Sustainability
Sustainability is a dynamic term that can be applied to various purposes, and although several different definitions can be found for sustainability in the literature, they all have the same core message. For businesses, sustainability is defined as (World Commission on Environment and Development—known as Brundtland Report, 1987, p. 40): ‘An investment strategy that uses the best business practices to meet the needs of the present stakeholders without compromising the ability of future stakeholders to meet their own needs’.
Although this report specifies that sustainability consists of three areas—economic development, social development, and environmental protection—the concept of the triple bottom line (TBL) was only introduced by John Elkington in 1994 (Elkington, 1994). TBL is an accounting framework which expands the reporting framework—i.e. criteria used to determine items appearing in the financial statements—by adding environmental and social performance to the traditional financial (economic) performance. This model calls for organisations to be responsible for all the stakeholders rather than just shareholders.
TBL identifies three dimensions of sustainability, known as pillars. These traditional pillars are also commonly called the three Ps: profit, planet and people. Although the three traditional pillars of sustainability have been commonplace in the literature, some studies have considered new dimensions, such as cultural sustainability and governance, to address a wider coverage of sustainability. All the above-mentioned dimensions are briefly explained in the next two sections.
Traditional Pillars of Sustainability
Economic Sustainability—Profit
The economic dimension is the most commonly accepted dimension of sustainability as it is directly related to the primary goal of any business (i.e. creating value for shareholders through economic performance). However, to be economically sustainable, businesses should focus on activities that generate long-term rather than short-term profitability. In other words, economic sustainability is about the impact of the business practices on the economic system focusing on the economic value created by the organisation in a way that supports future generations (Elkington, 1997). Economic sustainability does not refer to ‘profit at any cost’. Instead, it refers to practices that support long-term economic growth without negatively impacting the social, environmental, and cultural aspects of the community. Economic sustainability performance can be measured through financial activities between an organisation and its stakeholders, or non-financial costs and benefits of economic relations and their effects on stakeholders (Rezaee, Tsui, Cheng, & Zhou, 2019).
Environmental Sustainability—Planet
The environmental dimension of sustainability performance enables businesses to evaluate the impact of their practices on the environment. Environmental sustainability is about organisations being engaged in business practices without compromising the environmental resources for future generations (Elkington, 1997). Environmental sustainability is defined as ‘maintenance of natural capital’ (Goodland, 1995). In other words, it is a process of protecting the quality of the environment in the long term, measuring the environmental effects of business operations, increasing the positive impact of a business on natural resources, and creating a better environment for future generations while creating value for shareholders and maximising their economic profit (Rezaee et al., 2019).
Social Sustainability—People
The social dimension is about conducting beneficial and fair business practices to the human capital—i.e. workforce—society and the community (Elkington, 1997). Social sustainability is about making the company’s mission align with the interests of society by including accepted social values and fulfilling social responsibility (Rezaee et al., 2019). According to the Western Australia Council of Social Services (WACOSS) (n.d.):
Social sustainability occurs when the formal and informal processes, systems, structures, and relationships actively support the capacity of current and future generations to create healthy and liveable communities. Socially sustainable communities are equitable, diverse, connected, and democratic and provide a good quality of life.
Social sustainability performance ranges from delivering high-quality products and services, improving customer satisfaction and increasing employee health and well-being, to contributing to the quality of life for future generations (Rezaee et al., 2019).
New Dimensions of Sustainability
Culture
Cultural sustainability was first introduced as the fourth pillar of sustainability by Jon Hawkes in 2001 (Hawkes, 2001). He argued that to have effective planning, a new framework which evaluates the cultural impacts of environmental, economic and social decisions is needed. Cultural sustainability is a significant component of sustainability. It originally emerged out of social sustainability but has been gradually recognised as having a separate and integral role in sustainable development. Cultural sustainability means change happens in a way that respects cultural values. It contributes to the sustainability concept by adding an element of understanding of culture, as well as the place in which it evolves. Therefore, community and geographic context will not be ignored (Creative City Network of Canada, 2007).
Governance
After the global financial crisis of 2007–2009, companies decided to establish a stronger regulatory framework and improve their corporate governance. To do so, some measures were set and aimed to integrate business sustainability into corporate governance and in the hope of a long-term performance (Brockett & Rezaee, 2012). According to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) (2018, p. 4), corporate governance is defined as ‘the principles, practices, and processes that determine how an entity is directed and controlled’; thus, corporate governance is at the centre of business strategies. Sustainability is a strategic approach that tries to integrate economic, environmental and social dimensions; therefore, governance should be part of the sustainability concept, along with the other three dimensions (Iribarnegaray & Seghezzo, 2012).
Social Sustainability in Research
The social dimension of sustainability has been barely investigated compared to the other dimensions, especially environmental sustainability. The social dimension of sustaina...