企業永續長(CSO)核心職能指標建構之研究

Abstract

隨著全球對企業永續和 ESG 的高度重視與永續議題的快速成長，永續長 (Chief Sustainability Officers, CSO) 正逐步成為企業高階經營管理團隊中不可或缺的角色。2020年後全球每年有近40家企業新設置永續長一職 (Weinreb Group, 2023)，設置永續長已成為全球企業維持永續競爭力的關鍵趨勢 (PwC, 2022)。永續長作為一個相對較新的職位，其職責範疇與能力要求仍在不斷演變與拓展中，由於永續長涉及的議題範圍廣泛、任務複雜且具有跨部門協作特性，使得永續長核心職能界定與衡量，成為實務與學術領域迫切重要的議題。在我國，永續長仍屬於非強制設立的職位，僅透過「上市櫃公司永續發展路徑圖」鼓勵上市櫃企業設置永續長或永續委員會（金融監督管理委員會，2023）；因此目前對於永續長職能的定義與衡量標準仍未有統一且明確的指引，導致企業在選拔、培養與評估永續長的過程中面臨挑戰。本研究建構一套完整並適用於我國上市櫃企業永續長的核心職能指標架構，深入探究我國上市櫃企業永續長的職能與角色，完善永續治理架構，為企業甄選或培育永續長人才提供系統性的參考標準。本研究採質化與量化並行的混合研究方法，執行三階段研究流程，建構我國上市櫃企業永續長之核心職能指標架構。第一階段使用內容分析法，研析我國上市櫃企業發行之企業永續報告書，釐清企業永續治理架構與永續長定位，以填補我國上市櫃企業永續長研究之背景脈絡與現況；並透過回顧多個國際永續職能框架，建立完整的理論基礎，初步建立我國上市櫃企業永續長核心職能指標架構之文獻資料。第二階段採深度訪談法，訪談四位產業專家，紀錄逐字稿並進行資料編碼分析，擴充在地脈絡與本土化觀點，填補現行永續職能架構在我國實務情境中的差異。第三階段合併文獻回顧與深度訪談確立之構面後，收斂萃取職能指標完整構面，並發展我國上市櫃企業永續長核心職指標架構，經產、官、學、研20位專家，執行兩輪德菲法，收斂意見達成一致性共識，建構包含兩大維度18項能力準則以及60項指標，之我國上市櫃企業永續長核心職能指標架構。The escalating global emphasis on corporate sustainability and ESG issues has propelled the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) into an increasingly integral role within corporate senior management teams. Post-2020, nearly 40 companies annually established a new CSO position (Weinreb Group, 2023), cementing the CSO's role as a critical trend for maintaining sustainable competitiveness worldwide (PwC, 2022). As a relatively nascent position, the CSO's scope of responsibilities and required competencies are continually evolving and expanding. Given the broad range of issues, complex tasks, and cross-departmental collaborative nature inherent to the CSO role, defining and measuring their core competencies have become urgent imperatives in both practical and academic domains. In Taiwan, the CSO remains a non-mandatory position, merely encouraged for listed companies through the"Sustainable Development Roadmap for Listed Companies (Financial Supervisory Commission, 2023). Consequently, a unified and clear guideline for defining and measuring CSO competencies is currently lacking, posing significant challenges for companies in the selection, cultivation, and evaluation of CSO talent. This study aims to construct a comprehensive core competency indicator framework applicable to CSOs in Taiwan's listed companies. By deeply investigating the functions and roles of CSOs inthese enterprises, this research seeks to refine the sustainable governance structure and provide a systematic reference standard for the selection and development of CSO talent. Employing a mixed-methods research approach encompassing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, this study adopts a three-phase research process to establish the proposed framework. Phase one involved content analysis of corporate sustainability reports issued by Taiwan's listed companies to clarify their sustainable governance structures and the positioning of CSOs, thereby providing crucial contextual understanding and current status of CSO research in Taiwan. This phase also built a comprehensive theoretical foundation by reviewing multiple international sustainability competency frameworks, leading to a preliminary establishment of the core competency indicator framework based on existing literature. Phase two utilized in-depth interviews with four industry experts, meticulously transcribing and coding the data to incorporate local context and indigenous perspectives, thereby addressing gaps between existing sustainability competency frameworks and practical scenarios in Taiwan. In the third phase, after integrating the constructs identified from both the literature review and in-depth interviews, the research converged on the full set of competency indicators. A core competency indicator framework for CSOs in Taiwan's listed companies was then developed, encompassing two major dimensions, 18 competency criteria, and 60 indicators. This framework was rigorously validated through two rounds of Delphi method involving 20 experts from industry, government, academia, and research sectors, achieving a high degree of consensus.