Sustainability and business strategy: an investigation Model

This paper proposes a possible reference model to analyse the link between sustainability and business strategy. The study delved on the evaluation of the 2017 Non-Financial Statements of 30 companies listed in the Italian market according to the Legislative Decree n. 254/2016. A multi-sector analysis was conducted, and it involves companies from Media and Communications, Utility and Multi-Utility, Industrial and Financial sectors. Due to the fact that substantial differences between the national and European laws still exist among EU member states, the requirements of non-financial information are often considered unclear and ineffective. To counteract this situation, the EU harmonized the legislation, enacting the directive 2014/95/EU that establishes the main requirements for the reporting on social, economic and environmental topics. In such a vein, Italian government established that listed companies have to regularly disclose their non-financial information through non-financial statement. Drawing on authoritative academic literature, non-financial reports of the companies analysed, current articles and documents, an investigation model has been developed for assessing companies’ strategic orientation towards sustainability. To this end, the model was structured in the following six main themes: 1) Strategy, 2) Governance, 3) Operations, 4) Performance, 5) Risk management, 6) Politics. The analysis highlights companies’ approach in sustainability reports and its interconnections with company strategy, organizational structures, management policies, and risk management models.