{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,24]],"date-time":"2026-01-24T13:53:10Z","timestamp":1769262790486,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":65,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,10]],"date-time":"2021-05-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1620604800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sustainability accounting is an emerging research area receiving growing awareness. This study examines the role of digital technology in manufacturing companies\u2019 sustainability accounting. To guide the research, we use a triple layered business model canvas, which supports the accounting of a manufacturer\u2019s performance for the economic, environmental, and social aspects of sustainability. We present an explorative case study of four Norwegian manufacturing companies representing different industries. The findings from the study indicate that while accounting for economic values is well taken care of, companies do not perform comprehensive environmental and social accounting. Furthermore, we observed a shift from a focus on sustainability issues related to the internal manufacturing process to a focus on sustainability issues for the life cycle of the product. Even though the manufacturers are at the forefront with regard to automation and control of production, with extensive use of robots giving a large amount of data, these data are not utilized towards sustainability accounting, showing that sustainability and digitalization are seen as two separate phenomena. This study sheds light on how digital data available from applied Industry 4.0 technologies could enhance sustainability accounting with limited efforts, linking sustainability and digitalization. The results provide insights for manufacturers and researchers in moving towards more sustainable operations and products.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems9020033","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,10]],"date-time":"2021-05-10T10:49:51Z","timestamp":1620643791000},"page":"33","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":29,"title":["The Enabling Role of Digital Technologies in Sustainability Accounting: Findings from Norwegian Manufacturing Companies"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2550-3395","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Olena","family":"Klymenko","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Logistics, Molde University College\u2014Specialized University in Logistics, P.O. Box 2110, NO-6402 Molde, Norway"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2467-9081","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lise","family":"Lillebrygfjeld Halse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Logistics, Molde University College\u2014Specialized University in Logistics, P.O. Box 2110, NO-6402 Molde, Norway"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4661-5102","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bj\u00f8rn","family":"J\u00e6ger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Logistics, Molde University College\u2014Specialized University in Logistics, P.O. Box 2110, NO-6402 Molde, Norway"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Grin, J., Rotmans, J., and Schot, J. (2010). Transitions to Sustainable Development: New Directions in the Study of Long Term Transformative Change, Routledge.","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203856598"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1474","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2016.06.067","article-title":"The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design more sustainable business models","volume":"135","author":"Joyce","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"United Nations (2015). The sustainable development agenda. Department of Public Information, United Nations."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"European Commission (2021, March 26). Communication from the Commission\u2014The European Green Deal, COM(2019) 640 Final. Available online: https:\/\/eur-lex.europa.eu\/legal-content\/EN\/TXT\/?uri=COM%3A2019%3A640%3AFIN."},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Global Reporting Initiative (2021, March 24). Global Reporting Initiative. Available online: https:\/\/www.globalreporting.org\/."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"International Organization for Standardization (2021, March 24). ISO Standards. Available online: https:\/\/www.iso.org\/standards.html."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"Arbeids- og Sosialdepartementet (2021, March 22). (1997, 01.07.2017). Forskrift om Systematisk Helse-, Milj\u00f8- og Sikkerhetsarbeid i Virksomheter (Internkontrollforskriften). FOR-1996-12-06, Available online: https:\/\/lovdata.no\/dokument\/SF\/forskrift\/1996-12-06-1127."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Finansdepartementet (2021, March 21). Lov om \u00c5rsregnskap m.v. (regnskapsloven). LOV-1998-07-17, Available online: https:\/\/lovdata.no\/dokument\/NL\/lov\/1998-07-17-56#KAPITTEL_3."},{"key":"ref_9","unstructured":"The Global Language of Business (2021, March 22). GS1 General Specifications: The Foundational GS1 Standard that Defines How Identification Keys, Data Attributes and Barcodes Must Be Used in Business Applications. Release 21.0.1. Available online: https:\/\/www.gs1.org\/docs\/barcodes\/GS1_General_Specifications.pdf."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"729","DOI":"10.1108\/JEIM-02-2019-0047","article-title":"Understanding barriers to circular economy: Cases from the manufacturing industry","volume":"33","author":"Jaeger","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Enterp. Inf. Manag."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2015.12.042","article-title":"Towards circular economy implementation: A comprehensive review in context of manufacturing industry","volume":"115","author":"Lieder","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"23","article-title":"Industry 4.0 and environmental accounting: A new revolution?","volume":"1","author":"Burritt","year":"2016","journal-title":"Asian J. Sustain. Soc. Responsib."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"124097","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2020.124097","article-title":"Integrating stakeholder theory and sustainability accounting: A conceptual synthesis","volume":"275","author":"Schaltegger","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"585","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2018.05.250","article-title":"From sustainability accounting to a green financing system: Institutional legitimacy and market heterogeneity in a global financial centre","volume":"195","author":"Ng","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100","DOI":"10.1111\/jacf.12237","article-title":"Evaluating the effectiveness of sustainability disclosure: Findings from a recent SASB study","volume":"29","author":"Rodriguez","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Appl. Corp. Financ."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"247","DOI":"10.1108\/18347641111169250","article-title":"Development of social, environmental, and economic indicators for a small\/medium enterprise","volume":"19","author":"Hutchins","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Account. Inf. Manag."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"International Electrotechnical Commission (2021, March 21). Factory of the Future. White Paper. Available online: http:\/\/pubweb2.iec.ch\/whitepaper\/pdf\/iecWP-futurefactory-LR-en.pdf."},{"key":"ref_18","first-page":"96","article-title":"How smart, connected products are transforming companies","volume":"93","author":"Porter","year":"2015","journal-title":"Harv. Bus. Rev."},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"Morlet, A., Bl\u00e9riot, J., Opsomer, R., Linder, M., Henggeler, A., Bluhm, A., and Carrera, A. (2016). Intelligent Assets: Unlocking the Circular Economy Potential, Ellen MacArthur Foundation."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bonilla, S.H., Silva, H.R., Terra da Silva, M., Franco Gon\u00e7alves, R., and Sacomano, J.B. (2018). Industry 4.0 and Sustainability Implications: A Scenario-Based Analysis of the Impacts and Challenges. Sustainability, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/su10103740"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"254","DOI":"10.1016\/j.psep.2018.06.026","article-title":"Industry 4.0 as enabler for a sustainable development: A qualitative assessment of its ecological and social potential","volume":"118","author":"Stock","year":"2018","journal-title":"Process. Saf. Environ. Prot."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"120783","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2020.120783","article-title":"Sustainability accounting and reporting in the industry 4.0","volume":"258","author":"Tiwari","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"UNWCED (1987). Report of the World Commision on Evironment and Development: Our Common Future, Oxford University Press."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"472","DOI":"10.1038\/461472a","article-title":"A safe operating space for humanity","volume":"461","author":"Steffen","year":"2009","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"395","DOI":"10.1016\/j.aos.2014.01.003","article-title":"Accounting and sustainable development: An exploration","volume":"39","author":"Bebbington","year":"2014","journal-title":"Account. Organ. Soc."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"367","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jwb.2009.08.001","article-title":"Trajectories of sustainability reporting by MNCs","volume":"45","author":"Kolk","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. World Bus."},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"1","article-title":"Environmental, disclosure research: Review and synthesis","volume":"22","author":"Berthelot","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. Account. Lit."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1029","DOI":"10.1108\/09513570910987367","article-title":"Ensuring legitimacy through rhetorical changes? A longitudinal interpretation of the environmental disclosures of a leading Finnish chemical company","volume":"22","author":"Laine","year":"2009","journal-title":"Account. Audit. Account. J."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"536","DOI":"10.1016\/j.procir.2016.01.129","article-title":"Opportunities of Sustainable Manufacturing in Industry 4.0","volume":"40","author":"Stock","year":"2016","journal-title":"Procedia CIRP"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"142","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2013.05.040","article-title":"Materiality analysis model in sustainability reporting: A case study at Lite-On Technology Corporation","volume":"57","author":"Hsu","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101192","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ribaf.2020.101192","article-title":"Greenwashing in environmental, social and governance disclosures","volume":"52","author":"Yu","year":"2020","journal-title":"Res. Int. Bus. Financ."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pimonenko, T., Bilan, Y., Hor\u00e1k, J., Starchenko, L., and Gajda, W. (2020). Green Brand of Companies and Greenwashing under Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/su12041679"},{"key":"ref_33","first-page":"413","article-title":"Triple bottom line and sustainable performance measurement in industrial companies","volume":"25","author":"Hourneaux","year":"2018","journal-title":"Rev. Gest\u00e3o"},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.1016\/S0882-6110(05)21004-0","article-title":"The Decision to Disclose Environmental Information: A Research Review and Agenda","volume":"21","author":"Lee","year":"2005","journal-title":"Adv. Account."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"York, J., Dembek, C., and Potter, B. (2017). Sustainability Reporting to Improve Organizational Performance, Ivey Business School."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11","DOI":"10.1016\/j.indmarman.2016.12.008","article-title":"Servitization and advanced business services as levers for competitiveness","volume":"60","author":"Kamp","year":"2017","journal-title":"Ind. Mark. Manag."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1108\/IJOPM-02-2012-0086","article-title":"Servitization of the manufacturing firm","volume":"34","author":"Baines","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Oper. Prod. Manag."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bressanelli, G., Adrodegari, F., Perona, M., and Saccani, N. (2018). Exploring How Usage-Focused Business Models Enable Circular Economy through Digital Technologies. Sustainability, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/su10030639"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"281","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jom.2014.01.005","article-title":"Chain liability in multitier supply chains? Responsibility attributions for unsustainable supplier behavior","volume":"32","author":"Hartmann","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Oper. Manag."},{"key":"ref_40","first-page":"120","article-title":"Green and Competitive: Ending the Stalemate","volume":"73","author":"Porter","year":"1995","journal-title":"Harv. Bus. Rev."},{"key":"ref_41","first-page":"1","article-title":"Clarifying Business Models: Origins, Present, and Future of the Concept","volume":"16","author":"Osterwalder","year":"2005","journal-title":"Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst."},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"Zuboff, S. (1998). In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of Work and Power, Basic Books."},{"key":"ref_43","first-page":"308","article-title":"Product design and business model strategies for a circular economy","volume":"33","author":"Bocken","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Ind. Prod. Eng."},{"key":"ref_44","unstructured":"Schwab, K. (2017). The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Portfolio Penguin."},{"key":"ref_45","first-page":"37","article-title":"How virtualization, decentralization and network building change the manufacturing landscape: An industry 4.0 perspective","volume":"8","author":"Brettel","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. Sch. Sci. Res. Innov."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1109\/MIE.2007.909540","article-title":"Now That\u2019s Smart!","volume":"1","author":"Vyatkin","year":"2007","journal-title":"IEEE Ind. Electron. Mag."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hermann, M., Pentek, T., and Otto, B. (2016, January 5\u20138). Design principles for industrie 4.0 scenarios. Proceedings of the 2016 IEEE 49th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), Koloa, HI, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/HICSS.2016.488"},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"18","DOI":"10.1016\/j.techfore.2018.01.017","article-title":"When titans meet\u2014Can industry 4.0 revolutionise the environmentally-sustainable manufacturing wave? The role of critical success factors","volume":"132","author":"Jabbour","year":"2018","journal-title":"Technol. Forecast. Soc. Chang."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"359","DOI":"10.1007\/s40436-017-0198-1","article-title":"Logistics 4.0 and emerging sustainable business models","volume":"5","author":"Strandhagen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Adv. Manuf."},{"key":"ref_50","first-page":"153","article-title":"Digitalizing Swedish industry: What is next? Data analytics readiness assessment of Swedish industry, according to survey results","volume":"105","year":"2019","journal-title":"Comput. Ind."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"479","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2019.03.227","article-title":"Diffusion of environmental management accounting for cleaner production: Evidence from some case studies","volume":"224","author":"Burritt","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_52","unstructured":"Yin, R.K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods, SAGE. [6th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"532","DOI":"10.2307\/258557","article-title":"Building Theories from Case Study Research","volume":"14","author":"Eisenhardt","year":"1989","journal-title":"Acad. Manag. Rev."},{"key":"ref_54","unstructured":"Public Sector Protocol (2021, January 05). The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative. A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard. Available online: https:\/\/ghgprotocol.org\/public-sector-protocol-0."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpe.2013.04.012","article-title":"Constructing sustainable supply chain under double environmental medium regulations","volume":"147","author":"Ji","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Prod. Econ."},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"454","DOI":"10.1016\/j.trd.2017.04.032","article-title":"Environmental sustainability in the service industry of transportation and logistics service providers: Systematic literature review and research directions","volume":"53","author":"Centobelli","year":"2017","journal-title":"Transp. Res. Part D Transp. Environ."},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"88","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpe.2019.01.033","article-title":"The role of customer awareness in promoting firm sustainability and sustainable supply chain management","volume":"217","author":"Gong","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Prod. Econ."},{"key":"ref_58","unstructured":"Strand, S.S. (2021, February 20). Pipelife Lanserer IoT-L\u00f8sninger for R\u00f8r og Kummer. Byggeindustrien. Available online: https:\/\/www.bygg.no\/article\/1430750."},{"key":"ref_59","unstructured":"Norsk Industri (2021, March 24). M\u00f8belfakta. Available online: https:\/\/www.norskindustri.no\/kampanjesider\/mobelfakta\/mobelfakta\/."},{"key":"ref_60","unstructured":"United Nations Global Compact (2021, March 29). About the UN Global Compact. Available online: https:\/\/www.unglobalcompact.org\/about."},{"key":"ref_61","unstructured":"Norwegian Rooms (2021, March 21). Digitalisering gir \u00f8kt Konkurransekraft. Available online: https:\/\/www.norwegianrooms.no\/nyheter1\/digitalisering-gir-okt-konkurransekraft\/."},{"key":"ref_62","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1662","DOI":"10.1080\/00207543.2019.1680896","article-title":"Assessing relations between Circular Economy and Industry 4.0: A systematic literature review","volume":"58","author":"Rosa","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Prod. Res."},{"key":"ref_63","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"327","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bar.2014.10.001","article-title":"Accounting towards sustainability in production and supply chains","volume":"46","author":"Burritt","year":"2014","journal-title":"Br. Account. Rev."},{"key":"ref_64","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"262","DOI":"10.1108\/SCM-09-2018-0339","article-title":"Supply Chain 4.0: Concepts, maturity and research agenda","volume":"25","author":"Frederico","year":"2019","journal-title":"Supply Chain Manag. Int. J."},{"key":"ref_65","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"383","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijpe.2018.08.019","article-title":"The expected contribution of Industry 4.0 technologies for industrial performance","volume":"204","author":"Dalenogare","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Prod. Econ."}],"container-title":["Systems"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-8954\/9\/2\/33\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T05:58:39Z","timestamp":1760162319000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2079-8954\/9\/2\/33"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,10]]},"references-count":65,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,6]]}},"alternative-id":["systems9020033"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/systems9020033","relation":{},"ISSN":["2079-8954"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2079-8954","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,10]]}}}