The sustainable enterprise development tetrad and assessment of its balance

Abstract

The concept of sustainable development is traditionally associated with the economy, society, ecology, and building relationships between them. At the enterprise level, this means that economic, social and environmental goals are at least consistent with each other. The validity of this understanding is beyond doubt. However, in modern conditions it is practically impossible to ensure the long-term and competitive functioning of enterprises without the use of information technologies in their activities. This article provides arguments regarding the need to transform information stability from factors into a determinant of sustainable development, thereby turning the traditional triad into a tetrad. On the other hand, due to this expansion, it becomes more relevant to assess the balance of the sustainable development components. In this regard, the purpose of the study is to develop and apply a methodology for assessing the balance of the economic, social, environmental, and information components of sustainable development according to the criteria of reliability, dynamism, and acceptability. Research results of small and medium-sized enterprises in Russia indicate that only two out of fifteen enterprises achieved a high level of balanced sustainable development. In most cases, regardless the sustainable development level, the balance of determinants is at a lower level. Moreover, cases with a high but not balanced sustainable development confirmed the assumption that a high sustainability level for some determinants can compensate for a low sustainability level for others. The results obtained prove that the real vector of sustainable development can be determined only in accordance with the balance degree.