“Radicare” la sostenibilità nella strategia attraverso i sistemi di management control: un caso di studio relativo ad una Pmi

We adopt the framework of Gond et al. (2012) to explore the role of control sys- tems in promoting the integration of sustainability within the strategies of a SME. The study responds to requests for more investigation on the transition processes towards sustainability by SMEs. While the literature on the social responsibility of SMEs is well developed, there are very few studies that address the connections between control systems and sustainability. Thus, the study is based on a longitu- dinal case study of an Italian SME that operates in a field like pellets that are par- ticularly sensitive to environmental challenges. The results show that the integra- tion between control systems has had positive effects. Specifically, cognitive ena- bling factors, the interactive use of Sustainable Control Systems and sustainability strategies, mutually reinforcing each other, have contributed to making the inte- grated sustainability strategy stable even in the presence of adverse external condi- tions. From a more theoretical point of view, the paper responds to requests to car- ry out more studies not only on the drivers and motivations to adopt sustainable strategies but also on the role played by the internal management accounting and control processes in implementing them.