There are increased calls for corporations to act responsibly. Those responsibilities exceed the classical assumption that the only responsibility of the firm is its shareholders and ultimately to maximize their wealth. Any social issue participation has been described as charity or squandering of resources at the expense of the shareholders. According to the Stakeholder theory, firms should consider every stakeholder that is affected by the company and stakeholder management can be a source of value. The risk reduction hypothesis is especially interesting in the context of corporate sustainability. There have been multiple studies that have explored the relationship between corporate sustainability performance and the risk of financial distress. Like those studies, this study found that corporate sustainability performance is negatively associated with the risk of financial distress. Thereby answering the research question proposed by the authors: “Does corporate sustainability performance affect the risk of financial distress?”. Companies with higher sustainability performance will experience less risk and engagement in those activities works as a risk reduction tool. Different levels of sustainability performance have different effect on the risk, which should be considered by investors and management. It should inspire investors to incorporate sustainable companies in their investment portfolios. Furthermore, the thesis contributes to the field of knowledge by analyzing the empirical results using the Stakeholder Theory, the Shareholder Theory, the Legitimacy Theory, the Resource-based view, the Agency Theory and the Stewardship Theory. The study provides evidence of an increasing importance of sustainability performance and suggests that firms can use sustainability performance to mitigate risk. This is a panel data analysis including approximately 16,000 firm-year observations. The study takes a deductive approach, and the research is conducted under a positivist paradigm. The data is tested through conducting OLS regressions with fixed effects. The results of the statistical testing have been compared to previous studies and other relevant literature.

Abstract   Background: With the heightening pressure of climate change, the public as well as the corporate world calls for leaders that can drive sustainable development, hence tackling the challenges to come. Companies are facing growing pressure from both internal and external stakeholders to adopt sustainable practices. As a consequence, the question arises as to whom is the most suitable for such challenges. The presence of female leaders in corporate settings have shown to increase sustainable performance within companies. However, what actual role female leaders play in enabling such performance remains subdued. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to study what role female leaders play in sustainability strategy processes.  Method: This study is conducted through qualitative case study methods, using primary data collected from interviews with female leaders of Swedish companies.   Conclusion: The results identified that female leaders play different roles in the sustainability strategy process. The roles identified in the study are Carer, Responsibility Taker, Equality, Enabler and Motivator which are collectively conceptualized as Holistic Trustee meaning; Someone who includes all perspectives and components into their assessment, so that decisions made, enables development while preserving resources of coming generations. In such role, the female leader bridges the organizational level and individual level of her company and provides her employees with a bigger purpose in their “day-to-day” operations. The role as a Holistic Trustee broadens the understanding of leaders` importance in sustainability and draws attention to female traits that are naturally suited for a sustainable leadership.

The Doughnut Economy integrates social and environmental sustainability into one holistic model. As sustainability becomes more relevant for multinational corporations, it is crucial to explore the possibilities of the Doughnut Economy as a tool for enhancing and visualising corporate sustainability efforts. Therefore, this study examines how multinational corporations' sustainability strategies align with the Doughnut Economy model and explores potential challenges and stakeholder benefits of alignment. Moreover, this interpretive study adopts an inductive approach, employing an exploratory and explanatory case study to contribute to existing theory and practice. Gathering qualitative data through semi-structured interviews with sustainability managers at Husqvarna Group, complemented by the company's 2022 sustainability report as secondary data. Next, thematic analysis was used to analyse the empirical findings, providing a comprehensive understanding of patterns and themes. Overall this study concludes that strategic alignment with the Doughnut Economy enables multinational corporations to enhance sustainability efforts and enables stakeholder benefits. Additionally, there are challenges of alignment due to the Doughnut Economy model’s complexity and limited stakeholder knowledge, however, investments in education and stakeholder engagement can address these challenges. By embracing the suggested strategies and overcoming identified obstacles, multinational corporations can strengthen their alignment with the Doughnut Economy, contributing to a sustainable future.

Swedish firms have become increasingly accountable for their impacts on the economy, society, and environment. Since the year 2016, Corporate Sustainability has emerged as a relatively new phenomenon forcing SMEs that meet certain criteria to report annual sustainability metrics. However,sustainability reporting has not yet become standardized. Previous literature acknowledges the importance of sustainability orientation for the firm and the managers’ role in developing a general understanding of how sustainabilitypractices add value to the firm. Moreover, the particular organizationalpractice of sustainability reporting is still immature and have scarcely been attended by contemporary literature.  This study aims to develop an understanding of how sustainability reporting practices look like in the firm, and whether sustainability reporting practiceshas affected today’s innovation management. To answer the research questions, a mixed research method were chosen with an inductive approach.Three kinds of data was collected and analyzed – sustainability reports, survey, and firm-level interviews – in a step-wise manner to explore the complexities of sustainability reporting practices and its’ impact on firms’ innovation management.  In this study, we found that there are complexities in establishing clear routines in the sustainability reporting practices due to the multiple internal and external actors involvement, and because of knowledge gaps within the firm. In addition, sustainability reporting practices positively impactinnovation management through the building of general awareness, or even culture towards sustainability. In turn, this has boosted the firms’ creativity in sustainable innovations. Moreover, sustainability reporting practices impact New Product Development in particular, through stakeholder engagement in reporting the contents included in the sustainability reports.  This study contributes to an updated understanding of Sustainability Reporting practices in general and its’ role in Innovation Management in particular. The adoption of sustainability reporting transfer activities that are intertwined and embedded with organizational- and managerial perspectives when pursuing alignment of Corporate Sustainability in an already complex system. Therefore, we conclude that sustainability reporting is vital indeveloping stakeholder engagement for firms aiming at incorporating sustainability practices. Moreover, this subsequently influences the outcomes in New Product Development.

This paper investigates the key corporate sustainability performance indicators from the consumers' perspective in Sweden. The aim is to deepen the understanding of consumers as main stakeholders and their preferences for corporate sustainability. An online quantitative survey with 1003 respondents showed that fair working conditions and employment terms were the most important indicators, followed by strong sustainability requirements for suppliers and actions in case of human violations. Furthermore, the research results show that young and better-educated consumers rank environmental parameters as a more important indicator. The research contributes to CSR and stakeholder theory in better understanding the consumers’ perspectives on corporate sustainability.

Stakeholder engagement is considered, by both researchers and practitioners, an increasingly important aspect of corporate sustainability, and it is argued that companies should work together with their stakeholders to address the substantial social and environmental challenges ahead. Because of its importance, scholars within stakeholder theory and corporate sustainability have called for more research on how stakeholder engagement is conducted. This thesis, based on interviews with sustainability executives representing 18 Nordic companies, explores how companies work to engage stakeholders in their sustainability work. The study indicates that stakeholder engagement is an important part of the companies’ sustainability work, and that the companies are dependent on working together with stakeholders. It also highlights that even though stakeholder engagement occurs on a range of different levels, from one-way communication to strategic collaborations, education and information sharing efforts appear to be the most common. The companies in the study advocate for engaging with all stakeholders, but three stakeholder groups are considered particularly important due to their impact on the companies: customers, investors, and employees. Finally, transparency, openness, and listening are considered important success factors for stakeholder engagement, whereas lack of resources is seen as the overarching challenge.

Submitted by SBI Biblioteca Digital (sbi.bibliotecadigital@puc-campinas.edu.br) on 2018-04-10T12:40:32Z No. of bitstreams: 1 ADILSON DO CARMO BASSAN.pdf: 1690732 bytes, checksum: c799be38b4bd7bcc00e633057e901afd (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-10T12:40:32Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 ADILSON DO CARMO BASSAN.pdf: 1690732 bytes, checksum: c799be38b4bd7bcc00e633057e901afd (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-07 / Pontif?cia Universidade Cat?lica de Campinas - PUC - Campinas / The concem about sustainability and social responsibility is no longer reserved to environmentalists, but also reaches the society and, above ali, companies and investors. A different attitude towards the environment and society by companies is needed so that they can have financiai returns and attract investment. Thus, indicators were created to measure the market value of companies that invest in social and environmental responsibility. In Brazil, the Corporate Sustainability Index (ISE) was built by BVM&FBOVESPA. This study aims to comparatively analyze the performance of economic and financiai resources between cornpanies listed on the ISE and of companies listed on the IBOVESPA, both of BM&FBOVESPA. For this analysis two notional portfolios were structured from 2012 to 2016: a composite with companies listed only in the ISE and another, with companies listed in the IBOVESPA, excluding those that make up the ISE. The analyzes were performed using statistical methods, such as descriptive statistics and significance test. The statistical tests compared the average value of each indicator of the companies that are in the ISE with the average value of each indicator of the companies that are in the IBOVESPA. The result of the analysis led to the observation that there is apparently no positive relationship between economic and financiai indicators and the investment in sustainability and corporate social responsibility by companies that are in ISE. Although the ISE has a differentiated notional portfolio for providing an investment environment compatible with the demands of sustainability and corporate social responsibility, the performance ofthe indicators is similar to the performance ofthe IBOVESPA indicators. / A preocupa??o em rela??o ? sustentabilidade e ? responsabilidade social n?o ? mais somente dos ambientalistas, alcan?ando atualmente a sociedade como um todo e, principalmente, as empresas e investidores. Uma postura diferenciada em rela??o ao meio ambiente e ? sociedade faz-se necess?ria para que as empresas possam ter retornos financeiros e capta??o de investimento. Diante do exposto, foram criados indicadores para medir a valoriza??o de mercado das empresas que investem em responsabilidade social e ambiental. No Brasil, foi criado o ?ndice de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (ISE) pela BM&FBOVESP A. Este estudo objetiva analisar comparativamente o desempenho de indicadores econ?mico-financeiros entre empresas que comp?e o ISE e de empresas que comp?e o IBOVESPA, ambos da BM&FBOVESP A. Para tal an?lise, se estruturaram duas carteiras te?ricas de 2012 a 2016: uma composta com empresas listadas unicamente no ISE e outra, com empresas listadas no IBOVESPA, exclu?das aquelas que comp?em o ISE. As an?lises foram realizadas por meio de m?todos estat?sticos, como estat?stica descritiva e teste de signific?ncia. Os testes estat?sticos compararam o valor m?dio de cada indicador das empresas que est?o no ISE com o valor m?dio de cada indicador das empresas que est?o no IBOVESP A. O resultado da an?lise levou a observar que aparentemente n?o h? diferen?a de m?dias entre indicadores econ?mico-financeiros e o investimento em sustentabilidade e responsabilidade social empresarial por parte de empresas que est?o no ISE. Apesar do ISE possuir uma carteira te?rica diferenciada por propiciar um ambiente de investimentos compat?veis com as demandas de sustentabilidade e de responsabilidade social empresarial, o desempenho dos indicadores ? semelhante ao desempenho dos indicadores do IBOVESP A.

Studiens syfte är att undersöka sambandet gällande hållbarhetsredovisningens påverkan på företagens finansiella lönsamhet. Studien tar även hänsyn till branschspecifika faktorer, vilket tidigare forskning saknat. För att besvara studiens syfte har en kvantitativ forskningsmetod använts. Den teoretiska referensramen består av institutionell teori, legitimitetsteori och intressentteori, vilket hypoteserna formulerats utifrån. Studien analyserar hur omfattningen på hållbarhetsredovisningar år 2013 påverkat företagens finansiella lönsamhet år 2014. Företagens finansiella lönsamhet mäts med nyckeltalen ROE och ROA. Studien använde sig utav en regressionsanalys, där de oberoende variablerna var företagens bransch, företagens ålder, balanslikviditet, omsättning samt CSR antal ord. Det empiriska resultatet påvisade att det inte förekom något samband gällande hållbarhetsredovisningens påverkan på företagens finansiella lönsamhet. Studien visade heller inget samband gällande företagens bransch och dess påverkan på företagens finansiella lönsamhet. Studiens frågeställning besvaras således med att det inte finns något samband gällande hållbarhetsredovisningens påverkan på företagens finansiella lönsamhet. Slutsatsen stöds även av studiens kontrollvariabler, företagens ålder, balanslikviditet samt omsättning. Resultatet talar för att vid en regressionsanalys av ROE och ROA skall ingen av de valda variablerna inkluderas i modellen. Resultat skall tolkas med försiktighet. Studien analyserade sambandet under en kort tidsperiod vilket leder till att studien brister i den långsiktiga aspekten. / This study’s purpose is to explore the connection regarding sustainability reports and its effect on corporate financial profitability. This study also takes into account industry-specific factors, which previous research are lacking. A quantitative research method has been used. The theoretical framework is based on institutional theory, legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory, which the hypotheses are founded from. The study analyzes the extent of sustainability reports in 2013 and how it affected the financial profitability in 2014. Financial profitability is measured with the indicators ROE and ROA. The study uses a regression analysis, where the independent variables are the business industry, corporate age, balance sheet liquidity, turnover and CSR number of words. The empirical result indicated that there is no connection regarding sustainability report and its effect on financial profitability. The study didn’t either show a connection regarding the company’s industry and its effect on profitability. The study’s research question is therefore answered with that there is no connection regarding sustainability report and its effect on financial profitability. This conclusion is also supported by the study’s control variable, corporate age, balance sheet liquidity and turnover. The result regarding ROE and ROA indicates that none of the variables should be included. The result should be interpreted with caution. The study analyzes the connection in a short period of time, which leads to the lacking of a long-turn aspect.

The importance of addressing the topic of sustainable development has been widely acknowledged, and the researchers call for future studies that would develop new perspectives on integrating sustainability in the business context. Currently, most of such studies focus on large companies, whereas it has been shown that the impact of SMEs on the economy, the society and the environment is also significant. The present work aims at exploring the integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability (CS) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Nordic countries. Adopting a qualitative dominant mixed research method, the following objectives are achieved: using content analysis, we analyse the activities disclosed by SMEs and describe their type and focus. Further, the multiple case study of 13 SMEs operating in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland allows exploration of the process of CSR integration in companies in more detail. Using the abductive approach to analysis and systematically combining the existing approaches to analysing CSR integration with the empirical findings, we are able to distinguish several specifics of SMEs. Namely, the process of CSR integration in SMEs may be different due to increased role of the top management commitment and the varying degree of externally formalising CSR and CS through obtaining certifications. This allows us to design suggestions for the updated model of CSR integration, which would reflect these specifics of SMEs. The present work contributes to current research by exploring CSR and CS integration in the context of SMEs, which have been previously identified as research gaps. We develop suggestions for modifying an existing framework for analysing CSR integration that combines the focus on specific business operations and the stages that a company can undergo in implementing CSR. The developed model could be used as a practical tool for analysing the company and the potential areas that would lead to CSR integration on a more strategic level. The qualitative nature of the present work and supporting the theoretical reflections with quotes from SME managers and owners provides opportunities for naturalistic generalisations and gaining insights on what activities could be implemented in companies. We acknowledge that our work has several limitations. The qualitative nature of the study does not allow statistical generalisation; thus, further research is recommended to enhance the findings and test the developed model in different context and using different methods, as well as targeting not only managers and owners whose responsibilities are related to strategy and sustainability, but also employees from other functions. Quantitative and qualitative studies of SMEs in the analysed region conducted by native speakers are also recommended.

A Economia Ecológica traz como principal fundamento a limitação biofísica do Capital Natural como fonte primária na geração de Serviços Ecossistêmicos demandados pela sociedade. A discussão sobre os limites ecossistêmicos ganhou expressão internacional nas reflexões trazidas pelo relatório Limits to Growth (1972) e consolidou-se na Avaliação Ecossistêmica do Milênio (2005). A diretriz de limitação das atividades econômicas à capacidade de suporte dos ecossistemas vem sendo incorporada no contexto da governança ambiental global, por meio de conferências, convenções e tratados voltados para a governança de temáticas como mudanças climáticas, gestão de recursos hídricos e biodiversidade. No entanto, desde a publicação do Clube de Roma (1968), (um alerta sobre a vulnerabilidade do crescimento econômico às limitações do capital natural) houve predominância, no setor empresarial, de abordagens pautadas nos conceitos Triple Bottom Line e de Ecoeficiência, deixando em segundo plano a discussão sobre os limites ecossistêmicos. Os relatórios de sustentabilidade, instrumentos voltados à divulgação de informações socioambientais das empresas aos seus Stakeholders, refletem também esta trajetória de ênfase a estas abordagens. Entretanto, o advento do Relato Integrado (RI), traz elementos em sua Estrutura, documentos-base e em discursos de sua entidade propositora (o International Integrated Reporting Council - IIRC), que sugerem aderência ao entendimento da Economia Ecológica. Ou seja, de que o Capital Natural provê o ambiente sobre o qual os outros capitais se apoiam. Em função disto, este estudo teve como objetivo geral verificar se o RI corresponde a uma iniciativa alinhada aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica. O alinhamento do RI a tais fundamentos, o configuraria como um marco no setor empresarial, correspondendo a uma iniciativa pioneira, permitindo considerá-lo um potencial vetor de mudança sobre os paradigmas atuais de gestão corporativa. Para elucidar esta questão realizou-se uma análise multimétodo, em três etapas. Nas duas primeiras analisaram-se os documentos: Estrutura Internacional para Relato Integrado (2013), o CAPITALS: Background Paper for (2013) e os Relatórios Integrados divulgados pelas 6 organizações brasileiras selecionadas, para os anos de 2014 e 2015. Na última etapa de entrevistas verificou-se o discurso dos gestores de cada empresa. Os resultados avaliam a aderência de tais documentos e dos discursos aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica. O estudo conclui que o RI não corresponde a uma iniciativa alinhada com os fundamentos da Economia Ecológica e, entre seus principais resultados, destaca: i) as divergências encontradas entre os documentos produzidos pelo IIRC, quanto ao seu alinhamento aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica, que comprometem o potencial do RI como vetor de transformação da governança corporativa; ii) a baixa incidência de elementos e abordagens alusivas a tais fundamentos nos relatórios analisados, além de que, iii) para os casos em que o alinhamento a tais fundamentos foi detectado, não há relação com a adoção das diretrizes do IIRC. O estudo contribui ainda com a sugestão de modificações na Estrutura Internacional para Relato Integrado, no sentido de orientar o alinhamento da iniciativa aos fundamentos da Economia Ecológica, diferenciando-a no que tange à gestão ambiental corporativa. / The Ecological Economics has as its main foundation the biophysical limitation of Natural Capital in relation to the society\'s demand for Ecosystem Services. The discussion on ecosystem boundaries gained international expression in the reflections brought by the Limits to Growth report (1972) and consolidated in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). The guideline limiting economic activities to ecosystem support capacity has been incorporated in the context of global environmental governance, through conferences, conventions and treaties focused on the governance of issues such as climate change, water resources management and biodiversity. However, since the Club of Rome (1968) (an initiative alerting about the vulnerability of economic growth to the limitations of natural capital), there was a predominance in the business sector of approaches based on the concepts of Triple Bottom Line and Eco-efficiency, leaving in the behind the discussion about the ecosystem limits. The sustainability reports, instruments aimed at the dissemination of companys social and environmental information to their Stakeholders, also reflect this trajectory of emphasis to these approaches. However, the advent of the Integrated Reporting (IR) brings elements in its Structure, base documents and speeches of its proposer (the International Integrated Reporting Council - IIRC), which suggest adherence to the understanding of the Ecological Economics, that Natural Capital provides the environment upon which other capitals rely. In this sense, this study has as general objective to verify if the IR corresponds to an initiative aligned with the Ecological Economics foundations. The alignment of the IR to such basement, would configure it as a landmark in the business sector, corresponding to a pioneering initiative, allowing to consider it as a potential vector of change on the current paradigms of corporate management. To elucidate this question a multi-method analysis was carried out in three stages. Stages one and two analyzed the following documents: The international Framework (2013), CAPITALS: Background Paper for (2013) and the Integrated Reports released by the six Brazilian organizations selected, for the years 2014 and 2015. And in the third interview stage analyzed the discourse of the managers of each company. The results evaluate the adherence of such documents and discourses to the Ecological Economics foundations. The study concludes that IR does not correspond to an initiative aligned with the Ecological Economics foundations and, among its main results, it highlights: i) the divergences found between the documents produced by the IIRC and its alignment with the these foundations, which compromise the potential of IR as a transformation vector of corporate governance; ii) the low incidence of elements and approaches alluding to such foundations in the analyzed reports. Besides that, iii) in cases where the alignment to these foundations was detected, there is no relation with the adoption of the IIRC guidelines. The study also contributes by proposing modifications in The international Framework, in order to direct the alignment of the initiative to the Ecological Economics foundations, differentiating it in what concerns to the corporate environmental management.