Persistent differences in corporate commitments to sustainability have led to an increasing debate. However, reasons behind such differences still lack a generic theorization. To address this research gap, the purpose of this study is to: 1) explicate key organizational functions and process underpinning dynamic capabilities for corporate sustainability; 2) explore the relationship between supply chain knowledge transfer and the development of dynamic capabilities for corporate sustainability. For such a purpose a theoretical framework is established with proposed hypotheses deriving from existing literature. Then a two-stage, mixed method is designed to test the model. In Stage One, a case study and a large-scale archival analysis are performed to elaborate the microfoundations, i.e. key organizational functions and process underpinning dynamic capabilities for corporate sustainability. In Stage Two, a largescale survey is conducted among about 2,500 CILT members. The validity and reliability of the collected data are then verified through a series of tests. Finally the empirical data are fitted into a Structural Equation Model (SEM) to test proposed hypotheses. The findings of the research are twofold. The result of Stage One study suggests that three types of dynamic capabilities for corporate sustainability, namely scanning, sensing, and reconfiguration capabilities, underpin a firm’s competence to successfully respond to the environmental and social concerns of various stakeholders and mobilize internal resources to make strategic change towards sustainability. Moreover, key organizational functions and process underpinning dynamic capabilities for corporate sustainability show commonalities among firms across various industrial sectors and geographic regions. In Stage Two study, the empirical finding is that supply chain knowledge transfer positively impacts the development of firm's scanning capability and sensing capability. However, the impact patterns vary significantly between focal firms' upstream and downstream supply chain partnerships. The research contributes to knowledge from three perspectives. To theory, as an early attempt to extend Dynamic Capabilities View (DCV) to the area of corporate sustainability, the research not only introduces the concept of dynamic capabilities for corporate sustainability to the literature, but also examines how these capabilities can be developed through supply chain knowledge transfer. It thus contributes to the theories of both DCV and corporate sustainability. To research, the empirical findings of the research indicate that the effect of inter-firm knowledge transfer on capabilities development of supply chain customers tends to be underestimated by previous studies, thus providing a new potential research direction. To practice, professionals could possibly use the theoretical framework developed in the study to better understand what types of dynamic capabilities should be developed to more effectively overcome emerging sustainability challenges, and how to further develop these capabilities through supply chain knowledge transfer.

Problems related to sustainable development such as environmental issues, human rights, orlabor conditions, are nowadays deeply integrated in our society. It became primordial forcompanies to take into consideration these problems in their business development. For morethan a decade now, car companies started to publish official documents summarizing theircommitments in favor of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actions. Through thesesustainability reports, car producers disclose information concerning their sustainable policyand bring details to stakeholders on performed sustainable actions. Because publication of sustainability reports is a relatively new phenomenon, a lot of studies still have to be made in this sector. In this way, no main studies were made regarding howCSR actions performed and disclosed by car companies evolved in the past decade. Didcompanies keep focusing on the same type of sustainable actions or did some changes occuron the way they conduct their CSR policies? No trends were available to try to understandhow car companies CSR actions evolved. This thesis is an attempt to fulfill this gap and bringa first set of useful findings on this topic. Based on three different car producers which are BMW Group, Ford Motor Company andMitsubishi Motors Corporation, our study analyses these companies 2002, 2006 and 2010sustainability reports and looks at how CSR actions are disclosed. The purpose is firstly todescribe how companies’ CSR commitment disclosure is evolving between 2002 and 2010and secondly to find explanation to the key trends. In order to achieve this, we used six mainCSR categories (Economic, Environment, Human Rights, Labor Practices and Decent Work,Product Responsibility and Society) and classified disclosed information in relation with thesecategories to create trends. For each of these six categories, sub-categories were used in orderto be more precise in the analysis process of the documents. Results showed an important interest of car producers for the environment category whichrepresents, on average, more than 40% of disclosed information in sustainability reports.Society category trend shows an important increase between 2006 and 2010 which led it tobecome the second most represented category in reports. Other categories trends present amore stable evolution with time. As it is explained more in detail in our analysis part, thisattraction toward environmental issues for car producers can be explained by the badreputation given to car producers in terms of emissions, energy consumption and moreglobally environmental protection. Cultural background and business mindset are alsoinfluencing companies’ choices. Responsive behaviors resulting from stakeholder’s pressureas well as adaptation to a weak regulatory framework are additional elements to explain the key disclosure trends.

The increased attention to multinational companies¡¦ (MNC) sustainability in both academic and practitioner realms has raised an important question of why more and more firms behave in a socially responsible manner, especially in today¡¦s global economy. Drawing upon RBV and institutional theory incorporating theoretical insights from international business and stakeholder or CSR-related theories, this research was conducted in an attempt to offer a systematic analysis on antecedents and consequences of MNC subsidiaries¡¦ sustainability conducts. Combining the results of preliminary qualitative and empirical quantitative studies, this research identified the internal factors within MNC and external institutional factors outside of MNC that influence subsidiary¡¦ resources and capabilities developments for sustainable developments, and that in turn collectively contribute to MNC¡¦s sustainability in modern complex, dynamic global economy. With the sample of 114 MNCs¡¦ subsidiaries, this research used SEM (structural equation modeling) technique to test an integrated framework addressing how the diverse stakeholder demands and institutional pressures facing MNCs can be managed through internal mechanisms and processes to gain sustainable competitive advantages. Findings of this research offered better explanation for the widely debated relationships between CSR and firm performance from CSR theorists. Furthermore, by integrating RBV and institutional theory, this research theoretically and empirically demonstrated the way MNCs develop firm-specific advantages and country-specific advantages through their proactive CSR management conducted by subsidiaries, and hence provided theoretical and practical insights in international management.

This thesis addresses two research objectives: i).empirically develop a taxonomy based on firms strategic Corporate Sustainable Development (CSD) orientation to better understand and describe their characteristics and business differentials; and ii).develop and empirically test an integrated framework of antecedents and consequences of the strategic CSD, including pathways and contingencies. The full study involves two consecutive steps: a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with senior marketing executives/experts from eight selected organisations; and a quantitative inquiry using an online survey, with a final sample of 183 medium to large Australian companies across manufacturing, mining and utilities/energy industries. Collectively, this two-stage study yields interesting research findings that are of substantial academic and managerial value as follows: The taxonomy analysis identifies three distinct groups: Strategic Achievers, Risk Avoiders and Suspicious Observers, that represent the three levels/stages of CSD adoption from high to low. These three clusters are described by what they do, why they do it, the major barriers and performance differentials. These findings contribute to the classification scheme and may assist managers to determine current levels of CSD, identify possible business opportunities and/or decide on the strategies of CSD adoption. Through developing CSD measures and testing the relationships within the proposed framework, Innovation Capability (IC) is found to be a pathway (mediator) for firms to gain competitive advantage from Corporate Sustainable Development, whereas CSD does not impact on Business Performance directly when IC is absent. This inconsistent mediating effect of IC provides interesting new insight. In addition, CSD exhibits a positive impact on firms Member Organisation Identification, a surrogate measure of corporate reputation from the perspective of employees. As part of the second research objective, this study also conducts the first empirical testing of the Menon and Menon (1997) model, and found that Industry Reputation moderated the Enviropreneurial Marketing and Business Performance relationship. These findings provide new knowledge concerning strategic Corporate Sustainable Development (CSD) orientation as well as the underlying mechanisms, which may inform managers with viable directions for integrating corporate economic benefits with social and environmental considerations.

This study explores the factors that affect the corporate sustainability behaviour of UK manufacturing small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). To date, SMEs have been reported as being generally reluctant to engage in corporate sustainability activities. However, due to their significant negative environmental impacts, volume, and the contributions they make to economic growth and stability, no meaningful progress can be made towards corporate sustainability without SMEs’ involvement. As extant literature has focused more on the corporate sustainability activities of large or multinational companies with limited focus on SMEs, this study contributes to addressing this gap by adopting an SME perspective to exploring the factors affecting their corporate sustainability behaviour. The study was conducted as a qualitative study and data was collected through semi-structured interviews with a total of forty SME owner-managers from manufacturing companies in the South-East region of the UK and a focus group conducted with an additional twelve SME owner-managers from the same sector and region. Based on the study’s findings and an elaboration of the Responsible Environmental Behaviour (REB) framework, a framework for exploring the factors affecting SMEs’ corporate sustainability behaviour was developed. This framework suggests that SME Capacity Building in the form of information on corporate sustainability issues as they relate to SMEs, action strategies they can employ for corporate sustainability and transparency of the corporate sustainability business case, as well as Organisational Attitude, Stakeholder Influence and Resource Constraints are the main factors affecting UK manufacturing SMEs’ corporate sustainability behaviour.

At a time when biodiversity is declining, there needs to be a shift in how development projects take responsibility for lost natural values. Such a change is provided by biodiversity offsetting which give project owners an opportunity to compensate for declines in natural quality. However, offsetting for biodiversity costs money and therefore a clear business case is needed. Like all types of Corporate Sustainable Responsibility (CSR) work the expected competitive advantages are dependent on the stakeholders’ knowledge of the CSR measures. The aim of this study was therefore to explain how ecological compensation is communicated to stakeholders and why communication is carried out from the perspective of the project owner in a Swedish context. Through interviews and building on theories of CSR, stakeholders, and communication, the results from the five cases herein shows that communication is regarded as very important to most biodiversity offsetting projects. How, when and to whom the communication was directed seemed to depend on the goal which was most important to the project owner. Four goals highlighted in the results were: To gain a social licence to operate; gain new knowledge and to further the indirect increase in natural values inherent in all biodiversity offsetting projects. Also, claiming legal permits for development was a goal for most of the responding organizations. The goals influenced which stakeholders became the most important to communicate with, and different communication strategies were used for the different stakeholders. Some stakeholders could clearly be grouped into general categories, e.g. legal authorities and non-governmental organizations, but this study concluded that the heterogenous character of many of the stakeholders mentioned by the participating organizations made it difficult to categorize these into specific groups.

In light of never before seen environmental degradation and social injustice, the urgency to move forward on the path of sustainable development has skyrocketed. As Millennials, we see it in our duty to raise awareness about the dangers of our lifestyles and contribute with a solution to measuring sustainability. Corporations alone or along with other market players have been quoted many times as the ones ‘who will save the world’. Thus, the theoretical framework places an emphasis on corporate sustainability, in addition to sustainable development and TBL. As supporters of the view that corporations will play a defining role, the thesis is an investigation into the sustainability of one of the most pollutant corporations, Royal Dutch Shell. As such, the formulated four-dimensional model (Green Model) stands as an addition to the plethora of frameworks in reporting and describing corporate sustainability. In consequence, the research question is aimed at describing the corporate sustainability of Shell, meaning actions, processes and policies as the focus. As such, the emphasis is on the in-depth description of its sustainable or unsustainable characteristics. The path of sustainability is revealed through an analysis that includes 39 indicators. For this, secondary data was collected from Shell itself and other unrelated sources in an attempt to provide an unbiased perspective. The Green Model also contains a rating scale going from favorable and neutral to unfavorable for a visual representation of findings in all indicators. The conclusion is based on the Green Model findings in the case study, plus the Dunphy phase model of sustainability, as an additional tool to answer the research question. Thus, the conclusion reveals the good and the bad deeds, which confirm Shell’s dual nature of actions in terms of sustainability along with an indication of the corporation’s future road. Regarding the case study, Shell was found to hold an unfavorable position on the path of sustainability based on the Green Model. Although this is not surprising, the focus is on considering the positive aspects along with the negative ones. This framework indicated the four footings are not balanced. First, the economic dimension is favored. Second, the environmental dimension versus the social one looks at a disadvantage for the ecosystem, and the fourth dimension, sustainable thinking is deemed unfavorable because the future energy plan is unsustainable. In addition, Shell is seen positioned in between the phase of efficiency and that of strategic proactivity, based on the Dunphy phase model. Thus, these findings point to what Shell can do next in order to move forward on the path of sustainability. But, also they bring to surface the process of alignment of such a corporation. The project is concluded with a discussion of the duality of Shell, recommendations, as well as a description of the Ecotopia, as the ultimate goal of sustainable development.

Background: Sustainability is the need of the time, everyone in the society should play a role in making a more sustainable environment. Organizations as demanded by the whole society need to be more sustainable in order to achieve survival and success. The sustainable development of a company is inseparable from a sustainable supply management. Supplier development is one of the critical parts in supply management which can contribute to the buying firm and its suppliers’ sustainable development. With different strategies in supplier development life-cycle stages and the sustainability considerations in supplier development practices are significant in corporate sustainable development. Purpose: The intention of this thesis is to empirically study what strategies in supplier development practices are implemented in Ericsson and how sustainability is taken into consideration. By studying supplier development practices in Ericsson empirically, this thesis intended to deepen knowledge of supplier development practices in the telecommunications industry. Method: This thesis is a qualitative research study which utilizes the single-case study methodwith multiple interviews. The empirical findings were supported by both primary and secondary data. The interviews were conducted with semi-structured ways under the framework of the interview’s ethical considerations and interview guide. Conclusion: There are different strategies which include both direct and indirect strategies in different supplier development life-cycle stages in Ericsson. Sustainability is taken into consideration in designing, recruiting, implementing, evaluating and rewarding stages of supplier development life cycle. The findings have contributed to deepen the knowledge of supplier development practices empirically in the telecommunications industry.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:52:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 HandsonCDP.pdf: 2022014 bytes, checksum: aaf564617af745261d6c5974ffadbf18 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-07-16 / This study aimed to assess the Cleaner Production CP as corporate sustainable tool, through the multiple case studies within companies from Rio Grande do Norte State. In order to achieve this goal a research methodology approach was set. The initial stage of the research methodology was based on a literature review on which it was observed that the CP can be linked with corporate sustainable once it prevents pollution and reduces the operational risks among employees, community and environment. In addition, CP can useful for companies position within competitive position as well as being applied to process, products and services. In order to observe these factors, CP was used within food industry (Company 1), textile industry (Company 2) and in a car dealer (Company 3). Regarding the results, Company 1 changed its raw material as well as implementing housekeeping (control use of water, energy and condensed milk). In Company 2, it was observed the three levels of CP. In other words, housekeeping (e.g. cutting process and manipulation of chemical products), changing technology (high pressure washing machine) and internal and external recycling. In addition, Company 3 considered only level 3 external recycling. As consequence, it was observed that can be applied either within industry as well as service sector. Unfortunately, it was not possible to observe any social gains on a monetary basis. This is due to limitations of the CP methodology and study complexity. Therefore, it was observed improvements regarding to social, environmental and economic areas. Nevertheless, it is necessary more commitment from top level management in order to consider CP like effective sustainable tool / O presente estudo teve como objetivo avaliar a Produ??o mais Limpa como uma ferramenta em busca da sustentabilidade empresarial, atrav?s de uma s?rie de estudos de m?ltiplos casos em empresas do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte. Para atingir este objetivo, primeiramente, foi efetuada uma revis?o da literatura pertinente, na qual foi observado que a PmL relaciona-se com a sustentabilidade empresarial, uma vez que de forma continuada, previne a gera??o de desperd?cio e reduz os riscos das opera??es sobre os funcion?rios, comunidade e meio ambiente. Al?m disto, a PmL contribui para posicionar as empresas em um cen?rio competitivo, podendo ainda ser aplicada aos processos produtivos e servi?os. Para se observar tais afirma??es, a ferramenta foi aplicada em uma ind?stria de alimentos (Empresa 1), em uma ind?stria t?xtil (Empresa 2), al?m de uma concession?ria de ve?culos (Empresa 3). Quanto aos resultados, na Empresa 1 foi contemplada a substitui??o de mat?ria-prima (farinha) e Housekeeping (controle do uso de ?gua, energia e leite condensado). J? a Empresa 2 foi poss?vel contemplar os tr?s n?veis de PmL, atrav?s de pr?ticas de Housekeeping (no corte e manipula??o de subst?ncias qu?micas); modifica??o tecnol?gica (instala??o de um lavador com press?o das telas de estampagem); reciclagem interna (reaproveitamento de retalhos) e reciclagem externa (fabrica??o de fuxico). Por fim, na Empresa 3, devido ao escopo estabelecido foi contemplado apenas o N?vel 3 M reciclagem externa (com segrega??o na fonte e reciclagem externa). Desta forma, observou-se que a PmL pode ser aplicada sem restri??es tanto em empresas industriais quanto prestadoras de servi?o. Enfatiza-se, ainda que n?o foi poss?vel quantificar os ganhos sociais obtidos em uma escala monet?ria, por limita??es da pr?pria ferramenta PmL e pela complexidade do estudo. Portanto, frente a analise da aplica??o da ferramenta Produ??o mais Limpa nas empresas estudadas, foi evidenciado melhoria nas vertentes ambiental, social e econ?mica, preconizadas pela sustentabilidade empresarial. Entretanto, faz necess?rio mais transpar?ncia da alta administra??o no comprometimento com continuidade das a??es, para diante disto, melhor enquadrar a PmL

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Changes in global context, especially in environmental aspects, are increasing sustainability issues, which also encompasses the social and economic perspectives. In this context, the role of organizations as participants in society, generating profit and impacting on the environment, becomes clear in the triple helix of sustainability. Organizations have incorporated sustainability into their practices because they are agents with financial and technological resources, and therefore society expects these corporations to adopt sustainable practices (HINZ, VALENTINA AND FRANCO, 2006). There are many instruments that measure the sustainable development of organizations, however, there is a latent need for tools that measure sustainability in a complex way, which consider the three areas of sustainability: social, economic and environmental jointly. In this context the model developed by Chow and Chen (2011) becomes the ideal for measuring corporate sustainable development, since it includes 22 questions about sustainable practices in daily industries. Thus, this work, which has the general objective "check sustainable practices that are adopted in the agricultural machinery and implements sector of the State of Rio Grande do Sul that lead to Corporate Sustainable Development" used the model (CHOW AND CHEN, 2011) as support for the questionnaire survey instrument sent by electronic mail to the companies belonging to SIMERS. To this end, it was implemented a quantitative and descriptive research. Among the findings it was found that the economic, social and environmental variables, formed by practices arising from Chow and Chen (2011) model positively influence the Corporate Sustainable Development, confirming the three hypotheses of the research. The results also showed that social variable is the one that most influences the Corporate Sustainable Development in the studied organizations, which depends 28.8% of the social variable, 11.3% of the economic variable and 17.6% of the environmental variable. In addition, open questions were added about the practices that are performed and that are intended to be adopted by organizations, as it was noticed a dominance of quotes regarding environmental practices. / As mudanças em contexto global, principalmente de ordem ambiental, têm tornado ascendente o tema da sustentabilidade, que engloba também as perspectivas sociais e econômicas. Neste contexto, o papel das organizações como participantes da sociedade, geradores de lucro e que impactam no meio ambiente, se torna claro na tríplice hélice da sustentabilidade. Cada vez mais organizações têm incorporado à sustentabilidade nas suas práticas, pois elas são agentes com recursos financeiros e tecnológicos, e, portanto, a sociedade espera destas corporações práticas sustentáveis (HINZ, VALENTINA E FRANCO, 2006). Existem muitos instrumentos que medem o desenvolvimento sustentável das organizações, porém, há uma necessidade latente de ferramentas que mensurem a sustentabilidade de uma forma complexa, ou seja, que considerem os três âmbitos da sustentabilidade: social, econômico e ambiental de forma integrada. Neste contexto o modelo desenvolvido por Chow e Chen (2011) torna-se o ideal para medir o desenvolvimento sustentável corporativo, uma vez que o mesmo contempla 22 questões sobre práticas sustentáveis no dia a dia das indústrias. Desta maneira, o presente trabalho, que tem como objetivo geral verificar as práticas sustentáveis que são adotadas no setor de indústrias de máquinas e implementos agrícolas do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul que levam ao Desenvolvimento Sustentável Corporativo utiliza-se do referido modelo como suporte para o questionário, instrumento de pesquisa enviado por correio eletrônico para as empresas do setor pertencentes ao SIMERS. Para tanto, implementou-se uma pesquisa com caráter quantitativo e descritivo. Dentre os resultados encontrados obteve-se que, as variáveis econômica, social e ambiental, formadas pelas práticas, oriundas do modelo de Chow e Chen (2011) influenciam positivamente o Desenvolvimento Sustentável Corporativo, confirmando as três hipóteses da pesquisa. Os resultados também demonstraram que a variável social é a que mais influencia no Desenvolvimento Sustentável Corporativo nas organizações estudadas, sendo que ele depende 28,8% da variável social, 11,3% da variável econômica e 17,6% da variável ambiental. Além disso, foram acrescentadas questões abertas sobre as práticas que são e que pretendem ser adotadas pelas organizações, no que percebeu-se uma dominância de citações de práticas ambientais.