JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION Volume 13, Issue 4, March 2005, Pages 373-385 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2003.10.007Get rights and content ABSTRACT Business sustainability entails the

incorporation of the objectives of sustainable development, namely social equity, economic efficiency and environmental performance, into a company's operational practices. Companies

that compete globally are increasingly required to commit to and report on the overall sustainability performances of operational initiatives. The current indicator frameworks that are

available to measure overall business sustainability do not effectively address all aspects of sustainability at operational level, especially in developing countries such as South Africa.

performance for all stakeholders [1]. The concept of business or corporate sustainability has therefore grown in recognition and importance. Business sustainability can be defined as

“_adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that

will be needed in the future_” [2]. The concept of sustainability is understood intuitively, but it remains difficult to express it in concrete, operational terms [3]. A systems approach

consistent with the basic principles and requirement for sustainability has been proposed to consider strategic sustainable development planning at a company level [4]. The approach thereby

attempts to: * • Cover social and ecological sustainability on the basic principle level, * • Translate the definition of sustainability to the institutional level, * • Manage the strategic

perspective through a step-by-step approach whereby economic performance is taken into account regarding short-term as well as long-term risks, * • Advocate the development of indicators

that have this perspective, and * • Show how various initiatives on this arena relate to such a sustainability perspective. However, the proposed synergy of the available tools does not

adequately assist industry decision-makers (at company management level) who are required to assess and evaluate their operations in terms of internal and external impacts. Optimal decisions

can only be made when the economic, social and environmental consequences are taken into consideration [5]. A definite need has therefore been identified to develop a comprehensive

framework of sustainability criteria that focus on operational practices in the manufacturing sector, and more specifically the assessment of the sustainability performances of technological

developments during project management [6]. Since the United Nations and national governments worldwide have been the driving force behind sustainable development, most frameworks that have

been developed to assess sustainability have subsequently focused on a national, regional or community level [7], [8], [9]. The frameworks typically address the three generally accepted

dimensions of sustainable development (economic, environmental, and social), while some frameworks also include a fourth dimension, namely “institutional”, as introduced by the United

Nations approach [7]. Far less work has been done on a company level to develop and implement sustainability performance assessment practices [9]. An analysis of more than 50

business-related initiatives revealed that frameworks do exist to assess business sustainability but “_in most of the (six) integrated (sustainability measurement) initiatives the primary

focus is the environmental dimension_” [10]. Furthermore, the focus of the available integrated sustainability frameworks is mostly on a product level within an organization [11], with the

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) the only recognized international initiative that focuses on reporting the sustainability of the entire organization [12]. This paper proposes a

comprehensive framework of sustainability criteria that can be used to assess the sustainability of projects, technologies, as well as the overall company sustainability. The framework is

based on published approaches and impact assessment guidelines, but specifically addresses the needs of the South African process industry, i.e. within a developing country context, and

focuses strongly on operational initiatives. The paper further reviews possible approaches (and experienced complications) to translate the criteria into measurable indicators for

performance measurements. SECTION SNIPPETS REVIEW OF CURRENT INTEGRATED SUSTAINABILITY FRAMEWORKS Current integrated frameworks to assess sustainability, whether nationally, internationally,

locally or company focused, have been reviewed to determine relevant aspects (or criteria) that should be considered when assessing industry sustainability. The selection of frameworks that

were reviewed was based on the following: * (a) The indicator framework includes a set of (measurable) indicators. * (b) The indicator framework addresses all three dimensions of

sustainability, i.e. environmental, social, and INSTITUTIONAL SUSTAINABILITY AND BUSINESS STRATEGY In order to propose a modified framework it is necessary to determine whether

sustainability should be measured in three or four dimensions. The fourth dimension, institutional sustainability, has been proposed by the United Nations in Chapter 8 of Agenda 21 [16].

Chapter 8, which is considered to be the “core” institutional chapter [16], calls for, amongst others, the adoption of national strategies of sustainable development and the integration of

socio-economic and environmental aspects in APPROPRIATENESS OF THE PROPOSED FRAMEWORK CRITERIA FOR PROJECT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN PROCESS INDUSTRY A pre-survey has been

conducted in the South African process industry to establish the suitability of the framework, as well as the relevance of the criteria in the framework, in terms of sustainable business

practices such as project life cycle management. A large petrochemical company in South Africa has been used for the pre-survey. The expertise of the 23 participants (in the company) is

summarized in Fig. 7 and consists of professionals who are: * • Actively involved in project management, IDENTIFYING MEASURABLE INDICATORS FOR THE PROPOSED CRITERIA The identification of

suitable indicators to measure the impacts of an operational activity, e.g. an undertaken project, on the three main sustainability dimensions is dependent on the following three important

points: * • The kind of information that is available at the point of assessing the sustainability performance of a specific operational activity. For example, considering the life cycle of

a technology development project in the process industry, detailed data may not exist in the early CONCLUSIONS AND THE WAY FORWARD A framework is proposed to assess the sustainability

performances of a company and its operational activities. The criteria addressed in the proposed framework are particularly applicable to assess projects that are undertaken in the process

industry. Separate product-specific criteria have been omitted from the framework since products, as the core output of industry activities, should be subjected to the same sustainability

assessment process. The proposed framework can thus be used to REFERENCES (43) * K.-H. Robèrt_ et al._ STRATEGIC SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT—SELECTION, DESIGN AND SYNERGIES OF APPLIED TOOLS

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references CITED BY (760) * A SCIENTOMETRIC REVIEW OF GLOBAL RESEARCH ON SUSTAINABILITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2018, Journal of Cleaner Production Show abstract The concept of

sustainable development has gained worldwide attention in recent years which had enhanced its implementation. However, few studies have attempted to map the global research of

sustainability. This study utilizes scientometric review of global trend and structure of sustainability research in 1991–2016 using techniques such as co-author, co-word, co-citation,

clusters, and geospatial analyses. A total of 2094 bibliographic records from the Web of Science database were analyzed to generate the study's research power networks and geospatial

map. The findings reveal an evolution of the research field from the definition of its concepts in the Brundtland Commission report to the recent development of models and sustainability

indicators. The most significant contributions in sustainability research have originated primarily from the United States, China, United Kingdom and Canada. Also, existing studies in

sustainability research focus mainly on subject categories of environmental sciences, green & sustainable science technology, civil engineering, and construction & building

technology. Emerging trends in sustainability research were sustainable urban development, sustainability indicators, water management, environmental assessment, public policy, etc.; while

the study generated 21 co-citation clusters. This study provides its readers with an extensive understanding of the salient research themes, trends and pattern of sustainability research

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indicators to measure sustainability of manufactured products and manufacturing processes. In these efforts, they find a large number of stand-alone indicator sets. This has caused

complications in terms of understanding interrelated terminology and selecting specific indicators for different aspects of sustainability. This paper reviews a set of publicly available

indicator sets and provides a categorization of indicators that are quantifiable and clearly related to manufacturing. The indicator categorization work is also intended to establish an

integrated sustainability indicator repository as a means to providing a common access for manufacturers, as well as academicians, to learn about current indicators and measures of

sustainability. This paper presents a categorization of sustainability indicators, based on mutual similarity, in five dimensions of sustainability: environmental stewardship, economic

growth, social well-being, technological advancement, and performance management. Finally, the paper explains how to use this indicator set to assess a company's manufacturing

operations. * AN OVERVIEW OF SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGIES 2012, Ecological Indicators Show abstract Sustainability indicators and composite index are gaining lot of importance and

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economic, social, or technological improvement. By conceptualizing phenomena and highlighting trends, sustainability indicators simplify, quantify, analyze and communicate the complex and

complicated information. There are number of initiatives exist on indicators and frameworks for sustainable development. This article provides an overview various sustainability indices

applied in sustainability domain. The paper also compiles the information related to sustainability indices formulation strategy, scaling, normalization, weighting and aggregation

methodology. * AN EXPLORATION OF MEASURES OF SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY AND THEIR APPLICATION TO SUPPLY CHAIN DECISIONS 2008, Journal of Cleaner Production Show abstract Sustainability recognizes

the interdependence of ecological, social, and economic systems – the three pillars of sustainability. The definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR) often advocates ethical

behavior with respect to these systems. As more corporations commit to sustainability and CSR policies, there is increasing pressure to consider social impacts throughout the supply chain.

This paper reviews metrics, indicators, and frameworks of social impacts and initiatives relative to their ability to evaluate the social sustainability of supply chains. Then, the

relationship between business decision-making and social sustainability is explored with attention initially focused on directly impacting national level measures. A general strategy for

considering measures of social sustainability is proposed, and a variety of indicators of CSR are described. Several of these indicators are then employed in an example to demonstrate how

they may be applied to supply chain decision-making. * EDITORIAL TRADE-OFFS IN CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY: YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT 2010, Business Strategy and the Environment

* CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGIES: SUSTAINABILITY PROFILES AND MATURITY LEVELS 2010, Sustainable Development View all citing articles on Scopus View full text Copyright © 2003 Elsevier

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