One of the biggest challenges for society nowadays is the environmental crisis that is characterized by the continuing growth, and depletion of Earth's natural resources combined with vast amounts of carbon dioxide emissions putting a strain on the world's ecosystem. To tackle this impending calamity and preserve our way of life, countries, and companies are creating new innovations and solutions. One of these solutions is the implementation of a circular development model where resources are used to their fullest potential while at the same time minimizing the potential negative effects such as carbon emissions. A practical implementation of a circular business model is industrial symbiosis (IS), a relatively new concept where different actors come together to utilize waste/by-products generated through production to be used as raw material in the production of another product. While the field concerning industrial symbiosis has seen extensive research in both technological and supply chain management, we identified that previous research is lacking when it comes to the field of risk management in the IS-supply chain. More specifically, operational risk management in the IS-supply chain was found to be under-researched, thus this was chosen by us for our study with the addition of how sustainability affects the risk management process.    The main purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how the operational risk management process is managed within the IS-supply chain, and how the triple bottom line of sustainability influences this process. The study consists of three main themes, namely industrial symbiosis supply chain management, operational risk management, and the triple bottom line of sustainability. The study addressed the research question which was formulated as follows: “How are operational risks managed within the industrial symbiosis supply chain, and how does the Triple Bottom Line influence the process of operational risk management?”.    To answer the research question and address the purpose of the thesis, a qualitative study was conducted with a focus on industrial symbiosis in Sweden. The interviews were conducted with managers from different companies that operate within an industrial symbiosis. The interviews themselves were semi-structured consisting of the three main themes. The sample for the interviews was selected based on position, experience, and knowledge concerning the relevant topics of the study.   The data gathered through the interviews were analyzed by using a thematic analysis and led us to our findings. The results showed that companies within the IS-supply chain all utilize one of two main methods concerning risk management. These are either a form of system/program/model or they do not use anything special at all and instead rely on themselves, communication, checklists, etc. This greatly depended on what type of company it is and the IS-supply chain itself as the materials used in the supply chain differ between different symbioses. Furthermore, the results also showed how the TBL affects the risk management process, and from the analysis, we concluded that only two of the aspects are considered, namely the economic and environmental. While the social aspect is still addressed in their companies, we did not see any particular pattern that related the aspect to operational risk management within the IS-supply chain. The study proposed a unique model of operational risk management in the IS-supply chain considering the triple bottom line of sustainability.

The purpose of the study is to increase knowledge of how to provide service in municipal housing companies in Sweden, and of various organisational models for the customer-centric organisation. The principal issue of the study is how housing companies can organise their resources in order to create an efficient and customer-centric organisation. The term customer-centric organisation comprises customer service, letting, and local administration. Customer service is often designated as the housing company’s fault reporting service and includes, for instance, the reporting of faults in dwellings, noise problems, complaints etc. Letting incorporates processes connected with estate agency, marketing, taking possession and vacating, internal exchanges, housing strategies, options, and tenant selection. Local administration incorporates processes connected with day-to-day operational administration, i.e. the provision of service with regard to remedying faults and making repairs. The study’s theoretical points of departure have their basis in research into public housing and the field of service management. The empirical supportive data used in the study is a two-year case study of rganisational changes at Malmö municipal housing company, MKB Fastighets AB (MKB), and a supplementary interview study at four other municipal housing companies. The case study was conducted with the help of observations gleaned from MKB’s internal evaluation group, interviews with management and frontline staff, and a questionnaire survey of frontline staff in MKB’s customer-centric organisation. The supplementary study included interviews with both frontline staff and management. MKB’s organisational change can be divided up into two different phases: the test organisation and the team organisation. The departure point of both organisations was area-based customer service, letting, and local administration. The test organisation entailed MKB creating one single function to manage all these activities. Due to higher administration costs, less visible local administration, and recruitment problems, the test organisation was abandoned. In its place, the team organisation was created, which in many respects consisted of the same concept, but differed in that the area-based customer service, letting, and local administration were shared between several people in a joint local work-team. MKB’s new ways of organising its customer-centric organisation are defined in the study as a holistic model, entailing that all contact with customers was self-managed from a local area office. The results show that the team organisation cultivates a proximity to the customers, also improving customer responsibility and collaboration between frontline staff. It can also be pointed out that the customer-centric organisation needs to be developed further. Among other things, the expertise of frontline staff can be further adapted in order to meet customer requirements. At the same time, it is of great importance to the outcome of the organisational change that the organisation’s overarching parts are coordinated in a manner facilitating the work of frontline staff in the provision of service. The same will apply if the housing company uses contractors in, for instance, property maintenance, grounds management, and heating, ventilation and sanitation installations. If the housing company’s aim is to become customer-oriented, then joint resources will have to be concentrated on the customer process and this process will have to take centre stage in the company’s strategic management decisions. / QC 20101109

The brand and its role in real estate agencies This survey investigates how well known brands are in real estate agencies in Stockholm, Malmö, Helsingborg and Lund. The survey also aims to look into employees’ attitude towards their company’s brand. The degree of correspondence between the customers’ expectations and their actual experience after doing business with the company has also been studied. The results of the survey to companies show that there are differences in brand knowledge and the use of brand marketing depending on the type of company. Brand is a well known term among most of the companies that took part in the survey, but investments in brand marketing differs. Franchise companies have the best knowledge regarding brand as a term. This can depend on that working with the brand is centralized and that they have the conditions for efficient communication and through that get the customers to understand the company in the way that the company wishes. A smaller share among other chain companies, compared to franchise companies, considers that the brand is a well known term. Smaller firms have the smallest share that considers the brand being a well known term. To what extent the company focuses on its brand, depends on the amount of resources as well as how the company is organized. By using information material about the values, profile and marketing campaigns of the company and by giving internal education continuously, the company has the right conditions for creating a homogeneous internal communication that also leads to a homogenous external communication. Chain companies as well as franchise companies seem to have a more developed and active brand strategy. However, the internal communication process seems slower. The use of a central unit gives opportunities to create a homogeneous communication but this presupposes that the information reaches out to the whole organisation. Smaller firms are less active with using information material and internal education. These results can be caused by a smaller need for using information material in smaller companies since other communication channels might be preferred. Smaller companies tend to lack resources such as capital, knowledge and time for an active work with the brand and by that have it harder to compete with larger companies. At the same time larger companies with more resources have to organize the work correctly for being effective so the results of the brand work is well anchored internally. Regardless of how well you communicate the brand internally, one has to work on communicating the same thing to the customers and make sure that the customers will get the same image of the company that the company strives for. A homogenous brand demands that all personnel communicate the same qualities and values. To be professional, have great experience and market knowledge are qualities that the companies wish to communicate. In brand developing, some qualities might have to be strengthened. The survey shows that the companies want to improve in terms of thinking in new ways and increase their availability. To be able to offer good customer solutions is a quality the companies also want to strengthen. Understanding what qualities one thinks the company communicates differs with gender and age of the personnel. This can explain why the personnel understand and communicate the company’s brand in different ways. / QC 20101117

During the last decade, the role of supply chains has increasingly been articulated to be a key issue when it comes to universal health coverage. Humanitarian organization, donors and governments have started to realize that strong supply chains, in particular increased supply chain visibility, is imperative to ensuring proper availability of, and access to, health commodities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Understanding the processes at every stage of the supply chain allows for mitigation of risks, forward optimization and identification of best practices. More importantly, it ensures the availability of commodities at the last mile of distribution. During the course of this study, it was shown that the notion of supply chain visibility is an ambiguous concept, which makes it challenging for organizations to know how and what to address when aiming to improve the level of supply chain visibility. The best way of measuring the level of supply chain visibility was considered as being through measuring the quantity, accuracy and freshness of the information (status information, transactional information and master data) that is shared throughout the supply chain. By assessing the three attributes of the information that is shared within a supply chain, organizations and governments in LMICs, in this case the national family planning supply chain of Zimbabwe, can assess the current level of supply chain visibility and understand what there is that affects its levels. The findings showed that there are many areas that can be addressed when aiming to improve the level of supply chain visibility - many of which are not related to sophisticated information technology (IT) solutions. However, people tend leap from supply chain visibility to sophisticated IT solutions, when discussing how the level of supply chain visibility can be improved. The belief that investments in IT solutions will increase the level of supply chain visibility has shown to be an error of perception. When framing a problem solely as a technological issue, the risk is that other critical factors that can improve the quantity, accuracy and freshness of the information, thus also the supply chain visibility, are overlooked. Instead, this study suggests that organizations and governments should address two parameters; system maturity and capacity. Together, they capture the full spectrum of factors that can be addressed when aiming to increase the level of supply chain visibility in LMICs. System maturity refers to the way in which the supply chain is designed to facilitate for superior information sharing, such as frequency of resupply intervals, choice of push- or pull-system, the number of tiers or design of the logistics management and information system. The capability refers to the aggregated of the system ability, including; workload, training, education, competence, experiences and will of individuals working within the supply chain. By using the two parameters as a guideline, the idea is that organizations and governments in LMICs will be able capture a broader spectrum of possible areas that can be addressed when aiming to improve the level of supply chain visibility. / Under det senaste årtiondet har leverantörskedjans roll blivit en nyckelfråga när det kommer till universell hälsodekning. Humanitära organisationer, donatorer och regeringar har börjat inse att starka logistikkedjor, i synnerhet ökad ”supply chain visibility”, är absolut nödvändiga för att säkerställa rätt tillgång till hälsoprodukter i låg- och medelinkomstländer (LMIL). Att förstå processerna i logistikkedjans samtliga led, gör att man kan identifiera flaskhalsar, riskminimera och optimera flödet av produkter. Framförallt så möjliggör ökad supply chain visibility att man kan säkerställa tillgången på livsnödvändiga hälsoprodukter vid logistikkedjans slutdestination. Under denna studie visade det sig att begreppet supply chain visibility är ett tvetydigt koncept som gör det svårt för organisationer att veta hur och vad de bör adressera när de eftersträvar en ökad nivå av synlighet i logistikkedjan. De parametrar som ansågs bäst beskriva nivån av supply chain visibility var genom att bedöma kvantiteten, noggrannheten och färskheten av informationen (statusinformation, transaktionsinformation och masterdata) som delas genom hela logistikkedjan. Genom att granska de tre attributen av den information som delas inom en logistikkedja så kan organisationer och regeringar i LMILs, i detta fall den nationella logistikkedjan i Zimbabwe, utvärdera den nuvarande nivå av supply chain visibility och förstå vad det är som påverkar dess nivå. Resultaten för denna studie visade att det finns många områden som kan åtgärdas när man syftar till att förbättra nivån av supply chain visibility - varav många inte alls är relaterade till sofistikerade IT-lösningar. Tyvärr, så har det visat sig att många individer ofta tror sofistikerade IT-lösningar är lösningen, när man vill öka graden av supply chain visibility. Med denna tro riskerar man att förbise andra kritiska faktorer som också kan förbättra informationens kvantitet, noggrannhet och färskhet, således även graden av supply chain visibility. Denna studie föreslår att organisationer och regeringar istället bör adressera två parametrar; systemmognad och kapacitet. Tillsammans fångar de två parametrarna hela spektret av faktorer som kan adresseras när man vill öka graden av supply chain visibility. Systemmognad avser utformandet logistikkedjans för att underlätta för bättre informationsutbyte, såsom leveransfrekvensen, val av push- eller pull-system, antal distributionsnivåer eller utformningen av i logistik- och informationshanteringssystemet. Kapaciteten avser den aggregerade förmågan av systemet, vilket bland annat inkluderar; utbildning, träning, kompetens, erfarenheter, arbetsbelastning, och vilja hos individer som arbetar inom logistikkedjan. Genom att använda de två parametrarna som en riktlinje, är tanken att organisationer och regeringar i LMILs kan fånga ett bredare spektrum av möjliga områden som kan adresseras när man syftar till att förbättra nivån på försörjningskedjans synlighet.

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This study examines how the two different investment strategies, growth and momentum performed compared to the index Stockholm financial SX30PI in the period 2006-2021. The question is if the two investment strategies have a statistically significant higher risk-adjusted return than the benchmark index. The portfolios have consisted of companies from the financial sector in Sweden. Therefore, the SX30PI index is used to compare the returns. The SX30PI is the 30 most frequently traded stocks at the Stockholm stock exchange who has its main operations in the financial sector.The efficient market hypothesis argues that none of the two strategies could be used to beat the index since they use previous stock prices and already publicly available information. The result showed that both momentum and growth yielded a higher return than the SX30PI. The study includes transaction costs which other studies often skip. By including this we believe that the result could be more applicable in the financial market and contribute to further studies with transaction costs. However, we find no statistical significance to disprove the efficient market theory.

Purpose - Since human resources play a significant role in the financial prosperity of companies andare of great importance to decision makers in today’s knowledge-based economy, this study aims toexplore the extent of Human Resource Accounting (HRA) disclosure in companies’ annual reports ona global scale. The purpose of this study is to also examine how various corporate characteristicsaffect the extent of HRA disclosure in companies’ annual reports around the world so thatpolicymakers can study the pattern and devise a comprehensive set of guidelines for standardizing theprocedure of disclosing information regarding human resources of companies. Design/methodology/approach - This study adopted a quantitative analysis approach. The sampleconsists of 375 companies whose annual reports for the year ended 2020 have been collected fromrespective company websites for analysis. A disclosure checklist consisting of 30 items related tohuman resources have been used to determine the Human Resource Accounting Disclosure Index(HRADI) score of each of the sample companies. Five hypotheses involving the five independentvariables of firm size, type of industry, number of hours of employee training and development,number of employees, and return on investment made on employees have been tested using a multipleregression model to examine their individual relationships with the dependent variable, i.e. HRADIscore. Findings - The findings reveal that both firm size and return on investment made on employees havestatistically significant negative relationships with HRADI score. Meanwhile, type of industry,number of hours of employee training and development, and number of employees do not have anystatistically significant relationship with HRADI score. Research limitations/implications - The number of hours of employee training and developmentneeded to be computed manually for some companies. Future research could consider better trainingand development parameters whose information is readily available. The sample size could also bebroadened using a wider range of independent variables in the multiple regression model for moreaccurate results in future studies. Practical implications - Policymakers can make use of this paper’s findings to build a comprehensiveframework guiding companies across the world to disclose information about their human resourcesin a certain format for better comparability and transparency of information. Originality/value - This study covers a wider range of countries in its sample with the aim to exploreinternational trends of HRA disclosure. The disclosure checklist has four unique disclosure items andthe independent variables in the multiple regression analysis have not been used in such a broadinternational setting previously. Keywords - human resource accounting, HRA disclosure, HRADI score, HRA disclosure checklist,human resources, corporate characteristics Paper type - Research paper

Stakeholder involvement plays a critical role in ensuring the success of projects. Projects in whichthe interests of all stakeholders are taken care of have high chances of being successful. The samecannot be said with the proposed expansion of Heathrow Airport by the construction of a new thirdrunway. The implementation of the project has been hampered by litigations and protests byseveral stakeholders. To improve acceptance of the project by the public, the governmentintroduced the Heathrow 2.0 Sustainability Strategy Plan which was meant to assure the public ofgovernment commitment towards sustainable operations at Heathrow Airport (including the thirdrunway project). However, the efficacy of the strategy has been questioned by a number ofstakeholders especially climate change experts and the community around the airport. Thisresearch examines how Heathrow 2.0 Sustainability Strategy Plan addresses the mainenvironmental issues related to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) operation and the expansion ofthe third airport runway. The research focused on on-air quality, noise pollution, and land use inregards to its climate targets and climate justice framework. The research also examined public(stakeholder) opinions and feelings on the sustainability of the proposed project as well asoperation of the Heathrow Airport with reference to Heathrow 2.0 Sustainability Strategy Plan. Toaccomplish this objective, the research reviewed Heathrow 2.0 Sustainability Strategy Plandocument with aim of having an in-depth understanding of how it addresses the on-air quality,noise pollution, and land use. The research also obtained public opinion by interviewing climatechange experts, environmentalists and the local community about the efficacy of Heathrow 2.0Sustainability Strategy Plan and sustainability of proposed third runway project at HeathrowAirport. The research found that there was a lack of full public participation during the planningof the project as there was evidence that environmentalists and climate change experts wereignored. The research also found that even though Heathrow 2.0 Sustainability Strategy Planaddresses some of the issues raised by the environmentalist and climate change experts, thedocument does not clearly state how an increase in emissions as a result of increased aircraft trafficwill be handled. Additionally, the interests of the local community were not taken intoconsideration as increased pollution will worsen their already affected health. The researchproposes the following: full public participation, giving dialogue a chance, and relocation of thelocal community to safer areas.

The research examines the different factors that affect the consumer's purchase decisions regarding sustainable products, it investigates the factors that cause the gap between their intentions and actual action taken regarding sustainability. In addition, this research delves into the nuanced interplay of individual attitudes, social expectations, and environmental awareness. The qualitative analysis, enriched by survey responses and interviews, uncovers multifaceted insights that extend beyond mere behavioral observations. By scrutinizing participants' perceptions and motivations, the study uncovers the intricate dynamics that drive sustainable consumption in the unique context of Sweden. This study provides helpful and valuable insights through the empirical data collected via both surveys and interviews and the performed analysis. The study’s findings benefit the companies operating in Sweden by taking advantage of to reach the consumers most effectively, by understanding the factors that shape their behavior.

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