Activity-based strategy finding with a sustainability approach (Case study: Iran Fuel Conservation Company)

Lack of information resources, lack of transparency, and lack of accurate determination of the actual costs of products and services have led to a waste of resources in the executive apparatus, and this is one of the obstacles to sustainable development. Accurate cost is the basis of financial transparency, performance appraisal, and management accountability. In addition, many companies in the world today, in response to the demand of stakeholders and increasing the responsiveness of communities, publish information about their environmental, social, and leadership performance, which is known as sustainability reporting. In this research, an attempt has been made to address the issue of cost-effectiveness and sustainability simultaneously with a new approach. Using the inductive approach and based on the special role and mission of the Iran Fuel Conservation Company (case study) in the oil and energy industry, first, the sustainability dimensions and priorities and their role was calculated based on the opinion of experts and specialists in the field of energy, and the cost of the company's activities and products was calculated based on it, and finally, the cost of the company's products and outputs was shown taking the dimensions of sustainability into account. On this basis, one of the important results of this research is to show the role of each of the outputs or products in each of the relevant sustainability dimensions. Also, the savings occurred based on the amount of investment or, in other words, the cost of the company's output (based on activity) after considering the role of sustainability dimensions. Moreover, it was shown that the company's projects (products) have a different role and impact in each of the dimensions of sustainability. The results of this research, which is also a kind of applied research, were the basis for providing performance-based budgeting and the use and acceptance of the company's managers.