The connection between Corporate Sustainability and Integrated Management Systems.

Abstract

Over the last two decades the emerging concepts of Corporate Sustainability and Integrated Management Systems have been increasingly gaining attention. Although at first sight the connection between the two concepts is not evident, recent literature has suggested ways to link them. The scope of this thesis is to illustrate and clarify the essence, the main ideas and the approaches referring to each concept separately, while attempting to highlight their connection by describing specific models and identifying common philosophies and aspects within the two notions.

The methodology used is the Literature Review and specifically an extensive review of the published literature and relevant research has been conducted. In Chapter 2 the multiple definitions of corporate sustainability and relevant terms are presented. In Chapter 3 and 4 the main issues of corporate sustainability are described. In Chapter 5 the first connection between the two concepts is introduced. In Chapter 6 the concept of Management Systems is illustrated and in Chapters 7 & 8 the key points of the Integration of Management Systems are presented. Finally, in Chapter 9 the connection between the two notions is clarified and their common aspects are identified.