Integrating management control systems, mindfulness and sustainability: an occupational health and safety perspective

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/CG-06-2020-0242
• Published date: 11 December 2020
• Date: 11 December 2020
• Pages: 433-449
• Subject Matter: Strategy,Corporate governance
• Author: Wahab Shahbaz,Aymen Sajjad

Integrating management control systems,

mindfulness and sustainability:

an occupational health and

safety perspective

Wahab Shahbaz and Aymen Sajjad

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paperis to integrate the notions of management controlsystems (MCS),

mindfulness andsustainability, and introduce a frameworkdemonstrating how sustainability outcomes–

specifically occupational health and safety (OHS) improvements –can be accomplished by

incorporating mindfulness-based interventions (or mindfulness-based training) as an effective MCS

enabler.

Design/methodology/approach –The authors have conducted an integrative literature review to

synthesize the knowledgeof the mindfulness, sustainability and MCS literatureswith a specific focus on

OHS.

Findings –The findings revealed that there is a dearth of research that has investigated the potential

linkages between mindfulness, MCS and sustainability. While some studies have explored the role of

MCS in promoting sustainability and corporate social responsibility concepts, as well as the linkages

between mindfulness and sustainability, this paper specifically looked at how mindfulness-based

interventionscan be applied in the organizationalcontext to enhance OHS sustainabilityoutcomes.

Research limitations/implications –This paper introduces a frameworkthat shows how mindfulness-

based interventions,as a means of MCS, can be usedto enhance desired OHS sustainabilityoutcomes.

Originality/value –This paper extendsthe sustainability, mindfulness andMCS literature by explicating

how mindfulness-based interventions can be used as one of the key MCS enablers that support

sustainability andOHS outcomes. Accordingly, the authors arguethat this is one of the few early review

papers that haveinvestigated the potential connections betweenmindfulness, sustainability and MCSin

the OHS context.

Keywords Mindfulness-based interventions, Sustainability, Management control systems,

Mindfulness, Occupational health and safety, General systems theory

Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction

Sustainability is one of the serious challenges of our time that relates to simultaneously

improving the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development

(Wamsler et al., 2018;Sajjad et al.,2018). The World Commission on Environment and

Development provided a seminal and most cited definition of sustainable development: “the

development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987, p. 43). More precisely, according to

the Rio Summit in 1992, the notion ofsustainable development refers to “a [holistic] strategy

to meet the needs of the present world population without causing an adverse effect on

health and on the environment, and without depleting or endangering the global resource

Wahab Shahbaz is based

at the School of

Management, Massey

Business School, Massey

University, Albany,

New Zealand.

Aymen Sajjad is based at

the School of Management,

Massey Business School,

Massey University, Albany,

New Zealand.

Received 19 June 2020

Revised 7 November 2020

Accepted 14 November 2020

DOI 10.1108/CG-06-2020-0242 VOL. 21 NO. 3 2021, pp. 433-449, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1472-0701 jCORPORATE GOVERNANCE jPAGE 433

base, hence without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs”

(World Health Organization, 1994, p. 7). This suggests that sustainable development is a

complex concept, which encourages a holistic focus on achieving economic prosperity,

social equity and environmentalstewardship.

Additionally, sustainability has become imperative for companies as they are under

considerable stakeholder pressure to embrace sustainable business practices (Nidumolu

et al., 2014;Sajjad et al., 2020;Waddock et al., 2002). Sustainability in the business context

refers to corporate contributions to sustainable development, which can be achieved by

integrating environmental, social and economic aspects into corporate strategy and

business decisions (Elkington, 1998;Eweje, 2011). As sustainability is becoming

increasingly vital for corporatesurvival and growth, organizational leaders are searching for

innovative ideas and novel approaches that could provide sustainable business outcomes.

To this end, several scholars have arguedthat mindfulness can be considered as one of the

key potential approaches by which organizations can effectively address sustainability

issues (Sajjad and Shahbaz, 2020;Sol and Wals, 2015;Wamsler et al., 2018). Mindfulness

is defined as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the

present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment by moment”

(Kabat-Zinn, 2003, p. 145).Traditionally, mindfulness is used as a technique and practiceto

improve physical and psychological well-being of individuals (Brown and Ryan, 2003;

Brown et al., 2007). However, modern organizations are increasingly incorporating

mindfulness-based training or interventions to obtain work-related benefits in terms of

employees’ well-being,relationships and performance (Eby et al.,2019;Good et al., 2016).

A growing body of knowledge suggests that mindfulness and sustainability concepts have

some important linkages. Several recent studies demonstrated that mindfulness-based

interventions in the workplace setting can be used to foster social, ethical and

environmental sustainability outcomes (Barbaro and Pickett, 2016;Pandey et al.,2018;

Sajjad and Shahbaz, 2020;Wamsler, 2018). For example, an individual state of mindfulness

is related to pro-ecological behaviour (Barbaro and Pickett, 2016) and employees’ ethical

behaviour (Nguyen et al., 2020).Siqueira and Pitassi (2016) reported that an individual state

of mindfulness is associated with sustainability-oriented behaviour and innovation. This

suggests that mindful individuals tend to exhibit sustainability-oriented concerns such as

pro-environment behaviour and innovation. In addition, Sajjad and Shahbaz (2020) argued

that mindfulness practice canalso be used in the workplace to promote social sustainability

outcomes including ethical behaviour, workplace spirituality, citizenship behaviourand pro-

social behaviour, as well as social justice and equity. While recent scholarly work pertaining

to the integration of mindfulness and sustainability concepts is gaining prominence, the

subtle yet important connections between these concepts need further academic attention

(Wamsler et al.,2018). In particular, there is a paucity of research on how mindfulness is

related to sustainability from an occupational health and safety (OHS) perspective and how

mindfulness-based interventions can be used as soft management control systems (MCS)

to promote sustainability.

OHS involves organizational concerns for the social, mental and physical well-being of

employees (Montero et al.,2009). Di Fabio (2017, p. 4) posited that “healthy societies and

healthy organizations can beenhanced by focusing on the well-being of individuals, groups

and organizations”. According to a recent people risk survey report conducted by Marsh &

McLennan Companies, the employees’ health and well-being is one of the most important

concerns of organizational leaders working in New Zealand. Health and well-being issues

can have detrimental impacts on organizations including poor performance, absenteeism,

rehabilitation costs and loss of employees (Bamford, 2018). The survey findings indicate

that contemporary organizations are more concerned about the OHS issues compared to

the past because prudent management of these issues not only enables organizations to

improve their operational performance, but also supports their social responsibility efforts

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