Incorporating the Sustainability Concept in the Major Business Excellence Models

Abstract

The concept of sustainability has gained importance over the last years and organizations worldwide are trying to adapt their strategies and their economic, environmental, and social goals in order to achieve what is called corporate sustainability. Despite its importance to organizations, there is no universally accepted approach for implementing and measuring corporate sustainability. Business Excellence Models (BEMs) are widely used all over the world as a means of achieving and sustaining outstanding levels of organizational performance by improving the quality and management of their operations, and have been regarded to promote sustainable development. However, they have often been criticized for focusing more on business and financial results, questioning the extent to which they can adequately promote corporate sustainability. The aim of this paper is to explore the adequacy of the latest versions of three major BEMs to address corporate sustainability, by analyzing their criteria, their core values, and the overall approach of these models. Although the latest versions of these BEMs have been evolved to take into account the growing importance of corporate sustainability, the extent to which this is achieved varies among them, and cannot yet be considered as standardized models for its implementation and measurement. BEMs should provide an extensive list of sustainability indicators, such as the ones described in the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards, if they are to be regarded as frameworks that adequately address corporate sustainability.