Styrreglage för hållbarhetsstyrning - En fallstudie av hur företags interna styrning aktiverar Levers of Control för att uppfylla hållbarhetskrav
The connection between management control systems for controlling sustainability and a firm's motivation for engaging in sustainability is not completely understood (Arjaliès & Mundy, 2013). The aim of this thesis is to develop a more profound understanding for management control in achieving sustainable companies. To do this, we raise the question: How and to what extent do companies use management control systems to achieve sustainability compliance Simons's Levers of Control (1995) are applied to this question in order to get a consistent and thorough insight of management control systems. Hence, a case study of ABB:s work to achieve material compliance in accordance with EU-regulation was conducted. The findings of the case study reveal that ABB uses the regulations as explicit goals and implement them in sustainability procedures. However, no key performance indicators are defined to evaluate the results of the implementations of the regulations. Network meetings are also held but the information shared does not reach the whole organisation and its value may be doubted. Thereby, the study finds that belief systems and boundary systems are levered to control the sustainability compliance whereas diagnostic systems and interactive systems are less developed. The reasons for this may be that the regulations have not been integrated in the overall strategy of the company and the lack of strategic integration makes regulatory compliance less prioritized than other strategies. Thus, the conclusion is that management control is obstructed when companies work with sustainability in order to achieve regulatory compliance.