Much of the existing body of literature analyzes the relationship between eco-innovations and financial performance. Our study differentiates from this literature, by focusing on the scarcely investigated Nordic context, by providing a holistic view on eco-innovations and finally by analyzing also the effects eco-innovations have on marker performance. This research focuses on three types of eco-innovations (eco-product, eco-process, and eco-organizational), and additionally brings standard innovations into the perspective. To measure the impact eco-innovations in general and its categorized types have on financial performance, a sample of 50 Nordic listed firms, spread from the year 2003-2019, was employed. Financial performance was measured with profitability accounting measures (return on equity, return on assets, and operating margin), while market performance was measured with the change in firms’ market value. Our results indicate that eco-innovations were generally associated with lower profitability returns, except in the case of eco-process innovations. Moreover, our findings interestingly showed, that market performance is positively affected by standard innovations and eco-organizational innovations. The findings suggest, that even when these types of innovations have no significant effect on profitability, investors still believe these innovations will increase the long-term real value of firms. Overall this study extends the discussion of eco-innovations to their effects on firm performance, based from an investor/shareholder perspective.

Organizations invest in team-based systems in order to generate innovative practices that will give them a competitive edge. High-performing teams require training and other support systems to gain the skills they need as well as to create and maintain an environment conducive to their success. The challenge for managers is to make resource allocation decisions among investment alternatives to maximize team effectiveness and still ensure a financial return for company investors. This study has three objectives. The first objective is to investigate whether there is a positive relationship among organizational environment, team potency (the team's collective belief it will succeed) and team performance. Results indicate that the presence of four organizational support systems influences team potency and performance. These support systems are the Design and Measurement, Rewards, Training and Communications Systems. In addition, results indicate that team potency is a mediating variable between the Design and Measurement and Communications Systems and team performance. These results suggest that companies are able to influence team performance by investing in environmental support systems. The second objective is to examine whether team members and managers view the organizational environment differently. Results indicate that managers view the Training and Communications Systems as more important, while teams perceive the Design and Measurement System and the Rewards System to be more important to their success. Since the systems that team managers view as important may influence their investment decisions, these differences may suggest a resource alignment issue. Third, a measure of team effectiveness based on financial measures is introduced. Published literature emphasizes attitudinal, behavioral and operational measures of performance. A financial measure offers a method of evaluating performance that is similar to methods used in capital budgeting and may be consistently applied across different types of teams with different purposes. The data collection process was performed by persons external to the team and covered a 12-month period. This method led to a loss of information and did not accurately portray team performance. However, the teams that were successful in calculating project savings were different types of teams from both manufacturing and service industries. This result is encouraging and warrants further investigation.

Circular economy is a topic that has gained a lot of attention during the last decades. Even so, there is still a gap of research at the micro-level regarding how circular economy influences financial performance. This paper aims to investigate if circular economy has a positive impact on financial performance indicators. Furthermore, it explores whether the firm size has an impact on the level of circularity as well as if circularity has an impact on financial performance. Using a sample of Swedish companies, this paper applied the framework of 9Rs to enhance the knowledge of the level of circularity.A survey was sent to 239 SMEs within the manufacturing industry in Sweden to gather information about the expected relation between circular economy and the financial performance. Previous research points out that companies struggle to implement circularity since the systems are not yet developed. This paper cannot confirm the reasons behind the low number of companies with adopted circular processes, which could be investigated further by other researchers. However, it was found that most companies are still focusing on sustainability and only a few companies have implemented circularity in their business model. Furthermore, firm size does not have an impact on the level of circularity which could be due to either that the majority of participating companies is classified as small or that most companies are still linear. At last, the analysis results show that circular economy has a positive influence on the financial KPIs sales, return on assets and economic value added and that the higher level of circularity, the greater the impact.

The organizational structure is unquestionably a very important managerial tool for firms. Based on the purpose of the structure, it has a large influence on how the operation of the firm is performed, which can create incentives for picking the most suitable one. According to the contingency theory, there is no best option, the most suitable structure is dependent on contextual factors in each individual case. Contrary, previous studies have shown that organizational structure has significant influence on the performance and even certain types of structures.There is currently a research gap regarding if certain types of structures could lead to better financial performances. This quantitative study was conducted using a positivistic paradigm, with a deductive approach. 216 companies were analyzed and two-sample t- tests were conducted to test the data. The divisional, functional, hierarchical, horizontal, and matrix organizational structures have been used and the financial performance measures Return on Assets, Return on Equity, and Return on Invested Capital. Industry and country have been used as descriptive variables.By conducting a MANOVA test the first research question was answered, “Does the organizational structure influence the firm’s financial performance?”, the results were insignificant, the organizational structure does not influence the firm’s financial performance. This question provided an aggregated view of the influence of structures while the second question was aimed to provide a decomposed view by looking closer at the influence of the structures against each other.To answer the second research question, “Is there a certain organizational structure that has a higher influence on the firm’s financial performance?”, several two-sample t-tests were conducted. The results from the two-sample t-tests show that there is a significant difference in the Return on Assets when using a divisional structure rather than a matrix structure and that there is a significant difference on the Return on Equity when using a functional structure rather than a divisional structure and when using a hierarchical structure rather than a divisional structure. To summarize, the result of this study aligns with the contingency theory, the best structure is very much a personal choice for each organization and should not be chosen by financial interests.

Global warming and environmental impact are topics that have received increased attention in recent years. Research suggests that companies should take more responsibility for this impact. Scholars have expressed contradicting opinions on whether these sustainability initiatives result in new risks and thereby lead to worse financial performance or will benefit the organization. This qualitative multiple case study uses an abductive approach to examine how risks associated with environmental sustainability initiatives are perceived to impact financial performance as well as how these risks can be managed in practice. Based on existing literature on environmental sustainability, risk management, and financial performance combined with interviews conducted with six representatives from three different companies in the Swedish manufacturing industry, a framework is developed. The framework presents a link from sustainability initiatives to risks, which can result in negative impacts on financial performance. The study further shows a positive relation between sustainability and financial performance, indicating that financial benefits can be gained from working with sustainability. Additionally, it is found that sustainability-related risks should be managed differently than business-related risks in organizations. The presented framework therefore indicates a necessity of establishing sustainability risk management strategies. The four main strategies identified were i) creating a shared mindset which allows for understanding of risks in the organization, ii) increasing communication and collaboration across departments, iii) actively working with risk identification to understand its behavior, and iv) establishing constant revision of risk management strategies.

Over the past decade, sustainability has emerged as one of the foremost issues faced by corporations across all sectors and Corporate Social Responsibility has gained much momentum in the past two decades. This research investigated whether investors in emerging markets are equally concerned about a firm’s social and environmental impacts as their counterparts in developed economies. The aim was to ascertain whether or not a correlation exists between CSR and stock market performance of South African listed companies. This was the first study undertaken in South Africa that specifically investigated the relative performances of SRI listed and non-SRI listed companies. The findings reveal that there are observable differences between the average market returns of the FTSE/JSE Socially Responsible Investment Index and the FTSE/JSE All Share Index, as well as the average price/earnings ratios and average price/book value ratios of all companies listed the JSE Main Board. Although two out of the three hypotheses failed to yield significant statistical outcomes, all the findings were in favour of the SRI. The research has opened up the avenue for future studies to investigate the purported links between sustainability and financial performance in the context of emerging markets. Copyright / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

This study investigates if the proportion of women on Board of Directors (BOD) and Top Management Teams (TMT) in Swedish listed firms affect the financial performance. Using a sample of 1,432 firm-year observations for firms listed at Nasdaq Stockholm during the years 2012-2019, the study estimates multiple regressions to investigate the association between proportion of women on BODs and TMTs and firms’ financial performance, measured as ROA, ROE and Tobin’s Q. Using an interaction variable, the study also investigates if female representation in TMT affects the association between BOD gender diversity and financial performance. Furthermore, in line with critical mass theory, the study investigates whether there is a specific threshold of female representation that needs to be achieved for the performance effect to occur. The study’s results provide some evidence for a positive association between proportion of women on BOD and financial performance, but only possible indications for a negative effect of proportion of women in TMTs and financial performance. No support is found for the interaction effect. The positive impact of female representation on BOD and TMT does not seem to depend on any critical mass threshold. The study contributes with a new perspective on how gender diversity on several firm levels affects the financial performance.

While many researchers tend to agree that quality improvement efforts lead to operational and customer-related organizational gains, the financial bottom-line impact of quality efforts is still debatable. Utilizes a sample of 68 certified Portuguese firms to shed some light on the nature of the relationships between quality improvement efforts and financial performance measures. Uses factor analysis, cluster analysis, and analysis of variance to analyze the data gathered using a survey-based research instrument. Concludes that quality efforts directed toward the customer tend to be associated with higher financial performance in terms of net profit after tax.

The primary purpose of this study was to explore a model that examines the relationships among the external environment, entrepreneurial strategy, mechanistic-organic structure and financial performance of restaurant franchisors from the perspective of franchisees. The final structural model indicated that restaurant franchisees perceive that franchisors' entrepreneurial strategy makes a highly positive contribution to franchisors' financial performance. The external environment is perceived to have a negative impact on franchisor's financial performance. Franchisees also perceived that franchisor's entrepreneurial strategy and mechanistic-organic structure could have a significantly and mutually positive impact on each other. The basic value of understanding entrepreneurial strategy is the prediction of certain financial outcomes. Entrepreneurial strategy proved to have a very significant impact on the franchisor's financial performance from the perspective of restaurant franchisees. However, franchisors' entrepreneurial strategy was not always perceived to guarantee financial success because of the negative impact of the external environment in the restaurant franchising industry on financial performance. Furthermore, restaurant franchisees perceived the franchisor's external environment in the industry was unlikely to contribute to the franchisor's entrepreneurial strategy or mechanistic-organic structure. Restaurant franchisees viewed that a high level of franchisors' entrepreneurial strategy had a mutual relationship with their organic structure. It is significant in their perception that their free-flowing relationship, authority, and communication involvement in the franchisor's decision-making process establish high levels of franchisors' entrepreneurial strategy. However, franchisors' mechanistic-organic structure is not necessarily perceived to influence franchisors' financial performance positively. The indirect effect of mechanistic-organic structure on financial performance through entrepreneurial strategy was not perceived to be significant. Restaurant franchisees perceive that franchisors' entrepreneurial strategy is driven by mechanistic-organic structure in the franchising system, not by external environmental change in the industry. It is very understandable for franchisees to perceive this way, because franchisees constantly provide franchisors with local environmental information through franchising communication and relationship channels. Restaurant franchisees compete with other restaurants in many local markets, so that they are knowledgeable about significant changes in the local environment. Restaurant franchisees might perceive that the local environment is a more critical issue to franchisors' entrepreneurial strategy than is the general external environment in the industry. Thus, they might not think of the external environment in the industry as important enough to have an influence on entrepreneurial strategy and mechanistic-organic structure, except on franchisors' financial performance. / Ph. D.

Some corporate leaders lack knowledge of CSR strategies to improve corporate financial performance. Businesses increase their profit margins when the business leaders integrate social and environmental management into core business processes. Grounded in stakeholder theory, this multicase study involved an exploration of corporate social responsibility factors that contributory to improving market share and financial performance. One-on-one interviews took place, and corporate leaders of 3 Native American owned companies that have implemented successful CSR strategies to improve market share and financial performance within the Midwestern area of the United States, including Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Data triangulation involved the use of field observations, organizational background information, and review of archival records. Modified van Kaam method was instrumental to identifying the variation of potential structural meanings embedded within textural implications as well as to expose core themes and contexts that contribute to the apparent presence of the phenomenon. Some themes that emerged from this study included corporate social responsibility strategies, core value and views, and indications. These themes developed through efforts to identify the CSR strategies and outcomes of Native-owned gaming operations. Identifying successful CSR strategies encourages more companies to participate in socially responsible initiatives. Illustrating successful CSR efforts within Native gaming operations can transform business practices, enhance social performance, and generate positive social change in communities through transforming local Native American communities into vibrant cohesive societies for families to thrive in.