Scoring environmental social governance ability: a model of sustainability assessment in the blue economy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7433/s129.2026.06Keywords:
ESG score, sustainability orientation, ESG Ability score, shipbuilding, shipping firms, blue economyAbstract
Frame of the research. ESG scores primarily evaluate sustainability performance but fail to incorporate firms’ strategic orientation toward sustainability. This limits the understanding of the key drivers behind successful ESG transitions within the blue economy.
Purpose of the paper. The study aims to develop and test the ESG Ability Score, a novel measurement model that assesses both ESG performance and sustainability orientation, offering a holistic evaluation of firms’ sustainability responsiveness in the blue economy.
Methodology. The ESG Ability Score is developed through content analysis of sustainability reports of 22 Italian shipyards and shippers. It is based on the ESG score, quantified using a machine-learning web application, and the Sustainability Orientation Index (SOI), determined by the inclusion of ESG content in the corporate identity and strategic direction.
Results. Neither industry reaches low ESG ability, but a greater number of shipyards exhibit medium-high levels of ESG ability compared to shippers, with shipbuilders outperforming shippers in the SOI overall.
Research limitations. The study is limited to Italian firms and relies on secondary data. ESG Ability Score should be validated across different geographical and industry settings.
Managerial implications. The ESG Ability Score acts as a diagnostic and strategic tool to identify sustainability gaps, align strategies with ESG goals, and support informed decision-making.
Originality of the paper. A robust methodological framework is proposed for developing an ESG Ability Score. It uniquely integrates sustainability orientation with ESG performance to comprehensively evaluate the sustainability approach of maritime firms.
References
AGARWALA N. (2025), “Marine Pollution and Its Impact on Blue Economy”, in: Leal Filho W., Salvia A.L., Eustachio J.P.P., Dinis M.A.P. (Eds.), Handbook of Sustainable Blue Economy, Springer, Cham.
AMANKWAH-AMOAH J., DANSO A., ADOMAKO S. (2019) “Entrepreneurial orientation, environmental sustainability and new venture performance: Does stakeholder integration matter?” Business Strategy and the Environment, vol. 28, n. 1, pp. 79-87.
BAI F., SHANG M., HUANG Y. (2024), “Corporate culture and ESG performance: Empirical evidence from China”, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 437, 140732, pp. 1-11.
BAIER P., BERNINGER M., KIESEL F. (2020), “Environmental, social and governance reporting in annual reports: A textual analysis”, Financial Markets, Institutions and Instruments, vol. 29, n. 3, pp. 93-118.
BARLETTA I., DESPEISSE M., HOFFENSON S., JOHANSSON B. (2021), “Organisational sustainability readiness: A model and assessment tool for manufacturing companies”, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 284, 125404, pp. 1-13.
BERG F., KOELBEL J., RIGOBON R. (2022), “Aggregate confusion: the divergence of ESG ratings”, Review of Finance, vol. 26, n. 6, pp. 1315-1344.
BESLEY T., PERSSON T. (2023), “The political economics of green transitions”, Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 138, n. 3, pp. 1863-1906.
BUSCH T., RICHERT M., JOHNSON M., LUNDIE S. (2020), “Climate inaction and managerial sensemaking: The case of renewable energy”, Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, vol. 27, n. 6, pp. 2502-2514.
CLAUDY M.C., PETERSON M., PAGELL M. (2016), “The roles of sustainability orientation and market knowledge competence in new product development success”, Journal of Product Innovation Management, vol. 33, pp. 72-85.
CLÉMENT A., ROBINOT É., TRESPEUCH L. (2022), “Improving ESG scores with sustainability concepts”, Sustainability, vol. 14, n. 20, pp. 1-15.
CLÉMENT A., ROBINOT É., TRESPEUCH L. (2025), “The use of ESG scores in academic literature: a systematic literature review”, Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 19, n. 1, pp. 92–110.
CLEMENTINO E., PERKINS R. (2021), “How do companies respond to environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings? Evidence from Italy”, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 171, n. 2, pp. 379-397.
CROOM S., VIDAL N., SPETIC W., MARSHALL D., MCCARTHY L. (2018), “Impact of social sustainability orientation and supply chain practices on operational performance”, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, vol. 38, n. 12, pp. 2344-2366.
DANSO A., ADOMAKO S., LARTEY T., AMANKWAH-AMOAH J., OWUSU YIRENKYI D. (2020), “Stakeholder integration, environmental sustainability orientation and financial performance”, Journal of Business Research, vol. 119, pp. 652-662.
DIMSON E., MARSH P., STAUNTON M. (2020), “Divergent ESG ratings”, The Journal of Portfolio Management, vol. 47 n. 1, pp. 75-86.
DI VAIO A., PALLADINO R., HASSAN R., ESCOBAR O. (2020), “Artificial intelligence and business models in the sustainable development goals perspective: A systematic literature review”, Journal of Business Research, vol. 121, pp. 283-314.
DI VAIO A., VARRIALE L., LEKAKOU M., STEFANIDAKI E. (2021), “Cruise and container shipping companies: A comparative analysis of sustainable development goals through environmental sustainability disclosure”, Maritime Policy and Management, vol. 48, n. 2, pp. 184-212.
DE MENEZES L.M., ESCRIG-TENA A.B., BOU-LLUSAR J.C. (2021), “Sustainability and quality management: Has EFQM fostered a sustainability orientation that delivers to stakeholders?”, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, vol. 42, n. 13, pp. 155-184.
DONG X., SON S., ROH T. (2025). “Strategic Linkages to ESG Performance: The Role of Performance Measurement System and Psychological Empowerment”. Business Strategy and the Environment, pp. 1-20.
DOS SANTOS M.C., PEREIRA F.H. (2022), “ESG performance scoring method to support responsible investments in port operations”, Case Studies on Transport Policy, vol. 10, pp. 664-673.
DUH M., PRIMEC A. (2024), “Investigating the Effectiveness of Endogenous and Exogenous Drivers of the Sustainability (Re)Orientation of Family SMEs in Slovenia: Qualitative Content Analysis Approach”, Sustainability, vol. 16, n.17, p. 7285.
EIJDENBERG E.L. (2019), “Exploring sustainability orientation of MSME owners in Tanzania”, Journal of Enterprising Culture, vol. 27, n. 1, pp. 35-59.
ELEGBEDE I.O., AKINTOLA S.L., JIMOH A.A., JOLAOSHO T.L., SMITH-GODFREY S., OLIVEIRA A., OLADOSU A.O, RAMALHO D.C., MORUF R.O., AFOLABI S., OLOKO A. (2023), “Blue Economy (Sustainability)”, in: Idowu S., Schmidpeter R., Capaldi N., Zu L., Del Baldo M., Abreu R., Encyclopedia of Sustainable Management, Springer, Cham.
ESCRIG-OLMEDO E., FERNANDEZ-IZQUIERDO M.A., FERRERO-FERRERO I., RIVERA-LIRIO J.M., MUÑOZ-TORRES M.J. (2019), “Rating the raters: evaluating how ESG rating agencies integrate sustainability principles”, Sustainability (Switzerland), vol. 11, n. 3, p. 915.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION (2024), The EU Blue Economy Report 2024, available at: https://op.europa.eu/fr/publication-detail/-/publication/ef90077b-1e82-11ef-a251-01aa75ed71a1.
ESPOSITO DE FALCO S., MONTERA R., CUCARI N. (2024), “Deconstructing Corporate Purpose: A Conceptual Framework in an Evolutionary Perspective”, Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings - Innovating for the future: Policy, purpose, and organizations, 9-13 agosto 2024, Chicago, USA.
FASOULIS I., KURT R.E. (2019), “Embracing sustainability in shipping: Assessing Industry’s adaptations incited by the, newly, introduced ‘triple bottom line’ approach to sustainable maritime development”, Social Sciences, vol. 8, n. 7, p. 208.
FELÍCIO J.A., RODRIGUES R., CALDEIRINHA V. (2021), “Green shipping effect on sustainable economy and environmental performance”, Sustainability, vol. 13, n. 8, p. 4256.
FJØRTOFT B.E., GRIMSTAD S.M.F., GLAVEE-GEO R. (2020), “Motivations for CSR in the Norwegian maritime cluster: Stakeholder perspectives and policy implications”, Maritime Policy and Management, vol. 47, n. 8, pp. 1010-1026.
GREETS M., DOOMS M. (2020), “An analysis of the CSR portfolio of cruise shipping lines”, Research in Transportation Business and Management, 100615, pp. 1-11.
HE K., BOUNCKEN R.B., KIANI A., KRAUS S. (2024), “The role of strategic orientations for digital innovation: When entrepreneurship meets sustainability”, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 205, 123503, pp. 1-39.
HEIKKURINEN P., BONNEDAHL K.J. (2013), “Corporate responsibility for sustainable development: A review and conceptual comparison of market- and stakeholder-oriented strategies”, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 43, pp. 191-198.
HONG P., JAGANI S., KIM J., YOUN S.H. (2019), “Managing sustainability orientation: An empirical investigation of manufacturing firms”, International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 211, pp. 71-81.
JACKSON S.E., RENWICK D.W., JABBOUR C.J., MULLER-CAMEN M. (2011), “State-of-the-art and future directions for green human resource management: Introduction to the special issue”, German Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 25, n. 2, pp. 99-116.
JIA H., AZEVEDO P. (2024), “Sustainable investing and ownership structure in international shipping companies”, Maritime Policy and Management, vol. 52, n. 5, pp. 691-708.
JOHNSTON M.P. (2017), “Secondary data analysis: A method of which the time has come”, Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries, vol. 3, n. 3, pp. 619-626.
KANELLOPOULOS A.N. (2024), “ESG as a Competitive Intelligence Source in the Shipping Industry”, HAPSc Policy Briefs Series, vol. 5, n. 1, pp. 94-103.
KHIZAR H.M.U., IQBAL M.J., KHALID J., ADOMAKO S. (2022), “Addressing the conceptualization and measurement challenges of sustainability orientation: A systematic review and research agenda”, Journal of Business Research, vol. 142, pp. 718-743.
KOILO V. (2019), “Sustainability issues in maritime transport and main challenges of the shipping industry”, Environmental Economics, vol. 10, pp. 48-65.
KOTSANTONIS S., SERAFEIM G. (2019), “Four things no one will tell you about ESG data”, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, vol. 31, n. 2, pp. 50-58.
KPMG (2021), You can’t go green without blue, available at: https://connect.kpmg.it/it-it/blue-economy.
KRIPPENDORFF K. (2004), Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology, 2ª Ed., Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
KUCKERTZ A., WAGNER M. (2010), “The influence of sustainability orientation on entrepreneurial intentions - Investigating the role of business experience”, Journal of Business Venturing, vol. 25, n. 5, pp. 524-539.
LEE P.T.W., OH K.K., RUAN X. (2019), “Sustainability challenges in maritime transport and logistics industry and its way ahead”, Sustainability, vol. 11, 1331, pp. 1-9.
LEONIDOU L.C., LEONIDOU C.N., FOTIADIS T.A., AYKOL B. (2015), “Dynamic capabilities driving an eco-based advantage and performance in global hotel chains: The moderating effect of international strategy”, Tourism Management, vol. 50, pp. 268-280.
LI S. (2024), “ESG Orientation and Firm Values Under Industry Uncertainty”, SSRN Scholarly Paper 5036074, Social Science Research Network.
MOMTAZ P.P., MANSOURI S. (2022), “Financing sustainable entrepreneurship: ESG measurement, valuation, and performance”, Journal of Business Venturing, vol. 37, n. 6, 106258.
MARSHALL D., MCCARTHY L., MCGRATH P., CLAUDY M. (2015), “Going above and beyond: how sustainability culture and entrepreneurial orientation drive social sustainability supply chain practice adoption”, Supply Chain Management: International Journal, vol. 20, n. 4, pp. 434-454.
MARTÍNEZ-VÁZQUEZ R.M., MILÁN-GARCÍA J., DE PABLO VALENCIANO J. (2021), “Challenges of the Blue Economy: Evidence and research trends”, Environmental Sciences Europe, vol. 33, n. 1, p. 61.
MONTERA R., ESPOSITO DE FALCO S. (2024), “Reaching the SDGs by 2030: at what point is Italy? Evidence from firms at the regional clusters’ level”, Sinergie Italian Journal of Management, vol. 42, n. 1, pp. 189-213.
MORCHIO G., NOTTEBOOM T., SATTA G., VOTTERO B. (2024), “Green finance in bulk shipping”, Maritime Policy and Management, pp. 1-26.
NÕMMELA K., KÕRBE KAARE K. (2022), “Maritime policy design framework with ESG performance approach: Case of Estonia”, Economies, vol. 10, n. 4, p. 88.
NORWEGIAN SHIPOWNERS’ ASSOCIATION (2021), Guidelines, ESG Reporting in the Shipping and Offshore Industries, The Governance Group AS, available at: https://rederi.no/globalassets/dokumenter/alle/rapporter/esg-reporting---guidelines.pdf.
OBAL M., MORGAN T., JOSEPH G. (2020), “Integrating sustainability into new product development: The role of organizational leadership and culture”, Journal of Small Business Strategy, vol. 30, n. 1, pp. 43-57.
ÖNAL M., NEŞER G., GÜRSEL K.T. (2021), “Environmental impacts of steel ship hulls building and recycling by life cycle assessment (LCA)”, Ships and Offshore Structures, vol. 16, n. 10, pp. 1061-1066.
OSBORNE J. (2010). “Improving your data transformations: Applying the Box-Cox transformation”, Practical Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, vol. 15, n. 1, pp. 1-9.
PAGANO M., SINCLAIR G., YANG T. (2018), “Understanding ESG Ratings and ESG Indexes”, in: Elgar E. (a cura di), Research Handbook of Finance and Sustainability.
PARA-GONZALEZ L., MASCARAQUE-RAMIREZ C. (2020) “The six dimensions of CSR as a driver of key results in the shipbuilding industry” Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, vol. 27, n. 2, pp. 576-584.
RENWICK D.W., JABBOUR C.J., MULLER-CAMEN M., REDMAN T., WILKINSON A. (2016), “Contemporary developments in Green (environmental) HRM scholarship”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 27, n. 2, pp. 114-128.
RIBANDO J., BONNE G. (2010), “A new quality factor: finding alpha with ASSET4 ESG data”, available at: www.thomsonreuters.com/content/dam/openweb/documents/pdf/tr-com-financial/report/starmine-quant-research-note-on-asset4-data.pdf.
SALAS L.M., ARENAS J.S. (2024), “Navigating towards sustainable vessels: state of the industry and its relationship to SDGs”, Ship Science and Technology, vol. 18, n. 35, pp. 9-16.
SEIDEL J., SUNDERMANN A., BRIEGER S.A., STRATHOFF P., JACOB G.H., ANTONIO T., UTAMI C.W. (2018), “On how business students’ personal values and sustainability conceptions impact their sustainability management orientation”, Journal of Global Responsibility, vol. 9, pp. 335-354.
SERAFEIM G., KRAMER M., PORTER B.M.E., OCTOBER M.K. (2019), “Where ESG fails”, Institutional Investor, available at: www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/b1hm5ghqtxj9s7/Where-ESG-Fails.
SCHREIER M. (2012), Qualitative Content Analysis in Practice, SAGE, Londra.
SCHRETTLE S., HINZ A., RATHJE M.S., FRIEDLI T. (2014), “Turning sustainability into action: Explaining firms’ sustainability efforts and their impact on firm performance”, International Journal of Production Economics, vol. 147, pp. 73-84.
SHOU Y., SHAO J., LAI K.H., KANG M., PARK Y. (2019), “The impact of sustainability and operations orientations on sustainable supply management and the triple bottom line”, Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 240, p. 118280.
STUCHTEY M.A., VINCENT A., MERKL A., BUCHER M., HAUGAN P.M., LUBCHENCO J., PANGESTU M. (2020), Ocean solutions that benefit people, nature and the economy, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.
SUNG C.S., PARK J.Y. (2018), “Sustainability orientation and entrepreneurship orientation: Is there a tradeoff relationship between them?”, Sustainability, vol. 10, n. 2, p. 379.
TATA J., PRASAD S. (2015), “National cultural values, sustainability beliefs, and organizational initiatives”, Cross Cultural Management, vol. 22, pp. 278-296.
TRAN T.M.T., YUEN K.F., WANG X., LI K.X. (2020), “The antecedents of sustainable shipping management and organisational performance: Resource accumulation and orientation perspectives”, International Journal of Physical Distribution and Logistics Management, vol. 50, n. 9/10, pp. 833-854.
TSATSARONIS M., SYRIOPOULOS T., KARAMPERIDIS S., BOURA G. (2024), “Shipping-specific ESG rating and reporting framework”, Maritime Policy and Management, vol. 51, n. 5, pp. 698-716.
UNIONCAMERE-TAGLIACARNE (2024), XII Rapporto Nazionale sull’Economia del Mare, available at: https://www.unioncamere.gov.it/osservatori-economici-centro-studi/economia-del-mare/rapporto-nazionale-sulleconomia-del-mare-2024.
VAKILI S., ÖLÇER A.I., SCHÖNBORN A., BALLINI F., HOANG A.T. (2022), “Energy‐related clean and green framework for shipbuilding community towards zero‐emissions: A strategic analysis from concept to case study”, International Journal of Energy Research, vol. 46, pp. 20624-20649.
VAKILI S.V., ÖLÇER A.I., SCHÖNBORN A. (2021), “The development of a transdisciplinary framework to overcome energy efficiency barriers in shipbuilding: A case study for an Iranian shipyard”, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, vol. 9, n. 10, p. 1113.
VURAL C.A., BAŞTUĞ S., GÜLMEZ S. (2021), “Sustainable brand positioning by container shipping firms: Evidence from social media communications”, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, vol. 97, pp. 1-18.
YUEN K.F., WANG X., WONG Y.D., MA F. (2019), “A contingency view of the effects of sustainable shipping exploitation and exploration on business performance”, Transport Policy, vol. 77, pp. 90-103.
ZHAO M., YANG J., SHU C., LIU J. (2021), “Sustainability orientation, the adoption of 3D printing technologies, and new product performance: A cross-institutional study of American and Indian firms”, Technovation, vol. 101, pp. 2-15.
ZHOU Y., LI X., YUEN K.F. (2023), “Sustainable shipping: A critical review for a unified framework and future research agenda”, Marine Policy, vol. 148, 105478, pp. 1-15.
