Journal of Cleaner Production 84 (2014) 84e93

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Journal of Cleaner Production

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Management for sustainability in companies of the mining sector:

an analysis of the main factors related with the business performance
Clandia Maffini Gomes a, Jordana Marques Kneipp a, *, Isak Kruglianskas b,
Luciana Aparecida Barbieri da Rosa a, Roberto Schoproni Bichueti a
a
Santa Maria Federal University, Av. Roraima, 1000, Prédio 74 C, Cidade Universitária, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil
b
São Paulo University, School of Economics, Business and Accounting, Luciano Gualberto 908, São Paulo, SP 05508, Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: This study has examined the relation of management for sustainability in the performance of companies
Received 13 October 2012 from the Brazilian mineral sector. The work was conducted by means of a survey. Main results have
Received in revised form shown that there is a positive relationship between some of the factors related to sustainable man-
21 July 2013
agement practices and business performance. It is worth mentioning that the following factors e sus-
Accepted 25 August 2013
Available online 5 September 2013
tainable management of the supply chain, continual improvement in the environmental area, continual
improvement in health and safety, transparency with stakeholders and community development e were
associated to business performance. It is noteworthy that the factor transparency with stakeholders and
Keywords:
Management for sustainability
community development had the highest number of correlations with corporate performance, showing
Performance to contribute to corporate performance.
Mining sector Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction associated with several social environmental impacts that must be

The economic and technological development brings conse-
quences for society and the environment, creating new demands
and constraints for industrial activity. Increasingly, enterprise
competitiveness is related to managing geared for sustainability,
integrating environmental protection, social welfare and economic
growth. A company that is committed to the future and to sus-
tainability is one that has a business model that assesses the con-
sequences and impacts of their actions and includes social and
environmental aspects in its financial outlook (Aligleri et al., 2009).
Business management committed to sustainability is an
important matter in all economic and business sectors, though
some sectors have greater challenges in view of their productive
nature. The mining industry, which is the subject of this study, faces
some of the toughest challenges of any industry, when it comes to
sustainable development. Minerals are essential to everyday life,
since they are turned into multiple products that are used by the
population and are essential raw materials for a large number of
industries. Moreover, the extraction and processing of minerals are
* Corresponding author. Tel./fax: þ55 55 32209242.
E-mail addresses: clandia@smail.ufsm.br (C.M. Gomes), jordanakneipp@
yahoo.com.br (J.M. Kneipp), ikruglia@gmail.com (I. Kruglianskas),
lucianaaparecidabarbieri@yahoo.com.br (L.A.B. da Rosa), robertobichueti@
hotmail.com (R.S. Bichueti).
managed so that the industry may develop in a sustainable manner
(Azapagic, 2004).
The impacts on the environment caused by mining activity and
the importance of mining to other industries show a need for the
development of such sector, considering the assumptions of sus-
tainable development.
Corporate outlined planning regarding their social liability for
conducting mining activities stem from the growing need of com-
panies in this sector to justify their existence and show their
effective performance by spreading their social and environmental
actions (Jenkins and Yakovleva, 2006). Because the mining sector is
essential for a number of other industries and because it is an ac-
tivity of extraction, a management geared for sustainability that
aims to minimize the social and environmental impacts inherent in
this productive activity is a primary factor for the survival and
competitiveness of this activity.
Giurco and Cooper (2012) emphasize that the minerals and
metals have a key role in the prosperity of current and future civ-
ilizations. However, their use in future sustainable societies re-
quires their production and use with greater ingenuity and wisdom
to ensure that sustainability criteria and including social and
environmental goals are served throughout the commodity life
cycle.
Considering the numerous social and environmental impacts of
mining, the industry has been driven to answer stakeholder

0959-6526/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.08.030
 C.M. Gomes et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 84 (2014) 84e93
pressures and operate sustainably adopting sustainability in-
dicators to evaluate its performance (Hilson and Murck, 2000;
Humphreys, 2002; Hilson and Basu, 2003).
Given the importance of managing for sustainability in the
mining industry and the representativeness of the mineral sector in
the Brazilian economy, the fundamental question of this study is
drawn up: What is the relation of management for sustainability in
the performance of companies from the Brazilian mineral sector?
To answer to this question, this study aims to assess the relation of
management for sustainability in the performance of companies
from the Brazilian mineral sector.
2. Management for sustainability
In general, the term sustainable development has been defined
as sustainable development as “development which meets the
needs of current generations without compromising the ability of
future generations to meet their own needs” (World Commission
on Environment and Development, 1987).
The term sustainability seems to have come to generally mean
“the capacity to maintain,” in the past few decades, it has probably
most often been applied to a sustainable development. Sustain-
ability might also mean the capacity to endure and adapt,
prompting the question of what existing conditions need to and
should be maintained (Starik and Kanashiro, 2013).
The discussion on sustainable development in business context
is a relatively new matter, which started in the 80s and has changed
forever the relationship between company and environment.
When analyzing what ecologists and economists think, with regard
to this matter, one is able to understand that conventional eco-
nomic theories cannot gear the future, because they have never
considered the impact of natural capital. Industries have histori-
cally benefited from natural capital, destroying it, and the current
industrial system is based on old accounting principles (Park,
2008).
Barbieri et al. (2010) assert that the participation of businesses
on the cause for sustainable development has initially started due
to external pressures, in response to the criticisms and objections of
the government and organized communities who blamed the
companies for the processes of social and environmental degra-
dation that affected the planet. And recently this matter has
become a factor of business competitiveness, which can be a source
of differentiation or qualification to remain on the market. For
Savitz and Weber (2007, p. 2), the “sustainable business is one that
creates profit for its shareholders, while protecting the environ-
ment and improving the lives of people with whom it interacts.”
Based on the concept of sustainable organization, the challenge
is to have economic welfare, social equity and environmental pro-
tection from long-term actions. The integration among the eco-
nomic, social and environmental dimensions results in a new
production paradigm, from the perspective of sustainable devel-
opment, emphasizing the sustainability of products and processes,
and enabling a better quality of life to people within their envi-
ronment (Daroit and Nascimento, 2004).
The dimensions economic, social and environmental of sus-
tainability, are inherent in the concept of sustainable business and
are represented based on the Triple Bottom Line, should be inte-
grated so that natural resources are used in a manner not detri-
mental to future generations in the environmental sphere, reducing
the impacts of industrial processes. In the economic perspective, it
is necessary to preserve the company’s profitability and not
compromise its economic development. And finally, in the social
sphere, which includes the issue of social justice, the ultimate goal
is the development of a more just world, through relationships with
all stakeholders (Elkington, 2001).
85
Management for sustainability based on economic, social and
environmental dimensions aims to provide gains for the company,
society and the environment. Aligleri (2011, p. 24) defines sus-
tainable management as “a business approach that takes into ac-
count the pattern in ecosystem organization in decision-making
and management practices, including assessment indicators in
economic, environmental and social dimensions.”
For Holton et al. (2010, p.152) “the managing for sustainability is
considered to be critical to the development of corporate sustain-
ability, and is fundamentally about strategic organizational devel-
opment and change”.
The managing for sustainability is fundamentally about strategic
organizational development, change in management structure,
systems and competencies and there are an increasing number of
tools and guidance documents available to help companies manage
for sustainability (Dunphy et al., 2003).
We define management for sustainability as the formulation,
implementation, and evaluation of environmental, social and eco-
nomic sustainability-related decisions and actions (Starik and
Kanashiro, 2013; Elkington, 2001) and, for the purposes of this
article, includes decisions and actions at the organizational level.
Aspects related to sustainability in the mining industry are
addressed in the sequence, aiming to discuss the specifics that drive
the mining sector to adopt sustainable management.
3. Management for sustainability in the mining industry
In the mining industry, the incorporation of sustainability
management practices aims to minimize the environmental im-
pacts inherent to this activity. To Hilson and Murck (2000), sus-
tainable development in the mining sector requires a commitment
to continuous environmental and socioeconomic improvement in
the exploration, operation and closure phases. Besides the legal
instruments, there are also market inducing mechanisms which
have contributed favorably to large mining companies assuming
greater commitment to sustainable development, such as mining
companies being listed on stock exchanges, communications and
voluntary instruments such as participation in environmental
programs and certifications (Enríquez and Drummond, 2007;
Enríquez, 2009).
For Viana (2007), the consolidation of an environmental policy
is essential for the adoption of international standards, such as the
series of International Organizations for Standardization e ISO
14001, which include guidelines for the environmental manage-
ment system, assessment and certification of environmental qual-
ity and criteria to evaluate the quality and effectiveness of the
business/environment relationships. The environmental concern of
companies in the mining sector involves not only the preservation
of an ecosystem and the ensuring of community safety, but also
human welfare and the rights of the local inhabitants, and the
quality of life of current and future generations. The principles of
sustainable development require economic growth and environ-
mental preservation from the outset of a project, including the
assessment of moral and ethical values, and considering the sub-
jective values of the community, rather than just emphasizing the
traditional economic value (Amade and Lima, 2009).
Considering the peculiarities of the mining sector and the
importance of its involvement and commitment to sustainability,
there are significant causes in favor of sustainable development in
the mining industry. These causes have led mining to achieving its
social license to operate, by integrating sustainability in its strate-
gies. For Azapagic (2004), some international initiatives are
important in what regard sustainable development in the mining
industry, such as the United States Sustainable Minerals Roundtable,
the Canadian Minerals and Metals Initiative, and the European
86 C.M. Gomes et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 84 (2014) 84e93

Industrial Minerals Association. Another initiative worth mentioning
is the creation of the so-called International Council on Mining and
Metals (ICMM), which consists of a forum based in London, founded
in October 2001 to represent leading international mining and
metals businesses, with the goal of improving the performance of
companies in the sector (ICMM, 2010).
To achieve its goal, the ICMM has developed partnerships with
several institutions such as Non-Governmental Organizations
(NGOs), International Organizations, Universities, among others.
Through these partnerships, the ICMM serves on several issues,
such as climate change, health and community safety, the impact of
mining on biodiversity, the rights of indigenous peoples and also
the reflections in the industry and the future consequences of the
emergence of new global agents. The proposal is to encourage
mining businesses to learn how you can share positive practices
(ICMM, 2010).
According to the ICMM (2010), in 2003 they developed a model
for sustainable development, called Sustainable Development
Framework, to ensure that there would be standardization among
its members on the adoption and enforcement of policies estab-
lished by the model. The framework consists of ten principles;
public reporting and independent audit, and is among the most
advanced voluntary initiatives in this category, with the intent to
improve the performance of the mining industry.
Its ten principles have been created based on other guiding
global standards, such as the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development 1992, the Global Reporting Initiative, the Organisa-
tion for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for
Multinational Enterprises, the operating policies of the World Bank,
the OECD’s Anti-corruption Convention, the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) 98, 169, 176 and the voluntary principles on
security and human rights (ICMM, 2008). Fig. 1 presents the ten
principles established by ICMM.
The assessment of business performance of the mining industry
requires some specific indicators, in view of the peculiarities of the
mining activity, which are discussed in the following section.
The economic and efficiency dimensions were causal factors in
the 75% of mines that closed prematurely, in examination of the
data on around 1000 mine closed over the past 30 years. It is
suggested that many would have benefited from both an extended
life and less severe legacy impacts to both the environment and the
community (Laurence, 2011).
The results from the case studies with minerals companies in
Australia show that the companies are putting sustainable devel-
opment into operation, the environmental and social improve-
ments at operations and communities in which they operate can
realize economic benefits and will not always incur a major
financial cost; local communities provide the means by which a
mining or minerals processing operation can realize its full po-
tential in contributing to a region’s economic and social well-being;
improvements to waste management practices and waste preven-
tion, can lead to cost reductions and often increased revenues;
energy and water efficiency improvements will be needed by any
mining company planning to remain viable in the future (Guerin,
2006).
For Mclellan et al. (2009) the mining and mineral processing
operations will continue to be necessary and the improvement in
operational methodologies in all life stages of the operation and
product are also a necessary component of ensuring long term
viability under environmental, social, governmental and economic
constraints.
4. Corporate performance and indicators of sustainability
The performance is a parameter used to quantify to the “effi-
ciency and/or effectiveness of a past action” (Neely et al., 2002, p.
xii) and to “the ability of the organization in achieving its goals,
using its resources in an efficient manner” (Daft and Marcic, 2004,
p. 10). For Kennerley and Neely (2002) “the performance mea-
surement has an important role to play in the efficient and effective
management of organizations”.
Performance indicators seek to assess the results achieved by
organizations based on the established strategies, to enable the
development of new plans and/or proposals for improvements.
Indicators are composed of one or more variables that are associ-
ated through various forms and express broader meanings about
the phenomena to which they refer, enabling the monitoring of the
company interests and allowing action planning aimed at perfor-
mance improvements (Villas Bôas, 2011; Callado, 2010).
Generally, the indicators of sustainability are relate to one of the
three dimensions e environmental, social and economic e and they
are a means of measuring progress towards and away from sus-
tainability. In turn, while indicators allow the complexity of events
and trends to be reduced, and more easily understood and
managed, there is a danger that the proliferation of indicators and
different approaches to their development and use could ultimately
undermine their effectiveness (Warhurst, 2002).
There are many proposals of indicators to measure sustainabil-
ity; however, the initiative of the Dutch agency Global Reporting
Initiative (GRI) represents one of the broadest and well-known
scopes worldwide. The GRI consists of an international non-
governmental organization, founded in 1997, headquartered in
the Netherlands, which has as its mission to develop and globally
spread sustainability reporting guidelines for companies world-
wide (Ethos Institute, 2010).
Sustainability performance indicators proposed by the GRI are
divided into the economic, environmental and social categories.
Each category includes information on the form of management
and a corresponding set of key and additional performance in-
dicators. Key indicators consider essential aspects that are relevant

Principles of Sustainable Development

1. Implement and maintain ethical business practices and sound systems of corporate governance.
2. Integrate sustainable development considerations within the corporate decision-making process.
3. Uphold fundamental human rights and respect cultures, customs and values in dealings with employees and
others who are affected by our activities
4. Implement risk management strategies based on valid data and sound science.
5. Seek continual improvement of our health and safety performance.
6. Seek continual improvement of our environmental performance.
7. Contribute to conservation of biodiversity and integrated approaches to land use planning.
8. Facilitate and encourage responsible product design, use, re-use, recycling and disposal of our products.
9. Contribute to the social, economic and institutional development of the communities in which we operate.
10. Implement effective and transparent engagement, communication and independently verified reporting
arrangements with our stakeholders.

Fig. 1. Ten principles for sustainable development. Source: ICMM (2008)

 C.M. Gomes et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 84 (2014) 84e93
to most organizations, and additional indicators represent
emerging practices or deal with issues that may be relevant to
certain organizations (GRI, 2006).
The Mining and Metals Sector Supplement consists of an
appropriate version of the G3 guidelines of the GRI indicators for
the metals and mining sector, including industry-specific com-
ments on the content of the guidelines and additional performance
indicators, to ensure that reports on sustainability cover key in-
dustry issues effectively. The supplement covers all major sector
activities, such as exploration, processing of metals and primary
minerals, including metal manufacturing and recycling, the entire
life cycle of the project, from development, operational life, to
closing and post-closing of operations. In order to do so, some key
issues are addressed for the sector, such as ecosystem services/
biodiversity, emissions, effluents and waste, work, indigenous
rights, community, manual and small-scale mining, resettlement,
closure planning, material management (GRI, 2010a).
The major challenge to companies and industries is to demon-
strate their current contribution to the society as a whole without
compromising the potential for continuing to deliver improve-
ments or future generations. In short, sustainability management
practices at a firm level may help the management board to align its
corporate and business strategy and to meet key sustainability
challenges (Schaltegger and Burritt, 2005).
Warhurst (2002) argue that Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR) is key to operationalising the strategic role of business in
contributing towards this sustainable development process beyond
traditional responsibilities to shareholders, employees and the law;
and to seizing opportunities and targeting capabilities that they
have developed to enhance competitive advantage in order to
contribute to sustainable development goals.
The mining industry has been seeking to adopt practices of
management for sustainability that can reduce social and envi-
ronmental impacts and ensure greater competitiveness for the in-
dustry. From this theoretical framework, the central hypothesis of
the study is drawn up:
H1: Management of sustainable practices is related with the per-
formance of businesses in the mining industry.
Management for sustainability significantly contributes for the
development of corporate performance. Sustainable strategic
Fig. 2. Conceptual model of the quantitative research. Source: ICMM (2008), GRI (2006, 2010b)
87
management is geared towards economic, social and environ-
mental results related to innovation, for the organizations and their
stakeholders.
5. Method
This study is characterized as descriptive and quantitative, and
its objective was to examine the influence of deploying practices of
management for sustainability in the performance of companies in
the Brazilian mining industry. The conceptual model adopted for
this study consists of a set of variables related to management for
sustainability and to business performance, as shown in Fig. 2.
Management practices for sustainability were examined based
on the ten principles of ICMM (2008) for sustainable development
in the mining industry. Corporate performance was assessed based
on the performance indicators proposed by the Global Reporting
Initiative e GRI (2006), grouped into the economic, environmental,
and social categories. In addition, the Mining and Metals Sector
Supplement indicators were used, which are specific for the mining
and metals industry (GRI, 2010b). For this study, the indicators that
most relate to the sector under study were used. Appendix A shows
a summary of variables and indicators related to management for
sustainability practices and to corporate performance.
For data collection, a structured questionnaire was created
based on the proxys as ICMM (2008), GRI (2006, 2010b) and on the
conceptual model. The questionnaire was divided into four blocks:
profile of the respondent; characterization of the business; prac-
tices of management for sustainability and; corporate performance.
The data collection instrument is composed of closed questions
and used an interval scale, in which respondents should indicate
the degree (score) that best reflected their agreement in relation to
the actions taken by the company in the range between 0.1 (lowest
degree of agreement) and 1 (maximum agreement).
The questionnaire was validated by experts in the fields of
innovation and sustainability. Member professors of research
groups from the National Council of Technological and Scientific
Development (CNPq) of major universities in the country were
considered to be experts in the study topic.
Based on these experts’ recommendations, the questionnaire
was improved and, as a result, we performed a pre-test to check its
88 C.M. Gomes et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 84 (2014) 84e93
suitability with three companies in the mining sector of Rio Grande
do Sul (RS). After the adjustments suggested by the companies in
the pre-test were made, the data collection instrument was
completed and data collection started.
The target population for the study is made up of 290 companies
related to IBRAM, ABRAFE, ABRACAL, SINDIAREIA and SIESC. We
contacted all companies object of the study, and the sample was
constituted by the companies that actually received, answered and
returned the completed questionnaires. There was a return of 32
questionnaires, representing 11.03% of the population surveyed.
Although the rate of return is not considered high, the results allow
the specific analysis of the characteristics and behaviors of the
companies studied. The evidence found can not be extrapolated to
the research universe considered. Data from the quantitative stage
were collected between October 2011 and January 2012. The
questionnaire was sent by email to the companies under study.
Data were tabulated and analyzed with the aid of the software
Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences e SPSS,
through factorial analysis and Spearman correlation analysis.
6. Analysis and discussion of results
Based on data obtained through survey research, the next step is
the analysis processing. Regarding the profile of the respondents, it
can be noted that the average work period of the employees in the
companies is approximately 14 years. Most respondents have
graduate education and occupy senior roles (CEOs, directors, part-
ners and managers).
It should be noted that a significant portion of professionals
occupy positions that are directly related to the area of sustain-
ability, which shows that some companies have specific positions
for the management of social and environmental issues, thus, this
sector is in fact concerned with sustainability. Based on what the
respondents answered about their education and position in the
company, it can be concluded that the professionals participating in
the research have appropriate profiles and are qualified to provide
information for this study.
The average lifetime of these companies is approximately 40
years, and the oldest organization is 130 years old, whereas the
youngest is 3 years. Most of the companies studied are located in
the states of São Paulo (31.3%), Rio Grande do Sul (21.9%) and Minas
Gerais (18.8%), and have as main products mineral aggregates
(21.9%), limestone (21.9%), coal (15.6%) and iron (12.5%).
The companies studied predominantly have more than 499
employees (34.4%), and most companies (31.3%) had gross oper-
ating revenues in 2010 of over R$ 2.4 million up to R$ 16 million.
Thus, given the representation of the sector in the Brazilian eco-
nomic and industrial activity and the environmental impacts
inherent to mining, the sample of companies analyzed can be
considered adequate for assessing the performance of the sector in
relation to the practices of management for sustainability and to
corporate performance.
The following are results of the factorial analysis of the man-
agement for sustainability and corporate performance dimensions,
respectively.
6.1. Factorial analysis of independent and dependent variables
Aiming at reducing the number of indicators in each variable by
identifying the key components of each factor, the technique of
factorial analysis was used. The technique of factorial analysis
generates new factors to reduce the number of indicators for each
variable. The statistics related to such technique have indicated that
it is appropriate to be used in this study. With KMO index greater
than 0.6 and sphericity test p < 0.00, there is evidence of a
relationship among indicators, which provides for the proceeding
of analysis. The factors were extracted by means of the principal
components method, using the Kaiser criterion for the selection of
factors with eigenvalues whose explained variance is greater than
1. It is noteworthy that indicators with high rates of non-response
(over 30%) were not included in the initial model of analysis.
6.1.1. Management for sustainability
The management practices for sustainability construct that was
developed based on the ten principles of ICMM (2008), at first
consisted of 10 variables and 26 indicators. Following the factorial
analysis, Table 1 shows the extracted factors, indicators and their
respective factor loadings and total variance explained.
Results of the factorial analysis converged on six factors that
explain 86.27% of data variance. The first factor, called the integration
of sustainable development to the process of corporate decision-
making, constitutes the most representative data and lists the pol-
icies and ethical business practices, risk management strategies and
the regarding of sustainable development in decision making.
The second factor, called the sustainable management of the
supply chain, deals with aspects of materials and waste manage-
ment, aiming at sustainability. The third factor, continual
improvement in the environmental area, covers aspects related to
environment preservation, except for the indicator fair compen-
sation of employees and adequate working conditions, which is a
social issue and has been integrated to this factor.
The fourth factor, called continual improvement in health and
safety and respect for the local community, encompasses concern
for employees and the local community. The factor before the last,
called transparency with stakeholders and development of com-
munities, addresses the disclosure of corporate performance to
stakeholders and the development of the host community. The last
factor, called uphold fundamental human rights, regards the
avoidance of using forced, compulsory or child labor.
Due to the high rate of non-responses, the environmental cer-
tification indicator was not included in the factorial analysis model.
The following indicators e sustainable development as a priority,
employee empowerment, commitment to stakeholders, system of
continuous interaction with stakeholders and environmental
management system e showed a low degree of correlation with the
factors extracted after the initial rotation and were not allocated to
retained factors.
The following factors e integration of sustainable development
to the process of corporate decision-making, sustainable manage-
ment of supply chain, continual improvement in the environmental
area and continual improvement in health and safety and respect
for the local community e are the most significant, because they
integrate seven of the ten principles for sustainability in the mining
industry and seventeen of the indicators proposed in the original
model (ICMM, 2008). Accordingly, the technique of factorial anal-
ysis showed to be adequate for the theoretical basis of this study,
and it allowed us to reduce the number of indicators in each
variable.
6.1.2. Corporate performance e impacts
The corporate performance construct e impacts, developed
based on the indicators of GRI (2006, 2010b), originally consisted of
26 variables and 31 indicators. Hourneaux Junior (2010), in their
study, has also conducted a factorial analysis of the GRI indicators,
including 34 variables, and the result converged on five factors that
explained 69.35% of the total variance. After the factorial analysis,
the extracted factors, indicators, their respective factor loadings
and total variance are shown in Table 2.
Results of the factorial analysis converged on six factors that
explain 80.28% of data variance. The first factor relates to the
 C.M. Gomes et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 84 (2014) 84e93 89

Table 1
Factors related to management practices for sustainability.

Factorsa Indicators Factorial Eigenvalues % of explained

loadings variance

Integration of the sustainable development to the Engagement with stakeholders. 0.879 4.633 23.17
process of corporate decision-making. Innovations 0.840
Environmental and social impacts 0.824
Effective procedures for emergency response 0.804
Ethical commercial practices and policies 0.739
Integration of the principles of sustainable development 0.716
Sustainable management of the supply chain Storage and disposal of residues and waste 0.878 3.101 15.51
Responsible management of products and materials 0.857
Integrated materials management 0.832
Incentive to stakeholders 0.627
Continual improvement in the environmental area Recovery of operational areas 0.834 3.090 15.45
Conservation of biodiversity and land use planning 0.769
Global and periodic assessment of environmental impacts 0.735
Fair compensation of employees and adequate working conditions 0.667
Continual improvement of health and safety, and Continual improvement for the employees 0.907 3.058 15.29
respect for the local community Respect for the culture and the property of the local 0.893
community
Continual improvement for the local communities 0.810
Transparency with stakeholders and development Host community development 0.918 2.086 10.43
of communities Reporting of corporate performance to stakeholders 0.723
Uphold fundamental human rights Not using forced, compulsory or child labor 0.982 1.285 6.43
% Aggregate of explained variance 86.27

Method of rotation: varimax with Kaiser Normalization, with conversion to 7 iterations. KMO ¼ 0.729, p ¼ 0.000, 0.897 total Cronbach’s alpha.
a
Extraction method: Principal components analysis.

economic and environmental impacts and covers indicators that
regard the following variables e market presence, indirect eco-
nomic aspects, and emissions, effluents and waste. It includes the
two economic indicators that remained in the model and two
environmental indicators related to the reduction of the total
amounts of overburden, waste rock, tailings and sludge and their
associated risks, and to reduced emissions of greenhouse gases,
effluents and waste.
The second factor is called social and environmental impacts,
and is related to the following variables e products and
services, transportation, child/slave labor and stakeholders. It
covers two social indicators related to the involvement of
stakeholders and non-use of child and/or slave labor, and two
environmental indicators regarding the environmental impacts
of products and services and the transport of materials and
workers.

Table 2
Factors of corporate performance e impacts.

Factorsa Indicators Factorial Eigenvalues % of explained

loadings variance

Environmental economic Development and impact of infrastructure investments and services provided 0.839 3.277 17.25
impacts Reduction of overburden, waste rock, tailings and sludge and their associated risks 0.814
Larger proportion of senior management hired from the local community 0.792
Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, effluents and wastes 0.784
Social and environmental Reduction of environmental impacts related to the transportation of products and 0.797 3.242 17.06
impacts material used
Increased participation of stakeholders 0.745
Reduction of environmental impacts from products and material 0.736
Policies designed to eliminate child and/or slave labor 0.731
Social impacts associated Development of programs on health and safety at work 0.853 2.892 15.22
with working practices Reduced rates of injury, occupational diseases, lost days, absenteeism and 0.814
and of decent work work-related deaths
Investment in employee training 0.666
Reduction of employee turnover 0.631
Social impacts related to Deployment of programs and practices to reduce the impacts of operations 0.904 2.360 12.42
human rights and society in communities
Development of policies to reduce discrimination 0.792
Increase in the percentage of contractors and suppliers submitted to screening 0.623
on human rights
Social impacts related to the Adequacy of programs and progresses related to materials management aiming 0.848 2.232 11.75
liability for the product at sustainability
Adequacy of the requirements of procedures for services and product labeling 0.762
Reduction of the impacts on the health and safety of customers, from the 0.699
assessment of service and product life cycle.
Social impacts related to Reduction of significant fines and non-monetary sanctions resulting from 0.919 1.251 6.59
compliance noncompliance with laws and regulations
% Aggregate of explained 80.28
variance

Method of rotation: varimax with Kaiser Normalization, with conversion to 6 iterations. KMO ¼ 0.612, p ¼ 0.000, 0.882 total Cronbach’s alpha.
a
Extraction method: Principal components analysis.
90 C.M. Gomes et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 84 (2014) 84e93
The third factor is called social impacts relating to labor prac-
tices and decent work, and covers the following variables e
employment, health and safety at work, and training and educa-
tion. It basically encompasses aspects related to the health and
safety of workers. The fourth factor, social impacts on human rights
and society, comprises the following variables e investment and
purchasing process practices, non-discrimination and community.
The fifth factor, social impacts related to product liability, in-
cludes the following variables e customer health and safety, la-
beling of products and services and material handling. Finally, the
last factor, social impacts related to compliance, addresses the
reduction of significant fines and non-monetary sanctions for
noncompliance with laws and regulations.
Due to the high rate of non-responses, the following indicators e
products and packaging recovery compared to total sales, operations
in or near the territories of indigenous peoples, conflicts related to
land use with local communities and indigenous peoples, initiatives
to promote resettlement and rehabilitation of resettled people, op-
erations with closure plans, and investment in anti-corruption
mechanisms e were not included in the factorial analysis model.
The following indicators e direct economic value generated and
distributed, policies, practices and proportion of spending on local
suppliers, use of materials from recycling, direct and indirect en-
ergy consumption, water consumption, rehabilitation of land used
in production activities and/or extractive use e showed low degree
of correlation with the factors extracted after the initial rotation
and were not allocated to the retained factors.
These indicators e environmental economic impacts, social and
environmental impacts, social impacts relating to labor practices
and decent work, and social impacts on human rights and society e
are the most significant, because they include thirteen variables
and fifteen indicators of the originally proposed model based on the
GRI (2006, 2010b). The technique of factorial analysis was adequate
for the conceptual model initially proposed, allowing us to reduce
the number of indicators in each variable.
6.2. Analysis of the relationship between the independent and
dependent variables
The relationship between practices of management for sus-
tainability and corporate performance is accomplished by the
Spearman correlation analysis of the factors obtained in the
Fig. 3. Correlations between practices of management for sustainability and corporate performance.
factorial analysis technique, which correspond to the independent
and dependent variables of the study. It was possible to observe the
existence of six significant associations (0.01 ** and 0.05 *)
involving the twelve factors related to practices of management for
sustainability and corporate performance, as shown in Fig. 3.
The correlation tests have revealed that there is a positive as-
sociation among four of the factors that make up the practices of
management for sustainability with five of the factors being related
to corporate performance. The correlations with the other factors of
the model were not significant.
Overall, the result shows that there is a positive relationship
among some of the factors related to sustainable management
practices and corporate performance. The main results of the
correlation analysis are summarized in Table 3, showing the re-
sults that are according to the study hypothesis and the ones that
are not.
It is worth noting that four of the factors related to the inde-
pendent variable analyzed are linked to corporate performance.
The factors e integration of sustainable development to the process
of corporate decision-making and uphold of fundamental human
rights have no significant relationship with corporate performance.
And also, the social impacts related to product liability are not
related to any of the management practices for sustainability.
The factor e transparency with stakeholders and community
development e had the highest number of correlations with
corporate performance, proving to be present in most of the
studied companies and to contribute to higher business
performance.
The transparency with stakeholders intends to disclose to
stakeholders the economic, social and environmental performance
and the contribution of the company for sustainable development.
Accordingly, Jenkins and Yakovleva (2006) emphasize the impor-
tance of disclosure of social and environmental actions in the
mining industry, in order to enable improvements in the image of
companies towards society, and also because of the appreciation by
investors of entrepreneurial attitudes concerned with social, envi-
ronmental and ethical issues.
Guerin (2006) shows that minerals companies in Australia are
putting sustainable development into operation, which confirms
the results of this study.
The factors e sustainable management of the supply chain and
continual improvement in the environmental area e have
 C.M. Gomes et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 84 (2014) 84e93 91

Table 3 originally proposed conceptual model. Both models, of the inde-

Main results of the correlation analysis.
Management practices for sustainability  corporate
performance
Integration of the sustainable development to the
process of corporate decision-making.
Sustainable management of the supply chain
Continual improvement in the environmental area
Continual improvement of health and safety, and
respect for the local community
Transparency with stakeholders and development
of communities
Uphold fundamental human rights
Corporate performance  management practices for sustainability
Environmental economic impacts
Social and environmental impacts
Social impacts associated with working practices
and of decent work
Social impacts related to human rights
and society
Social impacts related to the liability for
the product
Social impacts related to compliance
indicators that relate to employees, and because of that, are related
to the factor of social impacts regarding labor practices and decent
work. Concern for the health and safety of workers is a recurring
mark on the management practices of the companies studied,
because of its importance in the context of the mining activity. Data
agree with analyses made by Azapagic (2004), where they suggest
that the environmental impacts related to mining activities entail
above average threats to the health and safety of workers, a fact that
indicates that companies need to be extremely attentive to that.
The factor of continual improvement in health and safety and
respect for the local community is associated with social impacts
related to compliance, demonstrating that businesses seek to
meet regulatory aspects in order to reduce significant fines and
non-monetary sanctions for noncompliance with laws and
regulations.
7. Final considerations
The present study, which aimed to analyze the relation of
management for sustainability on the performance of companies
in the Brazilian mining sector, showed that the models that
resulted from the multivariate technique of factorial analysis were
statistically adequate and have largely converged with the
pendent and dependent variables, resulted in six factors each.
Hypothesis Correlation analysis has allowed us to conclude that there are
positive associations among some of the factors related to the
practices of management for sustainability and corporate
Rejected performance.
It is worth mentioning that the following factors e sustainable
Confirmed
management of the supply chain, continual improvement in the
Confirmed
Confirmed environmental area, continual improvement in health and safety,
transparency with stakeholders and community development e
Confirmed were associated to business performance. It is noteworthy that the
factor transparency with stakeholders and community develop-
Rejected
ment had the highest number of correlations with corporate per-
Confirmed formance, showing to contribute to corporate performance.
Confirmed The central hypothesis that guided the achievement of the
Confirmed research results, in which the management of sustainable practices
is relates with the performance of companies in the mining sector
Confirmed
was corroborated, suggesting that companies who seek superior
Rejected performance must be aware of the deployment of sustainable
practices. Thus, the results this study confirm the findings of Hilson
Confirmed and Murck (2000); Humphreys, 2002; Hilson and Basu, 2003;
Guerin, 2006; Mclellan et al., 2009.
The main conclusions of the study are summarized in Fig. 4.
The study showed, as main limitation, the number of companies
surveyed, since during the period of data collection, we obtained an
unrepresentative return in relation to the population surveyed.
Accordingly, the evidence found can not be extrapolated to the
universe of research considered, being restricted only to the group
of companies participating in the sample.
A major limitation of the factorial analysis is the loss of sensi-
tivity in the analysis of individual variables, which will be overcome
from other studies that emphasize the individual analysis of the
variables studied, through the use of other techniques for univari-
ate and multivariate analysis.
It is suggested that future studies seek to enlarge the sample,
in order to deepen the results and allow for further analysis in
order to find factors that explain in depth the behavior of com-
panies in relation to the studied phenomenon. Thus, it will be
possible to carry out further analysis, allowing, for example, the
segmenting of the sample by type of mineral product, in order to
highlight similarities and differences with regard to the adoption
of management practices for sustainability and business
performance.
Notwithstanding the limitations of this study, we present evi-
dence of behavior of companies in the Brazilian mineral sector with
regard to managing for sustainability and its implications for

Main conclusions
Correlation analysis has allowed us to conclude that there are positive associations among
some of the factors related to the practices of management for sustainability and corporate
performance.
The factors - sustainable management of the supply chain, continual improvement in the
environmental area, continual improvement in health and safety, transparency with
stakeholders and community development - were associated to business performance.
The factor transparency with stakeholders and community development had the highest
number of correlations with corporate performance, showing to contribute to corporate
performance.
The factors - integration of sustainable development to the process of corporate decision-
making and uphold of fundamental human rights have no significant relationship with
corporate performance. And also, the social impacts related to product liability are not
related to any of the management practices for sustainability.

Fig. 4. Main conclusions of the study.

92 C.M. Gomes et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 84 (2014) 84e93

business performance, identifying key elements in the develop- reality of Brazilian mining companies as regards management for
ment of this field. sustainability.
The results of this study contribute to the academic community
in that it broadens the discussion on the themes of sustainability
and performance, considering that there are few studies that Appendix A. Variables and indicators to practices of
address these issues together. For the mining community, this management for sustainability and to corporate performance.
study contributes with applied analyses that demonstrate the

Variables Indicators

Independent variables Ethical business practices and governance Ethical business practices and policies; -Engagement with stakeholders
Management practices for sustainability systems in order to contribute to sustainable development.
Integrate sustainable development within -Integrate sustainable development principles into company policies
the corporate decision-making process. and practices; -Sustainable innovations; -Encourage stakeholders to
adopt sustainable practices; -Provide sustainable development training
to employees.
Environmental and safety risk Engagement of interested parties in environmental and social impacts;
management strategies -Develop effective emergency response procedures.
Implement effective and transparent -Report performance to stakeholders; -Commitment with interested
engagement with stakeholders. parties.
Uphold fundamental human rights and -Ensure fair remuneration and work conditions; -Do not use forced,
respect stakeholders compulsory or child labor; -Respect local communities.
Community development -Systems for ongoing interaction with affected parties; -Host
community development and collaboration.
Seek continual improvement of health -Continuous improvement of operations that can have a significant
and safety performance. impact on the health and safety of all employees and local communities.
Seek continual improvement of -Global and periodic assessment of environmental impacts; -Environmental
environmental performance management system; -Environmental certifications; -Rehabilitate land
disturbed by operations; -Storage and disposal of residual wastes
and residues.
Conservation of biodiversity and land -Development and implementation of procedures that contribute to the
use planning. conservation of biodiversity and land use planning
Responsible recycling and disposal -Integrated materials management; -Responsible management of
of products products and materials.
Dependent variables e Economic Economic performance -Increase in direct economic value generated and distributed
Corporate performance performance Market presence -Larger presence of policies, practices, and proportion of spending on
locally-based suppliers; -Larger proportion of senior management
hired from the local community.
Indirect economic impacts -Development and impact of infrastructure investments and services
provided.
Environmental Materials -Increased usage of recycled materials.
performance Energy -Direct and indirect energy consumption reduction
Water -Water use reduction
Biodiversity -Increase in the percentage of land for production activities and/or
extractive use that have undergone rehabilitation.
Emissions, effluents and waste -Initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, effluents and wastes;
-Reduction of overburden, waste rock, tailings and sludge and their
associated risks.
Products and services -Initiative to reduce environmental impacts; -Increase in the percentage
of products and packaging recovery compared to total sales.
Transportation -Reduction of environmental impacts related to transportation.
Social Employment -Reduction of employee turnover.
performance Health and safety at work -Reduced rates of injury, occupational diseases, lost days, absenteeism
and work-related deaths; -Health and safety at work programs.
Training and education -Investment in employee training and development.
Investment and purchasing process -Increase in the percentage of contractors and suppliers submitted to
best practices screening on human rights.
Non-discrimination -Development of policies to reduce discrimination.
Child/Slave labor -Policies designed to eliminate child and/or slave labor.
Indigenous rights -Reduction of operations in or near the territories of indigenous peoples.
Community -Deployment of programs and practices to reduce the impacts of
operations -Reduction of conflicts related to land use.
Resettlement -Initiatives to promote the resettlement and rehabilitation of resettled people.
Closure planning -Increase of the percentage of operations with closure plans.
Corruption -Investment in anti-corruption mechanisms.
Compliance -Reduction of significant fines and non-monetary sanctions resulting
from noncompliance with laws and regulations.
Customer health and safety -Reduction of the impact on the health and safety of customers.
Services and product labeling -Adequacy of information regarding the requirements of procedures for
services and product labeling.
Handling of materials -Adequacy of programs and progresses related to materials management.
Stakeholders -Increased participation of stakeholders.

Source: Based on ICMM (2008) and GRI (2006, 2010b).

 C.M. Gomes et al. / Journal of Cleaner Production 84 (2014) 84e93 93

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