Organisational and Individual Accountability for Sustainability Through Control

Abstract

This chapter elaborates on the connections between organisational and individual-level accountabilities for sustainability control purposes. This aim is achieved through a conceptual study that draws on accountability as the theoretical lens and some recent sustainability control works in different contexts to highlight potential research avenues for scholars conducting research into sustainability management, accounting, and/or control. The chapter finds that building on the individual level of accountability and socialising accountability form is important to incorporate into sustainability control studies given that such research is often conceptualised at the organisational level of external accounts. For practitioners, the chapter suggests that formalised control system design is not enough to ensure that sustainable performance outcomes are achieved in practice, and that managers in different types of organisational forms should integrate the views, perspectives, and beliefs systems of other (non-managerial) employees into their daily sustainability work.