SUSTAINABILITY STRENGTH INDEX: AN IMPROVEMENT OF THE DPODE MODEL FOR ORGANIZATIONAL SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract

Recent developments on the world economy have awakened us for the challenges of sustainability of the economies, countries and economic organizations as well. In this context, the role and responsibilities that all “actors” need to assume for a good and sustainable management is relevant.

The questions of sustainability are focused in the relations established between several agents, in management and good use of resources and in the efficiency of the markets in order to guarantee its consolidation and peaceful continuity in society.  According to recent studies and beyond several factors that could be enunciated as relevant in the framework of sustainability, there are some pillars that seem to be central and under which businesses management need to develop abilities to ensure the sustainability of their organizations. The “DPODE Model for Organizational Sustainability” is a recent theoretical model (2010, 2011) trying to disclose in an empirical manner the pillars that seem to be crucial for organizations to ensure their sustainability. After its presentation, publication and application to two Portuguese major organizations, the authors are trying to improve the model in terms of the information needed to evaluate with accuracy each pillar and therefore the organizations sustainability. The main objective is to disclose a set of organizational competences and dimensions to be analyzed at different levels of organizations in terms of their objectivity and scope of information, in order to define a “Sustainability Strength Index” that can be measured in each of the pillars of the model (Direction, Posture, Organization, Behavior and Evaluation) and, consequently, measure the global strength of sustainability of organizations. The used methodology includes a brief review about the model and a literature review about several aspects from organizational sustainability, using the focus group research technic as well as the results obtained with the applications already done with this model to set a group of competences and dimensions to be analyzed and the criteria to be used to evaluate sustainability strength.