Aim of the thesis is to define, characterize, structure and analyse incentives that lead firms to undergo and keep certification of the voluntary environmental standard ISO 14001. Following hypothesis was formulated in line with chosen aim: firms certify themselves with ISO 14001 mainly due to necessity of implementation of environmental elements to corporate governance in line with sustainable development. Outcome of the retrievel part of the thesis is to clearly define and well structure incentives that lead firms to certification. Subject matter experts from different certified companies assign to these incentives scales using staistical pairwise comparisons called Fuller's triangle. Based on the scales and order is confirmed or denied formulated hypothesis.

The subjekt of this dissertation is The implementation of the concept of social responsibility in selected company. Ponnath ŘEZNIČTÍ MISTŘI s. r. o. based in Sušice, is the company, for which is the concept designed. It is daugther company of Ponnath DIE MEISTER- METZGER Kemnath company. The purpose of this thesis is determination of CSR goals and creation of CSR action plan. These activities can be inspiration for implementation of the concept of CSR in company. The result of thesis is listing of proposals of which can company choose, if it decided to by a social responsible company.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a much debated and ever changing topic. From a South African context, one of the most recent means of measuring CSR has been through the use of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) socially responsible investment index (SRII). The JSE SRII was first introduced in 2004 and has grown in popularity and effectiveness since. Included amongst the criteria for inclusion in this index is compliance with black economic empowerment (BEE). The index measures companies against the triple bottom line (environment, society&economy). Companies included in the index are deemed to have good CSR practices. This study evaluates the effects of CSR on the corporate financial performance (CFP) of the top 100 listed companies on the JSE over a 10 year period (2002-2011). The findings of the study suggest that companies not included in the SRII, on average, perform better than SRII companies. The basis of this conclusion is on the analysis of the results of the total return index (TRI), return on assets ratio (ROA) and the net profit margin percentage (NPM). / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Financial Management / unrestricted

This qualitative research paper examines the emergence and main features of International Framework Agreements (IFAs) as a form of transnational labour relations. IFAs originated in the 1980s and proliferated after 2000. They aim to secure core labour rights across multinational corporations global supply chains. Globalisation changed the world of work, and, as a result, there is a call to look beyond national borders with reference to labour relations. Transnational corporations were the primary movers of mobility, but since then finance, people, and ideas joined the world of flows, introducing the new arena of transnational labour relations. The purpose of this research was primarily to determine what transnational labour relations are, and to determine whether IFAs form part of this transnational labour relations system. By conducting a document analysis and doing a literature review, the researcher analysed the contents of various articles, and assessed the substantive and procedural aspects of some IFAs concluded before 2008. Finally, key issues surrounding IFAs, such as the scope of agreements, trade union capacity, and global supply chains, are discussed in the context of international labour s campaigning, organising, and negotiation activities. Based on various features of international trade union activity, such as world company councils, codes of conduct, and international social dialogue, IFAs constitute an important and innovative tool in transnational labour relations. / Mini Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / tm2016 / Human Resource Management / MCom / Unrestricted

Purpose: This study aims to explore the CSR strategies in startup companies. To achieve this, this research paper, therefore, strives to first understand what drives startups to adopt socially responsible activities, gauging the level of commitment to CSR and understanding how startup companies implement soMethodology: This research was conducted using a qualitative research approach using a multiple case approach. The multiple case study focused on Swedish startups. Primary data was used through semi-structured interviews and it was complemented by secondary data extracted from the company's websites.Findings: Startup companies are mainly driven to engage in CSR through a strategic motive but influenced by the moralistic motive that has mainly contributed to the startup companies to be proactive and accommodative in their CSR. And these startups approach CSR leads to their implementation of CSR integrated into their business model.Conclusion: This study stresses the importance of integrating CSR to the strategy of the companies especially in Startup companies where most think CSR is costly and not possible for these starting up ventures. Strategic CSR could be of benefit for competitive advantage and most importantly, the growth and survival of startup companies. Strategic CSR is a possibility for startup companies!

The company developed through an evolutionary process. Our conceptualization of the company and its position in law is determined by our philosophical approach to justice (our underlying system of belief), the resultant theory of law that we adopt and the underlying economic, political and social environment in which the company operates. Three broad philosophical approaches to justice are identified in this study. The first revolves around the idea of maximizing welfare, the second around the idea of respecting freedom and the third approach sees justice as bound up with virtue and the good life. It is argued in this thesis that we cannot detach arguments about justice and rights from arguments about virtue and the good life. It is not possible to devise a grand theory of the nature of the company. But from a normative perspective the communitarian theory and arguably the concession theory (more particularly the dual concession theory of Dine) is the most acceptable theory of the nature of the company. The real entity theory, as articulated by Dodd, is the preferred theory of the corporate personhood of the company. A company, especially a large company, is a public or quasi-public entity and a corporate citizen that should have the same legal, social and moral rights and responsibilities as a natural person. From a normative perspective the entity maximization and sustainability model (EMS model) and the stakeholder model are the most attractive models of corporate governance. It is generally accepted that the ultimate purpose of the company must be to serve society. Subject to this ultimate and supreme objective, the corporate objective on a narrower level must be to maximize and sustain the company as a separate legal entity. The aforesaid conceptualization of the company corresponds with the normative value system that underpins the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution), and therefore also the Companies Act 71 of 2008 (the Companies Act of 2008). The Constitution encompasses a social democratic vision for South Africa in which commercial autonomy must be tempered by virtue, dignity and social and economic equality. The Companies Act of 2008 gives express recognition to bring company law within our constitutional framework. There has been a fundamental paradigm shift in the normative value system that underpins our company law since liberalism and laissez-faire reigned supreme in the eighteenth and nineteenth century Great Britain, from which country our company law originates. The underlying philosophy and approach of our company law is now more aligned with that of Canada. This also has an important effect on the rights, protections and remedies of creditors and employees of the company. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Centre for Human Rights / LLD / Unrestricted

The purpose of the study is to examine how companies in the Swedish market communicate their environmental sustainability work, whether it generates value for the company and whether there are any challenges with it. To answer the purpose of the study, six semistructured interviews were conducted. Many studies have already been done on how consumers experience sustainability communication which is why we did the study from the companies' perspective. The study contains two key theories; Creating Shared Value and Triple Bottom Line. Our results are presented in the study's analysis, where we connect empirical data, previous academic research and theory. We have identified that environmental sustainability communication creates value for the company by strengthening the brand, strengthening the customers' positive connection to the company and increasing customer satisfaction. It creates security for the customer, investors and employees when environmental sustainability work is communicated in a transparent way. The companies we have studied also describe that it is important to take responsibility and contribute to a more sustainable society. The study can contribute to research on CSR and sustainability for valuecreating purposes as our study is based on how large companies on the Swedish market describe this process

Syfte och frågeställningar: Syftet med vår studie är att undersöka hållbarhetschefers upplevelser av HR:s involvering i hållbarhetsarbetet. Vidare vill vi med hjälp av empiri, tidigare forskning och teoretiskt underlag generera en bredare förståelse för hur svenska företag arbetar för att skapa en resilient och hållbar organisation. Studiens frågeställningar är: Hur arbetar sex, stora svenska företag med hållbarhet idag? På vilket sätt anser hållbarhetschefer att HR är involverade i hållbarhetsarbetet? Hur upplever hållbarhetschefer att företags resiliens eventuellt kan stärkas av hållbarhetsarbete? Material och metoder: Vi har utgått från en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med en abduktiv ansats. Vi har genomfört ett subjektivt urval för att sedan samla in empiri genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Empirin har sedermera bearbetats med hjälp av innehållsanalys och inspiration från hermeneutisk tolkning. Huvudresultat: Resultatet i studien belyser hur svenska företag arbetar med social och miljömässig hållbarhet. Centralt för organisationers hållbarhetsarbete verkar vara att skapa en organisationsspecifik definition och att integrera hållbarhet i affärsstrategin. Viktigt är också att utarbeta hållbarhetsstrategier som sedan operationaliseras med hjälp av HR i det dagliga arbetet. Vidare redogör studien för HR:s inverkan på hållbarhetsarbete genom att underlätta både strategiskt och operativt genom bland annat värdeskapande, kulturarbete, utbildning och rekrytering. Ett väletablerat hållbarhetsarbete med en hållbar kultur kan i sin tur stärka marknadsvärdet, förhöja konkurrenskraften på sikt och attrahera interna och externa intressenter. Genom att arbeta med hållbarhet integrerat kan företagen således stärka sin resiliens.

The formal requirements of experts are diminishing, thus opening up for the expansion of new experts, who are gaining more influence in society. In contemporary society, all organizations are pressured to consider Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and are therefore dependent on the new experts within the field. However, the research remains underexplored. Building on research on new experts and storytelling, this thesis addresses how CSR-experts within organizations engage in storytelling to legitimize their expertise. A framework of four storytelling themes was made, and a qualitative case study conducted. Six interviews were carried out and documents made by the interviewees studied. The findings demonstrate that the CSR-experts engage in storytelling in line with the storytelling themes, but new findings could also be added to the themes. They engage in future-oriented storytelling, as well as storytelling concerning current problems and solutions, to legitimize the role of expertise today and to sustain it for the future, demonstrating how storytelling is a dynamic process taking place in everyday organizational life. However, to attain legitimacy, the study indicates that storytelling needs to be adjusted to the receiver in a successful manner, otherwise it may instead inhibit the legitimacy that the CSR-experts are trying to create.

Corporate Social Responsibility handlar om företagens sätt att ta företagsansvar. Begreppet har ingen enhetlig definition men handlar om hur företag ska ta ekonomiskt, socialt och miljömässigt ansvar. CSR har från början varit ämnat för stora företag som haft resurser att arbeta med det. Med regeringens beslut om obligatorisk hållbarhetsrapportering för stora företag blev det tydligare att  de mindre företagen inte blev belysta i samma utsträckning, trots att de utgör majoriteten av företagen i Sverige.  Syftet med denna uppsats är att förklara vilken betydelse intressenter har för CSR-arbetet i småföretag inom restaurang- och livsmedelsbranschen och analysera på vilket sätt de påverkar arbetet med miljömässigt, ekonomiskt och socialt ansvarstagande.  För att uppnå syftet har vi utgått från en abduktiv metod. Vi har genom fem kvalitativa intervjuer samlat ihop det som utgör empirin för denna studie. Det har sedan analyserats mot teorin för att kunna besvara vår forskningsfråga. Arbetet med CSR drevs av ett flertal intressenter. Kunderna hade mer uttalade krav mot företagen än vad resterande intressenter hade. Däremot var det ägaren som hade den bestämmande rollen i vilka CSR - aktiviteter som skulle implementeras i verksamheten.