Improving Scope 3 Procurement Emissions Accounting: Key Challenges and a Strategic Approach Using MICMAC and the Sustainability Balanced Scorecard

ABSTRACT This study examines the reliability of Scope 3 emissions accounting, focusing on purchased goods and services, a critical area for corporate decarbonization. Key barriers include data quality issues, inconsistent methodologies, and limited organizational alignment. An original mixed‐methods approach has been used to analyze answers from professionals with NVivo software, then the most influential organizational factors have been identified based on a structural analysis. Nineteen interrelated challenges have been found and classified using the 6M framework. The MICMAC method has been used to distinguish five types of variables: driver, linkage, dependent, autonomous, and peloton. The Sustainability Balanced Scorecard (SBSC) and strategy map frameworks help to present these variables in six related perspectives. Such findings highlight the need for cross‐functional collaboration, digital tools development, and capacity‐building in order to improve Scope 3 data integrity. Although this study focuses on procurement, the approach can be transferred to other Scope 3 categories with category‐specific adaptations. By integrating such a systemic analysis with managerial tools, this research provides a replicable methodology to support strategic planning for decarbonization stakes.