The role of banks in sustainable development has been growing with prominence internationally. Therefore, research was undertaken to ascertain the approach of South African banking sector in respect of corporate sustainability or sustainable banking. The purpose of this research was to further explore the business case thereof in the SA context and specifically where it pertains to product and market innovation. A qualitative research methodology comprising an exploratory research design was applied, consisting of in-depth interviews and secondary data research of a sample of SA banking organisations. Findings indicated that SA banks primarily view corporate sustainability from an integrated approach. The South African macro-environment and national priorities play an important role in determining corporate sustainability initiatives. Accordingly, risks and opportunities are manifest (as part of a regulated and compliance-driven industry). Considering the national context and unique needs of stakeholders, there was evidence of a relationship between corporate sustainability and product and market innovation. However, not all opportunities from a business case perspective and in product and market types have been exhausted in this space. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / Unrestricted

This paper examines whether US regulation related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) improves firms’ CSR performance. This inquiry is motivated by increasing stakeholder interest in firms’ CSR activities and reporting, as well as questions of increasing regulatory burden over time and government failure to adequately address societal challenges. First, I develop a measure of firms’ CSR regulatory exposure by extracting federal agencies’ regulatory analysis, and applying a machine-learning model for industry classification. Second, I confirm theoretical expectations that more stringent CSR-related rules are associated with higher firm CSR performance in the regulated areas, but with lower CSR performance in the unregulated areas. The result suggests a likely trade-off in firms’ responses to CSR regulation. Cross-sectional tests show that financial constraint (regulatory uncertainty) elevates (reduces) such tradeoffs. Using narrow passage of congressional bills as an exogenous shock to firms’ CSR regulatory exposure, I also provide causal evidence on such tradeoffs.

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Healthcare is one of the most energy-intensive industries because of its 24 hour-a-day and 7-days-a-week operation model. Climate change, due to environmental pollution, has increased the incidence of respiratory disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, which further overload the financial burden of our healthcare system. The National Health Service Sustainable Development Unit suggested that a sustainable healthcare sector also requires using their resources in an efficient and responsible way. Hong Kong public hospitals are facing this problem along with high energy expenditure. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple site case study was to explore strategies for Hong Kong's public hospital leaders to develop and implement a sustainable program to reduce energy consumption. A purposive sample consisted of five local public hospital leaders that had successfully implemented a sustainable energy at their hospitals and received the 2014 Certificate of Merit of The Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence. Semistructured interviews and document reviews were the data analysis methods for this study. The findings from the data analysis suggested that five major themes arose from the data: (a) external and internal driving forces, (b) leadership, (c) governance, (d) building a sustainable culture, and (e) performance measures. The recommendations of this study may lead to improving the use of energy in an efficient and responsible manner at the local public hospitals, reducing the hospital energy consumption cost, and reducing the disease incidences caused by environmental pollution.

Purpose – The purpose of this study was twofold. First, we wanted to increase knowledge about what is important to address within an organization, when formulating and implementing a corporate sustainability strategy. Second, we wanted to explore how the level of achievement of corporate sustainability influences the ability of an organization to integrate sustainability within its own organization. Method – We used an abductive approach within this study. In total, we conducted 20 interviews which we analysed through a thematic analysis. We also conducted two surveys. Findings - We have found six crucial aspects that will affect the formulation and implementation of a corporate sustainability strategy; conceptual confusion, motivation, action, cooperation, guidelines, and communication. We have also found that all dimensions of sustainability need to be understood and incorporated into the organization, in order for a corporate sustainability strategy to have impact. Theoretical and practical contributions - We have contributed to previous literature by connecting the five stages of achieving corporate sustainability with obstacles and solutions within the phases of strategy formulation and implementation. Further, we have provided a framework that can be useful to organizations when trying to achieve corporate sustainability. Limitation of the study - We have only analysed four out of almost 60 savings banks in Sweden, and the ones part of this study is also part of a sustainability project. It is therefore of essence that another more expansive study is performed that integrates more savings banks.

Problematisering: Företag står inför utmaningar som handlar om att inkludera hållbarhetsbegreppets tre dimensioner: det ekonomiska, sociala och miljömässiga ansvaret. Påtryckningar ökar från samhällets olika intressenter, som sätter press på att företag och företagsledare agerar ansvarsfullt. Hållbarhet är idag en aktuell och relevant fråga som företag, styrelser och ledare på något sätt får ta i beaktning på grund av dessa påtryckningar från samhället. Relationen mellan ledarskap och hållbarhet är, enligt oss, en samhällsaktuell fråga för företag. Det finns idag omfattande forskning kring ledarskap och en hel del forskning om hållbarhet. Forskningen däremellan är däremot relativt outforskad. Det behövs därför en förståelse för hur denna relation ser ut. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att bidra till förståelse av hur relationen mellan ledarskap och hållbarhet ser ut i ett svenskt företag, samt identifiera de aspekter i ledarskapet som kan vara av betydelse för hållbarhet. Metod: För att besvara syftet är denna studie uppbyggd av en pilotstudie och en enfallsstudie av kvalitativ karaktär, där vi har genomfört semistrukturerade intervjuer med fem ledare i ledningsgruppen på Transdev Sverige AB. Studien har en induktiv ansats. Slutsats: Resultatet från denna studie har visat att relationen mellan ledarskap och hållbarhet ser olika ut. Ledningsgruppens kontext och ledarnas ansvarsområden har varit avgörande i beskrivningen av hur relationen ser ut. Kontexten och ansvarsområdena har dessutom varit avgörande för var i hållbarhetsbegreppet ledarna lägger sin tyngdpunkt. Relationen beskrivs vidare utifrån tre identifierade “relationsbyggare”: mål, moral och kunskap. Dessa tre är aspekter som vi anser vara av betydelse för hur relationen ser ut i denna studies specifika kontext. / Background: Due to increasing expectations and demands from different stakeholders, companies are being called upon to take actions to integrate the three dimensions of sustainability; economic, social and environmental. Corporate sustainability is therefore an inevitable topic of discussion among business organisations and top executives. Separately, there is extensive research on the two topics leadership and sustainability. However, the amount of research of the intersection of these two research fields is scarce and fairly unexplored, which makes this an interesting field of study. As a result of the actuality evolving around leadership and sustainability for corporations and the above stated lack of research, there is a need of a deeper understanding of the relationship between leadership and sustainability. Aim: The aim of this study is to understand the relationship between leadership and sustainability, as well as identifying aspects in the leadership that could be of importance regarding sustainability leadership. Methodology: This is a qualitative case study using a hermeneutics perspective of interpretation. The empirical data consist of a pilot study and five semi-structured interviews with top executives at Transdev Sverige AB. The study revolves around the empirical data and is therefore to be considered to have an inductive approach. Conclusion: The findings of the study has shown that the relationship between leadership and sustainability differ. The context of the top management team and the responsibility of the leaders have been vital in the explanation of their relationship. The context and the area of responsibility have additionally been vital in order to identify where in the sustainability spectrum the leader position himself. The relationship is further explained by three identified “relationship builders”; goal, morale and knowledge. We consider that these three aspects are of relevance to understand the relationship between leadership and sustainability within the specific context of this study.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-16T14:49:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1746554 bytes, checksum: ffefb909ff874bcdf4e0461185bd14d3 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-02-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The growing concern with the current model of economic development and its consequences for society and the environment led authorities to undertake major global debates on sustainability. Converging with this fact, organizations of several industrial sectors are becoming more aware of their role in the sustainable development process, seeking to adapt their business activities to the precepts espoused by the triple bottom line model. Emerging in this scenario is the segment of the red ceramic industry, from the moment that the industry is a large consumer of energy and natural resources and generates residues. In this scenario, efforts to mitigate environmental and social impacts should be performed. By contextualizing this sector with the reality in Paraiba state, the environmental situation is delicate, since the regions of the rainforest and rural have an ecosystem important for the survival of native animal species, and their exploitation for providing firewood and clay can result in serious damage to the environment. Thus, it is opportune to analyze the sustainability of enterprises of this sector in the state. Thus, this study aims to evaluate business sustainability of red ceramic industries in the state of Paraíba, based on the Corporate Sustainability Grid (CSG). Hence, we attempted to calculate the Partial Sustainability Scores (EPS) and Corporate Sustainability Scores (ESE) to proceed with the positioning of the companies investigated on the Grid. Qualitative and quantitative in nature, the research is characterized as exploratory as to the purposes and on the means as field, literature, and multi-case study. Data were collected through structured questionnaire, in accordance with the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainability, applied in three ceramic industries. The results indicate that one company obtained Corporate Sustainability Score 3 (Satisfactory), showing that it harmonizes satisfactory performances in the three dimensions analyzed. The other two were Corporate Sustainability Score 1 (Weak), where one of them exhibited satisfactory performance only on the environmental dimension, and the other recorded satisfactory performance only on the social dimension. We conclude that the companies have conditions to improve their activities to suit a more sustainable reality, noting the weaknesses highlighted by the investigated sustainability indicators / A crescente preocupação com o modelo de desenvolvimento econômico vigente e com suas consequências para a sociedade e meio ambiente, motivou autoridades mundiais a realizarem importantes debates sobre Sustentabilidade. Alinhado a isso, organizações de diversos setores vem se tornando mais conscientes de seu papel no processo do Desenvolvimento Sustentável, buscando adequar suas atividades empresariais aos preceitos defendidos pelo modelo triple bottom line. Emergindo neste cenário está o segmento da indústria de cerâmica vermelha, no momento em que a indústria é grande consumidora de recursos naturais e energéticos, bem como geradora de resíduos. Diante deste cenário, esforços para mitigar seus impactos ambientais e sociais devem ser realizados. Ao contextualizar este setor na realidade paraibana, a conjuntura ambiental é delicada, no momento em que as regiões da zona da mata e agreste possuem ecossistema importante para sobrevivência de espécies nativas de animais, e sua exploração para provimento de lenha e argila pode acarretar em sérios danos ao meio ambiente. Desta forma, torna-se oportuna uma avaliação da sustentabilidade das empresas do setor no estado. Assim, o presente estudo tem como objetivo avaliar a sustentabilidade empresarial de indústrias de cerâmica vermelha do estado da Paraíba, a partir do Grid de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (GSE). Desta forma, buscou-se calcular os Escores Parciais de Sustentabilidade (EPS) e os Escores de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (ESE) para prosseguir com o posicionamento das empresas investigadas no GSE. De natureza qualitativa e quantitativa, a pesquisa se caracteriza quanto aos fins como exploratória, e quanto aos meios como sendo de campo, bibliográfica, e como estudo multi-caso. Os dados foram coletados a partir de questionário estruturado, em conformidade com as dimensões ambiental, econômica e social da sustentabilidade, aplicado em três indústrias de cerâmica. Os resultados indicam que uma empresa obteve Escore 3 de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (Satisfatória), mostrando que consegue conciliar desempenhos satisfatórios nas três dimensões analisadas. As outras duas obtiveram Escore 1 de Sustentabilidade Empresarial (Fraca), onde uma delas exibiu desempenho satisfatório apenas na dimensão ambiental, e a outra registrou desempenho satisfatório apenas na dimensão social. Conclui-se que as cerâmicas estudadas possuem condições de melhorar suas atividades para se adequarem a uma realidade mais sustentável, observando os pontos fracos evidenciados pelos indicadores de sustentabilidade investigados

This thesis contributes to our understanding of Corporate Sustainability (CS) in Multinational Corporations (MNCs) by offering a non-western perspective. A review of the extant literature reveals CS-related studies are mainly based on theories and implications in and for western contexts. It leads us to question the definitions of CS that have been taken for granted in current management and organisation studies. This thesis argues CS should be considered as a non-fixed, contextual and culturally-sensitive notion. When the ideas of CS travel from western scholarship to Chinese organisation practices, the meanings are forever constructed, altered, and mobilised. This is beyond linguistic translation, and functions as a continuous stream of temporary hermeneutic processes of translating. This research explores how CS has been translated in a Japanese MNC in China (the organisation is called ‘OMG’ in the research). The ethnographic enquiry provides a visual and narrative representation of corporate culture as promoted in OMG; ‘Communal Vessel’ evolves as a translational construct symbolising the culturally-derived meanings of CS. The intrinsically oxymoronic meanings of ‘Communal Vessel’ can be drawn from classical Chinese philosophies, which could have implications for understanding contemporary organising practices in China, and globally. In summary, this thesis problematises the construction of CS, and contributes an indigenous, non-western way of understanding CS via an ethnographic representation focusing on processes of translating. The implications are summarised through an analysis of the classical phrase ‘The Great Vessel Rarely Completes’.

This qualitative study aims to contribute to the research field on corporate sustainability (CS) in small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs), in hopes of helping policymakers better understand the circumstances for Swedish SMEs and how they work with CS. Empirical data about motivations behind working with CS, implementation of CS activities, and effects of CS work were collected through in-depth interviews with 18 company representatives. The major reason for motivation was found to be personal interest and commitment to these kind of practices, followed by strengthening the competitiveness, marketing, initiative from management and board, and profitability aspects. The implementation process is often informal in nature with concrete measures and activities rather than formal policies and strategies, although a few of the companies make use of tools such as environmental management systems. How the companies communicate their CS work differs and the response from stakeholders varies too. Lastly, profitability was found to be an important effect for some, while others more heavily emphasize the personal satisfaction from doing the right thing and being sustainable. The social effects were mostly improved working conditions and more engagement from stakeholders, while the environmental impact was understood to mostly concern a decrease in consumption of finite resources, and a more efficient use of material and energy. Suggestions for improving CS work in Swedish SMEs are increased support and encouragement from the government, and more education and information about what companies can do and how they can do it with appropriate tools. Concluding, CS in Swedish SMEs must be studied further to gain a more comprehensive picture of how to support those SMEs already working with CS and those in the path of transitioning towards a more sustainable development.

The increasing global challenges, such as natural disasters, poverty and many others, pose new threats to societies and businesses. Therefore, companies increase their engagement in Corporate Sustainability (CS), which connects social, environmental and economic responsibilities. Through this approach, CS aims at overcoming environmental and social constraints in a business context to increase competitiveness in today’s fast-changing world. This fast pace, with which the business environment changes, is related to external influences, such as the above-mentioned climate change, and to fundamental structural developments. One of those is the increasing number of emerging-market companies (EMNCs) that internationalize rapidly through cross-border M&A deals, also into developed markets. Since both trends, the increase in CS engagement and the growing international M&A activity of EMNCs, gain in practical and academic importance, we conducted our study under the following research question. How is CS integrated on a strategic level after a cross-border acquisition by an EMNC? The theoretical angle from which we approached the topic aligns with the resource-based view, including the natural-resource-based view, and a stakeholder perspective. When reviewing the literature regarding CS, it became clear that substantial outcomes are still lacking despite an increasing commitment to CS. This difficulty can be linked to the variety of interpretations regarding the conception of CS and the resulting confusion among implicated parties. The review of M&A literature, with a special focus on EMNCs, revealed that these companies deploy a unique approach, which is characterized by the soft post-M&A integration of the target to allow organizational learning within both businesses. Therefore, our empirical research aimed at exploring how the strategic CS of both companies, the target and the parent, influence each other and thus, develop towards a common CS strategy. The longitudinal single case study we selected, allowed us to investigate this research proposal. Through the collection and analysis of documentary data enriched by semi-structured interviews, our study revealed the following. The exchange of knowledge and CS-related communication represented the basis for the integration of strategic CS as it nurtures organizational learning. Consequently, the CS strategies of both companies increased in maturity, which means that their sophistication evolved. In addition, we also found that the target developed towards a more permissive sustainability to align with its parent company’s CS strategy. Our main study contributions relate to an enhancement of the theoretical knowledge in the related fields. Besides this, we also identified critical practical issues, such as the importance of establishing a common conception of CS to ensure a successful CS integration on a strategic level.