Sustainable Value Creation: The Role of Strategic Cost Management in Driving SDG-Oriented Growth
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52103/jms.v6i2.2216Keywords:
Strategic Cost Management, Sustainable Value Creation, SDGs, Environmental Management Accounting, Life-Cycle CostingAbstract
This study examines how strategic cost management functions as a catalyst for sustainable value creation and supports SDG-oriented growth by synthesizing contemporary theoretical and empirical developments across sustainability accounting, environmental management, and strategic management literature. The research aims to clarify the mechanisms through which strategic cost management, when integrated with environmental management accounting and life-cycle costing, enables organizations to internalize environmental externalities, enhance eco-efficiency, and align long-term financial decisions with global sustainability imperatives. Using a qualitative research design grounded in a systematic literature review, the study analyzes peer-reviewed publications from the past decade to identify emerging conceptual patterns and operational frameworks. The results demonstrate that strategic cost management significantly improves sustainability performance by shaping cost structures, supporting green innovation, mitigating climate-related risks, and strengthening stakeholder trust. Findings reveal that environmental management accounting and life-cycle costing serve as critical infrastructures that transform cost information into actionable insights, thereby enabling firms to evaluate trade-offs, optimize resource flows, and comply with evolving sustainability reporting expectations. The study concludes that strategic cost management must evolve into a multidimensional system that captures economic, environmental, and social value if firms are to effectively contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. These findings offer theoretical implications for expanding the scope of management accounting and managerial implications for designing sustainability-aligned cost systems capable of guiding long-term organizational transformation.
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