Operationalising Sustainability: How Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Translate Social and Environmental Issues into Practice

Drawing on a survey of Italian SMEs from the Tuscan area, this study aims to explore if and how SMEs integrate sustainability in their strategy and management systems, in particular in the performance measurement system. By combining theoretical and empirical findings, the study provides insights on how performance measurement systems could be improved to better operationalise sustainability strategies in SMEs. Moreover, the paper aspires to contribute to the existent sustainability literature by focusing on the processes of translating social and environmental issues into practice within SMEs.

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