Over the last 10-15 years sustainability gained momentum prompting companies to reshape their strategies aiming to minimise their environmental impacts and enhance their positive contribution to society while guaranteeing economic sustainability in the long term. This requires, on one side, to explore innovative solutions that support a continuous improvement of performance (Sustainable Development), while on the other side to share transparently and comparably the path taken, and the results achieved (Sustainable Reporting) with all the stakeholders. Despite rising interest in sustainability, the literature lacks a comprehensive management tool that integrates internal development and external reporting. For this reason, the purpose of this master thesis is to propose a novel framework that would support companies in managing sustainability by facilitating reporting activities and enhancing sustainable development. The starting point of the study was the analysis of the literature that allowed to create a solid knowledge on the topic, while also identifying the limitations of the solutions proposed by other studies and the commonalities that emerge when different companies address sustainability, which must be leveraged to favour the adaptability of new solutions into different contexts. The literature review also served as a baseline for developing our proposal based on three dimensions. Indeed, to holistically assess sustainability, the Triple Bottom Line model has been adopted leveraging, then, on GRI Standards to identify widely adopted indicators and required disclosures; to guarantee alignment and accountability of all the areas of the company, functions and decisional levels were included. The framework was finally validated in a luxury fashion company to gain insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the model. Furthermore, the validation permitted the collection of data concerning material topics and potential KPIs that various organizational functions should integrate in the assessment of their strategies recognizing their contribution to the overall sustainable performance of the company.
Negli ultimi 10-15 anni la sostenibilità ha acquisito un forte slancio, spingendo le aziende a rimodellare le proprie strategie con l'obiettivo di ridurre al minimo il proprio impatto ambientale e rafforzare il proprio contributo positivo verso la società, mantenendo allo stesso tempo la sostenibilità economica nel lungo periodo. Questo richiede, da un lato, l'esplorazione di soluzioni innovative che supportino un continuo miglioramento delle prestazioni (Sviluppo Sostenibile), e dall'altro la condivisione trasparente e comparabile del percorso intrapreso e dei risultati raggiunti (Reporting Sostenibile) con tutti gli stakeholder. Nonostante il crescente interesse per la sostenibilità, in letteratura manca ancora uno strumento di management completo che permetta di integrare lo sviluppo interno e la comunicazione verso l’esterno. Lo scopo di questa tesi di laurea magistrale è di proporre un nuovo framework che supporti le aziende nella gestione della sostenibilità, facilitando le attività di reporting e potenziando lo sviluppo sostenibile. Il punto di partenza di questo studio è stata l'analisi della letteratura che ha permesso di creare una solida conoscenza sull'argomento, identificando allo stesso tempo i limiti delle soluzioni proposte da altri studi e le comunanze che emergono quando aziende diverse affrontano la sostenibilità, e sulle quali bisogna fare leva per favorire l'adattabilità di nuove soluzioni in contesti diversi. Il risultato della revisione della letteratura è servito come base per lo sviluppo del framework, il quale si basa su tre dimensioni. Al fine di valutare in modo olistico la sostenibilità, il modello Triple Bottom Line è stato adottato facendo successivamente leva sugli standard GRI per identificare da un lato gli indicatori da adottare e dall'altro le informazioni da rendicontare. Inoltre, al fine di coinvolgere tutte le aree aziendali, il modello proposto prevede il coinvolgimento di tutte le funzioni e di tutti i livelli decisionali per garantire l'allineamento e la responsabilità. Il framework è stato infine convalidato in un'azienda di moda di lusso per ottenere informazioni sui punti di forza e di debolezza del modello proposto. Inoltre, la validazione ha permesso di raccogliere dati relativi ai topic rilevanti e potenziali KPI che le varie funzioni organizzative dovrebbero integrare nella valutazione delle loro strategie, riconoscendo il loro contributo alla performance sostenibile dell'azienda.
MANAGING CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY: a holistic novel framework to enhance sustainable development and standardize reporting
Zampogna, Marco;SAVEGNAGO, GIANMARIA
2022/2023
Abstract
Over the last 10-15 years sustainability gained momentum prompting companies to reshape their strategies aiming to minimise their environmental impacts and enhance their positive contribution to society while guaranteeing economic sustainability in the long term. This requires, on one side, to explore innovative solutions that support a continuous improvement of performance (Sustainable Development), while on the other side to share transparently and comparably the path taken, and the results achieved (Sustainable Reporting) with all the stakeholders. Despite rising interest in sustainability, the literature lacks a comprehensive management tool that integrates internal development and external reporting. For this reason, the purpose of this master thesis is to propose a novel framework that would support companies in managing sustainability by facilitating reporting activities and enhancing sustainable development. The starting point of the study was the analysis of the literature that allowed to create a solid knowledge on the topic, while also identifying the limitations of the solutions proposed by other studies and the commonalities that emerge when different companies address sustainability, which must be leveraged to favour the adaptability of new solutions into different contexts. The literature review also served as a baseline for developing our proposal based on three dimensions. Indeed, to holistically assess sustainability, the Triple Bottom Line model has been adopted leveraging, then, on GRI Standards to identify widely adopted indicators and required disclosures; to guarantee alignment and accountability of all the areas of the company, functions and decisional levels were included. The framework was finally validated in a luxury fashion company to gain insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the model. Furthermore, the validation permitted the collection of data concerning material topics and potential KPIs that various organizational functions should integrate in the assessment of their strategies recognizing their contribution to the overall sustainable performance of the company.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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2023_12_Savegnago_Zampogna.pdf
Open Access dal 23/11/2024
Descrizione: Master's thesis Management Engineering Savegnago Zampogna 12/2023
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https://hdl.handle.net/10589/214893