Definition and Measurement of Sustainability and CSR: Circumstances of Perceptual Misalignments

Corporate responsibility (CSR) measurement is intimately linked to CSR definition, and the same can be said of sustainability. Yet, there is no universal definition of what constitutes responsible and irresponsible, or sustainable and unsustainable, corporate action. Furthermore, perceptions of what is important to measure as part of CSR and sustainability reporting differ across both internal and external stakeholders. What are the circumstances and consequences of differences in the perception of definition and measurement between internal and external stakeholders? In this short essay I discuss this question and propose four possible circumstances that firms (and indeed researchers) could face when dealing with CSR and sustainability measurement. I refer to these as circumstances of definitional and/or empirical perceptual misalignments.