Balanced Scorecards and sustainability Balanced Scorecards for corporate social responsibility strategic alignment: A systematic literature review

Abstract

The integration of social and environmental issues into their business model is today a major issue for companies facing the challenge of sustainability. This is leading them to redefine their models of performance measurement. In this perspective, integrated and multi-dimensional frameworks such as Balanced Scorecards (BSCs) and Sustainability Balanced Scorecards (SBSCs) offer attractive opportunities. Drawing on a systematic literature review (SRL), this article provides an analysis of the literature to identify the main trends in research on (S)BSCs and their contribution to CSR and sustainability issues. While the SLR reveals a major stream of instrumentalist and functionalist research aimed at demonstrating the relevance of SBSC in the strategic alignment of CSR, more critical approaches question the foundations, purposes and architecture of these instruments regarding the macroscopic challenges of sustainability. More precisely, focused on an organizational performance measurement, these tools would struggle to embrace the full complexity of sustainability issues. The article contributes novel insights to expand current models of SBSC from the perspective of a real contribution to strong sustainability challenges.