Sustainability as Trigger to Change Performance Measurement System

摘要

The triple bottom line is on the agenda of many companies around the world, which have been increasingly implementing sustainable practices to both comply with government regulations and attend to the demands of customers and non-governmental organizations. Indeed, the concept of sustainability has been seen as a new opportunity for improving business performance and creating competitive advantage. Therefore, the adoption of sustainability practices can change in different ways how companies measure their performance. This paper aims to investigate how these practices affect performance measurement systems. Two cases studies were conducted in companies that are ranked in sustainability within Brazil. Although the performance measurement system in one company seems to be more affected than the other, case study empirical findings demonstrate changes to the performance measurement system in both companies. Specifically, these changes have occurred in three performance measurement system elements: performance indicators, how the companies communicate their results, and the process of information management.