Criticism of Triple Bottom Line: TBL (With Special Reference to Sustainability)

Amit Kumar Srivastava (), Shailja Dixit () and Akansha Abhi Srivastava ()
Additional contact information
Amit Kumar Srivastava: Amity University U.P.
Shailja Dixit: Amity University U.P.
Akansha Abhi Srivastava: Assistant Professor, Institute of Hotel Management (IHM)

Corporate Reputation Review, 2022, vol. 25, issue 1, No 4, 50-61

Abstract: Abstract With the effects of inclusive economic predicament of 2008, the obstinate problems of importunate poverty and environmental change have focused the attention towards maintaining the sustainability by establishing balance in the triple bottom line (TBL). In this paper, we have tried to critically examine the philosophy of triple bottom line and it’s relevance in maintaining the sustainability. The process of maintaining sustainability in the TBL is undoubtedly facilitated by the citizenship behaviour of companies (Henriques et al. Routledge, London, 2013). Yet the triple bottom line philosophy is being accepted by different researchers because they consider TBL is one of the concepts evaluating and improving the sustainability. Critics are typically “slow to praise and quick to criticize” (Mish and Scammon, J Public Policy Market 29:12–26, 2010) with this the critics of TBL argue on its practicality and validity. One of the critical studies of TBL regarded it as intrinsically ambiguous because it is unable to convey its exact meaning (Norman and MacDonald, Bus Ethics Q 14:243–262, 2004). Triple Bottom Line a framework of sustainability to examine the social, environmental and economic impact of company was recalled by Elikington it's originator despite rapid growth in the area of sustainability extending up over one million dollar in a year as he realized that TBL was not meeting the purpose for which it was created. After comprehensive understanding and building upon the available literature, this paper criticizes TBL and reveals that this philosophy is not based on the real concept, nothing is new, unique and innovative in it. It only explains the already existing concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and a sustainability measurement tool.

Keywords: Triple bottom line; TBL; Sustainability; Corporate citizenship; Corporate social responsibility and CSR; Purposeful organization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41299-021-00111-x Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:crepre:v:25:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1057_s41299-021-00111-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/journal/41299

DOI: 10.1057/s41299-021-00111-x

Access Statistics for this article

Corporate Reputation Review is currently edited by Guido Berens

More articles in Corporate Reputation Review from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().