The aim of this study was to develop an approach to assess
sustainability integration in a company’s strategic decision
system and, based on the results from using this approach, to
lay out some generic guidelines for how to assess and improve
such decision systems. This emerging assessment approach
could effectively differentiate companies from each other from
a sustainability perspective and identify important challenges
and opportunities as regards visions and strategic processes.
Using the above described Bob Willard scale of sustainability
integration (Willard, 2005), the two SMEs were estimated to be
at the ‘‘Compliance’’ stage, Tetra Pak at the ‘‘Beyond Compliance’’
stage and Hydro Polymers at the ‘‘Integrated Strategy’’
stage. We also found indications companies and literature studies, that very few companies in
the world have reached this ‘‘Integrated Strategy’’ stage (e.g.
Strandberg, 2002; Forum-for-the-Future, 2003; van Marrewijk,
2003). We found several potential ways to improve such
sustainability integration