A Management Control Perspective of Sustainability Reporting in Higher Education: In Search of a Holistic View

Higher education institutions have been actively attempting to integrate sustainability in their
curricula, research, operations, and outreach activities over the last decades. Despite the
efforts undertaken, it is currently still challenging for their internal and external stakeholders
to assess an institution’s sustainability-related activities and the extent of their
implementation within the different activities of higher education. Since sustainability
reporting in higher education is currently still in its early stages, and because a holistic view
of sustainability integration in higher education on a management level is often lacking, this
paper researches possible contributions of management control to sustainability reporting
and the sustainability integration process in higher education. The paper adheres to a
management control approach by applying Simons’ (1995) Levers of Control Framework to
the field of sustainability in higher education, in search for a theoretical framework for
reporting and integrating sustainability on a strategic level into higher education institutions.
The research stresses the need for a holistic approach and for further in-depth study into
certain aspects of the control framework, i.e., practical implementation of vision and mission
statements, the concept of materiality, staff development, diagnostic indicator development,
and the study of stakeholder engagement processes in higher education