Eco‐control for corporate sustainable management: A sustainability development stage perspective

Abstract Eco‐control offers an integrated management approach to transitioning toward corporate sustainable development, such as sustainable agriculture management. Despite the need to consider organizational and managerial changes and development in the field of sustainable agriculture, the use of integrated management controls has not yet been explored. This study identifies how the eco‐control procedures in sustainable agriculture management change when a commercial tea company transits to different stages of corporate sustainable development. It has developed an analytical framework, combining the sustainability management development perspective with the processual view of integrated eco‐control. Using a longitudinal case study approach, the data have been collected via in‐depth interviews, site visits, and document analyses, in respect of a commercial tea company in Sri Lanka. The findings show how the processual eco‐controls have changed as a result of internal and external challenges faced in the different sustainability management development stages of the transition to sustainable agriculture management. The findings emphasize the need for gaining a better understanding of the actions and decisions at the field (operational) and organizational level in promoting sustainable agriculture management practices in agribusiness firms.