Integrating sustainability into management control systems: literature review

Résumé

The concepts of sustainability and management control are of interest to researchers in a separate capacity. The concept of sustainability has become a primary concern for governments, institutions, businesses and individuals alike. Concurrently, management control systems are experiencing substantial changes, both in theory and in practice. The factors of sustainable development and its sustainability objective are considered contingent upon the design of control systems. This growing interest and evolution in the field necessitate a comprehensive examination of the interrelationship between these two concepts, which can be achieved through a systematic analysis of the integration of sustainability into management control systems. There is an increasing integrative approach to management control systems.

This semi-systematic review is part of this debate and aims to analyse studies carried out and published in peer-reviewed journals indexed in well-known databases (Elsevier, Emerald, Springer, etc.). The review encompassed 46 articles, which were analysed by theme to identify theoretical relationships that could be utilised in future research. The results obtained demonstrate two key findings. Firstly, there is an upward trend in research in this field with a view to enriching the theory of environmental management control systems. Secondly, sustainability is integrated into the practices, strategy, processes and financial communication of companies to varying degrees through sustainable reporting and ESG. The present review makes two principal contributions. Firstly, it responds to a call for further literature reviews on this subject. Secondly, it offers a practical solution in the form of a structured overview of the results of several articles, which in turn provide new avenues for theoretical or empirical research.

JEL classification: Q56, M49

Paper Type: Theoretical Research