The framework also suggests that there are multiple effects on the performance of the firm, as well as multiple dimensions of firm performance. Arrows (e)–(h) represent the direct effects from the economic, environmental, social, and strategic perspectives, while arrow (i) represents the effect from the sustainability synthesis and arrow (j) the effect from the second level of synthesis between strategy and sustainability. Firm performance can be differentiated between business performance (e.g. market share, profitability, and growth), operational performance (not only cost, but also including e.g. quality, delivery, and flexibility, i.e. the main competitive priorities), environmental performance, and social performance.
Both decision-making and performance measures need to be balanced. It is important that all perspectives in Fig. 3 are taken into account when making decisions that affect the global footprint and it is important to have a balanced view on the performance of the firm. The fundamental idea of the balanced scorecard (Kaplan and Norton, 1992) can be applied here, in that a balanced view is needed between all perspectives. Figge et al. (2002) extended the work of Kaplan and Norton (1992) by proposing a sustainability balanced scorecard, which can serve as a starting point for developing balanced views on strategy and sustainability.