Dr Nayanee Silva


Senior Advisor in Corporate Sustainability CIFAL Surrey, Research Fellow@CSIM Surrey Business School, Sustainability Fellow Institute for Sustainability
PhD FCA FCMI FRSA

About

Areas of specialism

Corporate Sustainability Measurement & Management ; Corporate Social Responsibility ; Business Management & Entrepreneurship; Corporate Training ; Business approaches to Net Zero Tranisition ; Sustainability Models & Frameworks; Materials Management; Sustainable Development

University roles and responsibilities

  • Senior Advisor Corporate Sustainability and Strategic Partnerships CIFAL Surrey
  • Sustainability Fellow
  • Research Fellow CSIM
  • Module Leader (Associate Lecturer) Corporate Sustainability

    My qualifications

    2025
    PhD in Environment & Sustainability with thesis titled 'A framework for Measurement and Management of Corporate Sustainability'.
    University of Surrey

    Affiliations and memberships

    Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA)
    Fellowship of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales (ICAEW)
    Fellow Chartered Management Institute (FCMI)
    Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute
    AIoD
    Associate Member of the Institute of Directors.

    Business, industry and community links

    The Sustainable Business Project (Founder)
    A collective for businesses to discuss and engage on sustainability matters including best practice, research and tools for measuring and managing sustainability.
    The King's Trust
    Leading Mentors for the Envirability Programme to support youth into green careers.

    Research

    Research interests

    Research projects

    Teaching

    Publications

    Highlights

    • Case studies of tea sector provide useful insights into sustainability approaches.
    • 7E model provides a benchmark for corporate sustainability performance in SMEs and large companies in any industry sector.
    • Managing organisational sustainability and corporate social responsibility: perspectives for sustainable development
    • Comparative study of UK and Sri Lankan companies' approaches to sustainability - with benchmarking framework
    • Employee engagement cluster model provides insights into sustainability-related behaviours
    • Approach to decarbonisation comparisons between UK and Sri Lankan companies in the study shows that developing countries such as Sri Lanka are also in an energy transition.
    D. Nayanee Silva, Walter Wehrmeyer, Richard Murphy (2025) Managing Organisational Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility: Perspectives for Sustainable Development

    Managing corporate sustainability involves consideration of the economic, environmental and social impacts of business activities on communities and society. A successful corporate sustainability strategy and sustainable operations must include an engaged and committed workforce. It has been seen that employees are increasingly seeking more purpose at work, with an awareness of environmental and social issues. Research has shown that employees engaged in corporate sustainability practices perceive their work as meaningful contributions to business performance. This empirical study explored sustainability performance in the tea industry, measured with a holistic sustainability framework, and investigated the linkages between corporate social responsibility (CSR), employee engagement, and corporate contributions towards sustainability. The operations of participating organizations measured via a ‘7E’ model to benchmark sustainability performance, were compared with how employee engagement is influenced by CSR and wellbeing aspects. Data was collected from company sustainability surveys and surveys of 1146 employees in the tea industry. The results were analysed using a cluster model to assess employee attitudes to CSR and corporate sustainability practices towards sustainable development. The findings show that companies with strong company sustainability performance and developed social sustainability with CSR activities have employees with higher participation at work and outreach engagement. Dimension reduction and the two-step cluster method were used to classify employee responses, showing that the most engaged employees exhibited ‘shared values’ characteristics aligned with corporate engagement and social outreach. These results contribute to research on sustainability management from corporate and employee perspectives, with insights for sustainable development through CSR and sustainable business operations.

    D. Nayanee Silva, Walter Wehrmeyer, Richard Murphy (2024) Development of a holistic framework for sustainability measurement: A case study of the tea sector

    Managing organisational sustainability is complex, with multiple aspects including decarbonisation, sustainable finance, management of material flows and waste, to reduce harmful impacts and integrate sustainable approaches into business strategy. To improve sustainability, organisations must measure and manage the impacts of operations on the environment and society. This empirical study featuring case studies in the UK and Sri Lanka, examines the economic, environmental and social activities of company operations in the tea sector to evaluate and compare sustainability performance. The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach is expanded through a holistic sustainability framework proposed in this study, to support organisational sustainability measurement. We propose a ‘7E’ sustainability model that measures activities across seven operational areas of the organisation to create an overall sustainability score for benchmarking that aids sustainability improvements with an interconnected approach. The model supports organisations to identify savings, explore greener materials and energy choices through detailed insights and allows for ranking and comparison of companies using a sustainability index. A mixed-methods approach is used to provide an analysis that offers granularity and comparability for sustainability strategies. Best practices from case studies, insights arising from the analysis of company surveys, interviews and employee surveys provide useful information on sustainability performance and decarbonisation progress. This research demonstrates the use of the 7E model as a practical tool for managers and organisations to improve sustainability management.