Background and purpose: Large and micro companies in the clothing industry are working with CSR in different ways and to different extent. There are clear differences between large and micro clothing companies in regard to how their CSR work looks like. This study is about to find out what the differences are between the large and micro companies and what underlying motives they have for working with CSR.Method: The method that is used during this study is a qualitative method. The qualita-tive method involves making a thorough investigation, which also results in in-depth answers and not just answers like yes or no. Results of a qualitative research are often presented as quotations or as a narrative text.In this study interviews are used in order to fulfill the purpose. Answers of how compa-nies work with CSR cannot be gathered just by asking a few standardized questions. In-stead an interview will allow us to come close to the company and understand the whole concept of their CSR work. The companies that have been interviewed are KappAhl, Intersport, Crazy Horse and Alinas.Conclusion: There is a lack of knowledge in the CSR field between large and micro companies. Micro companies do not have the same knowledge, resources or time as large companies have. A difference that has been shown is that the micro companies do engage in CSR activities, although in a small scale compared to the large companies, even if they do not know it themselves. Large companies engage far more in CSR activ-ities and spend a lot of resources on these kinds of activities.The large and the micro companies also have different motives for working with CSR questions. There is a difference between newly established micro companies and micro companies that have been around for a while. The new companies do actually thinkabout CSR and believe that it is important that they are socially responsible, even if they do not have the resources to actually engage in different activities in order to do so. The well established micro company on the other hand does not think that much about CSR and use the same suppliers as they have always done.A clear motive why large companies as KappAhl and Intersport work with CSR is that they want to give something back to the world. Therefore they engage in activities where they have their operations in order to create a better environment. They take their responsibility even externally and not just internally, as the micro companies do.

Cloud computing has gained popularity due to its ability to simplify IT infrastructure, reduce costs, and provide remote access. Among EU countries and company sizes, Sweden stands out with the highest rate of cloud computing adoption. However, there is a lack of concrete research in the literature focusing on the determinants of cloud computing adoption specifically by large companies in Sweden. Previous studies have examined cloud adoption from various perspectives, with a particular emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rather than large companies. Additionally, technology-related determinants have received more attention compared to those related to business, conceptualization, and application domains. To address this knowledge gap, this research aims to investigate the determinants of CC adoption in large companies in Sweden. The research question was formulated as follows: What are the determinants of cloud computing adoption in large companies in Sweden? Case study was selected as the research strategy, and the data was collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through thematic analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with employees working at a large company in Sweden, who have experience in the IT and cloud computing field. The TOE framework was used to categorize the determinants as sub-themes into three themes: technology context, organization context, and environment context. In Company X, 30 determinants were found, with 20 aligning with previous literature. These included factors such as security, compatibility, scalability, top management support, and competitive pressure. Additionally, 10 new determinants were identified, including robustness, perceived usefulness, innovativeness, knowledge and training, and geographical locations/data centers. The experience and lessons learned from Company X could assist other companies to have better preparation for cloud adoption by understanding the significance of various potential determinants and underlying problems.

The focus of this study is to explore trust between small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large companies in interorganizational relationships (IORs) that are mandated by government policy. Due to the important contribution made by SMEs to national economies and to the fact that their growth is pivotal for entrepreneurial activities, many governments have made significant efforts to enhance their performance. However, SMEs are constrained by their lack of resources and experience. Some countries have required large companies to collaborate with SMEs to overcome these constraints. Whilst much attention has been devoted to trust in relationships of choice between SMEs and large companies, scant attention has been paid to the state of trust in mandated business interactions. This study explores the state of trust between large companies and SMEs companies in mandated business interactions, identifying those factors that influence trust between them. Qualitative semi-structured interviews with 25 key managers from large companies and SMEs were conducted in Oman which has a policy of mandated IORs. The interview data were analyzed thematically. The key findings resulted in a new contextual concept of trust, a refinement of classical trust indicators by which the presence of trust in IORs can be more appropriately detected and the development of a model embracing factors which were found to influence trust. Several new factors not previously commented on in the literature were identified in this study. The findings provide theoretical and practical contributions with recommendations for policy, practice and further research. / Ministry of Manpower, Oman.

SammanfattningTitel: Miljöaspektens prioritering vid logistikplaneringFörfattare: Viveca Freij och Olivia Idström EkestolpeHandledare: Björn CarlssonNivå: Kandidatuppsats i Företagsekonomi, 15 hp, VT 2013Nyckelord: Stora företag i Sverige, miljöaspekten, logistikplanering, greenwash, grön marknadsföring, CSR och logistik.Problemformulering:Hur prioriteras miljöaspekten hos stora företag i Sverige vid logistikplanering?Syfte:Syftet med denna studie är att utforska om och hur stora företag i Sverige tar hänsyn till miljön vid logistikplanering.Metod:En kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med ett induktivt angreppssätt. Studien börjar med en intervju med ett transportbolag och följs av en tvärsnittsstudie som genomförs via telefonintervjuer med 33 av Sveriges största arbetsgivare. Teoretisk referensram: Studien hanterar teorier inom grön marknadsföring, CSR, logistik och grön logistik. Teorier inom grön marknadsföring bidrar till att skapa förståelse om vilka fördelar som grön marknadsföring kan ge. Inom CSR beskrivs vilka beståndsdelar som hör till ämnet och vad som definierar begreppet samt vilka fördelar ett uttalat CSR-arbete kan ge. Genom teorier inom logistik och grön logistik skapas en förståelse om hur det kan bedrivas och anpassas, samt vilka motiv som ligger till grund för arbetssätten.Empirisk insamling:Empirin har samlats in genom en ansikte mot ansikte intervju samt genom 33 stycken telefonintervjuer. Slutsats: Studien visar att majoriteten av Sveriges största arbetsgivare inte prioriterar miljöaspekten över pris, ledtid och leveransservice vid val av transportleverantör. Trots detta ger företagen i sin marknadsföring intryck av att de ser miljön som viktig och arbetar för att bidra till en hållbar utveckling. Företagen kan arbeta med miljöfrågor men lever inte upp till vad de kommunicerar ut i marknadsföringen, omedvetet eller ej är detta en försköning som kan leda till fördelar för företagen. / AbstractTitle: The environmental aspects priority during logistics planning. Authors: Viveca Freij och Olivia Idström EkestolpeAdvisor: Björn CarlssonLevel: Bachelor thesis in Business administration, 15 credits, Spring 2013Keywords:Large companies in Sweden, environmental aspect, logistics planning, greenwash, green marketing, CSR and logistics.Question: How do large companies in Sweden prioritize the environmental aspect during logistics planning?Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore if and how large companies in Sweden take the environmental aspect into account during logistics planning.Method: A qualitative research with an inductive approach. The study begins with an interview with a transport company and is followed by a cross-sectional study conducted via telephone interviews with 33 of Sweden’s largest employers.Theoretical framework: The study handles theories in green marketing, CSR, logistics and green logistics. Theories in green marketing helps to create an understanding of the benefits that green marketing can provide. Theories within CSR describe the elements that belong to the topic and what defines the concepts and the benefits that an explicit CSR can provide. The theories in logistics and green logistics provide a deeper understanding of how it can be managed and customized and its underlying motives. Empirical framework:The data has been gathered through one face to face and 33 interviews by telephone. Conclusion: The study shows that the majority of the largest employers in Sweden do not prioritize the environmental aspect over price, lead time and delivery service during the choice of a transport provider. Despite this the companies market themselves as very considerate of the environment and works to contribute to a sustainable development. Companies can consider the environment in some aspects but do not always live up to what they communicate through their marketing. Unconsciously or not, this is an embellishment that can lead to benefits.

More and more companies and organizations around the world are aiming towards a sustainable path for their businesses. Pressure from stakeholders and society pushes companies to report on their sustainability performance; however, companies are also seeing the opportunities which arise with these reports and especially large companies are embracing the sustainable path according to prior studies. With an increasing number of sustainability reports produced around the world, the need for measuring the performance indicators within these reports is increasing.With the expansion of sustainability reports among companies, the use of the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) Guidelines becomes a popular framework for companies to adopt. GRI is widely used around the world, as their comprehensive framework includes many performance indicators for companies to report on.It has also been proved that the use of sustainability reports and the number of indicators disclosed in these reports are depending on several criteria among which the size of the company, its sector of activity, and its nationality.As master students studying in Sweden, we considered it would be interesting to know more about the sustainability reporting inside the country we are studying in. Large-size companies tend to disclose use more sustainability reporting and to disclose more information. Some sectors as the industrial sector are in need of sustainability reporting. As no prior studies were found in our search for showing which GRI indicators companies of the industrial sector preferably report on, we decided to embrace the challenge and fill the research gap by conducting a research of large Swedish companies within the industrial sector.This thesis adopted a quantitative approach. We collected data from 30 large Swedish companies within the industrial sector. We also conducted five hypotheses for our analysis in order to make conclusions on our work, and our main findings show that among the Swedish large-size companies belonging to the industrial sector, the largest report more on sustainability using the GRI. Besides, among the large companies which disclose on the GRI the largest disclose on more indicators than the smallest. Finally, we succeeded in identifying indicators of the GRI which are largely and poorly disclosed by the Swedish large-size companies belonging to the industrial sector.

Darbo tikslas - išnagrinėti finansinės apskaitos politikos savoką, jos pasirinkimą ir atskleidimą stambiose Lietuvos įmonėse. Darbo uždaviniai. Siekiant užsibrėžto tikslo, keliami šie uždaviniai: v tiksliai apibrėžti apskaitos politikos sąvoką; v pateikti apskaitos teorijų įtaką įmonės apskaitos politikos pasirinkimui; v išanalizuoti apskaitos politiką pozityvioje apskaitos teorijoje; v nustatyti socialinio požiūrio į apskaitos politiką ypatumus; v įvertinti pozityvaus požiūrio apskaitos teorijos hipotezes Lietuvos akcinėse bendrovėse; v išnagrinėti suinteresuotųjų poreikių įtaką įmonės apskaitos politikos pasirinkimui Lietuvos akcinėse bendrovėse; v išanalizuoti socialinį stambių įmonių informacijos ar politikos atskleidimą Lietuvoje. Darbe taikomi metodai: siseminė literatūros analizė, dedukcinis metodas, palyginimas, interpretacija. Teorinis stambių įmonių apskaitos politikos metodų pasirinkimas ir atskleidimas Lietuvoje atliekamas remiantis dedukciniu būdu, t.y. kai nuo bendrų apibūdinimų einama prie konkrečių įrodinėjimų. Nustatomas tikslas ir ieškoma priemonių bei būdų jam pasiekti, suformuluojamos hipotezės, kurių tikrinimui naudojamas anketinės apklausos metodas. Darbo rezultatai. Atlikus tyrimą, gauti tokie rezultatai: 1. gautų finansinių rodiklių ir apskaitos metodų, didinančių ataskaitinio laikotarpio pelną, analizės duomenimis, galima patvirtinti iškeltą hipotezę, jog stambių įmonių vadovai, kurių atlyginimas ir/ar premijos priklauso nuo veiklos rezultatų, yra... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The goal of the paper - to analyse the accounting policy conception, choice and disclosure in large Lithuanian companies. The aim of the research. Going to the main aim, we have to found out some objectives: v to discribe an accounting policy conception; v introduce with accounting theories, how they influence choices of accounting policies of large enterprises; v to analyze an accounting policy place in pozitive accounting theory; v to found out social approach to accounting policy; v valuat pozitive accounting theory’s hypothesis in stock companies of Lithuania; v to analyze influence of stakeholders needs to accounting policy choices of large enterprises in Lithuania; v to determine the social approach of the large enterprises ant it’s disclosure in Lithuania. Methods of the research. The general scientific methods of research: systematic analysis of scientific literature, deduction, comparison and interpratation. The theoretical enterprise’s choice and disclosure of accounting policy methods in Lithuania was based on the application of the deduction method, e.g. when from the general description going to concrete hypothesis development. We using questionnaire method for hypothesis research. The main results of the paper. The following results are going from the research: 1. the bonus plan hypothesis was proven in Lithuanian large enterprises when was tested relation between choosen accounting policy methods, which increase profit of enterprise, and foreign researchers... [to full text]

Background: ERP systems constitute the technological ‘backbone’ for organisations since all business process are mapped within the system. In the recent years, there is a transition to cloud-based ERP systems that large companies consider following. The implementation of a CERP system is a joint effort between the adopting company and the consultancy. Therefore, CSFs need to be defined that are essential for the success of the CERP project from both the consultant and client-side project manager perspective.  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how consultants and client-side project managers perceive CSFs for the successful implementation of a cloud-based ERP system in large companies. Herein, commonalties in perception as well as perception gaps were analysed. Method: This study adopted an abductive qualitative approach. A multiple case study including seven cases was carried out. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews. A cross-case analysis was carried out to shed light on commonalties in perceptions as well as perception gap and the reasoning behind it. The findings were then compared to existing literature. Conclusion: The findings of these study discovered that there are commonalties in perceptions as well as perception gaps of the CSFs. Most importantly, the CSFs ‘Communication’, ‘Involvement of users and training’ as well as ‘System testing’ are deemed as critical by both consultants and client-side project managers.

Accounting for the environmental and social impacts produced by the business or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), has arguably been one of the main topics and requisites within urban sustainability. Large companies having more impacts on the environment and the society due to amongst others the more diverse background of stakeholders and the more use of resources are more in the spotlight to implement CSR in their business. Companies which carelessly aim mainly for profitability and give less care to the environment are more and more proving to loose sustainability in their lifeline (Waldman, Kenett, & Zilberg, n.d.).This paper, using IKEA as a case study, has demonstrated the importance of CSR in larger firms. It has well demonstrated how and why large firms engage in CSR activities and how it could further enhance these activities in the upcoming demanding future. This has been done by presenting three theories, CSR communication, proactive and reactive CSR and motives for CSR. These theories principally show the effectiveness of CSR communication and a framework for successful internal and external communication; the difference and benefits of proactive and reactive CSR and which is more desirable; and finally the motives companies have to engage in both reactive and proactive CSR activities. With the help of these theories in the analysis section, this paper demonstrates how IKEA has used CSR in its framework to rebuild its reputation and how it has improved its sustainability by using proactive CSR strategies. The study further demonstrates how IKEA has proven that they are caring in gaining a sustainable future and presents some thoughts for further studies and practices.

It is necessary for large companies to understand and be able to adapt to the industrial transformation towards an increasing focus on energy efficiency, which takes place today. The Energy Efficiency Directive (EED)issued by the European Union has enlarged the focus on working with energy efficiency within large companies. Further, the Swedish government has introduced the law about energy auditing in large companies, which is based on the EED. These regulations encourage companies to develop a management system that includes requirements on conducting energy audits and propose cost effective measures.  Energy efficiency is already an important aspect within many companies environmental work, however a more developed and systematic approach to energy efficiency than most companies already have is needed in order to fulfill the legal requirements. The Company investigated in this study is one the world’s leading technology companies with more than 9000 employees in Sweden. Currently, they have energy as a significant aspect in their environmental work according to the international management system standard ISO 14001. Today they are also developing their energy work by conducting energy audits in order to comply with the new legislation. This gives a more detailed view of the energy use and potential improvements that can be done, but in order to ensure continual improvements over a long period of time further measures are needed.  Within this study it was investigated what measures a large company needs to implement in order to increase their energy performance and comply with the legislation. By a literature review focusing on management systems as well as interviews within the Company, a complementary study with two companies covered by the EED and three expert interviews, five key factors were identified. These factors are top management commitment, awareness, goals, measurements and evaluation. A model was then developed aligning these factors. Further, concrete proposals for action to manage these factors were presented. By increasing focus on these key factors and implement proposed measures companies will increase their energy performance and make the organization aware of how actions affect a company’s energy performance.

The audit industry is not any industry; it is crucial to all business activities. However, the trust of the auditors has been questioned following the noted corporate scandals which revealed financial crime and accounting fraud. Since the scandals affected large companies the most, and that large companies have auditing obligations, it is important to investigate how the trust of auditors appears in this group. The purpose of the study is therefore to explore factors that affect large firm's trust in auditors. The study is however limited to only investigate this nationally. Based on previous research, it can be assumed that the auditor's competence, independence, confidentiality and laws and norms affect the large companies’ trust. The four factors constitute the study's independent variables and thus the developed model. To empirically test the model, a web-based survey has been conducted, resulting in 78 answers. All independent variables proved to be positively significant, which means that there is a statistically positive connection between each independent variable and the dependent variable trust. The conclusion of the study is therefor that large companies have greater trust for an auditor who has good competence, acts independently, maintains the confidentiality and follow laws and norms of the audit industry. Since we investigated factors that affect large firm's trust, it would be interesting to read a comparative analysis of factors affecting the trust of small, medium and large companies. Another interesting study would be to investigate how the auditor agencies market to reach both existing and potential clients. / Revisionsbranschen är inte vilken bransch som helst, den är nämligen avgörande för all näringsverksamhet. Däremot har förtroendet för revisorerna ifrågasatts efter de uppmärksammade företagsskandalerna som innebar att ekonomisk brottslighet och redovisningsfusk avslöjades. Då skandalerna berörde stora företag mest samt att stora företag har revisionsplikt, är det av betydelse att undersöka hur förtroendet för revisorerna ser ut i denna grupp. Studiens syfte är därför att utforska faktorer som påverkar stora företags förtroende för revisorer. Dock avgränsas studien till att enbart undersöka förtroendet för revisorer nationellt. Utifrån tidigare forskning kan det antas att revisorns kompetens, oberoende, tystnadsplikt samt lagar och normer påverkar de stora företagens förtroende. De fyra faktorerna utgör således studiens oberoende variabler och därmed utvecklade modell. För att empiriskt testa modellen har en webbaserad enkätundersökning genomförts, vilket resulterade i 78 fullständiga svar. Samtliga oberoende variabler visade sig vara positivt signifikanta, vilket tyder på att det finns ett statistiskt positivt samband mellan varje oberoende variabel och den beroende variabeln förtroende. Studiens slutsats är således att stora företag har högre förtroende för en revisor som har god kompetens, agerar oberoende, upprätthåller tystnadsplikten samt följer revisionsbranschens lagar och normer. Då vi undersökt faktorer som påverkar stora företags förtroende, hade det varit intressant att läsa en jämförande analys gällande faktorer som påverkar små, medelstora och stora företags förtroende. En annan intressant studie hade varit en undersökning om hur revisionsbyråer marknadsför sig för att nå både befintliga och potentiella klienter.