Looking for the sweet spot in sustainability: a framework for corporate assessment in sugar manufacturing
针对泰国糖业缺乏行业特定评估工具的问题，通过文献综述、多案例研究和问卷调查，开发了一个企业可持续发展评估框架，可用于企业自评和绩效改进。
Purpose Influenced by the extensive focus on sustainable development, the assessment of corporate sustainability has become an increasingly important topic both in academia and in practice. In order that manufacturing companies conform to their commitments to sustainable development, a standard and reliable measurement framework is needed. Based on a literature review in the context of corporate sustainability, there is still a lack of sectorspecific and empirical research in many areas, including the sugar industry. The main objective of this paper is to present a framework for the assessment of corporate sustainability developed specifically for the Thai sugar industry. Methodology/approach The framework has been developed based upon empirical research methods. It was firstly constructed as the literature-based framework. Multiple case studies were then conducted, and the framework was modified according to the in-depth understanding generated from these case studies. Finally, a survey using questionnaires was employed to enhance the power of generalisation. Findings By combining the knowledge from academic literature and findings from case studies and a survey, the developed framework becomes an accurate and reliable measurement instrument of corporate sustainability. Guidelines to assess qualitative criteria are suggested. Originality/value The originality of this paper is due to the existing lack of a comprehensive measure of corporate sustainability designed particularly for the cane sugar industry. The proposed framework can be used for a company’s self-assessment as well as for guiding practitioners in performance improvement and policy decision making.