Why is the concept of a Sustainable Balanced Scorecard important now?
For two of the three components of the Triple Bottom Line, there are management systems that have been in use for a while. Financial management, obviously, has been around for centuries (although recently it has become obvious that much remains to be improved). And environmental management became somewhat formalized in the early 1990s with the introduction of official standards for Environmental Management Systems, such as ISO 14001 and the European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (see this page for more information on management systems for environment and cleaner production). At the same time, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been gaining popularity among many advocates and organizations. But, unlike environmental management, CSR has never had a widely-recognized organizing framework that clearly supports adding business value. Consequently it remains very difficult to educate about CSR and convince executives that CSR has potential business value to their companies. However
