Performance management and sustainable development: an exploration of non-financial performance of companies with foreign capital in Romania

In Romania, the opening of the economy to foreign capital and the start of the privatization process generated flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) which, firstly, were concentrated in the manufacturing industry. Gradually, foreign investors made their presence in the service sector, especially in banking and in energy areas. Considering the paradigm shift regarding the relationship between companies’ management and stakeholders, the study aims to address the issue of non-financial performance of FDI companies in terms of promoting the principles of sustainable development. For the analysis, companies with foreign capital were selected—several listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange—taking into account the transparency conditions that these organisations meet in order to be included in it. In addition, by querying the Global Reporting Initiative database, other companies were identified as reporting their performance in terms of sustainability. This study highlights that these companies follow the European directives regarding disclosure of non-financial information. Even if sustainable reporting is mandatory only for large companies, the spillover effect on other kind of organisations is increasing, due to the complex relationships between economic agents. Thus, this paper reflects on the fact that more companies, regardless their size and field of activity are will be able to give positive signals to stakeholders on their voluntary inforcement of the sustainable development principles and follow appropriate implementation in production and marketing.