Literature review about corporate social responsibility (CSR) suggests that there are organisational benefits to be gained from unintentional discretionary expenditure in laudable behaviour. With this in mind, the methodology integrates insights from the ‘stakeholder theory’ and the ‘resource-based view theory of the firm’ to sharpen the strategic base for CSR investment. Quantitative and qualitative research techniques have been used to discover how business organisations are creating shared value for themselves and for society. The main study was carried out amongst hotel enterprises in Malta. The quantitative analysis tested the relationship between Strategic CSR (in terms of the organisational benefits) against the firms’ commitment, behaviour and resources devoted to CSR. Secondly the qualitative phase of this study involved an analysis of interviews with owner-managers across the Maltese hospitality industry and with experts who are responsible for setting policies in the tourism regulatory context. The results have indicated that responsible behaviour led to the firms’ financial performance and market standing, effective human resources management and operational efficiencies. Following the empirical findings a model representing the ‘creation of shared value’ for business and society has been put forward.

The aim of this PhD research project was to critically examine the self-reported socially-responsible activities of European full-service and low-fares airlines. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a concept that has been described using many terms and with varying definitions. Broadly, it is the recognition that businesses should voluntarily mitigate and manage their externalities. CSR has been touted by businesses and governments alike as a preferred alternative to regulation. This research looked at the self-reported CSR approaches of the European airline sector, which has historically been heavily regulated and is currently facing increasing pressures regarding its impacts on CSR- and sustainability-related concerns. Low cost carriers have been under particular scrutiny for their impacts, and therefore, this research compared the CSR approaches of the two dominant airline business models in Europe: low cost and full service models. The sample consisted of 21 full service and 13 low cost carriers with headquarters in Europe. Mixed qualitative methods were applied to 566 secondary documents (websites, press releases, annual reports, and standalone CSR reports) and 15 elite interviews with airline managers. A range of established CSR indicators were assessed, including: definitions, reported practices, motivations and justifications for CSR activities, and CSR management and monitoring. Much of what the airlines reported as their CSR was at odds with academic and governmental definitions; as a whole, they placed considerable emphasis on environmental issues and adhering to regulations. This study also found that the CSR practices were closely correlated with business practices and key sector issues – an understanding of CSR that is most compatible with stakeholder theory-based conceptualisations. Business models on their own were found to be an overly-simplistic explanation for the wide variances of practice that were found in the sample. Instead, four ‘profiles of responsibility’ were identified, which better captured the differences in practices.

共享經濟在近年來大行其道，其透過資訊平台直接媒合交易供需的雙方，根本性的改變以往我們對交易模式的想像與觀察。然而，共享經濟也備受爭議，以本研究個案Uber為例，其在保險、賦稅與消費者安全等問題上與政府進行多次討論，卻難獲具體共識。除此之外，對相關利害關係人而言，對Uber亦有各自擁護的價值與立場，使政府在凝聚利害關係人共識及價值選擇上陷入兩難困境。 　　本研究採用利害關係人分析與理論，並以Uber運輸服務為研究個案，探悉政府管理共享經濟新創事業的整體場景。研究的核心發現主要有三：第一，政府面對新創事業所涉及的價值選擇，相較於經濟利益，平等與安全的價值更為重要。第二，政府應依照不同利害關係人的特性與立場，進行利害關係人管理，作為政策制定與管理的重要依據。第三，利害關係人對政府決策的影響力，除與利害關係人權力、合法性地位以及對問題的急迫性密切相關外，亦展現在其公共關係經營能力與政策溝通能力上，如何與政府部門在理性與對等的前提下進行積極溝通，將是新創事業是否能在市場上合法經營的關鍵因素，對未來欲進入市場的新創事業具有指標性的參考意義。

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Despite being a fairly new concept, sustainable development is gaining more attention from social actors. The demand on companies to incorporate sustainable development practices is therefore increasing. Previous research has emphasized that companies are influential drivers of sustainable development practices and many claim to work actively with the issue, yet few have implemented such practices to a sufficient extent. Many companies who claim to be working actively with sustainable development were found to be uncertain of what it implies. Moreover, manufacturing companies tend to be greatly dependent on the consumption of raw material, energy and waste disposals and are therefore often affected by changes associated with sustainable development. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify what drives manufacturing companies to commit to sustainable development practices.   In the field Management of Sustainable Development, previous research has neglected drivers of sustainable development in relation to managers’ differing interpretations of the concept, constituting a research gap. It has also been suggested by previous research to investigate sustainable development from an organizational perspective, thus this study investigates individual managers’ interpretations and what drives companies to adopt sustainable development practices. The following research question has therefore guided this study:   What drives manufacturing companies to adopt sustainable development practices and how do these drivers vary depending on managers’ interpretations of the term?   In order to investigate this phenomenon and fulfill the purpose of our study, a qualitative approach was deemed most suitable. Six manufacturing companies in Västerbotten County were interviewed using a semi-structured approach. In addition, a triangulation method was used, where official and organizational documents were collected from each participating company to complement the interview data and decrease subjectivity. The analysis of our empirical data resulted in a compiled analysis of the key findings, where we found that manufacturing companies in Västerbotten perceive sustainable development as an ambiguous term and interpret it differently but consider environmental factors as a central feature of the term. Furthermore, we can conclude that the adoption of sustainable development practices is facilitated by establishing a separate sustainable development strategy or incorporating sustainable development into the company’s general business strategy.

Over more than forty years many proposals have been drawn up to complement, integrate and overcome the traditional methodologies measuring the financial dimension of corporate performance. In parallel, thousands of companies, and especially the listed ones, have introduced, developed and implemented different practices of non-financial reporting. So, what is the state of the art with regard to the most important initiatives aimed at supporting companies in managing social, environmental and sustainability performance? And, what are the current corporate approaches to sustainability evaluation and reporting? In order to answer the two research questions, the study introduced a collaborative paradigm, based on a relational view of the firm, which recognizes the strategic value of stakeholder relationships. The stakeholder framework (that is, the multiple bottom line approach) is the lens adopted to conduct the study. With regard to the first question, a broad and up-to-date review of the most important standards and tools – aimed at managing, controlling, evaluating, and reporting the social, environmental and sustainability performance of companies – has been carried out. In reference to the second question, a qualitative content analysis, based on an interpretive perspective, of the current corporate practices has been conducted. The investigation mainly explored the social/CSR/sustainability reports of sixteen leading companies from four crucial industries (i.e., four firms per each of the four industries: banks, retailing, telecommunications, and utilities). In comparison with previous contributions in this area, the analysis is characterized by depth (that is, the number of items checked for every company), breadth (i.e., the number of stakeholders and documents/information sources covered), and complexity because of the interpretive nature. What emerged from the overall study is that, because of several and different reasons (essentially, complexity and the still prevailing focus on financial value for management tools; redundancy and incompleteness for corporate reports; and lack of innovation, that is, isomorphism, for both), the prevailing methodologies and the corporate evaluation and reporting activities are unable to fully assess the sustainability, that is, the quality, of the corporate relationships with the stakeholder groups. Therefore, in order to fill the gap new solutions are needed. As an attempt to address this point and reconnect theory and practice, a sustainability evaluation and reporting system, that is, the SERS2 methodology, characterized by an innovative, stakeholder-based scheme of integrated report, has been advanced.

Hållbarhet bygger på att företag tar ett socialt, miljömässigt och ekonomiskt ansvar. Med hjälp av hållbarhetsrapporten kommunicerar företag sitt hållbarhetsarbete och resultaten av det. Användarna av hållbarhetsrapporterna är företagets intressenter, vilka påverkar och påverkas av företagets verksamhet. För att företaget ska veta vilka frågor som intressenterna anser väsentliga behöver företaget engagera sina intressenter. Intressentengagemang är processen som används av företag för att engagera relevanta intressenter i hållbarhetsarbetet och för att välja ut vilka frågor som är väsentliga att ta med i hållbarhetsrapporten. Denna studie fokuserar på dagligvaruhandelsföretag och deras intressentengagemang. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur dagligvaruhandelsföretag i Sverige engagerar sina intressenter i hållbarhetsrapporterna genom att utgå ifrån de tre principerna inkluderbarhet, väsentlighet och respons samt att jämföra hur engagemanget har förändrats under de senaste åren. För att uppfylla syftet har en kvantitativ ansats valts i form av innehållsanalys av hållbarhetsrapporter. Resultatet från studien visar att dagligvaruhandelsföretagen generellt är tydliga med vilka intressenter som inkluderas samt vilka frågor som anses väsentliga av intressenterna. De är dock inte lika transparenta med hur själva intressentengagemanget ser ut. Studien visar även att de metoder som främst används är one-way och two-way. / Sustainability is based on companies taking social, environmental and financial responsibility. With the help of a sustainability report, companies communicate their sustainability work and the results of it. The users of the sustainability reports are the company's stakeholders, which affect and are affected by the company's operations. In order for the company to know which issues stakeholders consider important, the company needs to engage its stakeholders. Stakeholder engagement is the process used by companies to engage relevant stakeholders in the sustainability work and to select which issues are essential to include in the sustainability report. This study focuses on grocery retailers and their stakeholder engagement. The purpose of this study is to investigate how grocery retailers in Sweden engage their stakeholders in the sustainability reports by using the three principles inclusivity, materiality and responsiveness and comparing how the engagement has changed during the recent years. To fulfil the purpose a quantitative approach has been chosen in the form of content analysis of sustainability reports. The results of the study show that the grocery retailers are generally clear about which stakeholders are included and which issues are considered essential by the stakeholders. However, they are not as transparent about how the stakeholder engagement itself looks. The study also shows that the methods that are mainly used are one-way and two-way.

Bakgrund Inför företagens bokslut år 2017 ska större företag även uppföra och presentera en hållbarhetsredovisning som komplement för de finansiella måtten. Företagen behöver dock inte följa regleringen om de förklarar varför. Undersökningar tyder ändå på brister i hållbarhetsredovisningen där informationen inte är komplett trots den nya regleringen. Genom systemorienterade teorier samt positiv redovisningsteori finns det förväntningar om hur företagens bolagsstyrningsmekanismer ska påverka hållbarhetsredovisningen. Syfte Syftet med studien är att förklara huruvida bolagsstyrningsmekanismer påverkar omfattningen av företags hållbarhetsredovisning. Metod Denna studie utgår från en deduktiv ansats med en kvantitativ metod. Hypoteser har formulerats utifrån systemorienterade teorier och positiv redovisningsteori kopplat till tidigare forskning om bolagsstyrning. Studien utgår från en tvärsnittsdesign där det empiriska materialet utgörs av sekundärdata och undersökts genom regressionsanalyser. Slutsats Studiens resultat visar att det finns ett signifikant samband mellan utländskt ägande och hållbarhetsredovisningens omfattning. Till skillnad från tidigare studier finns det även ett svagt negativt samband mellan en kvinnlig VD och omfattningen. Till sist visar studiens resultat att det finns positiva samband mellan kontrollvariablerna revisorns uttalande samt applicering av GRI och omfattningen, där GRI resulterade i starka samband. / Introduction Ahead of company´s annual account for year 2017, larger companies will also construct and present a sustainability report as a complement to the financial measures. However, the companies do not have to follow the regulations if they explain why. Surveys nevertheless indicate shortcomings in the sustainability report where the information is not complete despite the new regulation. Through system-oriented theories and positive accounting theory, there are expectations as to how companies' corporate governance mechanisms will affect the sustainability report. Purpose The purpose of this study is to explain whether corporate governance mechanisms affect the extent of corporate sustainability report. Method This study has a deductive approach with a quantitative method. Hypothesis has been formulated through system-oriented theories and positive accounting theory connect with earlier research about corporate governance. The study has a cross-sectional design where the empirical data consist of secondary data and then examined in regression analyzes. Conclusion The study's results show that there is a significant correlation between foreign ownership and the extent of the sustainability report. Contrary to previous studies, there is also a slight negative correlation between a female CEO and the extent. Finally, the study's results show that there are positive correlations between the control variables auditor's statement and the application of GRI and the extent, where GRI resulted in strong relationships.

Notre recherche se situe au cœur de la problématique liée à la ville durable. Le contexte actuel d'amélioration de l'efficacité de la gestion des services publics, et notamment des services publics locaux, va soulever des questions relatives à la qualité ainsi qu'à la performance de ces services publics. D'autre part, le management de l'eau, de par les problématiques de développement territorial et durable, d'Agenda 21, associé à la question de raréfaction de la ressource « eau », représente l'un des enjeux majeurs auxquels font face les managers des collectivités territoriales. Cette recherche s'intéresse dans son ensemble à la gouvernance de l'eau comme étant un élément pouvant être considéré comme un levier dans le cadre du développement d'un territoire. En nous situant au cœur d'un écosystème urbain « global », nous avons choisi de nous intéresser à l'un des sous écosystèmes le composant, celui relatif à l'eau. Nous focalisons notre recherche sur la dimension relative à la gouvernance du service public de distribution d'eau potable, qui compose ce « sous écosystème ». A travers notre étude nous cherchons donc à déterminer s'il serait ou non possible de caractériser un écosystème relatif à la gouvernance d'un service public de distribution d'eau potable, pouvant conduire à une meilleure efficacité managériale au niveau de la coordination des parties prenantes et des processus décisionnels, et jouant un rôle moteur du point de vue du management territorial. Nous nous concentrons sur l'exemple de la distribution d'eau potable au sein des départements des Bouches-du-Rhône et de l'Hérault. / Our research is in the core of the sustainable city issues. The current context of improving management efficiency of public services, including local utilities, will raise issues relating to the quality and performance of these utilities. On the other hand, water management, through the issues of sustainable territorial development, agenda 21, associated with the question of the water resource scarcity, is one of the major challenges facing managers of local authorities. This research deals with the whole water governance as an element which can be considered as a lever in a territory development. By taking position in the core of an urban comprehensive ecosystem, we aim to deal with one of the sub-ecosystems componements, the one related to water. We focus our research on all aspects of water distribution public service governance, making up this "sub ecosystem". Through our study, we will therefore seek to determine whether or not would be possible to characterize an ecosystem on the governance of a public drinking water supply, which can lead to better managerial efficiency with the coordination of stakeholders and decision-makers, and playing a leading role in terms of territorial management. Our concern will be the example of drinking water distribution within the Bouches-du-Rhone and Herault areas.

[pt] O aumento dos custos sociais, ambientais, e humanos gerados pela atividade econômica vem suscitando um debate na sociedade com um todo, e na academia em particular, acerca da necessidade de uma ação integrada das corporações e dos demais constituintes da sociedade, na restauração dos danos ocorridos e, sobretudo, na prevenção dos potenciais danos futuros. A temática da racionalidade, imperiosa e inerente ao debate suscitado, não vem ocupando uma posição de destaque sendo, em muitos casos, ignorada, sobretudo aquela de natureza substantiva. No âmbito da Ética de Negócios vem ganhando reconhecimento, sobretudo a partir da década de 90, a Teoria dos Stakeholders, cujo ponto central reside na revisão e ampliação das obrigações corporativas, opondo-se à visão neoclássica, baseada no conceito de agência, que sustenta ser a única responsabilidade social dos gestores da companhia a maximização da riqueza dos acionistas. Destacam-se, no âmbito desta teoria, duas vertentes principais: instrumental e normativa. Ao passo que esta defende a revisão das obrigações corporativas incondicionalmente, aquela a sujeita à busca de uma performance superior. A potencial associação da vertente normativa com a racionalidade de natureza substantiva e da instrumental com a racionalidade homônima é um fator fundamental na estruturação desta pesquisa, a qual objetivou descrever, através de um estudo de caso, como se dá a co-existência das duas racionalidades acima em uma empresa cujos objetivos, missão e visão, revestem-se de valores manifestamente substantivos. / [en] The increase in social, environmental and human costs generated by economic activity has brought along a discussion within society as a whole, in the academic environment most particularly, regarding the urge for an integrated action coming from corporations and other society members in the direction of restoration of existing damage and, above all, in the prevention of potential future ones. The Rationality subject, predominant in and inherent to the proposed debate, has not been playing an important role, being in many cases simply ignored - mostly the one of Substantive nature. In the field of Business Ethics, mainly from the 90´s on, the Stakeholder Theory - which core lays on the revision and broadening of corporate obligations, as opposed to the neoclassical vision based on the Agency Theory, defending the maximization of stakeholders´ wealth as the only social responsibility of management - has been gaining acknowledgement. In the heart of this theory, two mainstreams can be highlighted: the Instrumental and the Normative. While the later stands for the unconditional revision of corporate obligations, the former subjects them to the search of a superior performance. The potential association of the Normative stream with the Substantive Rationality and of the Instrumental stream with the Rationality that goes under the same name is the fundamental basis for the structuring of this research, which intends to describe, based on a case study, how the two above mentioned Rationalities coexist in a company which mission and vision are based on typically Substantive values.