Sustainability assessment is a mainstream business activity that demonstrates the link between the organization’s strategy for and commitment to a sustainable global economy, and the prevention of economic crises. Small- and medium-sized businesses/enterprises (SMBs/SMEs) have significant effects on the European economy. However, because of a lot of restriction factors, like business risk, the high expenses of data collection and management, and the lack of resources, sustainability reporting is considered a superfluous and burdensome activity for them. The aim of this research is to propose an automated, comprehensive and simplified system for the sustainability assessment of SMEs. This system is achieved by implementing three main phases. The first phase includes key performance indicators design, which starts with the identification of various key performance indicators for comprehensive sustainability assessment, and ends with proposing an optimal set of KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that can encompass long-term issues and be applicable to SMEs in the EU. The second phase involves a new comprehensive method of sustainability assessment for all KPIs designed in the first phase. Therefore, a multi-criteria model, which involves four main pillars of sustainability assessment (economic, environmental, social and governance), is proposed. It gives different enterprises the ability to verify and compare their efficiency and sustainability with other companies within the same sector in an almost automated manner. In the final phase, a simple and an automated information system (WEBRIS), which provides a suitable environment for SME sustainability reporting, is developed. Finally, this system is verified in a case study of the Czech breweries sector.
Sustainability assessment is a mainstream business activity that demonstrates the link between the organization's strategy and commitment to a sustainable global economy. Sustainability indicators describe the environmental, social, economic and governance performance of Small and Medium-sized Businesses/Enterprises (SMB/SME). Unfortunately, their implementations in the Czech Republic show a low level of engagement in sustainability assessment. The paper presents the results of the authors' research in sustainability assessment of SMB/SMEs in the agriculture sector of the Czech Republic. An appropriate set of key performance indicators (KPIs) in four dimensions (economy, environment, social and governance) was developed to suit the SMB/ SMEs sustainability assessment in the agriculture sector. A set of KPIs is proposed to help SMB/SMEs to avoid the barriers of sustainability assessment. These indicators are based mainly on Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture, Global Reporting Initiatives Frameworks and on current research state-of-the-art. They have been created following the analysis of a number of agricultural enterprises over the world, particularly within European countries.
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