Development of a Sustainability Maturity Framework for Industrial Operations

Abstract

What does it take for sustainability to move beyond strategy and become part of dayto- day decisions in industrial operations? This thesis dives into the space between intent and execution, where companies set ambitious climate goals but struggle to embed them in their operations. To address this challenge, the study designs a sustainability maturity assessment framework tailored to the realities of industrial contexts. Through an in depth single-case study at a global manufacturing firm, the framework is informed by an investigation into the organizational enablers and challenges that influence sustainability integration in practice. The study is structured around two research questions: (1) What organizational enablers and challenges influence the integration of sustainability into operational decision-making in a large industrial firm? (2) How can sustainability maturity assessment principles be leveraged to design a contextually tailored framework for assessing operational integration in industrial firms? Empirical findings highlight several challenges such as data accessibility issues, misaligned KPIs, and limited decision authority at operational levels. At the same time, strategic leadership, employee engagement, local initiatives, and internal tools such as the R framework and Lean based systems provide leverage points for integration. Building on these insights, the study proposes a tailored maturity assessment framework that reflects operational conditions and offers a diagnostic tool for identifying integration gaps and guiding improvement efforts. By examining how sustainability can be embedded in real-world industrial operations, the study contributes both empirical understanding and a practical tool for bridging the gap between strategy and execution.