Eco-control and sustainability strategy: how organisations juxtapose tensions to enhance sustainability performance?

Past research on the intersection of management control and sustainability has indicated that eco-controls play a key role in the successful implementation of sustainability strategies. Yet, evidence on how this eco-controls become effective considering the intertemporal tensions arising from a short- and long-term demands is limited. This study addresses this gap by examining the extent to which the use of eco-controls and temporal ambidexterity facilitate the implementation of sustainability strategies and exploring how eco-controls interact with temporal ambidexterity in determining sustainability performance. The study relies on data obtained via a survey completed by 201 hotel managers in Brazil. Partial least square regressions and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) are used for assessing the proposed relationships. The study finds that eco-controls and temporal ambidexterity facilitate the implementation of proactive sustainability strategies. The influence of eco-controls on sustainability performance is amplified when organisations can respond to the intertemporal tensions between short- and long-term needs. FsQCA reveals that different eco-controls are complementary and jointly with sustainability strategies and the dimensions of temporal ambidexterity enhance sustainability outcomes. The study contributes to management accounting literature, providing novel evidence of the contingencies surrounding the effectiveness of eco-controls and showing how eco-controls interact with firm’s intertemporal needs.