Sustainable development strategies, competitiveness, and corporate performance : a case study of SCG in Asean context

Abstract

Sustainable development has become of interest in the global context. This concept has been widely accepted at both the corporate level and national level. Regarding the corporate level, many companies have adopted sustainable development in their framework for future organizational growth. This study focuses on the case study of SCG since this company has been regarded as a role model of sustainable development for Thai companies and it has received international accreditation. The study investigates the sustainable development strategy of SCG which has been implemented in ASEAN and found that SCG emphasizes sustainable development as the flagship strategy to expand its business in the ASEAN region. The company has initiated several activities in support of the development of the areas in which it has operated. Three organizational units in three ASEAN countries are examined: Vina Kraft Paper Co., Ltd (Vietnam), PT Primacorr Mandiri (Indonesia), and Mawlamyine Cement Limited. (Myanmar). Since sustainable development and competitiveness are two complex issues covering broad dimensions of study, the research methodology in this study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods for exploring the context of this complex issue. The findings of the study are summarized as: 1) Both internal and external factors critically drive the sustainability path of SCG. These factors include, global recognition of sustainability, collaboration and participation, leadership, commitment and execution, employee engagement, and foundation involvement. 2) The adoption of sustainable development of SCG generates firm competitiveness, which includes, license to operate, resource efficiency, innovation, business opportunity, and employee morale. 3) Corporate governance is the critical issue that has been emphasized in ASEAN countries. For SCG, corporate governance has been viewed as a crucial part of its business policy. The company has formed a corporate governance structure for driving the corporate governance in the organization. However, there is still need for the company to improve its corporate governance in order to be recognized as one of the top ranking companies with the highest corporate governance recognition. 4) The collaboration between the government and private sector should be promoted in order to support the sustainable development approach. Particularly, there is a need for empowering the role of local administrations in terms of on driving sustainable development. Furthermore, the results of the study suggest a model for driving sustainable development toward firm competitiveness and corporate performance. The model was based on an integrated approach consisting of key indicators related to sustainable development, synthesized from the SCG case study. Due to the limitations of academic studies regarding the linkage between sustainable development and competitiveness, the proposed model in the study could be used as a guideline for further research on this issue. The conclusion of this study explains that the implementation of sustainable development can positively reflect on the competitiveness of the organization, leading to the sustainability of corporate performance in the long-term. The evidence found from the study supports the idea that both public and private organizations should shift their paradigms of development in order to balance three critical perspectives under the sustainable development approach. The study recommends that SCG continue its commitment to the sustainable development approach and encourage more participation from the local community in the company’s activities in order to promote the stainable development approach with the public. In addition, the study suggests that further research on this issue could explore the sustainable development adopted by organizations in other ASEAN countries in order to expand the study of sustainable development in ASEAN context.