Bisbe, Josep & Batista-Foguet, Joan-Manuel & Chenhall, Robert, 2007. "Defining management accounting constructs: A methodological note on the risks of conceptual misspecification," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 789-820.
    20. Phillis, Yannis A. & Grigoroudis, Evangelos & Kouikoglou, Vassilis S., 2011. "Sustainability ranking and improvement of countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 542-553, January.
    21. Shuangyu Xie & Kohji Hayase, 2007. "Corporate environmental performance evaluation: a measurement model and a new concept," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 148-168, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhou, Hui & Nagayasu, Jun, 2023. "Is corporate environmental responsibility more valuable in the transitory period? The moderating effect of ownership type," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    2. Tao, Hu & Zhuang, Shan & Xue, Rui & Cao, Wei & Tian, Jinfang & Shan, Yuli, 2022. "Environmental Finance: An Interdisciplinary Review," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    3. Ruiyu Dong & Chaofeng Shao & Shuqi Xin & Zhirui Lu, 2023. "A Sustainable Development Evaluation Framework for Chinese Electricity Enterprises Based on SDG and ESG Coupling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-26, June.
    4. Erragragui, Elias, 2018. "Do creditors price firms’ environmental, social and governance risks?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 197-207.
    5. Margherita Casini & Simone Bastianoni & Francesca Gagliardi & Massimo Gigliotti & Angelo Riccaboni & Gianni Betti, 2019. "Sustainable Development Goals Indicators: A Methodological Proposal for a Multidimensional Fuzzy Index in the Mediterranean Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-25, February.
    6. Halit Gonenc & Bert Scholtens, 2019. "Responsibility and Performance Relationship in the Banking Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-49, June.
    7. Zhenghui Li & Yan Wang & Yong Tan & Zimei Huang, 2020. "Does Corporate Financialization Affect Corporate Environmental Responsibility? An Empirical Study of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, May.
    8. Jakub Horak & Tomas Krulicky & Zuzana Rowland & Veronika Machova, 2020. "Creating a Comprehensive Method for the Evaluation of a Company," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-23, November.
    9. Shouyu Yao & Yuying Pan & Lu Wang & Ahmet Sensoy & Feiyang Cheng, 2023. "Building Eco-friendly Corporations: The Role of Minority Shareholders," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(4), pages 933-966, February.
    10. Birindelli, Giuliana & Miazza, Aline & Paimanova, Viktoriia & Palea, Vera, 2023. "Just “blah blah blah”? Stock market expectations and reactions to COP26," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    11. Javier Amores‐salvadó & Gregorio Martin‐de Castro & Elisabeth Albertini, 2022. "Walking the talk, but above all, talking the walk: Looking green for market stakeholder engagement," Post-Print halshs-03760088, HAL.
    12. Amar Hisham Jaaffar & Azlan Amran & Jegatheesan Rajadurai, 2018. "The Impact of Institutional Pressures of Climate Change Concerns on Corporate Environmental Reporting Practices: A Descriptive Study of Malaysia’s Environmentally Sensitive Public Listed Companies," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(2), pages 21582440187, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. C. Trumpp & J. Endrikat & C. Zopf & E. Guenther, 2015. "Definition, Conceptualization, and Measurement of Corporate Environmental Performance: A Critical Examination of a Multidimensional Construct," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 126(2), pages 185-204, January.
    2. Bai Xue & Zhuang Zhang & Pingli Li, 2020. "Corporate environmental performance, environmental management and firm risk," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1074-1096, March.
    3. Christoph Trumpp & Thomas Guenther, 2017. "Too Little or too much? Exploring U‐shaped Relationships between Corporate Environmental Performance and Corporate Financial Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 49-68, January.
    4. Claudia Poser & Edeltraud Guenther & Marc Orlitzky, 2012. "Shades of green: using computer-aided qualitative data analysis to explore different aspects of corporate environmental performance," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 413-450, January.
    5. Ivana First & Deepali Sinha Khetriwal, 2010. "Exploring the relationship between environmental orientation and brand value: is there fire or only smoke?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 90-103, February.
    6. Mohammad Jizi, 2017. "The Influence of Board Composition on Sustainable Development Disclosure," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 640-655, July.
    7. Markus Hang & Jerome Geyer‐Klingeberg & Andreas Rathgeber & Stefan Stöckl, 2018. "Economic Development Matters: A Meta‐Regression Analysis on the Relation between Environmental Management and Financial Performance," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 22(4), pages 720-744, August.
    8. Hyunwoo Choi & Ingoo Han & Jaywon Lee, 2020. "Value Relevance of Corporate Environmental Performance: A Comprehensive Analysis of Performance Indicators Using Korean Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-25, September.
    9. Asit Bhattacharyya & Lorne Cummings, 2015. "Measuring Corporate Environmental Performance – Stakeholder Engagement Evaluation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(5), pages 309-325, July.
    10. Chee Kwong Lau, 2019. "The economic consequences of business sustainability initiatives," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 937-970, December.
    11. Stefano Garzella & Raffaele Fiorentino, 2013. "How to control environmental strategy?," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(1), pages 45-76.
    12. Corinna Dögl & Michael Behnam, 2015. "Environmentally Sustainable Development through Stakeholder Engagement in Developed and Emerging Countries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 583-600, September.
    13. Fornasari, Tommaso, 2020. "Il ruolo dei comitati di responsabilità sociale nella corporate governance [The Role of CSR Committees in Corporate Governance]," MPRA Paper 111192, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Muhannad Atmeh & Mohammad Shaban & Malek Alsharairi, 2020. "Corporate Social Responsibility: Motives and Financial Performance," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-17, November.
    15. Léopold Djoutsa Wamba & Jean‐Michel Sahut & Eric Braune & Frédéric Teulon, 2020. "Does the optimization of a company's environmental performance reduce its systematic risk? New evidence from European listed companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1677-1694, July.
    16. Shoaib Aslam & Mohamed H. Elmagrhi & Ramiz Ur Rehman & Collins G. Ntim, 2021. "Environmental management practices and financial performance using data envelopment analysis in Japan: The mediating role of environmental performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1655-1673, May.
    17. J. Emil Morhardt, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting on the Internet," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(7), pages 436-452, November.
    18. Elisabeth Albertini, 2017. "What We Know About Environmental Policy: An Inductive Typology of the Research," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 277-287, March.
    19. Magali Delmas & Vered Doctori Blass, 2010. "Measuring corporate environmental performance: the trade‐offs of sustainability ratings," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 245-260, May.
    20. Adam Arian & John Sands & Stuart Tooley, 2023. "Industry and Stakeholder Impacts on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Financial Performance: Consumer vs. Industrial Sectors," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-21, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:26:y:2017:i:2:p:142-162. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.