No description available.

No description available.

Due to digitalization and digital transformation, service-based organizations are looking into how to apply innovative digital technology in their models and processes. In the cultural heritage sector, immersive technology is often adopted to enable the digitalization of the museum experience. Applying immersive technology comes with new challenges and opportunities for museums, and it is, therefore, a strategic decision. Current literature focuses on the impact of immersive museum experiences on visitors, leaving a knowledge gap concerning the internal and external strategic stakeholders’ perspectives. The present work presents an explorative qualitative study of the perceived challenges and opportunities by strategic stakeholders of the Swedish cultural heritage sector. The main outcome of this study is a thematization of the challenges and opportunities. The findings on the challenges of immersive technology application are thematized based on innovation management, design value, and organizational model. The identified themes related to the opportunities regard operational efficiency, social sustainability, and experience design. The outcomes of this study can inform the work of researchers and industry professionals with epistemic, experiential, economic, social, and cultural implications.

This thesis sets out to examine whether there is a relationship between financial performance and CSR in fashion companies. Furthermore, there are significant regional differences in different markets; for instance, the European Union aims to counter the negative impact of fast fashion as part of a grander plan to become climate neutral by 2050. Therefore, a regional comparison is of particular interest as environmental regulations are increasing. Since the USA and the EU are home to the largest and most valuable brands to date, these regions will be examined in this thesis. This relationship is measured by using ESG scores as a proxy for CSR. The results stipulate that the relationship between financial performance and CSR activities is weak. Nevertheless, regional context is found to be a significant moderator variable in this relationship. The results indicate that CSR practices are more important in terms of financial performance in the EU.

Humanity as for now is living in the future and sustainability issues are the daily challenges for the planet, and not a future problem any longer. The trend for sustainable development is pointing in the wrong direction and the pressure on natural resources is increasing. Research suggests stakeholders demand and reward responsibility from companies. The work for sustainable development requires extensive cooperation between companies, and people. Adopting a stakeholder perspective and meeting demands of various stakeholder groups means that companies today have even more relationships that they engage in than before. Companies rely on each other to be able to make an impact. An individual alone cannot make any changes but rather the society needs to act united to deal with these sustainable issues our world faces. Earlier studies emphasize that relationship marketing has the potential to assist sustainable efforts positively. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the role of relationship marketing in the sustainable development context, focusing on customers’ and the network’s view on sustainability. The theoretical framework is based on relationship marketing, co-creation and the key mediating variables of relationship marketing model and was inspired by both the empirical data and previous research. Further, to explain sustainable development, concepts such as stakeholder perspective and triple bottom line were used. To achieve the study’s purpose, empirical data was collected through conducting an inductive qualitative case study using non-probability sampling in the outdoor furniture industry. Data collected consists of field observations and semi-structured interviews. Data was processed and analyzed through transcription and coding. Findings imply strong relationships and cooperation are essential for effective sustainable efforts. The concept of sustainable development is diffuse and difficult to grasp. It was also implied that there is a disconnect in shared core values regarding sustainability between the business network and the market in this case study. However, theory suggests the role of relationship marketing is to push the narrative of sustainability, even if demand is low. Practical implications and recommendations suggest adopting co-creation processes to increase mutual learning and understanding of complex concepts such as sustainable development.

This paper concerns the human rights aspect to tourism, more precisely the tour operator’s impact on human rights. It has become evident that companies within the industry are increasingly expected to also include the negative impacts on people’s human rights in their business. Not only because human rights matter but because the tourism industry is regarded to be next in line for a more careful examination on its negative effects. This study will therefore be an attempt to contribute towards this end by applying a stakeholder approach to the tour operator’s activities. I have chosen to examine the Swedish tour operator Apollo because they are already engaged in the debate and have expressed an ambition to lead the development of responsible tourism. The study shows that the result of their engagement so far is limited in scope because the company has not fully included all participants to their business as stakeholders. And therefore is human rights only partly incorporated in the company’s work toward corporate responsibility.

The activities of modern society create an unsustainable trajectory for life on planetearth. The issues related to that, as summed up in the sustainability challenge, are interdependentand complex, thus effective solutions must be systemic and involve diverse stakeholders.One proposed tool from the field of Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) to operationalizeparticipatory multi-stakeholder engagement is the procedure ABCD. But a procedure is onlyone aspect, how it is used determines its success. Through exploring Polyvagal Theory andrelated approaches (PRA), this research suggests an approach to support ABCD practitionersin conducting good facilitation by incorporating a practical understanding of the human nervoussystem. To do so, 15 PRA- and six ABCD-facilitators were interviewed, an advisory boardworkshop with four experts was conducted, and a survey with 13 SSD practitioners gave feedbackon a first draft to iteratively produce a guidebook prototype for PRA-informed ABCDfacilitation. It consists of central PRA-informed concepts, 10 principles, five categories ofmethods, and specific amendments for the ABCD procedure. Almost all parts of the guidebookprototype saw high approval for usefulness and applicability. The results of this research suggestthat PRA-informed ABCD facilitation might support a transition towards sustainability,although its application depends on the context of the procedure.

This dissertation explores the relationship between governance quality, accumulated wealth, and organizational performance in U.S. nonprofits. Accumulated wealth in nonprofits has been previously shown to reduce overall support contributions because donors perceive less need for financial resources. Further, the absence of owners leads to weaker monitoring mechanisms and greater agency problems. Despite the size of the nonprofit sector (5.5% of GDP and 9% of employment), the impact of governance in organizations with accumulated wealth has not been studied much. Using recent data on governance practices at nonprofits reported on IRS Form 990’s and structural equation modeling/partial least squares analysis, this study finds that the strength of governance practices in nonprofits reduces the negative impact of accumulated wealth in Arts, Education, Environment, Health, Higher Education, Hospitals, Human Services, International, and Religious organizations. This paper demonstrates how agency theory and stakeholder theory complement each other when the nonprofit business model has a traditional revenue structure similar to its for-profit counterpart. For practitioners, it shows that combining a strong governing body, governing policies, compensation policies, and transparency policies, helps hold management accountable. This is necessary for the more efficient and effective execution of a nonprofit’s mission. / Business Administration/Finance

Yes / This paper critically revisits the debate on natural resource rent, curse and conflict, interrogating some of the key assumptions that have become received knowledge in extant discourses. The paper demonstrates how orthodox theories’ preoccupation with issues of resource rent and resource curse tend to be marred by slants of ahistoricity and state-centricity. Adopting a stakeholder approach to the issues of resource rent and conflict in Africa, the author argues that natural resource rents produce and attract a multiplicity of competitive stakeholders, both domestic and external, in the resource-rich states. The competition and jostling of stakeholders for access to, and appropriation of, rentier resources is too often an antagonistic process in many emerging economies that has consequences and implications for violent conflict. The paper attempts a new conceptual explanation of how natural resource rents dialectically generate stakes, stakeholders and political conflict. The paper concludes by proposing the need for the more conflict-prone African rentier states to transition to a more functional state model, the transformative state.

The past several years the environmental pressure on companies have increased. Both regarding their impact on the external environment, and on the internal environment. The question of gender diversity in the workplace has been a hot topic for decades. Women have historically always been underrepresented in the boardroom, with men traditionally assuming high governing positions. As more women have assumed a place on the board of directors, factors such as the transparency has increased. Raising the question on whether the increased number of women within decision-making position shas something to do with achieving higher ESG scores.  The purpose of the study is to investigate if there is a relationship between the proportion of women on the board of directors and the ESG scores of listed companies in Europe. Moreover, also study whether the critical ratio of three or more women on the board have any significant effect on the score. The companies included in the study has had at least one ESG score between 2018 – 2022. Four research questions lay ground for four hypotheses, each intended to investigate the relationship between ESG and women on the board of directors.  What was found was a highly significant relationship between the % of women on the board of directors and the ESG score. Breaking it down, all three pillars are highly affected by the ratio of women. The most affected, however, is the governance pillar due to the relationship with board diversity, and transparency towards investors and other stakeholders. These results are supported by previous studies studying the same phenomenon. A significant relationship was also found between the % of women and the ESGC score, meaning the ESG score including possible controversies the company is, or has been, involved in. The difference in effect between the effect on ESG- and ESGC score is not significant, however. Meaning there is nothing saying that women have an increased effect on keeping companies out of scandals involving ESG factors. Moreover, the critical ratio theory is supported by this study. With companies with three or more women on their board of directors scoring significantly higher ESG score than those without.  A conclusion of this study is hence that having more women on the board of directors can increase the work towards ESG matters, and thus also the ESG score due to several different reasons. This further supports the inclusion of gender quotas within companies and institutions.