TY - JOUR
T1 - Development of social, environmental, and economic indicators for a small/medium enterprise
AU - Clarke-Sather, Abigail R.
AU - Hutchins, Margot J.
AU - Zhang, Qiong
AU - Gershenson, John K.
AU - Sutherland, John W.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Purpose: A growing number of companies are measuring the sustainability performance of their businesses. Some companies are using pre-existing sustainability indicator systems to assess their performance. Other companies are looking beyond measurement of impacts to create their own system of indicators to measure sustainability. Formulating relevant indicators of sustainability performance is a difficult task for any organization, but especially for small/medium enterprises (SMEs) that often lack financial, knowledge, and labor resources. The purpose of this paper is to consider two different sustainability assessment approaches undertaken by a single case study company, a start-up SME. Design/methodology/approach: The authors developed a method for an SME, Ecologic Designs, Inc., a self-identified green business that reclaims materials to make bags and accessories, to create its own sustainability indicators without outside expert help. This research chronicles the struggles and triumphs of the SME in measuring its sustainability performance using a pre-existing system and then using the developed method. Findings: The SME's managers applied the developed method to create, select, and weight sustainability indicators to help answer a strategic planning decision - where to locate operations and facilities in an expanding supply chain. Originality/value; The paper describes the struggles and triumphs ofastart-up SMEinmeasuring its sustainability performance using a pre-existing system and then using the developed method.
AB - Purpose: A growing number of companies are measuring the sustainability performance of their businesses. Some companies are using pre-existing sustainability indicator systems to assess their performance. Other companies are looking beyond measurement of impacts to create their own system of indicators to measure sustainability. Formulating relevant indicators of sustainability performance is a difficult task for any organization, but especially for small/medium enterprises (SMEs) that often lack financial, knowledge, and labor resources. The purpose of this paper is to consider two different sustainability assessment approaches undertaken by a single case study company, a start-up SME. Design/methodology/approach: The authors developed a method for an SME, Ecologic Designs, Inc., a self-identified green business that reclaims materials to make bags and accessories, to create its own sustainability indicators without outside expert help. This research chronicles the struggles and triumphs of the SME in measuring its sustainability performance using a pre-existing system and then using the developed method. Findings: The SME's managers applied the developed method to create, select, and weight sustainability indicators to help answer a strategic planning decision - where to locate operations and facilities in an expanding supply chain. Originality/value; The paper describes the struggles and triumphs ofastart-up SMEinmeasuring its sustainability performance using a pre-existing system and then using the developed method.
KW - Facility location
KW - Green business
KW - Indicator development
KW - Small to medium-sized enterprises
KW - Start up companies
KW - Strategic decision making
KW - Sustainability
KW - Sustainability assessment
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U2 - 10.1108/18347641111169250
DO - 10.1108/18347641111169250
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:81255176868
SN - 1834-7649
VL - 19
SP - 247
EP - 266
JO - International Journal of Accounting and Information Management
JF - International Journal of Accounting and Information Management
IS - 3
ER -