This qualitative study investigates how the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directives (CSRD) shape the decision-making processes that influence companies' supply chain design. Employing institutional theory to understand how different institutional contexts shape decision-making mechanisms. An abductive approach to feature both empirical observations and theoretical concepts. Moreover, with seven semi-structured interviews, the study aims to bridge the gap in understanding the impact of CSRD on the supply chain design of large Swedish-listed companies, as well as the potential opportunities they present. The study chose to emphasize double materiality and Scope 3 emissions through the report to provide an understanding of the foundation for these directives that influence the supply chain design. The study's findings, derived from semi-structured interviews, are organized around a conceptual model designed to illustrate the process and explain the impact of CSRD. This model depicts a four-step implementation process: Awareness of CSRD, Setting CSRD Strategies, Application of Set Strategies, and Supply Chain Impact. Furthermore, various factors including Institutional Pressure, Experience/Background, Institutional Barriers, Institutional Support, and Operational Challenges on CSRD Application influence the process. Through this model, the study makes four significant contributions toward addressing the gap in existing literature and the research question. The contributions are that strategic opportunities can arise from CSRD, institutions support rather than pressure, long-term realizations to successfully implement CSRD, and lastly, CSRD has and will impact supply chain design. This reveals that CSRD significantly drives tangible changes in the decision-making process regarding supply chain design, offering new perspectives on how companies perceive these directives in terms of operational opportunities emerging from sustainability transitions.

The relationship between disclosure about sustainability, financial performance, andcorporate governance deserves more attention in the modern business environment. Thisthesis investigates the complex variations in this relationship in the case of Swedish listedcompanies. This study intends to provide insight on the mechanisms by which governancestructures influence the financial consequences of sustainability initiatives byinvestigating how corporate governance functions as a mediator between sustainabilitydisclosure and financial performance. Utilizing data from the NASDAQ Stockholm via the REFINITIV EIKON Database, thestudy investigates the implicit impact of corporate governance components such as boardgender diversity and CEO-Chairman duality on determining the relationship betweensustainability practices and financial performance. The study's systematic search strategyand methodical analysis aim to provide significant insights for companies, investors, andregulators on how to use governance frameworks to generate sustainable andadvantageous business models. This study contributes to the broader conversation on corporate sustainability andgovernance practices by addressing a knowledge gap about how governance structuresregulate the relationship between sustainability disclosure and financial performance. Thefindings are meant to inspire stakeholders about the crucial role that governance plays inpromoting sustainable business practices in the Swedish corporate landscape, as well as tohave practical implications for companies looking to enhance their financial performanceand sustainability strategies.

Many companies acknowledge the threat from global carbon emissions and how it affects climate change. Despite the continuous warnings, many organizations lack the necessary and recommended action plans that can hamper their negative impact on the environment. One of the managerial tools that companies use globally in order to work proactively and strategically on issues related to the environment, is to set up carbon reduction targets. With time companies have in-house strategies on how to reach the carbon reduction targets by creating a roadmap of cutting measures. Unfortunately, the majority of companies do not have carbon reduction targets that are in line with what science think is needed to avoid contributing to global warming. Nonetheless, forward-thinking early adopters have been using “science-based” methods to challenge the status quo by developing ambitious carbon targets that are in line with today’s best carbon science. This qualitative research investigates the challenging steps from setting a long-term carbon target, using the guidelines and methods presented by the Science-based target initiative. With an exploratory research approach, a case study was conducted at a global leader in appliance manufacturing and industry leader within sustainability. The data was gathered by using semistructured interviews combined with observational findings with a focus to examine how carbon targets emerge in a situated organizational setting. The interviewee's representatives come from two categories, internal company representatives and, external companies that have used the guidelines to set science-based carbon targets. For manufacturing firms, the findings from investigating three steps of the process: calculating the base-year, target integration and predicting future technology development. Calculating the base-year was identified as the most challenging step. The empirical findings helped build an understanding of the different dimensions that facilitate corporate sustainability management. This research has helped to contribute to the lack of empirical findings within the carbon management and carbon target area. Specifically, the sciencebased carbon target topic. / Många företag har idag uppmärksammat det globala hotet från de enorma utsläppen av koldioxid och dess drivande roll i framtidens klimatförändringar. Trots att många företag kontinuerligt arbetar mot att minska sina koldioxidutsläpp, saknar många de nödvändiga handlingsplanerna för att hämma deras negativa påverkan på miljön. Ett av verktygen företag globalt har för att arbeta med proaktivt och strategiskt i frågor som rör miljö, är att sätta upp koldioxidreduktionsmål. Men tyvärr har flertalet av företagen idag mål som inte ligger i linje med vad vetenskapen anser är nödvändigt för att undvika den framtida globala uppvärmningen.Vad ett företag bidrar med har visat sig ofta bygga på okunskap och är därför hamnar sällan målen i linje med vad naturen efterfrågar. För att utmana detta problem har några banbrytande företag använt sig av metoder som kallas "science-based". Dessa metoder är en samling ramverk för att skapa långsiktiga koldioxidreduktionsmål som bättre ligger i linje med vad forskningen tror är nödvändigt för att undvika den globala uppvärmningen. Denna kvalitativa studie undersöker hur ett tillverkningsföretag skapar långsiktiga koldioxidreduktionsmål genom att använda vetenskapligt baserade metoder. En explorativ fallstudie genomfördes hos en global ledare inom tillverkning av vitvaror och hushållsapparater och, som även är branschledare inom hållbarutveckling. Uppgifterna samlades in genom att använda halvstrukturerade intervjuer i kombination med observationer med fokus på att undersöka målsättningsprocessen i ett företags miljöer. De intervjuade kommer från två kategorier, representanter inom företaget och, externa företag som redan har använt dessa ramverk för att skapa vetenskapligt baserade koldioxidreduktionsmål. Resultaten visar att för tillverkningsföretag finns det tre utmanande steg: att beräkna basåret, målintegration och förutspå nödvändig framtida teknikutveckling. De empiriska fynden bidrar till att skapa en bättre förståelse kring hur företag idag arbetar med att sätta upp koldioxidreduktionsmål med fokus på att använda ”science-based” ramverken.

O termo sustentabilidade corporativa refere-se à capacidade de uma organização de sobreviver no longo prazo, mantendo-se (minimamente) lucrativa para que possa exercer suas atividades com cada vez menos impactos negativos ambientais e mais benefícios sociais. Considerando a lógica de que a empresa é aquilo que ela é capaz de mensurar, organizações sustentáveis demandam sistemas gerenciais de mensuração de desempenho que estejam alinhadas ao desenvolvimento sustentável. Assim, o presente estudo se propõe a discutir a seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: Como é inserida a sustentabilidade nos sistemas de mensuração de desempenho corporativos? Para isso, são propostos dois objetivos de pesquisa: (i) levantar os sistemas de mensuração de desempenho de sustentabilidade e explorar seus principais desafios; e (ii) explorar a importância relativa dada pelas empresas em relação aos indicadores de sustentabilidade. Para isso, a pesquisa conta com uma revisão sistemática da literatura e estudos de casos multissetoriais (um piloto e quatro exploratórios). A pesquisa traz evidências de que a temática de indicadores de sustentabilidade é ainda incipiente e pouco estruturada, com potencial de melhorar o aproveitamento da literatura já consolidada de sistemas de mensuração de desempenho. O estudo bibliométrico conta com (i) estatística descritiva, (ii) análise de redes de relacionamento (co-citação e palavras-chave) e (iii) análise de conteúdo a partir de uma amostra de artigos extraídos da base de dados ISI Web of Knowledge (Web of Science). Verifica-se que a literatura de indicadores de sustentabilidade aborda temáticas diversas, tais como vantagem competitiva, gestão de stakeholders e avaliação do ciclo de vida. Já os estudos de casos baseados em entrevistas semi-estruturadas permitiram o levantamento dos seguintes sistemas de mensuração de desempenho com incorporação de indicadores de sustentabilidade: sistema de avaliação de desempenho das áreas, sistema de avaliação de desempenho individual, indicadores para elaboração de relatórios internos e externos e sistema de avaliação inicial de projetos. Além disso, foram identificados fatores que interferem na prioridade dos indicadores de sustentabilidade: estratégia corporativa, pré-requisito; maturidade da questão e urgência. Dentre os desafios apontados pelas empresas, encontram-se a definição de indicadores para avaliar os benefícios sociais decorrentes das atividades da organização, a quantificação monetária de retorno de iniciativas ambientais e sociais e o engajamento dos colaboradores na sustentabilidade corporativa, independente da natureza das suas atividades. A pesquisa mostra que há benefícios na incorporação da sustentabilidade no sistema de mensuração de desempenho corporativo e que isso ainda tem potencial para ser abordado de forma mais sistemática, sem depender exclusivamente da iniciativa de determinados líderes. O papel desses atores para implantação de práticas sustentáveis na organização é fundamental e necessário, mas não suficiente, já que a sustentabilidade corporativa depende do engajamento de diversos stakeholders (internos e externos à organização), que podem ser influenciados pela cultura e pelos processos de negócios alinhados à lógica do desenvolvimento sustentável. / The term corporate sustainability refers to the ability of an organization to survive in the long term, keeping itself (minimally) profitable in order to conduct their activities with less negative environmental impacts and more social benefits. Whereas the logic that the company is what it is capable of measuring, sustainable organizations require performance management systems that are aligned to sustainable development. Thus, this study aims to discuss the following research question: \"How sustainability is embedded in corporate performance measurement systems?\" For this, it proposes two research objectives: (i) identify the sustainability performance measurement systems and explore their major challenges, and (ii) explore the relative importance given by companies in relation to sustainability indicators. So, the research has a systematic literature review and multisectoral exploratory case studies (one pilot and four exploratory). The research provides evidence that the theme of sustainability indicators is still incipient and unstructured, with the potential to improve the use of literature already consolidated on performance measurement systems. The bibliometric study is based on (i) descriptive statistics, (ii) analysis of extracted networks of relationships (co-citation and keywords) and (iii) content analysis of a given sample of articles extracted from ISI Web of Knowledge (Web of Science). It is found that the literature of sustainability indicators covers different topics such as competitive advantage, stakeholder management and life cycle assessment (LCA). The cases studies based on semi-structured interviews allowed the identification of the following performance measurement systems that incorporate sustainability indicators: performance evaluation of the areas; individual performance evaluation system; indicators for internal and external reports; and initial project evaluation system. In addition, factors influencing the priority of sustainability indicators have been identified: maturity of the issue, requirement, corporate strategy and urgency. Among the challenges faced by companies, there are the definition of indicators to assess the social benefits of the organization activities, the quantification of the monetary return of environmental and social initiatives and employee engagement in corporate sustainability, independently of the nature of their activities. Research shows that there are benefits in incorporating sustainability in corporate performance measurement system and it still has the potential to be addressed more systematically, without relying solely on the initiative of certain leaders. The role of these actors for implementing sustainable practices in the organization is essential and necessary, but not sufficient, since the corporate sustainability depends on the engagement of various stakeholders (internal and external to the organization), which may be influenced by the culture and the business processes aligned to the logic of sustainable development.

Submitted by Silvana Teresinha Dornelles Studzinski (sstudzinski) on 2015-07-01T18:20:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Geovana Zimmermann Los.pdf: 1707837 bytes, checksum: 42f45d5024c990c07d9c215480e1fa6d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-01T18:20:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Geovana Zimmermann Los.pdf: 1707837 bytes, checksum: 42f45d5024c990c07d9c215480e1fa6d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-28 / Nenhuma / O objetivo do estudo foi verificar o impacto no valor adicionado a distribuir das variáveis evidenciadas, segundo a NBCT 15, por empresas classificadas no ISE. A pesquisa foi realizada com uma amostra formada por 75 relatórios de sustentabilidade, de 25 empresas que permaneceram na carteira do ISE no período de 2010 a 2012. Os resultados revelam que o grupo de indicadores do corpo funcional apresenta o maior percentual de atendimento à evidenciação de informações requeridas pela NBC T 15, uma vez que estes são evidenciados em 62,67% dos relatórios das empresas da amostra, seguidos do grupo de indicadores sociais internos, com 55,92%, e do grupo de indicadores sociais externos, divulgados em 47,33% dos relatórios. Já o grupo de indicadores relacionados com o meio ambiente apresenta o percentual médio mais baixo em termos de aderência, com índices de 26,67%. Com isso, o nível geral de aderência das empresas da amostra aos indicadores da NBC T 15 é de 49,6%, revelando fragilidade no quesito transparência. Nesse sentido, utilizando-se a análise de regressão com dados em painel para modelo de efeito fixo e de efeito aleatório, foi testado o impacto das variáveis “gastos sociais internos”, “número de funcionários”, “gastos sociais externos” e “gastos em meio ambiente no valor adicionado a distribuir das empresas”. No resultado para o modelo de efeito aleatório, é possível rejeitar H0, diante da hipótese H0,1, e confirmar a hipótese H1 formulada. Assim, o estudo revela que quanto maior o gasto com indicadores sociais internos, maior seria o valor adicionado a distribuir das organizações da amostra. Para as hipóteses H0,2 e H0,4 , é rejeitada a hipótese H0 a 5% de significância e, com isso, pode-se confirmar as hipóteses H2 e H4 do estudo, respectivamente. Dessa forma, o resultado demonstra que quanto maior o nível de funcionários das empresas da amostra, bem como quanto maiores forem os gastos com meio ambiente, maior será o valor adicionado a distribuir por elas. / The aim of the study was to determine the impact, on the added value to distribute of evidenced variables, according to NBCT 15, by companies classified on the ISE. The survey was conducted with a sample consisting of 75 sustainability reports, of 25 companies which remained on the ISE in the period 2010-2012. The results show that the group of indicators of functional staff shows the highest percentage of attendance to the disclosure of information required by NBC T 15, since these are observed in 62.67% of sample companies’s reports, followed by the group of internal social indicators, with 55.92%, and the group of external social indicators, published in 47.33% of the reports. The group of indicators related to the environment presents the lowest average percentage in terms of adhesion, with rates of 26.67%. With this, the overall adherence level of the sample companies to the indicators of NBC T 15 is 49.6%, revealing weaknesses in the category transparency. In this sense, using regression analysis, with panel data for the fixed effect and random effect model, it was tested the impact of variables "internal social spending," "number of employees", "external social costs" and "Spending on the environment in the value added to be distributed by companies". In the results for the random effect model, it is possible to reject H0,, given the hypothesis H0,1, Thus, the study reveals that higher is the spending on domestic social indicators, higher is the sample organizations’ added value to distribute; For the hypotheses H0,2 e H0,4 , is rejected hypothesis H0 at 5% significance, and, thus, it can be confirmed the H2 and H4 hypotheses of the study, respectively. Thus, the result shows that higher is the level of employees of companies in the sample, as well as higher is the spending on the environment, higher will be the value added to be distributed by them.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T16:45:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mozart Nino.pdf: 747699 bytes, checksum: a30b483618c5881318f511a95142084f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-06-29 / This work intends to explore what a company should do and also how to do it, to offer to society social action projects, which could be seen and accomplished as business opportunities, innovation and competitive advantage. And also to present some management and planning tools and models which would help to put together a social dimension to the economic and environmental dimensions, in an integrated planning, decision making and execution of its corporate strategy, which contemplate the interdependence and the convergence of both company and society concerns in the core of the company strategic management process / Este trabalho se propõe a explorar o que uma empresa deveria fazer e também como fazê-lo, para oferecer à sociedade projetos de ações sociais que pudessem ser percebidas e realizadas como oportunidades de negócios, de inovação e de vantagem competitiva. E também a apresentar algumas ferramentas e modelos de gestão e planejamento, que permitiriam juntar uma dimensão social às dimensões econômica e ambiental, em um processo integrado de planejamento, tomada de decisão e execução de estratégia empresarial, contemplando uma interdependência e convergência dos interesses da empresa e da sociedade no centro estratégico da gestão da empresa

The purpose of this essay was to lay the foundations for a model in the form of a question battery that can help buyers compare the sustainability responsibilities of different suppliers, so that the buyer can choose the supplier that contributes most to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The model is designed as a question battery to enable the buyer to ask more comprehensive questions to the various suppliers regarding social, ecological and economic sustainability than they do today.   In order to find questions on an overall ethical level I have investigated how the global institutions intend us to navigate and prioritize between the SDGs, I have also applied the Aristotelian and Kantian ethics and Archie Carrol's model, the CSR pyramid, to broaden the ethical perspective in the questions to the companies.   The result is a question battery with questions about the company's vision and global goals, about the company's values ​​linked to all stakeholders, questions about whether the internal good and the external good are in harmony with society, questions about the company's value chain and business model and a larger stakeholder analysis.   How should a buyer then be able to evaluate a supplier's different answers? This essay aimed to create the first questionnaire with a broad question battery, the next step is to evaluate the different answers. / Syftet med den här uppsatsen var att lägga grunden till en modell i form av ett frågebatteri som kan hjälpa inköpare att jämföra olika leverantörers hållbarhetsansvar, så att inköparen ska kunna välja den leverantör som bidrar mest till de globala målen.  Modellen är utformad som ett frågebatteri för att inköparen ska kunna ställa mer omfattande frågor till de olika leverantörerna angående social, ekologisk och ekonomisk hållbarhet än vad de gör idag.   Mitt tillvägagångssätt har varit att undersöka hur de globala institutionerna tänker sig att vi ska navigera och prioritera mellan de globala målen, genom att övergripande backa tillbaks till de hållbarhetsdokument som togs fram redan på 1980-talet och sedan arbeta mig vidare till de globala mål som kom 2015 och fram till de guider som finns för ett hållbart näringsliv idag. För att hitta frågor på en övergripande etisk nivå har jag tagit hjälp av den aristoteliska och den kantianska etiken samt Archie Carrols modell, CSR pyramiden, för att bredda det etiska perspektivet i frågeställningarna till företagen.  Resultatet blev ett frågebatteri med frågor om företagets vision och de globala målen, om företagets värderingar kopplat till samtliga intressenter, om det internt goda och det externt goda är i samklang med samhället, frågor om företagets värdekedja och affärsmodell samt en större intressentanalys. Hur ska en inköpare kunna värdera en leverantörs olika svar? Den här uppsatsen syftade till att skapa det första frågeformuläret med ett brett frågebatteri, nästa steg är att värdera de olika svaren.

The topic of sustainability has found its way into the corporate entrepreneurship activities of large corporations. The Sustainable Corporate Entrepreneurship (SCE) strand is still in its infancy. Since most large corporations engage in corporate entrepreneurship and are exploring new business models inside and outside corporate boundaries, several questions arise from different viewpoints. First, from corporate perspective researchers and business leaders wonder which internal modes of SCE activities have emerged in business practice and how large corporations explore sustainable value propositions. Second, from entrepreneur and investor perspective, the question emerges which factors influence the likelihood of corporate ventures, such as spin-offs from corporations, raising venture capital to scale sustainable business models. Therefore, to further develop the field of SCE, this cumulative dissertation presents three research papers analysing sustainable corporate entrepreneurship at the intersection of corporations and start-ups.

Most theories that attempt to describe the relationship between corporate sustainability strategies and a company’s triple bottom line also make the assumption that there is insufficient evidence to produce generalizable conclusions. This study contributes to the overall body of knowledge, as there is a lack of significant generalizable knowledge on corporate sustainability strategies and a company’s triple bottom line. To provide a methodologically more rigorous review, we performed a meta-analysis on 18 scholarly articles from top-tier academic journals containing 64 experimental treatments that measured an observed (not self-reported) behavioural outcome, which yielded a sample size of 23,871 observations. Most studies combined multiple treatments, which preclude definitive conclusions on the most effective treatments. The findings suggest that there is a positive medium to strong relationship between sustainability-oriented strategies, for both reactive and proactive behaviours (Dyllick et al., 1997; Gminder et al., 2002), and a company’s “triple bottom line.” Furthermore, regardless of the firm type (e.g., multinational corporation or local establishment, emerging economy firm or developed nation business), proactive sustainability-oriented strategies tend to have a higher payoff than firms that adopt reactive sustainability-oriented strategies. This meta-analysis establishes a greater degree of certainty with respect to corporate sustainability strategies and a firm’s triple bottom line relationship than currently assumed by many business scholars. To conclude, the sustainability concept has significantly expanded the scope of measuring organizational performance according to economic, social, and environmental components (Robins, 2006), which are collectively described as the “triple bottom line.” Organizations have determined that specific products and processes can have serious environmental and social implications beyond providing typical economic benefits (Sarkis, 2001). Based on the results of this study, companies should develop more diversified sustainability strategies that will help them to identify and capture value (McMullen, 2001). The results demonstrate that sustainability can provide companies with a strategic advantage, which is vital for the organization’s long-term viability and success (Orlitzky et al., 2003). This study also examines the balance between reasonable return on investment and long-term organizational viability, which greatly impacts organizational decision-makers that contend with numerous stakeholder issues, pressure from environmental agencies, and increased social consciousness that affects workers, consumers, and communities. It supports the conclusion that being proactive in responding to these conflicting pressures and barriers helps organizations to achieve higher levels of performance.

Hållbarhet är ett begrepp som har skiftande innebörd, både inom vetenskap och populärvetenskap. Forskning kring hållbarhet har ett särskilt fokus på kartläggning av orsakssamband och enbart ett fåtal studier fokuserar på att kartlägga och utforska hur begreppet hållbarhet konstrueras genom företags kommunikation. Inom redovisning efterfrågas ofta ett mer principbaserat och konceptuellt angreppssätt, och då detta enligt vår litteraturöversikt ges begränsat utrymme inom forskning kring hållbarhet, finns det möjligheter till att bidra med förståelse på området. Syftet med denna studie är att utforska hur begreppet hållbarhet kommuniceras och därmed konstrueras av företag med affärskonceptet fast fashion. Det finns en distinktion mellan handling och kommunikation och den här studien behandlar enbart kommunikationsaspekten. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av hållbarhetsredovisningar för företag med affärskonceptet fast fashion. Studien har en tvärsnittsdesign med ett teoretiskt urval och top of mind-associationer. Totalt inkluderades tre företag i studien och deras respektive hållbarhetsredovisningar för rapporteringsåret 2013. I analysen har vi arbetat utifrån en abduktiv ansats inspirerat av ett foucauldianskt perspektiv. Den teoretiska modellen utvecklades med hjälp av tidigare litteratur om hållbarhetsdefinitioner och användes som en utgångspunkt för att kategorisera de textavsnitt som identifierades i respektive analys. Vår utforskning av företagens kommunikation av hållbarhet leder till slutsatsen att begreppet snarare konstrueras som produktiv aktivitet än handlingsklokhet i och med företagens tydliga fokus på stegvis anpassning och efterlevnad av såväl koder som specifika regler. Weak sustainability är mer framträdande än strong sustainability i företagens hållbarhetsrapportering, men det finns även en glidande skala mellan dessa. Till skillnad från övriga studier kring konstruktion av hållbarhetsbegreppet riktar denna studie in sig på företag med ett visst koncept (i.e. fast fashion) i utforskningen av hur hållbarhetsbegreppet kommuniceras och konstrueras. Studiens bidrag är utvecklandet av den teoretiska modellen i form av en glidande skala samt ökad konceptuell förståelse för konstruktion av hållbarhet. Vi argumenterar således för en glidande skala mellan de teoretiskt definierade hållbarhetskategorierna, medan andra studier enbart presenterar sina resultat enligt dikotomier. / Considering both science and popular science, sustainability is a concept of diverse meanings. Scientific research concerning sustainability has a particular focus on plotting causal links. Only a few studies focus on plotting and exploring the concept of sustainability as it is being conveyed by businesses via communication in corporate sustainability reports. Within the accounting field, there is a common demand for a principles-based and conceptual approach. Thus, while our literature review shows scientific research on sustainability has given limited attention to this approach, there are vast opportunities to contribute to this field by enhancing the comprehension of this issue. Consequently, the aim of this study is to explore the way in which the concept of sustainability is communicated and hence constructed by fast fashion businesses. As there is a distinction between practice and communication, this study merely focuses on the communication aspect.We have conducted a qualitative content analysis based on corporate sustainability reports issued by fast fashion corporations. The study applies a cross-sectional design and a theoretical sampling technique coupled with top-of-mind associations. In total, three corporations were included in this study, resulting in a sample of three corporate sustainability reports from the reporting year of 2013. During the analysis, an abductive approach inspired by a foucauldian perspective was applied. The theoretical model was elaborated on the basis of previous research and academic literature on the definition of sustainability and it served as an initial structure for categorization of the empirical observations.Our findings indicate that companies portray a clear focus on gradual adjustment and conformity to various codes as well as regulations, which leads to the conclusion that companies included in this study construct sustainability in terms of skills rather than wisdom. Furthermore, our findings point to the conclusion that elements of weak sustainability are more prominent than elements of strong sustainability in corporate sustainability reports. However, a notable finding is the existence of a sliding scale between these paradigms. As opposed to other studies regarding the construction of sustainability, this study focuses on a certain business concept (i.e. fast fashion) exploring the communication and construction of the concept sustainability. The contribution of our study is an evolution of the model in terms of a sliding scale and increased conceptual understanding of the term sustainability. We argue a sliding scale between weak and strong sustainability should be taken into account, while previous studies have presented their findings solely as dichotomies.This paper is written in Swedish.