Sustainable development is one of the most frequently used expressions in the economic context. Its importance is emphasized not only at the national level but also at the corporate level. The purpose of this study is to find the influence of company´s age, size and type of industry on the level of sustainable development among Swedish companies. In order to accurately evaluate the level of sustainable development a comprehensive measurement scale is needed. We have recognized the research gap of lack of sustainability measurement methods. Thus, the second goal we have decided to achieve is to develop an extensive measurement scale for sustainability performance evaluation. The main contribution of the study lies in filling the research gap by providing a new measurement method that can be adopted in order to evaluate the sustainability performance and to find the effects of company age, size and type of industry on the level of CSR. The relationships in the study are hypothesized and summarized in the conceptual model and consequently tested. This study distinguishes five underlying perspectives of sustainability and several categories of company ages, size and types of industry. These aspects are in the focal point of the questionnaire sent to our sample of Swedish companies. The data collected from the survey were analyzed in SPSS statistics program using a variety of analytical methods. At first, each set of questions was analyzed separately. Thereafter, the findings regarding each determinant of CSR were thoroughly discussed. Based on the results from analytical tests a revised conceptual model is proposed. The new features added to the model should enhance its quality and explanatory value. The collected data reveal that the responding Swedish companies engage in the sustainability perspectives in a considerable extent. According to the results of the study there is no or minor effect of company age and type of industry on the level of CSR. Company size, however, is found to be a significant determinant of CSR causing an U-shaped effect. This U-shaped effect of company size implies that the level of CSR activities decreases as a company grows from small to middle-sized but increases from middle-sized to large company.

How can you use your money to make the world a better place? This research explores how institutional shareholders can use their position of ownership to influence corporations with regards to issues such as human rights, labour conditions, and the environment (otherwise known as CSR). This work, comprised of six separate studies, shows that translation processes, which can bridge the disparate institutional logics of the corporate sector with the logics of the environmental protection and social justice sectors, enables shareholders influence on CSR. This research also introduces the notion that shareholders can act in a capacity of norm entrepreneur and norm promoter, suggesting that shareholders can influence corporations in more far-reaching ways than changing single instances of behaviour. / <p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2009 Sammanfattning jämte 6 uppsatser</p>

The expectations’ on companies to take responsibility for their business practices aregrowing. Still, limited research have been conducted on consumer expectation on corporatesocial responsibility (CSR) practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). Thereforethe purpose of this study was to investigate how consumers’ expectations of CSR practices inSME’s differ concerning the five areas of CSR; environmental, social, ethical, human rightand labour rights, to provide suggestions on how SME’s could allocate their resources onCSR. This was investigated by a mixed method consisting of a survey and a focus group witha sample of students at Uppsala University. The findings of the study demonstrate that theconsumers have the highest expectations on labour rights responsibility, second highest onethical responsibility, followed by human rights responsibility, environmental responsibilityand finally the lowest expectations on social responsibility. The main theoretical implicationof the study is that the expectations on the social area of CSR differ much from previousresearch and the main managerial implication indicates that SME’s should allocate a majorityof their resources to ensuring labour rights.

Background The market together with the demands on companies are ever-changing and it has for long been a growing trend for companies to work in a responsible way towards its society, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSR gives the opportunity of improving a company‟s brand image, but it has yet to been explored which dimensions of the well known- and cited CSR pyramid, that affect brand image among consumers. Purpose To explore how consumers brand image of companies are affected by companies‟ CSR activities.Methodology The thesis was conducted by a qualitative case study, through focus groups. Conclusion To be able to gain brand image from the work of CSR, companies have to work above the line of what is expected by society‟s consumers. The economic and legal dimensions have to be fulfilled, but they do not independently create a strong brand image. Philanthropic, and partially ethical CSR activities however, provide the possibility of a strengthened brand image.

Different stakeholders are now showing a higher interest in organisations’ social responsibility than ever before, creating an increased pressure on organisations' sustainability performance. Various researchers (e.g. Emerson, 2003; Lingane &amp; Olsen, 2004) stress that in order to meet this pressure and to achieve a true sustainable development, organisations need to fully incorporate social values through social accounting. Although numerous organisations report on their social impacts (Hahn &amp; Kühnen, 2013), it is often said that small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are lagging behind in terms of sustainability performance (Cassells &amp; Lewis, 2011). A few studies have addressed this by investigating difficulties for social enterprises to conduct social accounting but a research gap is evident regarding practical implications for SMEs in the for-profit sector. Through an embedded case study design of a sustainability network of for-profit SMEs on Gotland, we sought to explain SME managers perception of difficulties and benefits associated with social accounting, and how such attitudes relate to their sustainability practices. Through a triangulation design, surveys and qualitative interviews were applied to determine the relationship between attitudes and actions. A theoretical framework by Thomas and Lamm (2012), based on Ajzen’s (2005) theory of planned behaviour and Suchman’s (1995) typology of legitimacies was used for analysis. The SME managers were found to have a neutral attitude towards social accounting and they all engaged in practical actions rather than social impact measurement or social reporting. Thus, the results reflect consistency between attitudes towards social accounting and actions, i.e. the intention to perform social accounting. The SME managers perceived the difficulties of social accounting to outweigh the benefits of it, and were insecure about their abilities to perform social accounting. The findings of this study could confirm previously found implications of social accounting and further found that the SME managers expected additional difficulties for companies in the service sector and for those without employees.

Magistro baigiamojo darbo objektas – įmonių socialinės atsakomybės (ĮSA) diskursas. Darbo tikslas – išanalizuoti, kaip verslui skirti periodiniai lietuviški leidiniai pateikia įmonių socialinės atsakomybės temą. Pagrindiniai darbo uždaviniai: aptarti įmonių socialinės atsakomybės sampratą; apžvelgti žiniasklaidos įtaką įmonių socialinės atsakomybės plėtrai; išanalizuoti ir apibendrinti įmonių socialinės atsakomybės diskursą periodiniuose Lietuvos verslo leidiniuose. Naudojantis mokslinės literatūros analizės, sintezės ir lyginamuoju metodais, pirmiausiai prieita prie išvados, kad universalus įmonių socialinės atsakomybės apibrėžimas ir samprata nėra paplitę. Išanalizavus žymių įmonių socialinės atsakomybės tyrinėtojų, tokių kaip Ph. Kotler, A. Caroll, S. Banerjee, W. Werther, D. Chandler, G. Heal, F. Baaker ir kt., literatūrą, prieita prie išvados, kad apibendrintai ĮSA gali būti aiškinama kaip verslo įsipareigojimas ne tik užtikrinti įstatymus bei visuomenės normas atitinkančią sąžiningą ir etišką veiklą, bet ir savanoriškos įmonių pastangos, suderintos su bendrais įmonės tikslais ir integruotos į bendrą įmonės veiklos strategiją, naudojant savo išteklius papildomai prisidėti prie aplinkos ir visuomenės ekonominės, socialinės bei aplinkosauginės gerovės vystymo, kurios yra naudingos ir pačiai įmonei. Išanalizavus ĮSA situaciją Lietuvoje, prieita prie išvados, kad šalyje ĮSA nėra plačiai paplitusi ir vystoma gana lėtai, tačiau, dėl palankaus verslo požiūrio į ĮSA, palankiai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The object of this master work is corporate social responsibility's (CSR) discourse. The purpose of this work is to analyze how Lithuanian business press presents CSR topic. The main tasks to reach this purpose are: overview and compare CSR definitions; analyze media impact to CSR; analyze and summarize CSR discourse in Lithuanian business press. Literature analysis, synthesis and comparative methods were used to drawn conclusions. After the literature analysis of such scientists as Ph. Kotler, A. Caroll, S. Banerjee, W. Werther, D. Chandler, G. Heal, F. Baaker and others it was found out that universal CSR definition hasn‘t been developed yet. However, generally CSR may be described as business commitment not only to ensure fair and ethical activity according to the law and public norms, but also as voluntary efforts, combined with company’s goals and integrated into its strategy, using company’s resources to contribute additionally to the economic, social and environmental wealth development of the society and environment, that are also beneficial for the company itself. The analysis of CSR in Lithuania showed that CSR is not widely spread in the country and the development of it is slow but the general conditions for CSR development in Lithuania are positive. After the literature analysis of such scientists as S. Ball-Rokeach, D. Davis, S. Baron, K. Schroder, K. Miller, J. Hall, S. Brooks, J. Duck, B. Mullin, J. Bryant, D. Zillmann and others it was found out that media is... [to full text]

The aim of the research was to understand the experiences and challenges of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Thabazimbi and the implications and consequences for communities in terms of dependency and empowerment, as seen from the perspective of the mining representatives. As corporate citizens, mining companies generate profits through the exploitation of mineral resources. There is an expectation that some of the benefits of this mining endeavours should be passed on to communities surrounding the company. This is generally considered the best sustainability practice and companies are expected to act as responsible corporate citizens. Most of the previous research on CSR has focused on the perceptions of community members. This research is unique in that it focuses on the effects of CSR on the experiences and perceptions of key personnel from the mining companies who are responsible for the designing and implementing CSR strategies. Mining company representatives did acknowledge that the past approach to CSR has created some dependency issues. However, more recently the company has moved to a strategy that focuses more on empowerment. They also acknowledge that, going forward, a new challenge emerges for mining companies, communities and local government. This challenge is to work towards ensuring sustainable development and empowerment with the focus on actual community needs. The conclusion was that for empowerment to be realised all relevant stakeholders need to play a role in the development process. / Thesis (Master of Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The aim of the research was to understand the experiences and challenges of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Thabazimbi and the implications and consequences for communities in terms of dependency and empowerment, as seen from the perspective of the mining representatives. As corporate citizens, mining companies generate profits through the exploitation of mineral resources. There is an expectation that some of the benefits of this mining endeavours should be passed on to communities surrounding the company. This is generally considered the best sustainability practice and companies are expected to act as responsible corporate citizens. Most of the previous research on CSR has focused on the perceptions of community members. This research is unique in that it focuses on the effects of CSR on the experiences and perceptions of key personnel from the mining companies who are responsible for the designing and implementing CSR strategies. Mining company representatives did acknowledge that the past approach to CSR has created some dependency issues. However, more recently the company has moved to a strategy that focuses more on empowerment. They also acknowledge that, going forward, a new challenge emerges for mining companies, communities and local government. This challenge is to work towards ensuring sustainable development and empowerment with the focus on actual community needs. The conclusion was that for empowerment to be realised all relevant stakeholders need to play a role in the development process. / Thesis (Master of Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to contribute with knowledge of the preferences and attitudes among Swedish Generation Y in terms of cause-related marketing. The study aims to find out what this generation prefers in cause-related marketing efforts, focusing on causes and type of support. Furthermore, as a result of Generation Y’s presence on social media it will also examine their attitudes and preferences regarding cause-related marketing on these media platforms. With this thesis the main purpose is to contribute with insights and guidance for Swedish companies wanting to perform cause-related marketing initiatives towards Swedish Generation Y. Frame of references: The frame of references begins with a presentation of consumer behaviour and the power that consumers possess in today’s society. The second section presents corporate social responsibility before moving on to cause-related marketing, profoundly exploring the different aspects of this kind of marketing and presenting existing theories regarding Generation Y’s view on cause-related marketing. The chapter is concluded with a presentation of social media. Methodology: A deductive and quantitative approach has been used for the thesis as this was found appropriate for the purpose. An online questionnaire has been conducted in order to reach a large number of respondents. Empirical framework: The empirical framework presents the results of the online questionnaire. Conclusion: The survey concludes that Swedish Generation Y responds to causes related to humans, e.g., health and well-being, education and social matters, and that they want to see long-term commitment from companies. Moreover, when performing CRM-initiatives information is a key for companies in order to attract and appeal to Swedish Generation Y.

Företags ansvar för sin omvärld är ett högaktuellt ämne som diskuteras i media och i företag. Hållbarhetsarbete är något som stora företag förväntas syssla med och företagets varumärke påverkas i allt större grad av dess hållbarhetsarbete. Utvecklingen av nya kommunikationsvägar, som internet, mobilt bredband och sociala medier, har inneburit att kraven på transparens hos företag har ökat och det upplevs som tvivelaktigt om företagen inte kommunicerar sitt ansvarstagande externt. Svårigheten med hållbarhetskommunikation är att nå ut med vad företaget gör så att den bild som skapas i så stor utsträckning som möjligt stämmer med verkligheten, och inte uppfattas som ett förskönande åtagande. Syftet med denna studie är att skapa förståelse för hur kopplingen mellan hållbarhet, kommunikation och varumärke ser ut samt identifiera framgångsfaktorer för att skapa ett hållbart varumärke. Studien har genomförts som en kvalitativ fallstudie av projektet One Tonne Life, som genomfördes av Vattenfall i samarbete med flera andra partnerföretag 2009-2011. Vattenfall ser detta projekt som ett exempel på lyckad hållbarhetskommunikation och det är därför ett intressant fall att studera för att utveckla teorier kring hur företaget bör arbeta. Ett företags varumärke är inte begränsat till dess logga och grafiska profil, utan handlar om företagets identitet och personlighet. Företagets varumärke kan ses som en sammanvägning av flera olika identiteter, där verklig, kommunicerad, uppfattad, utlovad, kulturell, ideal och önskad identitet är de sju som används i denna studie. En analysmodell har tagits fram som beskriver sambandet mellan hållbarhetsarbete, hållbarhetskommunikation och varumärke. När hållbarhetsarbetet är helt integrerat i företagets strategi och kommuniceras genom att involvera intressenterna i kommunikationen, kan arbetet med hållbarhet inte skiljas från kommunikationen om hållbarhet. Det är endast med detta arbetssätt som företagets varumärke kan byggas av hållbarhet. Denna studie visar att ett företags varumärke påverkas av alla företagets aktiviteter, vilket innebär att företagets hållbarhetsarbete och hållbarhetskommunikation ska vara oskiljbara för att kunna användas för att bygga ett starkt varumärke. Lärdomar ur fallstudien visar på vikten av att 1) arbeta med ett relevant hållbarhetsproblem, 2) synliggöra sitt arbete och sätta det i ett större sammanhang, 3) arbeta tillsammans med andra för att kunna lösa komplexa frågor och förbättra trovärdigheten, 4) involvera mottagaren i kommunikationen, 5) kommunicera ett budskap genom många kanaler, 6) paketera inhållbarhetsarbetet i en intressant historia samt 7) arbeta med att förankra hållbarhetsarbetet internt. / Corporate social responsibility is a highly relevant subject discussed in media and business. Larger companies are expected to deal with sustainability questions and the corporate brand is highly affected by their sustainability work. The development of new communication channels, such as the internet, mobile broadband and social media, has led to increased demands for transparency and companies who do not communicate their responsibility externally are seen with suspiciousness. The difficulty with sustainability communications is to communicate to the public what the company is doing in terms of sustainability. The communication must create an image of the company that is as close to reality as possible and not being perceived as a manipulating PR trick. The purpose of this study is to understand the link between sustainability work, sustainability communication and corporate brand. It also aims to identify success factors for creating a sustainable corporate brand. The study was conducted as a qualitative case study of the project One Tonne Life, conducted by Vattenfall in collaboration with several other partners in 2009-2011. The One Tonne Life project is seen by Vattenfall as a good example of a successful sustainability communication, which makes it an interesting case to study in order to develop theories about how a company should work. A corporate brand is not limited to its logo and graphic profile, but consists of identity and personality. The corporate brand can be seen as a combination of several different identities. In this study we have chosen to focus on seven identities: actual-, communicated-, conceived-, covenanted-, cultural-, ideal- and desired identity. An analytical model was developed to describe the relationship between sustainability, sustainability communications and corporate branding. When sustainability is fully integrated into the company’s strategy and when it is communicated by involving stakeholders in the communication, the work and communications are inseparable. It is only with this approach that the corporate brand can be built for sustainability. This study shows that the corporate brand is influenced by all the company’s activities, which means that the company’s sustainability efforts and sustainability communications must be indistinguishable in order to be used to build a strong corporate brand. Findings fromthe case study concludes the importance of 1) working with a relevant sustainability issue, 2) making the work visible and put in context, 3) working with others to solve complex issues and improve the credibility, 4) involving the recipient in the communication, 5) communicating the same message through multiple channels, 6) packaging the sustainability efforts into an interesting story, and 7) gaining support for sustainability efforts internally. When following these factors, the sustainability work can be integrated into the corporate brand.