There are differences in strategic emphasis according to the sector. Small companies are more restricted in what they can do and are poorly served by some existing instruments. In general the companies agreed that sustainable development includes at least the training of workers, safeguarding jobs, and flexible working hours. However as far as could be determined, no company in the sample has yet carried a social audit of its activities. While most companies saw a sustainability-oriented strategy as good for their image, the effects on competitiveness were assessed variably.
Most companies interpret sustainability in economic terms simply as corporate economic survival.
Other researchers suggest that sustainability should have deeper financial implications, including using longer time periods for financial evaluation, setting up a system to link the environmental, social, and economic aspects of performance, and aiming to achieve qualitative growth. Therefore no evidence was found of formal systems for integrating all the dimensions. However no formal mechanisms for making these tradeoffs or for gathering the necessary information were discovered. Such approaches are being developed elsewhere. Neither of these initiatives has yet found a significant echo in Germany.