The sustainability management process is cyclical and it is in continuous improvement. • The process has a strategic dimension and an operational dimension. • The main question to answer before starting the process is if the sustainability commitment of the company will be proactive or reactive. General issues
are integrated into its overall vision and business strategy • Define sustainability – Describe understanding of what ‘sustainability’ means to the company • Reveal vision – Vision should look to the sustainability opportunities and challenges of the company into the future. – Often presented in the context of existing corporate values, principles and policy commitments • Explain strategy – How to create value for its shareholders by means of its current performance; describing principal sustainability issues and approach to addressing them
nuestros grupos de interés y garantizar que la Sostenibilidad esté firmemente integrada en nuestro negocio es uno de los cuatro principales pilares de la estrategia de CEMEX. CEMEX, 2017
un detallado proceso de colaboración que involucró un diálogo con nuestros grupos de interés tanto internos como externos. Nuestro modelo pretende atender los más relevantes desafíos de la sociedad en donde CEMEX puede tener una contribución positiva.
económico, ambiental, social y de gobernanza , nuestro modelo de sostenibilidad está cimentado sobre 13 prioridades principales que aseguran que la sostenibilidad esté integrada en cada aspecto del negocio.
and/or executives with regard to sustainability-related governance and management systems • Outline board governance – How it functions, how often it meets, whether board members are associated with sustainability issues, etc. – Discuss the role of the most senior executives and their structure for managing the day-to-day business. • Detail management systems – The status, implementation and effectiveness of such management systems are usually addressed in a sustainability report
y luego se despliega a través de la organización. El Comité de Sostenibilidad está conformado por tres miembros del Consejo y un secretario, y cuenta con el apoyo de nuestro equipo Corporativo de Sostenibilidad, que reporta al Director General y a un miembro del Comité Ejecutivo. A través de la Red Funcional Global de Sostenibilidad implementamos nuestras principales iniciativas en todas las operaciones alrededor del mundo CEMEX, 2017
de: • Asegurar que el desarrollo sostenible esté firmemente integrado en la estrategia de CEMEX de corto y largo plazo. • Apoyar al Consejo en sus responsabilidades con los accionistas, que están relacionadas con las políticas y prácticas referentes al crecimiento sostenible de la compañía • Promover el Modelo de Sostenibilidad de CEMEX, sus prioridades e indicadores clave de desempeño • Evaluar la efectividad de las iniciativas de sostenibilidad y el progreso de su implementación • Guiar al Director General y al Comité Ejecutivo sobre las principales decisiones estratégicas de sostenibilidad CEMEX, 2017
and should be provided consistently to enable comparability • Defining materiality – Material issues for sustainability reporting are those that, have the potential to significantly affect sustainability performance • Use a simple process – Companies should establish a simple process to identify those material issues that warrant inclusion in their report.
the selection of indicators – The KPI Development Handbook contains the relevant information for indicator selection and definition – The company may choose to customize indicators or develop additional measures to report on key issues • Data collection – Determine what quantitative data and qualitative information will be collected within the company – A choice of ‘reporting elements’ is provided that may be applicable to the company’s operations, and which define the types of information or data that can be collected
a narrative that describes performance progress • Putting results into context: Developing a narrative requires a company to think strategically about how it communicates material issues and indicator data – How the results are relevant to the company’s operations – The nature of impacts on relevant stakeholders – The opinions of stakeholders or other credible third parties – How the results may compare to relevant industry benchmarks or averages – Strategic responses, goals or lessons learned
to achieve goals, together with explanations for variations in related performance • Recognize complex issues – Material issues may have many dimensions and involve reporting against a variety of indicators • Employ case studies – Including real-world challenges illustrate how a company can manage and integrate sustainability performance into its operations • Incorporating financial data – Can be useful to incorporate selected financial and operating information to provide business context when reporting on sustainability issues.
of sustainability reports is a common practice • Assurance processes provide an opinion regarding the quality of reported information • Audit-based verification – Typically focuses on quantitative data, may also seek to test materiality processes or assess qualitative statements or claims • Third-party commentary – Can be statements by experts, a stakeholder panel, or academic, non- governmental organization (NGO) or community comments – May include views on management performance, progress and recommendations. – May also provide an opinion on whether the report includes the most relevant and material issues • Important to explain how assurance is achieved
+ Formal requirements to guarantee scientific rigour + Case study as presentation instrument + Contextualization and discussion + Formal requirements for the presentation TABLE OF CONTENTS + Definition of case study + Types of case studies + Different use of case studies • Defining a case study • Researching a case study • Presenting a case study 01 02 03 INTRO
constructs, an subject to evaluation, because scientific and practical interest are tied to them. They are used for purposes of demonstration and learning, both in education and in research” Scholz & Tietje 2002: 1 87
case represents a fundamental break with a tradition of explanation that has dominated the physical sciences. • The central project of any science is the elucidation of causes that extent beyond specific instance. • But generalizing is not the same as universalizing. • It is important to be able to develop an understanding of causation that goes beyond the unique instance (a case). • The same importance posses the possibility to specify the limits of that generalization. • We cannot establish universal laws in the social sciences. 90
is a significant outcome or performance. • A situation in which there is no explicit explanation of the outcome or performance. • A situation in which something important happened, but we don‘t know why it did. PROBLEMS 93
are more than one possible option. • A situation in which there are several criteria influencing the decision and therefore the outcome. • Relevant evidence and information is sometimes available, sometimes not. DECISIONS 94
worth, value, or effectiveness of a performance, act, or outcome. • The units of analysis depend on the different agents or actors analyzed in the case. • An outcome can be the subject of an assessment. EVALUATIONS 95
should perform a quantitative or qualitative analysis. • Every rule has a procedure that must be followed. • In case of quantitative analysis the outcome of a rule application can only be right or wrong. • In case of qualitative analysis there are no prescribed methods that provides absolutely correct information about a situation. RULES 96
case study is an empirical inquiry that: • Investigates a contemporary phenomenon (the “case”) in depth and within its real-world context, especially when: “The boundaries between phenomenon and context may not be clearly evident.” (Yin 2006: 24) 99
case study inquiry: • Copes with the technically distinctive situation in which there will be many more variables of interest than data points and as one result • Relies on multiple sources of evidence, with data needing to converge in a triangulating fashion, and as another result • Benefits from the prior development of theoretical propositions to guide data collection and analysis. 100
cases Design data collection protocol Conduct case study 1 Conduct case study 1 Write individual case report Conduct case study (remaining cases if any) Conduct case study 1 Write individual case report Write individual case report Write individual case report Draw cross case conclusion Modify theory Develop policy implication (if applicable) Write cross case report Define and Design Prepare, collect, analyse Analyse and conclude Source: Based on Yin 2014: 60
the relevant literature regarding your topic. • Identify clearly a unit of analysis for your case. • Identify the cases or cases for analysis. • Identify the instruments that you will use to gather the data and for the analysis of information. • Describe the process followed in your report. • Look up for unique findings and contrast the outcome of your analysis with the theoretical background. • Take scientific distance of your sources and conclusions. • Respect scientific standards in the redaction of the paper. 106
as an presentation instrument should reach the following goals: • Complement or exemplify a theoretical discussion. • Clarify why some theoretical issues are relevant. • Offer an analysis in depth of a particular issue. • Embrace complexity. 108
as an presentation instrument could follow this process: • Situation • Questions • Contextualization • Discussion (hypothesis and alternatives) • Conclusions 109
study as part of a presentation needs the following: • Contextualize the problem in a vivid form. Remember that you have done more research than your audience. • Explain and clarify all the relevant details to understand the case. • Leave open issues that are not totally clear for the discussion, if possible propose questions for discussion on the last slide. • Contrast the reality (the case) with the theory. • Write down your personal/group conclusions. 110
materials. • The presentation should be structured. • State the main goals of your presentation at the very beginning. • Take time constrains into consideration. • Take rhetorical variables into consideration. • Use your body language consciously. • Be creative and if necessary make use of different media. • Use slides numbers and report sources! 111
SAGE Handbook of Case-Based Methods. London: SAGE Publications. • Eisenhardt, K. M. (1989). Building theories from case study research. The Academy of Management Review, 14(4), 532–550. • Google Ngram Viewer (2017) Case study, online in: http://books.google.com/ngrams • Scholz, R. W., & Tietje, O. (2002). Embedded Case Study Methods. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. • Yin, R. K. (2014). Case Study Research: Design and Methods (5 ed.). London: SAGE Publications. 112