To act responsible in relation to environmental, economic and social issues is a trend that is spreading among businesses and their investors. In order to assess business risks, ethical interested investors are calling for open, honest, clear CSR information that can be followed up in corporate sustainability reports. The ability to communicate about risks and to meet investors requests already in the business analytic process can save resources and increase the company’s profitability. The idea that companies should take responsibility for their impact on society from economic, environmental and social perspective is called Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR. In addition to CSR, there is another three-letter abbreviation in this context, PRI – Principles for Responsible Investment – which are principles, signed by ethically interested investors. Owners of shares and securities such as fund management companies and banks have in recent years emerged as a major driving force behind corporate CSR efforts. Companies that is good at reporting their CSR work, is estimated to have a lower investment risk than companies that communicates this work poorly. In this paper, six investors express their expectations on companies CSR reporting. Their responses are analyzed and summarized, which may make it easier for companies wishing to report their CSR work right from the start.

Referring to the Corporate Citizenship responsibility from the consumers perspective, consumers should be informed about Corporate Citizenship responsibility actions in order to educate them and make them more sensitive towards the dynamic role they are given.

Organisationer har i och med globaliseringen fått en allt större makt och med det även ett större ansvar över den omgivning de verkar. Att företag implementerar corporate social responsibility (CSR) i sin verksamhet har blivit allt vanligare på grund av yttre påtryckningar och förväntningar. Implementeringen av CSR kräver att företag har en fungerande intern kommunikation. Detta för att abstrakta mål och strategier ska kunna omsättas till en mer konkret nivå längre ner i verksamheten. Det förutsätter att medarbetare förstår arbetet med CSR och sin roll i det hela. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om CSR kan anses vara implementerat i ett större industriföretag och vilken betydelse den interna kommunikationen har för detta. Utifrån formulerat syfte har dessa frågeställningar härletts:   <ul type="disc">Hur kan organisationens arbete med att leda och planera implementeringen av CSR beskrivas? På vilket sätt kan organisationens interna kommunikation av CSR beskrivas? Vilka hinder och möjligheter gällande intern kommunikation av CSR kan identifieras och hur kan dessa förstås?     Empirin har insamlats via intervjuer med strategiskt utvalda personer inom det valda industriföretaget. Studien utgår från teorier om intern kommunikation och strategisk implementering. Undersökningen visar att företaget inte har lyckats implementera CSR på grund av en bristande intern kommunikation. Analysen indikerar att en komplex organisationsstruktur skapar variationer i kommunikation och implementering samtidigt som ansvariga på strategisk nivå har valt att inte kommunicera CSR-strategin i sin helhet. Det kan därav tänkas påverka medarbetares förmåga att kunna relatera sina dagliga arbetssysslor till det övergripande hållbarhetsarbetet. Vilket i sig kan ha resulterat i att en motivationsklyfta har uppstått mellan strategisk och operativ nivå. Det kan förklaras med att en informations- och kunskapsförskjutning har minskat medarbetares förståelse för CSR-strategin och därmed deras möjligheter att omsätta CSR från ord till handling. Ett till synes bristfälligt internt kommunikationssystem kan därmed sägas göra CSR till en pappersprodukt. / Due to globalization, organizations have gained ever-increasing power, and also have greater responsibility in the environment they operate. The fact that companies implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) in their business has become more common due to external pressure and expectations. The implementation of CSR requires of companies to have an effective internal communication system. This allows abstract objectives and strategies to be transformed into a more concrete level further down the organization. It assumes that employees understand the CSR- related work and their part to play. The purpose of this study is to investigate if CSR permeates a major industrial company and the importance of internal communication. Based on the stated purpose, these questions have been derived:   <ul type="disc">How can the organization's management and planning implementation of CSR be described? In what way can the organization's internal communication of CSR be described? <ul type="disc">What obstacles and possibilities regarding internal communication of CSR can be identified and how can these be understood?   The empirical data has been collected through interviews with strategically selected individuals within the chosen industrial company. Due to ethical reasons, the company will be anonymous and so also the informants. The study is based on theories of internal communication and strategic implementation. The analysis indicates that a complex organizational structure creates variations in communication and implementation while at the same time, trategic-level managers have chosen not to communicate the CSR-strategy in its full context. It may therefore affect the ability of employees to relate their daily work to the overall sustainability work. Which may have resulted in a motivational gap having arisen between strategic and operational levels. This can be explained by the fact that an information and knowledge shift has reduced employee understanding of the CSR-strategy and thus their ability to transform CSR from word to action. An apparently inadequate internal communication system can thus be said to make CSR a paper product.

Bakgrund: Allt fler företag har idag erkänt betydelsen av att ta ett ökat samhällsansvar, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), samt att regelbundet kommunicera arbetet med deras intressenter. Då CSR saknar en enhetlig definition och därmed också en enhetlig modell att arbeta efter, skapar det emellertid oklarheter vad arbetet ska leda till. CSR kan då omfamnas av företag som enbart ser arbetet som ett PR-trick och gör symboliska handlingar för att utåt sett uppfattas som goda samhällsmedborgare. Det kan därför ifrågasättas hur väl CSR-arbetet integreras i kärnverksamheten. Det har dock kommit allt fler lagkrav och standarder inom området, vilket potentiellt kan skapa en tydligare ram men även ett annat synsätt. Syfte: Denna studie har som syfte att få en ökad förståelse över CSR som begrepp för att sedan se hur företagen arbetar för att integrera CSR i kärnverksamheten och varför. Studien ser även till påverkan av ökad reglering, för att se om företags syn på CSR har förändrats.    Metod: Studien har huvudsakligen en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med en deduktiv ansats då studien tar avstamp i tidigare studier. De företag som studerats är Lammhult Design Group AB och Electra AB. Som datainsamlingsmetod har det genomförts semistrukturerade intervjuer med ansvariga personer, men det har även skickats ut en medarbetarundersökning i form av en enkät. I studien har jag dessutom inhämtat information från fallföretagens hemsidor samt års- och hållbarhetsredovisningar.   Resultat och slutsats: Det är inte lika viktigt att finna en enhetlig definition av CSR i dagens samhälle. CSR som begrepp har dessutom allt mer kommit att ersättas av hållbarhet som anses vara ett vidare begrepp. Vidare är det en långsam process att integrera CSR i kärnverksamheten, där intern CSR-röst, utbildning, rutiner och information är av särskild vikt. Genom att ha ett hållbarhetsarbete i framkant och se det som värdeskapande kan företag undvika påtryckning vid potentiella händelser såsom lagkrav. / Background: Today, most companies have recognized the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and regularly communicating the work with stakeholders. Since CSR lacks a uniform definition and thus also a uniform model to work for, it creates uncertainties about the purpose of the work. Companies who only do symbolic actions to be perceived as good citizens of the community can then use CSR as PR. It can therefore be questioned how well CSR is integrated into the core business. However, it has been an increasing number of legal requirements and standards in the area, potentially creating a clearer framework but also another approach.   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to gain a greater understanding of CSR as a concept and then see how companies work to integrate CSR into core business and why. The study also looks at the impact of increased regulation, to see if views on CSR have changed.   Method: The study has primarily a qualitative research strategy with a deductive approach that stands on previous studies. The companies studied are Lammhult Design Group AB and Electra AB. As a data collection method, I have conducted semi-structured interviews with responsible managers, but also a staff survey. I have also used the homepages websites and annual and sustainability reports.   Outcome and conclusion: It is not as important to find a unified definition of CSR in today's society. The concept of CSR has been replaced by sustainability, which is considered as a broader term. Furthermore, it is a slow process of integrating CSR into core business, where internal voice, education, routines and information are of particular importance. By maintaining sustainability at the forefront companies can avoid pressure such as legal requirements.

This paper studies the link between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and operating performance of companies between two countries in the same industry. This study analyze the relationship between financial performance indicators ROE (return on equity), OM (operating margin) and CSD (corporate social disclosure) for five listed Swedish apparel companies on the Stockholm exchange market and five listed Chinese apparel companies on the Chinese exchange market by using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The main findings are that there are mixed results in the relationship between CSR disclosure and operating performance for two countries’ companies. And there are some differences in this relationship between two countries’ companies.

In the societies of today there is a commercial requirement that companies take social responsibility. Companies that does not market their sustainability initiatives risk losing their competitiveness and thereby lose market shares. Many companies are therefore engaged in environmental- and societal issues and use them in their marketing. Problems arise when this kind of requirement on companies makes some actor takes shortcuts to appear more environmentally friendly than they really are, by using embellished and empty claims, which leads to a diminishing trust in green and sustainable products. A company portraying their CSR-work as better than it is called Greenwashing, which is what is underlying this paper. This study means to examine how companies communicate their environmental responsibility, how the communication is received by external stakeholders and if Greenwashing can be perceived. Guidelines for how to communicate green marketing will also be discussed.

Purpose: The aim of this thesis is to develop a better understanding on how businesses should communicate their sustainability strategy to their stakeholders. Businesses are facing the challenge of designing sustainability communications strategies that appeal to stakeholders of various interest and knowledge on the topic, and stakeholders whose objectives might even be contradictory to that of the company. In order to facilitate the communications process to encourage a better uptake of sustainability initiatives by corporations and the public, it is essential to find solutions to these communications challenges. Methodology: The study focuses on the food and drink value chain in Western Europe and is based on empirical evidence from a multiple case study methodology involving in-depth interviews with 25 senior managers and directors from food and drink manufacturing companies, retailers, and some of their stakeholders. Findings: A framework for corporate sustainability communications is developed, depicting five communications strategies. The framework also offers an insight how stakeholders can be categorised into the most appropriate communications strategy through the application of certain segmentation attributes. It is further illustrated how the application of strategic ambiguity can add value to the communications process in order to stimulate interest, initiatives and innovation from stakeholders. Theoretical and practical implications/originality: Previous research on corporate communications strategies, has seen limited empirical validation, is primarily focussed on consumers, and more importantly is lacking in advice regarding how to craft communications that not only appeal to a multitude of stakeholders, but that also encourage collaboration. The findings therefore add confirmation and extension to the previous research and, importantly, it provides a link between theories of strategic ambiguity and the corporate communications literature. The framework also offers practical value as it provides managers with a clear guidance on how to design effective corporate sustainability communications, ensuring diverse appeal and/or engagement for collaboration. Thus it provides a tool that has the potential of facilitating holistic sustainability progress in a value chain.

Abstract- A study of interaction between real estate companies and their customers for sustainability purpose. Date: 2017-05-23   Level: Degree Project in Industrial Engineering and Management, 30 ECTS   Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, EST, Mälardalen University   Authors: Ivan Kertan, Oskar Manninen              1992-07-03         1993-06-29                            Title: A study of interaction between real estate companies and their customers for application of sustainability key figures  Tutor: Peter Ekman Keywords: Communication medium, Customer engagement , CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) Study Question: What is the view of real estate companies about their impact on society and their ways to work sustainably? How should the real estate companies communicate with commercial tenants in order to apply the sustainability key figures that are developed by the KPI2030 research project? What view do the studied companies have regarding customer engagement and how is a strong customer engagement valued?   Purpose: The purpose of this study is to achieve a deeper understanding regarding an elaborately interaction between the real estate owners and tenants concerning sustainability work.          Method: In this study an abductive approach has been used. A case study was conducted at a limited number of real estate companies with the intention of obtaining qualitative data. This was done through semi-structured interviews with each company. An analysis of the theoretical reference frame and the collected data was conducted which led to conclusions.   Conclusion: The studied companies felt some kind of a responsibility towards society. No specific actions could however be mentioned by most of the companies in order to meet the demand for CSR with regards to social and economic aspects. The study showed a clear connection between customer engagement and communication medium, where stronger communication medium lead to more engaged customers. Strong communication medium as face-to-face is required as the concept of sustainability was perceived as complex and needed to be concretized. The concept of engagement was not highly valued as engagement did not seem to be understood well enough by any studied company. Nevertheless, the potential to make use of engaged customers clearly could be done by the right use of improved communication.

This diploma thesis is focused on CSR (corporate social responsibility), the possibilities of this approach, which are offered by the market and its using particularly from the perspective of the smaller companies. The aim of this diploma thesis is to propose a procedure for CSR application in a company Bisport s. r. o., which focuses primarily on boats renting, as well as other related services along the river Sázava based on analyzes of perception and the possibility of social responsibility. To accomplish this objective is using research of the literature and other secondary sources, the own analysis of the perception of the social responsibility consumers based on data MML-TGI available at the University, and then the information from internal company sources of Bisport s. r. o., where I work some years.

Today, globalization, new technologies and modernization bring a lot of negative influences on our environment and society we live in, compared to the positive effects they create. And that is the reason why so many companies are embarking on socially beneficial goals, rather than profit. The aim of the diploma thesis is to explore and evaluate a concept of corporate social responsibility at Rossmann. In the theoretical part of the thesis I familiarize the reader with corporate social responsibility, dealing with the main characteristics of the concept and actual situation in the Czech republic. The second chapter deals with the characteristics of Rossmann and its activities in the CSR field. The practical part consists of two parts. The first one focuses on internal and external analysis of the company`s environment with regards to CSR. The second practical part is concerned with the empirical research, that was realized by the questionnaire investigation. Following the gained knowledge I will answer the fundamental question: How is the corporate social responsibility part of the company strategy? I will propose measures that will lead to increasing awareness of CSR and the advantages that using CSR brings to the company more effectively.