Corporate Sustainability and Reporting Lecture Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts, theories, and regulatory frameworks of Corporate Sustainability and Reporting.

Corporate Sustainability (CS)

A macro-level approach focusing on managing and balancing an enterprise’s embeddedness in interrelated ecological, social, and economic systems to create long-term balance, societal welfare, and stakeholder value.

Corporate (Social) Responsibility (CSR)

A meso-level focus on the internal managerial processes and structures within a firm that enable responsible corporate action and the management of social and environmental responsibilities.

Business Ethics

A micro-level study of individual action and morality in specific business-related situations to determine if a decision or behavior is ethically sound.

The Carroll Model (1979)

A pyramid framing CSR as four levels of responsibility: economic (required), legal (required), ethical (expected), and philanthropic/discretionary (desired).

Instrumental Motivation

The 'Business Case' for sustainability, where actions are taken because they are expected to lead to financial success, such as growth, return on capital, or risk reduction.

Ethical Motivation

Motivation based on normative morality, where a company engages in sustainability because it is perceived as a moral duty and the 'right thing to do' regardless of profit.

Outside-In Approach

A strategic approach where a firm selects ESG issues that shape its external competitive environment in favorable ways, focusing on factor, demand, and strategy context conditions.

Inside-Out Approach

A resource-oriented perspective where sustainability thinking is used to redesign internal value chain activities (primary and support) to support strategic goals.

Creating Shared Value (CSV)

A strategy aimed at creating societal value and economic profit simultaneously through reconceiving products/markets, redefining productivity in the value chain, and enabling local cluster development.

Materiality Analysis

A process to prioritize ESG issues by comparing ESG materiality (the firm's impact on environment/society) and financial materiality (the impact of ESG issues on the firm's success).

Valente Model

A framework showing stages of strategy-sustainability alignment: Denial, Defensive, Isolated, Embedded, and Transformative, based on inclusiveness, interconnectedness, and equity.

Triple-Bottom-Line Approach

A management concept where a company achieves a balance of economic, environmental, and social imperatives.

Normative Ethics

The study of what is the 'right' thing to do, including theories such as Utilitarianism, Duty-based Ethics (categorical imperative), Virtue Ethics, and Posthuman Ethics.

Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Development

A three-level model of moral growth consisting of Pre-conventional (self-interest), Conventional (social rules), and Post-conventional (universal principles).

Compliance Orientation

An ethics management approach that is reactive and aims to prevent illegal acts through monitoring and adherence to the 'letter of the law'.

Integrity Orientation

An ethics management approach that aims to inspire ethical conduct through shared values, helping employees manage 'unknown challenges' beyond strict rules.

Corporate Governance

The system by which companies are directed and controlled to ensure responsible leadership focused on long-term value creation and balanced stakeholder interests.

The New Paradigm

A governance shift focusing on three pillars: Governance (firm purpose), Engagement (ESG disclosure), and Stewardship (investors promoting long-term value).

Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSRep)

The publication of economic, environmental, and social impacts of everyday business activities to provide transparency and decision-making value to stakeholders.

Double Materiality

A reporting requirement under the EU CSRD where companies assess both their impact on society/environment and how ESG issues affect their own business success.

EU Taxonomy

A regulatory tool designed to harmonize the classification of 'green' activities to ensure environmental claims are substantiated.

Sustainability Standards

Voluntary 'soft law' rules and procedures used to guide, measure, and communicate ESG performance, including principle-based, certification, and reporting frameworks.

Input Legitimacy

Legitimacy derived from the formulation process of a standard, dependent on stakeholder involvement and reflecting the preferences of those governed.

Output Legitimacy

Legitimacy derived from the capacity of a standard to be effective and solve collective problems to meet societal expectations.