Sustainability and its Integration into Corporate Governance Focusing on Corporate Performance Management and Reporting

This paper discusses corporate governance and its necessary change with regard to trends in society, especially in view of the concept of sustainability. Corporate sustainability is understood as the ability of companies to positively influence environmental, social and economic development through their governance practices and market presence. The approach of enterprises to sustainability and the level of integration of sustainability into corporate governance were examined by the author's empirical research conducted among enterprises in the CzechRepublic in 2012. It was found that enterprises are aware of the importance of the concept of sustainability to achieve corporate performance in the long term. However, sustainability is not integrated into individual business processes (especially by small and medium-sized enterprises), as research results demonstrated. Focus on the company's financial results is prevalent. Many enterprises do not work with sustainability within corporate strategy and management, and neither do they include sustainability in performance measurement and management. Reporting of sustainable corporate activities is very simple, especially for SMEs. A prerequisite for fully functioning corporate governance with regard to sustainability is a reflection of sustainability through the whole process of business management. Sustainability should become an integral part of strategic management and corporate planning.