Integrating sustainability into PMM systems of small businesses: some future research directions

Purpose This work aims to provide, from the perspective of small businesses, a state-of-the-art of management and accounting literature concerning the development of performance measurement and management (PMM) systems addressing sustainability and traditional measures of business performance. Design/methodology/approach A systematic review of the literature was developed by using Scopus and ISI Web of Science as sources of data. After a careful screening of the results, 61 articles have been selected and analysed in depth. Findings The article highlights the key theoretical frameworks adopted by articles focussing on PMM and sustainability in SMEs, as well as the methods used, and the key results obtained. Moreover, the article provides several insights for future studies on this emerging topic. Practical implications This contribution provides important elements to design PMM systems aimed at addressing sustainability in SMEs. As such, the results obtained may supports SMEs’ managers in implementing such systems as well as in putting in place reporting activities Originality/value The topic of measuring and managing sustainability performance in SMEs has remained largely underexplored both in theory and in practice. This contribution offers a comprehensive exploration of this theme, while also outlining future research directions for scholars interested in analyzing this research area from the perspective of small businesses.