Qualitative Growth and Sustainability in Organizations – An Overview

Abstract

This paper evaluates seven German companies regarding qualitative growth between 2005 and 2009. First, qualitative growth is defined in context of quantitative growth and sustainable development. Second, in an overview indicators regarding qualitative growth in companies will be defined and compared with figures from several financial and sustainability reports. Finally an evaluation is made, to what extent the requirements for qualitative growth are met. Key findings are that even if there are signs for qualitative growth, they can be only applied to a short time frame. Furthermore, almost no company acknowledged absolute resource limits within its reporting.