Listed companies and integrating sustainable development: what role does the board of directors play?

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze how the level of adherence to sustainable development principles has evolved and also how the integration of new “good” governing rules has evolved in conjunction with the formation and functioning of the boards of directors and their committees. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reports the results of a comparative case study – three French companies in the building sector – based on both primary and secondary data for the period 2002 to 2007. Findings – It is found that the companies showed that they were capable of integrating sustainable development principles into their way of management; they also developed their rules of governance – in particular with regard to the constitution and the operating rules of their board of directors. Originality/value – This study provides recent developments regarding sustainable development applied to company management, in the building sector in France. It also gives precise and recent information on the development of corporate governance rules.