Nowadays Swedish professional handball clubs carry out extensive sustainability work. In addition to engaging many people through the activities of the associations, they also contribute positively to society through external projects and activities. Despite the work being carried out, the clubs are not that involved in disclosing their work in a sustainability report. Sustainability reporting aims to report the organization's impact on sustainable development and is an expression of social responsibility. The study is based on the legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory's assumptions about expectations and interactions with society. The study is focused on clubs that are active in the top league of Swedish men’s handball, Handbollsligan. The purpose of this study is to understand the reasons why Swedish professional handball clubs do not report sustainability, even though the theories and previous studies point out many benefits to it. The study has been performed in a two steps approach, a document study was performed first and then interviews. The document study of the club’s annual reports has shown a poor disclosure of sustainability information. Subsequently, interviews with representatives of the clubs have been carried out in order to generate an understanding of why the clubs do not report their sustainability work. The study shows that none of the Swedish professional handball clubs have a sustainability report and have a lack of sustainability information in their annual report. The study highlights several reasons why the clubs do not have sustainability reports. It indicates that the clubs instead choose to communicate the sustainability work they perform via social media and through their websites. Other reason is a lack of knowledge of what a sustainability report is and contains, and the deficiency of the resources required for elaborating the report. Further the clubs also experience low expectations and demands from stakeholders regarding sustainability reporting. Norms within the field of activity and the culture within the clubs also form the basis for the lack of sustainability disclosure. The study's contribution is primarily a guidance and an increased understanding for the clubs within Swedish professional handball regarding sustainability reporting.

This paper analyzes the effects of economic crises on firms' use of management control mechanisms and on their management of stakeholder relations. Moreover, the association between stakeholder management and management control system use is analyzed. In the wake of the economic crisis of 2008/2009, many firms were faced with severe threats that called for immediate short-term action to ensure firm survival. However, short-term action like massive cost-cutting and cash generation often are blamed for going at the expense of long-term health as key stakeholder relations may be irreversibly harmed. Hence, three interrelated questions are addressed theoretically and empirically: First, we analyze the impact of the recent economic crisis on firms' control strategies. More specifically, we investigate whether a high crisis impact on firms is associated with a shortening of reporting cycles, a more interactive use of control-relevant information, restriction of employee autonomy and a focus on liquidity and cost-cutting. Second, we examine from the viewpoint of stakeholder theory how firms can make use of active stakeholder management for crisis management. Third, we explore whether firms can take short-term measures for ensuring liquidity and cutting costs and at the same time pursue a stakeholder strategy aiming at the long-term survival of the firm. Using survey data from 204 major Austrian corporations, we provide evidence that firms significantly adjusted their control systems as a response to the economic crisis. Our data do not indicate an immanent contradiction between a "short-term finance focus" and the pursuit of a sustainable stakeholder strategy.

Many innovative businesses have discovered an added value in collaborating with experts, users or other stakeholders in developing innovative products or services. Not all collaboration with stakeholders, however, corresponds to the criteria for opening up an innovation process to the needs of societal actors under the terms of responsible innovation. The question of what makes collaboration meaningful in the sense of responsible innovation was presented and discussed in a 75 min workshop at the European Science Open Forum (ESOF) in Toulouse, France in June 2018. Identified success factors and challenges for making a collaboration process meaningful for the collaborating parties highlight the importance of competent process preparation and facilitation, investment of time and effort to enable mutual understanding and the development of trustful relationships as well as the collaborating partners' willingness to implement changes that result from the collaboration process.

Olika verksamheter har sedan tidigare präglats av ett ägarperspektiv där relationen till formella ägare och aktieägare betraktats som företagets viktigaste relation. I takt med globaliseringen och den effektiviserade informationsspridningen blir det dock allt viktigare att inte längre bortse från andra intressenter. Det tillkommer därför större krav på företag och företagsledare att effektivt kunna identifiera vilka som utgör företagets intressenter. I tidigare forskning har teorier för identifiering och prioritering av intressenter utvecklats av bland annat Escoubés (1999) och Mitchell, Agle och Wood (1997). Dessa teorier utgår ifrån kriterierna, makt, legitimitet och brådskande karaktär. Enligt teorierna kan företag identifiera och prioritera baserat på intressenternas nivå av dessa kriterier för att kunna fastställa vilka intressenter som är viktigast. Dock sker inte identifieringen utan svårigheter bland annat tillföljd av att det saknas standarder för både intressentrelevans och för hur intressen skall balanseras. En ytterligare svårighet är att kriteriernas tillräcklighet i praktiken sällan testats empiriskt. Tillföljd av bristen på empiriska undersökningar var syftet i studien att undersöka hur företag i praktiken identifierar sina intressenter för att sedan jämföra deras praxis med tidigare teorier om identifiering och prioritering. Studien hade två angreppssätt, dels hur företag identifierar sina intressenter och även hur företag inkorporerar sina intressenters önskemål och krav i sina övergripande mål. De två angreppssätten utmynnade i två separata frågor. Den första frågan innefattade de undersökta företagens tolkning av sina intressenter. Vi ville testa den praktiska relevansen hos kriterierna genom att jämföra dem med de kriterier de undersökta företagen använde vid identifiering. Den andra frågan handlade om hur de undersökta företagen inkorporerade sina intressenters önskemål och krav i sina övergripande mål.Studien genomfördes med semistrukturerade intervjuer med informanter från fem olika företag. Studiens resultat ledde fram till två olika slutsatser. Ifråga om tolkning och identifiering av intressenter framkom att informanterna tolkade och identifierade i likhet med tidigare teorier. Vi fann dock att informanterna inte använde samma kriterier som tidigare teorier utan använde andra kriterier. De identifierade bland annat intressenterna baserat på deras möjlighet att påverka, deras bidrag till företagets existensberättigande och hur kraftfull deras fråga eller order var. Vi ansåg att informanternas kriterier och tidigare teoriers kriterier skiljde sig åt sedan de utgjorde olika termer men att deras betydelse är densamma. Ifråga om inkorporering blev det tydligt att den kunde ske antingen direkt eller indirekt hos de deltagande företagen. Vi fann att ägare inkorporerades direkt medan kunder och personal inkorporerades indirekt. Direkt inkorporering skedde med önskemål och krav vilka kom från intressenter som var kända för företaget och hade möjligheten till personlig kontakt. Indirekt inkorporering var fallet för de intressenter som var okända och fler till antalet samt saknade möjligheten till personlig kontakt där åsikter och intressen kunde uttryckas. I avsaknaden av personlig kontakt framkom att andra processer måste utnyttjas för att fånga de indirekt inkorporerade intressenternas intressen innan de kan inkorporeras i ett företags övergripande mål. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

This study asks what quality is and according to whom, through exploring the understandings of quality among stakeholders within a university’s internal quality assurance system. The focus is on teachers, students, and policy, as well as the difference between them. A case-study is made of two faculties within Uppsala University, with material based on both semi-structured interviews and text analysis of evaluation policy and assessor reports. The findings show a large focus on quality as goal fulfilment among both students and teachers. Ideas diverge where students focus more on relative quality and consistency, and teachers on transforming the students’ thinking. Policy is also focused upon goal fulfilment though kept relatively vague, inviting stakeholders to influence how quality is defined. Theoretical quality concepts from Harvey and Green (1993) are used and developed further in their practical application, with emphasis on the somewhat contested use of quality as consistency within the sphere of higher education. The findings also suggest a need for more explicit discussions between stakeholders regarding the view of quality within the university internal evaluations.

The aim of my thesis is to consider a contemporain concept of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and all relative activities in the international company and to propose a potential development of this concept for a specific region. Theoretical part explains fundamental features of the corporate social responsibility, its' history, three pillars and organizations which are dedicated to this concept. Practical part of this paper analyses the system of CSR in the international company. In this part there is a history of the CSR applicated in the company, the rating and the contemporain status of the corporate social responsibility. There are mentioned also the methods of measurement of CSR which proclaim the level of corporate social responsibility in the company. There is a focus on the concept of CSR applicated in the Czech republic and some new ideas how to improve it.

This study investigates accountability and transparency issues in the management of oil and gas (O&G) revenues in Ghana through public discourse. It establishes the factors that influence accountability and investigates how accountability is discharged amongst stakeholders in the O&G industry in Ghana, with respect to contemporary accountability theories. The thesis develops a contextualised analytical framework drawing on Dhanani and Connolly’s (2012), and Gray et al.’s (1996) conceptualisations of accountability, in addition to other contemporary accountability concepts, mirrored through the ethical variant of stakeholder theory to classify, analyse and interpret the issues of transparency and accountability in revenue management in the O&G industry in Ghana. It uses this framework to analyse and interpret questionnaires and interviews of stakeholders in the O&G industry in Ghana; these include the government, civil society groups and upstream oil companies. The thesis establishes that the accountability relationships (strategic, financial, fiduciary and procedural) between accountees and accountors in the O&G industry in Ghana are hierarchical, bureaucratic and fussy, making the discharge of accountability unintelligent, ineffective and vulgate and only routinely given for cosmetic purposes. Consequently, the accountors in the O&G industry in Ghana employ the positive variant of the stakeholder theory, motivated by legitimisation practices to regularise their activities, contrary to the expected ethical variant of the theory. The outcome reflects the practices of for-profit organisations such as upstream O&G companies, but conflicts with the government’s fiduciary responsibilities towards citizens and the espoused communal values of the legal and regulatory framework of the industry. Current perspectives on positive stakeholder and legitimacy theory therefore appear to explain existing stakeholder relationships and how accountability is discharged in the O&G industry in Ghana. The thesis contributes to the public accountability and transparency literature in a number of ways: First, the study presents an empirical basis to advance discourse about accountability and transparency in natural resource management in developing countries, by developing a contextualised theoretical and analytical framework drawing on Dhanani and Connolly’s (2012) and Gray et al’s (1996) accountability concepts, and using the ethical stakeholder theory as a lens for interpretation. Second, it provides an empirical basis for rethinking the hierarchical managerialist approach to accountability suggested by the positive variant of the stakeholder theory and its legitimisation mechanisms between accountees and the accountors in the O&G industry in Ghana, and suggests the adoption of the ethical variant of the stakeholder theory with its moral imperatives. Third, the study provides significant insight into governance issues in Sub-Saharan Africa that could inform policy formulation for the region by international bodies, including the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), by critically reviewing accountability and transparency issues in the oil sectors in Angola, Nigeria and the DRC and juxtaposing this evidence with empirical findings for Ghana. Finally, it advances understanding of the public accountability practices and transparency issues in the O&G industry in Ghana, while pointing out significant governance implications for policy-makers, civil society and advocacy groups, think-tanks, the O&G companies and academics.

This research investigated the perceptions on industrial democracy of selected stakeholder groups in the Thai industrial relations system. Three research questions were posed. How do the selected stakeholders express their knowledge of industrial democracy? What are the similarities and differences in perceptions of the ‘industrial democracy in practice’ concept held by members of the selected stakeholder groups? What are emergent best practices in industrial democracy? In order to provide some answers to these questions a number of research objectives were developed: To identify knowledge of industrial democracy in Thailand as perceived by selected stakeholders; To investigate the similarities and differences in stakeholder perceptions of industrial democracy; To compare the similarities and differences in stakeholder perceptions of industrial democracy; To identify problems and difficulties encountered from the practicing of industrial democracy within Thai business organizations; To reveal best practice in industrial democracy as expressed by the stakeholders. This research studied employee participation at five levels: board level: employee representation at board level; plant level: employee representation at plant level; shop floor level: employee participation at shop floor level; financial level: employee participation at the financial level; disclosure of information level: employee participation in disclosure of information. / This research collected data from the following ten stakeholder groups of the Thai industrial relations system: employees of non-unionized companies: shop floor level; employees of non-unionized companies: supervisory level; trade union leaders: national level; trade union leaders: company level; employers of non-unionized companies; employers organization leader group; government officials; members of tripartite bodies; human resource managers; labour academics. This research focuses on the knowledge and perceptions of stakeholders of the Thai industrial relations system relating to industrial democracy in practices in Thailand. The ontological assumption rests on the basis that realities being constructed by the stakeholders being investigated. These realities are not objective but subjective and that multiple realities exist. This research required the researcher to interact with the stakeholders in the Thai industrial relations system in relation to their knowledge and perception of industrial democracy in practice in Thailand. The epistemology of this research was subjectivist, the knower and respondent co-creating understanding. A grounded theory approach was taken. The centrepiece is the development or generation of a theory closely related to the context of the phenomena being studied. The idea is to discover theory in a systematic yet emergent way. Grounded theory is closely associated with two research traditions, produced in outline below. / These are phenomenology and symbolic interactionism. The findings are presented in a model identifying nine common characteristics enhancing the best practice of industrial democracy. The model is proposed as a tentative Thai industrial democracy model. The nine components of the model include: constructive employer and employee or trade union relationships; determination of forms and process of participation; forms and practices of participation; upholding common goals and sharing both success and failures; implementation and change management; pro-active and promotional government roles; Thai cultures and Buddhist philosophy and principles; laws as a frame of reference; learning and practicing together continually. Eight sets of Buddhist philosophy and principles are integrated into the Thai industrial democracy model. They are: the six directions; the divine abiding; the principles for helpful integration; the principles of success; the ten regal qualities; the qualities of a good or genuine person; the principles of collective responsibility; and the principles for conducting oneself as a good citizen. Seven concepts of Thai culture are also integrated in the Thai industrial democracy model. They are: the concept of helping each other; the concept of Bunkhun; the concept of Kreng Jai; the concept of face saving; the concept of criticism avoidance; the concept of sympathy; and the concept of compromising.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is faced with the rapid rate of urban deterioration. With the unique and densely populated nature of the city, the road to urban revitalisation can be envisaged to be a long and painful one. The government is determined to expedite the urban renewal work by establishing of the Urban Renewal Authority in May 2001 to replace Land Development Corporation that was established in 1988 to tackle the issue. The new set up is to operate with more public accountability and transparency as demanded by the community at large. It is also commissioned with the task of completing 225 projects in the next 25 years involving an estimated cost of over A$75 billion. The government has also decided to make Hong Kong Special Administrative Region a truly sustainable city by incorporating both urban sustainability and quality in urban renewal. Thus, a re-thinking of the project management application to enhance urban renewal project implementation is necessary and is beneficial in terms of finance, public confidence and maintenance of the sustainable competitive advantage of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. This research is therefore justified. The research question formulated is:How can the project management body of knowledge and practice be applied to enable effective and efficient implementation of urban renewal projects in Hong Kong SAR?.Investigation of the extant literature in chapter 2 identified gaps in the body of knowledge and practice of applying professional project management principles and practices to urban renewal projects. A project management application model was formulated with five research issues that need to be resolved before the research question could be answered. These five research issues covered:• project organisational structure• team structure• attributes of team members• stakeholder management• communication and information technology enablersThe five research issues considered were:• Research Issue 1: What are the effects of projectised type organisational structure with integrated and multidisciplinary teams, corporate communication team, social services teams and informal project management community for each targeted district on urban renewal projects implementation?• Research Issue 2: What are the effects of a headquarters organisational structure with formal project management community, project auditing team, project support group and functional specialist advisory group on supporting the projectised organisational structure for each targeted district?• Research Issue 3: What are the effects of a flattened hierarchical structure with team members possessing sustainability knowledge and project managerial leaders being generalising specialists on the project team performance?• Research Issue 4: What are the effects of involving stakeholders at the outset of and throughout the projects with partnering relationship and formation of district advisory committee/community on urban renewal project implementation? • Research Issue 5: What are the effects of adopting information technology enablers by establishing computerised project management information system interlinked to Web site accessible to the public on communication to stakeholders?The case study research methodology was adopted to answer each of the research issues. In depth studies of Urban Renewal Authority with functional departments as embedded subunits were designed. Less in-depth case studies were also conducted for overseas cases in developed countries like Australia, United State of America, United Kingdom, Singapore, Denmark, Austria, Ireland and Spain for cross-case analysis. A total of 13 personal interviews with different levels of staff were conducted for seven embedded sub-units in the Urban Renewal Authority case. Information was obtained from ten overseas cases from their Web site and also via e-mail correspondence with the appropriate staff in the organisations.The data obtained were then analysed to show the patterns of the results for each of the five research issues developed in the literature review and also for the new findings that were not planned from the literature review. The findings were then compared with the extant literature to identify the contributions that this research makes to understanding how the project management body of knowledge and practice can be applied to enable effective and efficient implementation of urban renewal projects in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The application model for effective and efficient implementation of urban renewal projects modified to take into account the resolution of the research issues and the new findings is subsequently concluded.This research has contributed to both the knowledge of project management and urban renewal. The project management body of knowledge may need to put more emphasis on aspects of sustainability, multi-disciplinary and integrated approach, team hierarchical structure, team member attributes, stakeholder involvement and information technology enablers. Government support in both policy and implementation levels are of paramount importance in urban renewal work and needs more attention and focus. This research also provides some suggestions on the practice and policy especially on change management for introducing the application model in the existing organisation and the need of new legislation to supplement the existing one, on which the operation of Urban Renewal Authority is based.Finally, suggestions for further research are presented. These include quantitative research to test the application model built, generalisation of the research to other places with different operating environments for both governmental and non-governmental organisations, strategy for urban renewal, attributes of top management for managing urban renewal organisation, and cultural risk in managing urban renewal projects.

Multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaborations have been considered as ‘panacea’ for complex local to global problems confronting governments, businesses and society. And for over a decade now, they have also been increasingly promoted as mechanisms to achieve sustainability. There is, however, a dearth of empirical studies that give deeper insights into the practical dimensions and various implications of such processes for sustainability. This dissertation explores how multi-stakeholder organising processes for sustainability occur in local settings. It relies on a theoretical framework that combines institutional and social movements theoretical perspectives. Such a theoretical cross-fertilisation has been helpful in explaining: (a) how the macro institutional context of sustainable development influences micro interactions of individuals during collaborations; and (b) how those micro interactions may influence the sustainability movement organised at macro societal levels. The dissertation is philosophically based on the principles of critical hermeneutics. It draws on the works of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Jürgen Habermas to understand the nature of reality, society and human relationships. The study also uses literature on sustainable development, organising, dialogue, collaboration, stakeholder engagement, emotions and time. Three cases of multi-stakeholder dialogic collaborations organised to address sustainability of two regions in New Zealand were investigated through observations, interviews with participants and documentary research. These processes were developed in response to a regulatory change in New Zealand – the new Local Government Act (2002) which emphasises sustainable development of communities. The data across the three cases was analysed using principles of grounded theory and critical hermeneutics. Analysis reveals how various kinds of institutional pressures (engulfing cultural-cognitive, regulative and normative institutions connected with sustainable development) confront different stakeholders with varying intensities. Those pressures influence stakeholders to become involved in and commit to such collaborations. And as stakeholders participate in such processes, they are shown to engage with one another rationally and emotionally, and with different conceptions of time. The collaborations thus can be characterised by a complex fusion of rationality, emotionality and temporality. On the one hand, multi-stakeholder dialogic collaborations stimulate learning, facilitate relationship building and build social capital for implementing sustainable development. They thus prove themselves as potent governance mechanisms that can help to institutionalise sustainable development. On the other hand, multi-stakeholder dialogic collaborations for sustainability are highly messy, unpredictable, paradoxical and conflict-ridden processes of stakeholder engagement. They are shown to suffer from three major problematics: problematic of misunderstandings; problematic of stakeholders’ emotions; and problematic of stakeholders’ time. They thus, ironically and paradoxically, are also problematic solutions for sustainability.