Measuring Sustainability Through Business Processes with GaiaTool ^†

Abstract

Sustainability assessments enable the obtention of insights that foster continuous improvement in organizations. Evaluating sustainability can play a key role in enhancing decision-making, especially if performed from the top-level stages of the organization. Nevertheless, tools supporting sustainability assessment are scarce in the literature, and there is no one that evaluates sustainability from a business process approach. The aim of this work is to present GaiaTool, a supporting tool for a Green Business Process Management (Green BPM) approach called Gaia. This automated support allows organizations to assess their sustainability level by means of a set of sustainability indicators related to business processes. GaiaTool has been validated through a case study conducted in a higher education organization. The case study has served to redefine objectives, establish action plans, and redesign business processes to improve the sustainability levels of the organization under study.

1. Introduction

The concepts of Sustainable Development and Management Systems are closely related. Sustainable management in the medium and long term entails an overall balance of the efforts of an organization in the economic, environmental, social, individual, and technical dimensions. This commitment extends from a microeconomic standpoint to the broader societal perspective, aiming to benefit both the organization and society as a whole [1].

Within the framework of sustainable development, Green Business Process Management (Green BPM) emerges as a response to the need for integrating sustainability into fundamental business processes. BPM has traditionally been focused on boosting efficiency, effectiveness, and agility through the optimization of an organization’s processes. With Green BPM, business process management has evolved to incorporate environmental aspects. Thus, Green BPM focuses on comprehending, recording, modeling, analyzing, simulating, implementing, and continually improving business processes while explicitly considering their effects on the environment [2]. Sustainability indicators are essential components of Green BPM, as they play a key role in guiding decision-making, anticipating risks and optimizing processes to support sustainable development goals. The characterization of sustainability indicators, including their assessment method, can be the basis for measuring the level of sustainability of organizations. In addition, for the assessment process to be truly useful for organizations, it must be supported by a software tool.

A sustainability assessment tool would be the basis of a framework for sustainability management, aiding companies to become more sustainable. This tool should help contextualize sustainability indicators, facilitating comparisons with alternative solutions or performance of competitors. By offering insights into several sustainability dimensions, the tool enables organizations to identify areas for improvement, benchmark against industry standards, and make informed decisions to enhance their overall sustainability practices [3]. Thus, a sustainability assessment tool provides multiple advantages to organizations: (1) a systematic approach to organizing sustainable development within the organization; (2) specific guidance on the values, processes and resources needed to successfully implement sustainable development; (3) criteria against which audits can be carried out; (4) communication with customers about the organization’s sustainability initiatives; and (5) reducing carbon footprint, conserve resources, and minimize waste [4]. Nevertheless, sustainability assessment tools are scarce in the literature. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, there is no tool that assesses sustainability starting from the business processes of the organization.

Sustainability indicators are frequently employed to measure the extent to which organizations achieve sustainable goals [5]. However, the use of sustainability indicators is challenged by (1) the selection of appropriate sustainability indicators; (2) the frequency of measurement of both quantitative and qualitative indicators; and (3) the interpretation and use of the results [6,7,8]. Other challenges mentioned by Van Bellen [9] and González et al. [10] include the multidimensionality of sustainable development, the complexity in compiling variables that may not always correlate, the lack of transparency in indicators, the intricate nature of decision-making processes, and the presence of subjective value judgments. Despite the disadvantages, Berrone et al. [11] emphasize that sustainability indicators can alert decision-makers to priority concerns, inform public policy development, and enhance communication and comprehension. Considerations on data requirements, assignment of responsibilities, communication, and practical application of these indicators are important to ensure efficient measurement and integration into business process planning [12].

The assessment process often entails significant costs in terms of both time and budget. In addition, the process of assessing sustainability requires the involvement of sustainability professionals [13] who incorporate a level of subjectivity into their analysis [10]. To support effective decision-making, sustainability auditors must take into account a number of factors, including the cost of making sustainable decisions, environmental performance, and safety. The adoption of sustainability assessment tools can alleviate these challenges, aiding in the organization’s continuous improvement efforts and supporting management decision-making [14].

This paper introduces GaiaTool, a software solution designed to assess organizational sustainability from the business processes of the organization. GaiaTool provides automated support to the so-called Gaia method. This method is an instance of Green BPM which encompasses a repository of indicators. Validated via a case study in a higher education institution, GaiaTool facilitated the redefinition of strategic objectives and the improvement of business processes to enhance sustainability.

The remainder of this article is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the design and validation of GaiaTool. An overview of tools for assessing sustainable development is then provided in Section 3. Finally, Section 4 outlines the conclusions and potential avenues for future research.

2. GaiaTool

2.1. Overview

GaiaTool is an audit tool designed to calculate the sustainability level of an organization by evaluating its business processes. GaiaTool facilitates multi-user audit collaboration by providing a simple sustainability audit procedure that evaluates the sustainability indicators associated with business processes, allowing an audit team to work together on the same audit. The Gaia model process is an adaptation of the Green BPM lifecycle proposed by Maciel [15] and consists of seven activities: (1) identification of business processes; (2) selection of relevant processes; (3) discovery of as-is processes; (4) assessment of business processes; (5) modeling the to-be processes; (6) implementation of business processes; and (7) control and continuous improvement of business processes. A team of auditors, a chief auditor, and a system administrator all take part in this process.

GaiaTool is a web application, developed with JavaScript, HTML, and CSS for design flexibility and low learning curve. Git is used for version control, with additional support from Handlebars.js (an HTML template engine) and JSON. Figure 1 shows a high-level architecture diagram of GaiaTool.

2.2. Case Study

GaiaTool has been validated through a single-case study in a spin-off related to a higher education institution. The company develops software applications for export in Havana (Cuba). This organization aims to create software that contribute to the digital transformation of Cuban society, focusing on areas such as citizen security, public administration, industry, education, business management, health, and biotechnology. The validation was completed from 15 March to 15 April 2024.

To ensure that the case study was appropriate and representative, several aspects covering a broad spectrum within the ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) sector were considered when selecting the organization: (1) ICT entities providing products and services to strategic sectors; (2) the national impact of its operations and results; (3) the social and budgeted projects within different bodies; and (4) the sustainable practices implemented by the organization. As a result, a specific software organization was chosen, with approximately 400 software development specialists.

A preliminary survey of 27 software engineers shows that 96% of the respondents conclude that GaiaTool is useful and easy to use. In Section 2.3 the case study is used to illustrate the activities supported by GaiaTool. The data provided in this research has been anonymized to comply with the organization’s privacy policies.

2.3. Sustainability Evaluation with GaiaTool

A sustainability evaluation is carried out using GaiaTool which involves the execution of some tasks according to the following workflow (Figure 2): (1) Context analysis: the chief auditor and the system administrator analyses the strategic projection of the organization; (2) Organization definition: the chief auditor examines the context of the organization to be evaluated including aspects such as business processes, critical success factors and sustainability dimensions (e.g., economic, environmental, social, institutional, and technical); (3) Definition or Reuse of sustainability indicators to assess: the audit chief defines the set of indicators, or reuses a set of sustainability indicators from the repository, that will assess the business processes of the organization under study; (4) Definition and execution of the audit: the chief auditor defines the audit and all auditors evaluate the selected sustainability indicators; (5) Generate audit report: the chief auditor exports a report with the results of the businesses processes evaluations; and finally (6) Improvement of organization, in a continuous improvement paradigm.

2.3.1. Context Analysis

The context analysis activity was carried out by the chief auditor and the system administrator. In the case study, first the chief auditor obtained the strategic projection of the organization. In addition, the chief auditor had two interviews with the stakeholders of the organization, each lasting two hours. The organization provided all the requested documentation for the audit. Then, the system administrator enabled the user accounts for the auditors. Finally, it was agreed that the audit would last for one week (from 6 to 12 May 2024).

2.3.2. Organization Definition

In this activity the characteristics of the organization under review were defined by the chief auditor. Once the chief auditor is successfully authenticated, the application displays a form to add the corresponding data of the organization to be assessed. The fields of input are name, description, country, sector (e.g., agriculture, ICT company, manufacturing, educational, health, service, and transport), web page, Critical Success Factors, and Organization’s Strategic Goals.

2.3.3. Definition or Reuse of Sustainability Indicators

The chief auditor employed the above context analysis as the basis on which to define the set of sustainability indicators to be assessed in each of the business processes of the organization (see Figure 3). In this case study, 20 sustainability indicators were defined. In this study, the sustainability indicators were defined from scratch because the sustainability indicators contained in the repository did not apply to the context of the organization to be audited. The indicator management module enables the management of the indicators to assess the sustainability level of business processes and, consequently, the organization’s sustainability coefficient. Users provide the following data for each indicator: name, ideal value (ranging from 0 to 1), description, reference level indicating the significance of the indicator, and the sustainability dimension to which it corresponds.

2.3.4. Definition and Execution of the Audit

In this activity, the chief auditor created a new audit in GaiaTool meaning that a new evaluation process started. The creation of an audit requires filling out a form with the following information: audit name, audit description, organization name, assigned auditors, start date, close date, frequency, critical success factors, and associated business processes. Once the audit has been defined, the auditors could begin to evaluate the organization using the 20 sustainability indicators defined in the previous activity. Each auditor carried out the evaluations of the business processes assigned to them. When there were 3 days remaining before the audit’s end date, the system automatically sent reminder emails to the auditors conducting assessments to alert them of the deadline. Upon reaching the specified end date, the audit is automatically closed. This systematic approach streamlines the audit process, ensuring timely completion and comprehensive evaluation of sustainability performance within the organization.

2.3.5. Generate Audit Report

GaiaTool offers a range of functionalities including creating, deleting, evaluating, closing, generating, and displaying audit statistics. Some of the statistics provided include the real value of indicators in specific sustainability dimensions, the sustainability index for each business process, and the organization’s sustainability coefficient based on the last twelve audits. Once the chief auditor selects an audit, GaiaTool generates a comprehensive report in PDF format. This report contains all relevant information pertaining to the selected audit, including assessment results, sustainability metrics, and any other pertinent data. This feature streamlines the reporting process and facilitates easy sharing of audit findings with stakeholders and decision-makers.

2.3.6. Improvement of Organization

In this activity, after the chief auditor and the evaluators auditors had a meeting, they identified the sustainability gap of the organization, which encompasses the necessity to establish recommendations derived from the assessed indicators and to promote the ongoing enhancement of business processes. In the case study, some recommendations for improving the sustainability of the organization were: (1) diversify the portfolio of products and services offered by the organization to increase total revenues and therefore exports both nationally and internationally; (2) promote performance-based policies and firm innovation with the aim of avoiding attrition among the specialists and teachers who make up the organization’s staff; (3) encourage meetings and conferences through virtual platforms, which saves on transport costs and makes better use of these spaces; (4) obtain sustainability certification for products and services whenever possible, as it enables continuous improvement of the organization’s processes, providing a clear message to customers about the way the organization works; (5) promote a culture of improvement, research, and innovation among the organizations’ employees to obtain better rates of master’s degrees and PhDs; (6) increasing the budget to speed up the transition to green energy sources like solar or wind power for office operations and data centers; and (7) implementing energy-efficient hardware and software, power management software, and policies to minimize electricity consumption.

3. Related Work

To promote long-term sustainability, sustainability assessment tools can integrate individual, technical, social, economic, and environmental factors into organizational decision-making and operations. The number of tools supporting sustainability assessment reported in the literature is scarce. Some exceptions are presented below.

Grecu et al. [16] have developed a software application to assess sustainability in organizations. The application uses a mathematical model to aggregate indicators from sustainability reports (economic, social, environmental, etc.) and aggregate a single indicator known as Global Sustainability Index (GSI). Since there is not a standard set of indicators for sustainability reporting, the data entry procedure has not been automated. Another issue is that the results of the application’s assessment of organizational sustainability cannot be interpreted globally; the company’s results need to be evaluated on an annual basis, and a comparative analysis between the organizations could not be made.

Eleven web applications for evaluating the sustainability of an organization are compiled by Čuček et al. [17]. These tools have been created to calculate sustainability according to carbon, water, land, ecological, economic, financial, social footprint, etc. This study shows how the same data entries for different calculators produce different results. The results differ because the mathematical models utilized by these tools make different approximations, are based on different assumptions, and employ different ways to aggregate and weight the individual impacts of the indicators. For this reason, the study pointed out that these calculators are inconsistent, and they provide little information about their methodologies to calculate sustainability. On the other hand, those calculators do not present mitigation measures to the sustainability problems detected. Furthermore, the measurement units used to express the results are not reliable. Data provided by calculators shows high probability of errors and considerable results fluctuation, which increased the degree of uncertainty and inaccuracy associated with a particular footprint estimation [18].

The B Impact Assessment tool [19] consists of a questionnaire used to evaluate an organization’s sustainability performance. This tool includes five subject categories, namely governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. The survey is tailored to identify the most crucial concerns in various work environments. The questionnaire is available in about forty different variants, each one designed for a different company size that operates in manufacturing or services, in an emerging or developed market. Also, an overall score of 200 points is obtained from the assessment, which is broken down by topic and questions. The total score, the scores for each sustainability category, and the questions are compared to similar businesses in the database. Finally, to become a recognized B Corporation by B Lab, an organization must receive a minimum score of 80 out of 200 on the B Impact Assessment. One disadvantage of this tool is that it is based on question systems that assess the level of compliance, and they do not use mathematical models to evaluate sustainability indicators.

GaiaTool has several advantages over the tools analyzed above. To begin with, GaiaTool supports internal and external audits, which allows for comparisons with other organizations in the same sector to determine which is the most sustainable. This increases the competitiveness, efficiency, and effectiveness of the organization’s operations, as well as the continual improvement of business processes. Secondly, GaiaTool offers the option to automate repetitive operations, such as informing when an audit is about to end. Furthermore, it allows the generation of a thorough report of sustainability indicators, enabling the identification of which ones did poorly and, as a result, the proposal of potential adjustments based on indicator findings. Thirdly, GaiaTool implements mathematical models for decision-making, such as multi-criteria techniques, thus promoting indicator evaluation by providing charts as well as to visually represent the organization’s increasing or falling trend in sustainability. Finally, GaiaTool uses a reusable repository of sustainability indicators. This reusability helps to reduce the time required to define indicators by reusing what has already been defined, as well as the time required to complete the audit, data efficiency, dependability, and consistency. By means of the reusable repository, the knowledge of auditors who have previously created sustainability indicators is retained.

4. Conclusions and Further Work

This contribution has introduced GaiaTool, a software that provides automated support for the Gaia method. This tool enables the definition of sustainability indicators for each of the business processes of the target organization, leading to the calculation of the organization’s sustainability coefficient, thus contributing to continuous improvement and sustainable development. Moreover, the evaluation of sustainability in a software development organization in Havana using GaiaTool allowed us to identify the indicators that most significantly impacted the organization’s sustainable performance. These insights formed the basis for developing objectives, action lines, and process designs, contributing to the assessment and enhancement of sustainability levels.

As part of future work, we plan to continue validating both the Gaia process model and the supporting tool in real world scenarios with ICT companies. In addition, we are considering developing a computational algorithm based on artificial intelligence to evaluate the level of sustainable development in organizations. The algorithm should integrate the normalization of indicators and prioritization through machine learning methods and the generation of personalized recommendations, aiming to identify critical areas and promote practices that enhance sustainability across economic, social, environmental, individual, and technological dimensions.