The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency (Naturvårdsverket) has overseen the implementation, evaluation and development of the environmental political decisions in Sweden since 1967. In 1999 one “generation goal” (the general direction of the environmental politics) and fifteen “environmental quality goals” was installed to guide their work, in 2005 a sixteenth goal was instated. These goals (except for one) are supposed to be met in 2020. This is a study from a communication perspective of these goals and The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s role based on the theoretical concepts issue arena, stakeholder thinking, network, translation and mass communication. The method used is critical discourse analysis which focuses on how we understand, relate to and value different aspects of reality. The way political goals about the environment are written has implications on our relationship with nature and how we choose to govern it. The analysis shows, in line with previous studies on environmental policy documents, that the economical and human-centred discourses dominate. Ecological metaphors and expressions are mostly allowed within the discourse ecological modernisation. What differs from previous studies is that the growth discourse and the neo-liberal discourse are somewhat challenged and that the economical and human-centred discourses are questioned in some cases. The main conclusions are that more ecological discourse should be implemented in the translations of the political goals to gradually change the way we value and relate to nature and thereby create solutions that are sustainable long term. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency also should not back away from expressing the ethical responsibilities we have to restore and protect nature.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate, explain, compare and to a degree criticize the two theories Global Stakeholder Democracy by Terry Macdonald and Transnational Discursive Democracy by John Dryzek and their respective arguments for a global democracy, by using the method of an internal idea analysis. The two main questions of the thesis are: -  With what arguments do Macdonald and Dryzek legitimize their respective form of global democracy? -  What similarities as well as differences can be found in their argumentation for their respective theory and is it possible to see any potential internal problems in their argumentation? The results show that both Global Stakeholder Democracy and Transnational Discursive Democracy can be interpreted to share the same basic way of legitimizing democracy through a liberal value and notion of autonomy. Because of the current democratic deficit on a global level, this value is threatened. Both theories therefore try to solve this problem by promoting a pragmatic theory to democratize the global political system. The study recognizes some potential problems regarding the way both Macdonald and Dryzek argue for a global democracy. In MacDonald’s theory, the potential problem concerns mainly the lack of a clear definition of the theory’s fundamental part, what a stakeholder is. The potential problems with Dryzek’s theory derive from the fact that he might put to much trust in the concept of reflexive modernization, whether his theory will be able to actually influence discourses despite a lack of formal institutions, and finally if the theory will be able to guarantee political equality in the decision making process.

L’investissement éthique est un investissement fondé sur des critères extra-financiers : l’investisseur cherche un enrichissement tout en poursuivant une fin non matérielle tirée du respect de certaines valeurs La coloration éthique a vocation à rejaillir sur le régime de cet investissement. Elle dicte le contenu de la politique d’investissement, oblige les intermédiaires financiers à informer les investisseurs de manière adéquate, et les contraint à veiller à la conformité éthique de l’investissement jusqu’à son dénouement.L’investissement éthique ne saurait toutefois se limiter à cela. Adoptant une démarche conséquentialiste, les investisseurs peuvent s’engager auprès des émetteurs pour y défendre leurs valeurs. D’un point de vue théorique, cet activisme actionnarial met en lumière l’échec des thèses traditionnelles à définir la finalité des sociétés. Plutôt que de raisonner en termes d’intérêt social, il conviendrait à présent de recourir à la Stakeholder Theory. / Ethical investment is based on non-financial criteria: the investor expects a return on the investment while pursuing a non-material objective, based on the respect of certain values. Ethics bring a nuance, which impacts the set of rules for this type of investment. It establishes the content of the investment policy and requires financial intermediaries to inform investors adequately. It also forces them to ensure ethical compliance of the investment to its ending. Ethical investment, however, is not limited to this. By adopting a consequentialist approach, investors can engage with issuers to defend their values. From a theoretical point of view, this shareholder activism highlights the failure of traditional theories to define the purpose of companies. Because the concept of “intérêt social”, which the French doctrine struggles to define, leads to a deadlock, a cross-disciplinary approach, the Stakeholder Theory, should be preferred.

Syfte: Företagens miljömässiga ansvar har blivit en allt mer central fråga för företagets intressenter. Tidigare studier som har behandlat relationen mellan Corporate Environmental Performance CEP och Financial Performance FP har resulterat i varierande utfall. Två faktorer som anses påverka denna relation är olikheter mellan branscher och brister i det interna organisationsarbetet. För att få en tydligare bild av relationen mellan CEP och FP behöver forskningen utvecklas för företag som agerar i en ur miljösynpunkt tung bransch. Syftet med studien är att förklara om det finns ett samband mellan CEP och FP i fossila bränsleintensiva företag och se om sambandet är starkare eller svagare om företaget använder en CSR-kommitté. Metod: Studien utgår från en positivistisk forskningsfilosofi med en deduktiv ansats. Studien har en kvantitativ strategi och har formats av en longitudinell design, där sekundärdata har inhämtats för åren 2014-2017 från databasen Thomson Reuters Datastream. Detta har genererat ett urval bestående av 827 publika bolag från hela världen vars data har analyserats i statistikprogrammet SPSS och presenteras i tabeller. Resultat & slutsats: Studiens resultat visar att det finns ett positivt samband mellan miljödimensionen CEP och den finansiella prestationen mätt utifrån både redovisningsmåttet ROE och marknadsmåttet Tobins Q för fossila bränsleintensiva företag. För de fossila bränsleintensiva företagen med en CSR-kommitté visade även resultatet ett starkare samband mellan CEP och FP än för företag utan CSR-kommitté. En jämförelse mellan olika sektorer visade en tydlig variation mellan resultaten, där vissa sektorer hade ett negativt samband mellan CEP och FP. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar till den empiriska forskningen och utökar förståelsen för relationen mellan CEP och FP genom att studera fossila bränsleintensiva företag, som är en miljömässigt tung bransch. Studien bidrar även med teoretisk information om huruvida kontinuerligt arbete via CSR-kommittéer påverkar denna relation. Vidare ger studien ett praktiskt bidrag genom att uppmuntra företag att engagera sig i CEP-aktiviteter, istället för uppkomsten av tvingande miljöregleringar, för att nå lönsamhet. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Ett förslag till fortsatt forskning är att gå djupare ner bland fler sektorer för att kunna se skillnader mellan branscher och göra djupare analyser mellan dessa för att få en större förståelse om relationen mellan CEP och FP. Det kan också finnas skillnader mellan företag av olika storlek, därför är ett andra förslag att dela upp och jämföra resultaten mellan stora och små företag. / Aim: The company's environmental responsibility has become an increasingly central issue for the company's stakeholders. Earlier studies that have addressed the relationship between Corporate Environmental Performance CEP and Financial Performance FP have resulted in varying outcomes. Two factors that are considered to affect this relationship are differences between industries and shortcomings in internal organization work. In order to get a clearer picture of the relationship between CEP and FP, research needs to be developed for companies acting in an environmentally heavy industry. The purpose of the study is to explain if there is a connection between CEP and FP in fossil fuel firms and see if the association is stronger or weaker if the company uses a CSR committée. Method: This study is based on a positivistic research philosophy with a deductive approach. The study has a quantitative strategy and has been formed of a longitudinal design, where secondary data has been collected for the years 2014-2017 from the Thomson Reuters Datastream database. This has generated a sample of 827 public companies worldwide whose data has been analyzed in the SPSS statistics program and presented in tables. Result & Conclusions: The result of the study shows that there is a positive correlation between the environmental dimension CEP and the financial performance, measured based on both the accounting measure ROE and the market measure Tobins Q for fossil fuel firms. For the fossil fuel firms with a CSR committée, the result also showed a stronger relationship between CEP and FP than for companies without a CSR committée. A comparison between sectors showed a clear variation between the results, where some sectors had a negative link between CEP and FP. Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes to empirical research and understanding of the relationship between CEP and FP by studying fossil fuel firms, which is an environmentally heavy industry. The study also contributes with theoretical information about whether continuous work through CSR committees affects this relationship. The study also provides a practical contribution by encouraging companies to engage in CEP activities, instead of the emergence of compelling environmental regulations, to achieve profitability. Suggestions for future research: A proposal for further research is to go deeper into more sectors to see differences between industries and to make deeper analyzes between them to gain a better understanding of the relationship between CEP and FP. There may also be differences between companies of different sizes, so a second proposal is to divide and compare the results between large and small companies.

Bakgrund: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) kan förklaras som de aktiviteter företagen åtar sig för att säkerställa att deras intressenter drar nytta och inte missgynnas av deras verksamhet. Forskning kring ämnet har riktats främst på företags sociala ansvarstagande för externa intressenter varför vi fokuserat på ansvaret för en intern intressentgrupp, de anställda, då det framgår att det råder brist på forskning kring ämnet. Genom att belysa hur chefer och konsulter uppfattar bemanningsföretags sociala ansvarstagande för anställda bidrar vi med ökad förståelse för hur detta ansvar tas. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att bidra till ökad förståelse för hur bemanningsföretag tar det sociala ansvaret för konsulterna. Genomförande: Uppsatsen bygger på en kvalitativ små-N-studie med ett hermeneutiskt och fenomenografiskt förhållningssätt. Studien är gjord enligt en abduktiv ansats där urvalet av respondenter gjorts genom ett bekvämlighetsurval och ett målstyrt a priori-urval. Slutsats: Enligt vår tolkning uppfattar cheferna att de tar sitt fulla ansvar, ekonomiskt- legalt-etiskt, vilket bekräftas av att de uppfattar konsulterna som en prioriterad intressentgrupp. Konsulterna uppfattar dock att det etiska ansvaret faller bort vilket bekräftas av att de inte uppfattar att bemanningsföretagen ser dem som en prioriterad intressentgrupp. I processen har vi upptäckt att ålder och erfarenhetsnivå, det triangulära förhållandet mellan bemanningsföretag, kundföretag och konsulten samt att kommunikationen och informationsspridningen påverkar varför uppfattningarna om fenomenet skiljer sig. Bemanningsföretagen behöver uppmärksamma att olika uppfattningar om ett fenomen kan förekomma och behöver därför arbeta för att undvika eventuella konflikter som kan uppstå på grund av detta. Konsulterna och bemanningsföretagen men även företag och anställda i allmänhet kan se till vårt resultat för att öka medvetenheten och förståelsen för sin egen situation för att på så sätt kunna skapa en bättre relation sinsemellan. Olikheter i uppfattningar mellan ledningen och de anställda gäller enligt oss rimligtvis inte enbart för bemanningsbranschen utan kan förekomma var som helst. / Background: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be explained as the company’s activities performed to ensure that their stakeholders' benefit, and are not disadvantaged, by their operations. Research on the subject has focused primarily on the company’s social responsibility towards its external stakeholders, hence we focus on highlighting the issue towards an internal stakeholder, the employees. There is a lack of research on specifically the employees and their perceptions of the subject. By highlighting how managers and consultants within temporary work agencies perceive the company's social responsibility we contribute to an increased understanding of how this responsibility is taken. Purpose: The aim of the study is to contribute to an increased understanding of how staffing companies take their social responsibility towards consultants. Research method: This thesis is built on a qualitative study with a hermeneutic and phenomenographic point of view. The study is conducted according to an abductive approach were the respondents has been chosen through a comfort-selection as well as a targeted a priori-selection. Conclusion: According to our interpretations, the managers perceive that they take their full responsibility, financially-legal-ethical, and that the consultants are a priority. The consultants however, perceive the ethical responsibility to be non-existent and that they are not considered a priority to the company. In the process, we have discovered that age and experience level, the triangular relationship between temporary work agencies, the hiring companies and the consultants as well as that the communication and the dissemination of information affect why the perceptions of the phenomenon differ. The agencies need to pay attention to the fact that different perceptions about a phenomenon may occur and therefore need to work to avoid any related conflicts. The consultants and the agencies, but also companies and employees in general, can look to our results to increase awareness and understanding of their own situation in order to improve their relationship with each other. Differences in perceptions between management and employees is not only applicable to the staffing industry, but can reasonably occur anywhere.

Sustainable entrepreneurship is increasing in importance because it can lead to a socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable society. Firms can solve social and environmental problems and be economically self-sustaining at the same time. Innovation is seen as key to find new solutions for environmental sustainability. Furthermore, scholars see stakeholder engagement as a new solution to create innovations for sustainability and environmental sustainability in particular. Since there have only been few empirical studies in sustainable entrepreneurship and current literature does not sufficiently answer the question how stakeholders are engaged to create innovations for environmental sustainability, we dedicated our study to answer the following research question: How are stakeholders engaged in the creation of an innovative product and/or service for environmental sustainability in sustainable entrepreneurial start-ups from the perspective of the firm? We define sustainable entrepreneurial start-ups as self-sustaining and independent companies that discover, evaluate and exploit opportunities to transition to an environmentally sustainable society. Reviewing the literature on sustainable entrepreneurship, innovation and stakeholder engagement results in a tentative model, which shows the process of stakeholder engagement in sustainable entrepreneurial start-ups. Since the field of study is relatively new, there are some question marks and themes in the model that need to be researched further. We conduct a qualitative exploratory study on German and Swedish start-ups in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency with different characteristics to research stakeholder engagement from several perspectives. The data collection technique is semi-structured interviews. We use the abductive approach and the visual mapping strategy in addition to time scales in order to develop understanding of stakeholder engagement. Based on our analysis, we revise the model and show how stakeholders are engaged in sustainable start-ups. Our findings show how different groups of stakeholder such as the team, feedback givers, financial resources givers, technology developers and promoters are engaged to develop the start-ups´ business and innovation throughout the idea- and product development and commercialization. Not only the type of innovation but more aspects such as the relationship to stakeholders and secrecy influence how stakeholders are engaged. Our study has several contributions. For instance, it contributes to stakeholder (engagement) theory and an increased awareness of sustainable entrepreneurial start-ups and their innovative solutions in society. It provides guidelines to start-ups to improve engagement with stakeholders for making their innovations more successful. We recommend further research and give examples of research questions on the topic stakeholder engagement.

En av de viktigaste frågorna i världen idag är naturresurshantering. Med en väx-ande befolkning och hoten från klimatförändringar kommer förvaltningen av jordens naturresurser bli än viktigare, såväl för dagens generation som kommande generationer. En viktig aspekt när det gäller naturresurshantering är hur människor uppfattar och värderar naturen. För att komma närmare dessa miljövärden har ett flertal olika vetenskapliga tillvägagångssätt föreslagits. Den här avhandlingen undersöker hur det är möjligt att närma sig miljövärden under olika omständighe-ter och utifrån olika behov. Detta görs genom att undersöka hur olika teorier har använts, och kan användas, avseende olika våtmarker i Kenya. I utvecklingslän-der har naturresurser, teoretiskt sett, ett högre värde eftersom fattiga människor till en högre grad är direkt beroende av naturresurser och ekosystemtjänster. Ut-gångspunkten i denna avhandling är sex våtmarksområden i Kenya under olika förvaltning och med ett flertal, både aktuella och potentiella, användare. I av-handlingen undersöks hur lokalsamhället, myndigheter, industrier och turister uppfattar och värderar våtmarkerna. Genom att applicera ett arenaperspektiv, som betonar vikten av tvärvetenskap, diskuteras i avhandlingen det ekonomiska värdet av miljön för att sedan applicera andra metoder såsom emergy analys, stakeholder analys, kulturteori och riskanalys för att bredda och berika värderingen av miljön. / One of the most important issues in the world, both for present and future genera-tions, concerns natural resource management. With a growing global population and the threat of climate change, issues relating to natural resource management will grow in importance with time. One fundamental aspect of natural resource management is how people perceive and value the environment. The value that is ascribed to natural resources will be one of the determinants in the choices that people face in regards to their management. A wide range of approaches have been suggested to approach environmental values. This thesis focuses on analys-ing the assessment of environmental values under different circumstances and needs. This is done by exploring the ways various theories have and can be used to approach natural resource valuation in different wetland management situations in Kenya. In the developing world the value of natural resources can, theoreti-cally, be seen as even higher than in the developed world, due to poor peoples’ direct dependency on their natural resources and the ecosystem services and goods that they provide. The point of departure in this thesis is six wetland areas with different management strategies and with multiple users. It examines how local communities, governmental authorities, industries and tourists perceive the value of the wetlands. By applying an arena perspective, that emphasises the need of interdisciplinarity, this thesis discusses the economic value of the environment and applies other methods such as, emergy analysis, stakeholder analysis, cultural theory and risk analysis, to enrich the valuation of environment.

Equity crowdfunding, which has primarily been developed by private operators, is considered as an alternative financing form where capital is raised from a group of individuals through digital platforms. In the absence of formal regulations and existing high information asymmetries between businesses and crowd-investors, businesses need to build up legitimacy and trust through social actions. In this way, knowing the main participants and developing good relationships with them, become key factors for crowdfunding success. The purpose of this thesis is to examine equity crowdfunding and its context by identifying and describing stakeholders that interact there. In particular, this thesis aims to describe relationships that are being developed between businesses and their crowd-investors. The data has been collected through interviews with both businesses and investors that have experience in using equity crowdfunding in a Swedish context. The interview data have been analysed by using the stakeholder theory. This has helped us to identify and characterise several stakeholders that exist in the context of equity crowdfunding. Especially, two stakeholder management approaches – arm length- and fairness approach - have been chosen as the analytical tools for this thesis. These categories have primarily been used to analyse relationships that are being developed between businesses and crowd-investors. Our discussion highlights equity crowdfunding as a new and alternative type of capital market, where participants act more cooperatively and have versatile roles. As a financial tool, equity crowdfunding opens up possibilities for closer interaction between businesses and investors. As a consequence of high information asymmetries, developing relationships and creating a transparent environment through active communication, become particularly important for businesses. However, our data has shown us that in reality the collaborative relationship depends on how much businesses allow to be influenced by investors as well as how much the investors request participation.

Submitted by Dafne Oliveira Carlos de Morais (dafne_oliveira@hotmail.com) on 2018-05-25T19:19:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dafne.Morais.Tese..pdf: 5045593 bytes, checksum: 797ca2e4e4eea9cce90c7d81ab63cde2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Debora Nunes Ferreira (debora.nunes@fgv.br) on 2018-05-29T20:30:45Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dafne.Morais.Tese..pdf: 5045593 bytes, checksum: 797ca2e4e4eea9cce90c7d81ab63cde2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Suzane Guimarães (suzane.guimaraes@fgv.br) on 2018-05-30T13:08:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Dafne.Morais.Tese..pdf: 5045593 bytes, checksum: 797ca2e4e4eea9cce90c7d81ab63cde2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-30T13:08:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dafne.Morais.Tese..pdf: 5045593 bytes, checksum: 797ca2e4e4eea9cce90c7d81ab63cde2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-05 / O pilar social da sustentabilidade encontra-se sub representado no contexto da SSCM. O presente estudo endereça esse pilar social e a lacuna relacionada aos mecanismos de governança no âmbito da SSCM e aborda a seguinte questão de pesquisa: como empresas focais adotam a sustentabilidade social e quais mecanismos de governança são usados para implementá-la na cadeia de suprimentos? O trabalho propõe uma investigação empírica por meio de um estudo de casos múltiplos, composto por seis casos. A pesquisa identificou nos casos os antecedentes de sustentabilidade, isto é, os elementos que os direcionam, facilitam e dificultam na adoção da sustentabilidade ao longo da cadeia de suprimentos. Uma lista de mecanismos foi elaborada e classificada quanto ao seu tipo e quanto a sua atuação, se mais direta (hands-on) ou mais indireta (hands-off). Ademais, as questões sociais foram classificadas quanto a sua incidência nos casos e, para cada mecanismo de governança, três tipos foram estabelecidos: questões sociais centrais, questões sociais periféricas e questões sociais remotas. Considerando a relação entre os tipos de questões sociais implementadas e a intensidade de mecanismos de governança que as endereça, três perfis de gestão da sustentabilidade social no contexto da SSCM são delineados e descritos: elementar, seletivo e extensivo. Cada perfil foi analisado à luz de diferentes teorias: a Teoria dos Stakeholders, a Teoria de Contingência e a Teoria Comportamental. Um ponto de destaque na primeira lente teórica relaciona-se a saliência do fornecedor nos diferentes perfis: no perfil seletivo, um grupo forte de fornecedores atua como stakeholders perigosos, enquanto nos perfis seletivos e extensivos, fornecedores atuam, de modo geral, como reivindicadores. Os diferentes papéis dos fornecedores indicam que a maior ou menor incidência de poder do fornecedor influencia a extensão que a empresa focal consegue endereçar questões sociais em sua cadeia, se mais limitadas a questões centrais ou se alcançam questões periféricas e remotas. Sob a lente da Teoria de Contingência, o presente estudo indica que iniciativas sociais relacionam-se a fatores como (des)equilíbrio de poder e dependência na relação com fornecedor. Ademais, para gestão de questões sociais, aproximar-se de fornecedores não implica na redução de mecanismos de governança, principalmente, em cadeias de maior criticidade. Em relação a Teoria Comportamental, os resultados do estudo representam como conceitos dessa lente teórica manifestam-se no âmbito da sustentabilidade e da sustentabilidade social na SCM. Reconhecer tais contextos constitui um passo em direção a superação de comportamentos tendenciosos no processo de tomada de decisão na SSCM, como: reconhecer a gama de questões sociais possíveis de endereçar e priorizar aquelas mais alinhadas ao seu negócio e não as mais simples de endereçar, atuando de modo mais assertivo e não segundo o mais simples; estimular o reconhecimento mais ágil da necessidade de critérios mais complexos para definir o grupo de fornecedores a ser avaliado socioambientalmente em programas de gestão. / The social pillar of sustainability is under-represented in the context of SSCM. The present study addresses this social pillar and the gap related to governance mechanisms within the SSCM and addresses the following research question: how focal firms adopt social sustainability and what governance mechanisms are used to implement it throughout their supply chain? The paper proposes an empirical investigation through a multiple case study, composed of six cases. The research identified in the cases the antecedents of sustainability, that is, the elements that drive, enable and barriers the adoption of sustainability along the supply chain. A list of mechanisms has been elaborated and classified according to its type and its implementation, whether it is more direct (hands-on) or more indirect (hands-off). In addition, social issues were classified as to their incidence in cases and, for each governance mechanism, three types were established: central social issues, peripheral social issues and remote social issues. Considering the relationship between the types of social issues implemented and the intensity of governance mechanisms that address them, three profiles of social sustainability management in the context of SSCM are outlined and described: elementary, selective and extensive. Each profile was analyzed in the light of different theories: Stakeholders Theory, Contingency Theory and Behavioral Theory. A prominent point in the first theoretical lens relates to the salience of the supplier in the different profiles: in the selective profile, a strong group of suppliers acts as dangerous stakeholders, while in the selective and extensive profiles, suppliers generally act as claimants. The different roles of suppliers indicate that the supplier's greater or lesser incidence of power influences the extent to which the focal company can address social issues in its chain, whether it is more limited to central issues, or whether peripheral and remote issues are reached. Under the lens of the Contingency Theory, the present study indicates that social initiatives are related to factors such as (un)balance of power and dependence in the relationship with supplier. In addition, for management of social issues, approaching suppliers does not imply the reduction of governance mechanisms, especially in chains of greater criticality. In relation to Behavioral Theory, the results of the study represent concepts of this theoretical lens manifested in the scope of sustainability and social sustainability in SCM. Recognizing such contexts is a step towards overcoming biased behaviors in the SSCM decision-making process, such as: recognizing the range of possible social issues to address and prioritize those more aligned to the business rather than the simplest to address, acting more assertively and not according to the simplest; stimulate a more agile recognition of the need for more complex criteria to define the group of suppliers to be evaluated socio-environmentally in management programs.

La letteratura di business internazionale fornisce la prova convincente della diffusione globale di pratiche di responsabilità sociale delle imprese (RSI) e l'importante ruolo svolto dalle multinazionali (MNC) nel trasferimento di pratiche di RSI alle loro controllate estere. La tesi esplora la gestione di strategie di RSI da società controllate di MNC, spiegando il meccanismo che permette loro di bilanciare le pressioni istituzionali divergenti. Questo fenomeno è noto come ‘complessità istituzionale’, derivante dai molteplici ed eterogenee forze istituzionali a cui le controllate di multinazionali e le loro sedi sono esposte in relazione all'adozione di pratiche di RSI. Attingendo alla letteratura su RSI e teoria istituzionale, il primo articolo della tesi sviluppa un framework concettuale e un set di proposizioni da testare per studi futuri, attraverso un approccio configurazionale. Il secondo articolo della tesi esamina come le filiali di MNC gestiscono le pressioni, le barriere e i mezzi che affrontano durante la distribuzione delle loro attività di RSI in cinque paesi africani (Angola, Egitto, Ghana, Kenya e Sud Africa), attraverso 33 interviste, permettendoci di catturare alcuni modelli di variazione nella distribuzione di pratiche di RSI all'interno dei paesi in via di sviluppo. Il terzo documento della tesi analizza le pratiche di dialogo realizzate da 418 società quotate all'indice FTSE4Good in Europa, Nord America e Asia. / The international business literature provides compelling evidence for the global diffusions of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices and the important role played by Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in transfer of CSR practices to their foreign subsidiaries. The thesis explores the management of CSR strategies by MNCs’ subsidiaries, by explaining the mechanism that allows them to balance divergent institutional pressures. This phenomenon is known as ‘institutional complexity’, resulting from the multiple and heterogeneous institutional forces to which MNCs’ subsidiaries and their headquarters are exposed in relation to the adoption of CSR practices. Drawing on CSR literature and institutional theory, the first paper of the thesis develops a conceptual framework and a set of propositions to be tested for future studies, through a configurational approach. The second paper examines how the MNCs’ subsidiaries manage the pressures, the barriers and the enablers they face when deploying their CSR activities in five African countries (Angola, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa), through 33 interviews, allowing us to capture some patterns of variations in CSR deployment within developing countries. The third paper analyses the stakeholder dialogue practices realized by 418 companies listed in the FTSE4Good index in Europe, North America, and Asia.