<h1>Abstract</h1><p><strong>Title:</strong> Implementing CSR in Supply Chains</p><p><strong>Authors:</strong> Emmy Johansson and Stina Olén; <strong>Supervisor:</strong> Glenn Sjöstrand</p><p><strong>Date of submission:</strong> May 30, 2009</p><p> </p><p>For decades there has been a debate about the environmental and social responsibilities of companies. The work conducted by corporations to meet the increasing demands from wider society to take responsibility is all summed up in the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Pressured to take responsibility also in the supply chains of their businesses, the corporations have increasingly integrated suppliers in their CSR strategies.</p><p> </p><p>In this thesis the obstacles and possibilities with implementing CSR in supply chains are assessed, through a case study. The thesis is written on commission by a large Swedish industrial company that is working with implementing its CSR strategy in its supplier evaluations, and through using a theoretical framework based on institutional theory and CSR theory that implementing process is studied. Having understood that the process is affected by the norms, values et cetera that are inherent in the company, the aims of this thesis have been to understand and explain how the institutional embeddedness affects the implementation of the company’s CSR strategy in its supplier evaluations.</p><p> </p><p>The thesis applies qualitative research methods with emphasis on primary sources. The main empirical data was gathered through ten interviews with employees at different levels in the company, but corporate documents with relevance for the implementation were also studied.</p><p> </p><p>The results of this study indicate that the institutional embeddedness affects the implementation of the CSR strategy in supplier evaluations both positively and negatively. Firstly, it makes the reactive approach of the company, the unclear objectives and guidelines, the lack of commitment from the managers, and the lack of cooperation appear problematic for the implementation. Secondly, we conclude that the institutional embeddedness creates opportunities for an improved implementing process, as there are elements in the institutional identity that correspond with the strategy, but also that there are individual actors with much institutional resources that have potential to change the institution and create commitment towards the implementation.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> corporate social responsibility, supplier evaluations, implementing strategy, institutional theory, institutional embeddedness</p>

Den första januari 2005 blev det obligatoriskt för noterade bolag med koncernredovisning inom Europeiska unionen att redovisa enligt IFRS. För onoterade bolag finns det också möjlighet att redovisa koncernen enligt IFRS, men det är frivilligt. Regelverket anses mer komplicerat än de svenska reglerna som annars ska tillämpas av dessa företag. I denna studie har vi undersökt vilka anledningar företag har att frivilligt anta IFRS och få en förståelse för varför man väljer mer komplicerade redovisningsregler när det inte är tvunget. Vi har haft ett tolkande synsätt med en kvalitativ ansats. Data har samlats in genom telefonintervjuer eller enkäter med ekonomichefer på sex stycken företag. Samtliga företag höll vi anonyma. Genom en litteraturstudie tog vi del av resultat som presenterats i tidigare studier. Vi identifierade sex stycken faktorer som enligt tidigare studier kan förklara antagandet av IFRS. Dessa faktorer är att höja redovisningens kvalitet, att uppfattas som mer legitima, påverkan av revisor, informationsverktyg mellan företag och ägare, sänkta kapitalkostnader och upphandlingsincitament på en global marknad. Dessa faktorer analyserades med grund i institutionell teori och isomorfa tryck. Vid datainsamlingen undersöktes om dessa faktorer även förklarar svenska företags val. Av de sex faktorerna fann vi empiriskt stöd för fem. Koncerner som verkar i Skandinavien upplevde inte någon skillnad i kvalitet. Däremot upplevdes en kvalitetsökning av företag som verkar på en större global marknad. När investerare och långivare är utländska verkade internationella regler vara av betydelse. Revisorerna hade en viss påverkan på företagens beslut. Vid en eventuell försäljning av företagen fungerade internationell redovisning som ett informations-verktyg för köpare. Vi kan se att investerare på en global marknad har krav på IFRS. Däremot fann vi inget stöd för att företag infört IFRS för att minska sina kapitalkostnader. Intervjuerna gav oss ytterligare fem faktorer; ett enhetligt redovisningsspråk över koncernen, en framtida börsintroduktion, inget avskrivningskrav på goodwill, rekrytering samt branschjämförelse. Vi fann stöd för att företagen påverkas av alla tre isomorfa tryck när de beslutar att anta IFRS. / On January 1st 2005 it became mandatory for listed companies with consolidated financial statements within the European Union to account according to IFRS. For unlisted companies there is also a possibility to submit a consolidated financial statement, however, this is on a voluntary basis. The regulations are considered more complicated than the Swedish regulations that otherwise need to be practiced by these companies. In this study we have examined what the reasons are that companies voluntarily adopt the IFRS regulations and obtain and understand why the more complicated set of consolidated financial regulations are chosen when not necessary. We have maintained an interpreted tactic with a qualitative approach. The data has been collected through telephone interviews and surveys with financial directors at six companies. All companies have been kept anonymous. Through literary studies we obtained results that were presented in earlier studies. We identified six factors that according to previous studies can explain the acceptance of IFRS. These factors were to raise the quality of their accounting, to be seen as more legitimate, influence accountants, information tool between companies and owners, lower cost of capital and procurement incentive on the global market. These factors were analyzed based on institutional theory and isomorphic pressure. When collecting the data it was also considered if these factors could explain Swedish companies' choice. Of the six factors we found an empirical support for five. Companies active in Scandinavia did not experience any difference in quality. However, it was perceived that companies active on a larger global market were searching for quality. When investors and lenders are foreign it seems as if international regulations are of importance. Accountants have a certain influence on the companies' decisions. In case of a potential sale of a company the international regulations acted as an information tool for the buyer. We can see that investors on the global market have a requirement for IFRS. However, we found no evidence that companies that have introduced IFRS did so to reduce capital costs. The interviews provided us with five additional factors; a uniform financial language across the company, a future listing of the company, no depreciation on goodwill, recruitment and industry comparison. We found support for companies being influenced by all three isomorphic pressures when deciding to adopt IFRS.

Forskningsproblem Sedan 2013 får svenska kommuner reservera medel i enresultatutjämningsreserv (RUR) för att utjämna skatteintäkteröver en konjunkturcykel. Behov finns att förklara efterlevnadenav denna nya, frivilliga redovisningsreglering. Syfte Syftet med studien är att beskriva och förklara tillämpning ochefterlevnad av RUR i svenska kommuner. Metod 16 hypoteser härleds utifrån befintlig redovisningsteori. Dessaprövas genom en dokumentstudie av 289 årsredovisningar.Dessutom intervjuas 2 ekonomichefer. Resultat 122 svenska kommuner (42 %) har reserverat medel till(tillämpar) RUR. Endast 5 kommuner (4 %) har korrektredovisning (efterlevnad) av RUR. Medelkommunen avviker 40% från lagstiftningen. Kunskapsbidrag De statistiska analyserna visar att finansiell styrka, politiskmajoritet och revisionsbyrå kan förklara tillämpning ochefterlevnad av RUR. Intervjustudien indikerar även att resurserinom kommunen, graden av engagemang hos tjänstemän samtandra kommuner påverkar RUR. / Problem Since 2013, Swedish municipalities have the opportunity toreserve funds to a municipal balancing reserve (MBR), inorder to equalize tax revenues during an economic cycle.There are needs to explain the compliance of this new,voluntary accounting regulation. Purpose The aim of this study is to describe and explain accountingchoice and compliance of MBR in Swedish municipalities. Method 16 hypothesis are derived from existent accounting theory.They are tested through a document study of 289 annualreports. Furthermore, 2 CFOs are interviewed. Results 122 Swedish municipalities (42 %) have reserved funds toMBR. Only 5 municipalities (4 %) have excellentcompliance. On average, municipalities deviate 40 % fromthe legal requirements. Contribution The statistical analyses show that financial strength, politicalmajority and audit firm can explain practice and complianceof MBR. The interviews also indicates that resources withinthe municipality, the level of commitment among theofficials and other municipalities influence MBR.

As open systems, organizations interact with their environments and respond to laws, norms, and other pressures to conform in search of societal legitimacy. Organizations, however, are far from uniform in their responses to institutional pressures. As entities with idiosyncratic sets of values and prior experiences, organizations act according to a mix of established patterns of behavior and perceived self-interest. One result may be conformity in adoption, but variance in implementation. This is particularly true of issues such as ethics, where ambiguous and evolving definitions of expected behavior encourage organizations to respond with varying degrees of substance. This dynamic environment is made more complex by pressures that ebb and flow in wave-like patterns of intensity as societal attention coalesces around specific events and then dissipates. This study examines how firms respond to shifts in pressures for greater ethical behavior by appointing an Ethics and Compliance Officer (ECO), from 1990 to 2008. In particular, I demonstrate that, while firms make adoption decisions in response to broad, field-level forces, it is firm-specific factors that determine resource commitments in implementation. I also test the hypothesis that an organization’s implementation decisions are consequential, with greater benefits gained by firms that commit more resources to the ECO position. As such, this study identifies important antecedents and consequences of adoption and implementation behavior that help explain organizational heterogeneity in the face of institutional pressures to conform. / text

The focus of this research is to understand how different factors, such as state-level EE policies and institutional values, influence the inclusion of environmental education (EE) into pre-service teacher preparation programs. Institutional theory is the main theoretical foundation used for analyzing this issue. This is a mixed methods study with a sequential triangulation design (Morse 1991), using quantitative data from 50 states and 191 public universities to guide the selection process for seven qualitative interviews. While the impact of EE policies is evident, understanding the mechanisms that contribute to such things as political capital and how institutional value for EE is created is more nuanced. The findings from this research point to targeted EE policies, collaborative practices, and research on the development of institutional culture as strategies to bring EE in from the fringes of pre-service teacher preparation programs.

Denna uppsats syfte har varit att undersöka hur det flexibla arbetet upplevs och hanteras av fackförbund. Studiens huvudobjekt har varit tjänstemannaförbundet Unionen där fyra kvalitativa intervjuer gjorts och en rad officiella dokument granskats. Utöver Unionen så har två intervju gjorts med en deltagare var från Vision och Handelsanställdas förbund.Fackförbund möter idag nya typer av frågor. Det handlar om frågor som rör hur arbete idag organiseras och hur medlemmarnas inställning till fackens verksamhet förändrats. Det flexibla arbetet är en sådan fråga. Flexibelt arbetet som fenomen framstår som något komplext för fackförbund. Komplexiteten skapar en situation där problem befaras uppstå om inga förhindrande insatser görs samtidigt som det förekommer relativt få konkreta fall eller ärenden hos Unionen. Unionens arbete med flexibilitet analyseras utifrån ett legitimitetsperspektiv i förhållande till sin omgivning. Hur Unionen hanterar frågor kring det flexibla arbetet problematiseras också i förhållande till mer övergripande utmaningar som dagens fackförbund ställs inför såsom medlemsförluster, individualisering av samhället och nya former för att organisera arbete. / The aim with this paper has been to explore how flexible work is perceived and handled by trade unions. The study's main focus has been the white-collar union Unionen, where four qualitative interviews were conducted and a number of official documents were reviewed. In addition to the interviews with Unionen two interviews were held with participant from Vision and Handelsanställdas förbund. Trade unions today face new challenges. These challenges involve questions that relate to how work today is organized and how members' attitude towards unions and their activities have changed. Flexible work is one such challenge. Flexible work as a phenomenon appears to be somewhat complex for Unionen. This complexity creates a situation where problems are expected to present themselves if no preventive efforts are made, while in reality there are relatively few actual errands for Unionen. Unionens work with flexibility is analysed from a legitimacy perspective in relation to Unionens environment. How Unionen works in relation to flexible work is also problematized in relation to the challenges of today’s unions where they are faced with decreasing number of members, individualization of society and new forms for organizing work.

Supply chain security has become relevant to both practitioners and academics for years, yet the understanding of this topic is still incomplete. The literature produces relatively few explanatory and confirmatory studies, offers ambiguous definitions and terminology and the theoretical development is inconsistent. In this dissertation, I review relevant research streams and employ four in-depth case studies to conceptualize supply chain security (SCS). I also utilize the principles of human immunology to propose a taxonomy of supply chain security management (SCSM) mechanisms. Building on institutional theory and the taxonomy, I further examine the antecedents as well as the consequences of SCSM mechanisms via a large empirical data set collected during 2011-2013. The sample includes responses from 462 firms. Specifically, in my first model I draw on the institutional theory and posit that five institutional isomorphism pressures (i.e., government, customer, peer, normative, and performance pressure) impact four classes of SCSM mechanisms (i.e., prevention, detection, reaction, and restoration). In addition, shared SCS perception (SSP) and top management commitment (TMC) are hypothesized to moderate (strengthen) the relationships between institutional pressures and SCSM mechanisms. In my second model, I propose that the four classes of mechanisms explain five different supply chain performance dimensions (i.e., security performance, cost performance, supply chain responsiveness, supply chain resilience, and supply chain visibility). I also specify differential effects for both models; some effects are more salient than others. The results suggest that not all institutional pressures motivate the implementation of SCSM mechanisms. While normative pressure and performance pressure act as predominantly powerful predictors of SCSM mechanisms, other pressures appear to have negligible or even adverse effects. Surprisingly, data analysis suggests that coercive institutional pressures (i.e., government pressure and customer pressure) do not exhibit the strongest effects on SCSM mechanisms as the literature would suggest. As far as the moderation effect is concerned, the results illustrate that neither SSP nor TMC interact with all institutional pressures to affect the employment of SCSM mechanisms. In addition, TMC can even impede the implementation of reaction- and restoration-oriented SCSM mechanisms when interacting with government pressure. Regarding supply chain performance, the results demonstrate that SCSM mechanisms have strong effects on multiple supply chain performance measures. Further assessments reveal that the effect of SCSM mechanisms on supply chain security performance is stronger than its effects on other performance dimensions.

The role of governments in the internationalization of the firm had early recognition in prominent seminal studies in international business, such as Hymer’s thesis or the Uppsala Model, though the interaction between multinationals and governments has attracted scarce attention. As such, the main stream of economics and management studies have focused on internationalization essentially as an issue of the firm, wherein the multinationals’ interaction with the environment is limited to a business-industrial scope of suppliers, clients, and competitors. In a different direction, this thesis includes the political setting and studies the beneficial side of governments in the internationalization process of the firm. With this purpose, the present dissertation proposes a conceptual framework based on Johanson and Vahlne’s (1977) internationalization process model, complemented with Williamson’s (1975) Transaction Costs Economics, and encompassed by conceptual insights from institutional studies related to international business. Specifically, the role of governments in the internationalization process is examined through the variances of the relation between knowledge and commitment at the micro, meso, and macro level. The structure of the thesis reflects the multilevel approach, integrating one conceptual and three empirical papers, each of which dealing with a particular level of analysis. Through the aggregation of each paper’s intrinsic contribution, the dissertation’s summary offers a wide view on the internationalization phenomena, adding the political elements to the industrial-business elements of the environment. Overall, internationalization is conceptualized as a process of interaction with the business environment, whereas the public nature of political elements induces the compromise of combining activities between firms and governments. Evidence gives the ground to conclude that internationalization is not a game played just between firms, or, even, between firms and markets, but also with and within governments.

Purpose: Our purpose is to investigate if the documentation of an internalaudit department at banks reflects a shift towards more consultingactivities, and how this potential change in the internal audit doc-umentation can be explained. Background: Previous research indicates that internal audit has developed fromits traditional assurance activities to include more consulting ac-tivities such as risk management assistance and corporate govern-ance support. Some researches argue that this development canhave a negative impact on internal auditor independence. Howev-er, there is a lack of research in this area using documentation andcontent analysis of internal audit reports. Method: In this study, we have done qualitative content analysis of internaldocuments collected from the period 2004-2013. These docu-ments are analyzed using a coding scheme based on previous re-search. Conclusion: By qualitatively analysing the activities reported we find that thedocumentation reflects a shift, over time, towards more activitiesthat we classified as consulting. We argue that this can mainly beexplained by coercive and normative isomorphism; for example,regulatory pressures and influences from the Institute of InternalAuditors. We also argue that internal auditing might benefit froma more consistent view of the role.

The purpose of this study is to search and analyze different logics that operators use in the work of helping juvenile delinquents to break their criminal behavior. New institutional theory is used in this study to analyze the results. The study was conducted through qualitative interviews of six professionals in two municipalities which work with juvenile delinquency. There are two questions that we want to address in this study. The first one is what methods the social workers are using in two middle large municipalities to help youth to brake there criminal behavior. The other question is what logics are behind the social workers work so that juvenile delinquency can break their criminal behavior.This study showed that different programs are used by social workers and that the social workers logics are important in choosing what program or treatment they are going to give the young adults so that they can break their criminal behavior. The result also showed that the social workers in two municipalities work with multiple operators such as schools and police to create a network around the youth in difficult situations.