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Handbook of Business Legitimacy pp 1–15Cite as

Accounting Systems and Integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into Corporate Operations

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Abstract

Following the introduction of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), many companies claim to adopt them in one way or the other. Guided by the “SDG Compass” and other tools, companies are advised to go through a process of trying to understand the SDGs, defining priorities, setting goals, integrating, and reporting and communicating the results. The article points to the nature of implementing the SDGs in business, including going from macro to micro goals, managerialism, and instrumental rationality, all implicitly present in the discourse of SDGs. Such an understanding on how to implement the SDGs, however, requires a strong role of the accounting system of the firm. Based on a theoretical framework, the various roles of accounting assumed in the managerial and instrumental approach to the SDGs are discussed. These roles include the potential of the accounting system to territorialize (sustainability) issues, mediate these to other arenas or higher-order contexts, adjudicate between success and failure, and subjectivize or incentivize people within the organization. The problem of playing out these roles in relation to the SDGs is discussed, as well as the perils of doing it, including the risk of losing sight of ethical business conduct as an action-guiding principle.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Handelsbankens Forskningsstiftelser, grant number P2017-0086:1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Örebro University School of Business, Örebro, Sweden

    Magnus Frostenson

  2. Østfold University College, Halden, Norway

    Magnus Frostenson

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  1. Magnus Frostenson
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Correspondence to Magnus Frostenson .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

    Jacob Dahl Rendtorff

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Frostenson, M. (2020). Accounting Systems and Integration of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into Corporate Operations. In: Rendtorff, J. (eds) Handbook of Business Legitimacy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68845-9_110-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68845-9_110-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-68845-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-68845-9

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