A critical review of sustainability valuation frameworks in organizations 

Both value and sustainability are convoluted terms, with diverse fields of scholarly inquiry and practice. From theoretical and empirical investigations on value(s), (e)valuation and sustainability in the fields of sociology, anthropology, and political economy, to applied sustainability (e)valuation practices in science, culture and business, divergent views and perceptions of either or both concepts emerge. To navigate such complex entanglements, we focus on organisations, unravelling how diverse understandings of valuation and sustainability shape organisational practices. Our point of departure is twofold: First, an intuitive reflection upon value associated with deep structures and processes that impart orderly configurations to the organisation of economic and social life. Second, a critical reflection on the concept of sustainability and its operationalisation in sustainability assessments in organisational contexts. We aim to conduct a critical review of sustainability valuation and sustainability assessment frameworks developed for organisations, focusing on their research paradigm underpinnings, as they emerge through divergent ontologies, epistemologies and methodologies of, respectively, value and sustainability. We aspire to develop a deeper understanding on how perceptions of value reproduce perceptions of sustainability and vice versa, and how such entanglements condition the role of organisations as agents of sustainable socio-ecological transformation.