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.

It has been argued for the past years that one of today’s main important factors for gaining competitive advantage is to implement CSR activities. There have been many studies showing the many benefits CSR have, not only to the organizations but also to society and the environment. However, CSR does not only concern the organization itself but also ensuring that the social and environmental behaviour is accomplished throughout the whole supply chain. Larger firms have the ability to implement and focus on several tasks at once, while small and medium-sized enterprises are struggling with limited resources and cannot afford any mistakes. This study is focusing on how SMEs with limited resources implement CSR within the supply chain and what difficulties they experience, since CSR is often seen as a complex and resource based issue. A case study was conducted at a SME in a B2B context and the study is based on a qualitative approach, with empirical data gathered from five in-depth interviews. After the empirical data was analysed it was concluded that by decreasing the supplier base is a way of gaining stronger contact and trust, also centralizing the supplier base in order to decrease transportation and emissions. SMEs with limited resources can outsource duties such as checkups and audits to external companies in order to assure quality and environmental criteria’s. Also, being an SME with limited resources indicates that the employees have to take on multiple roles in order to adapt to all customer and supplier demands, which was shown to be a complexity since obligations such as making a profitable procurement, were often prioritized before CSR. It was also found that the internal CSR communication was a major contributor to the lack of knowledge as well as interest in the subject, CSR is not seen as an obligation if not having anyone responsible for the CSR activities. Lastly, both CSR and digitalization were found to be two crucial keystones for organizational survival on the market.

Enligt svensk lagstiftning måste aktiebolag ha en styrelse. Dock skiljer det sig på vilket sätt styrelsen involveras i företags strategiska arbete och hur företagsägare förhåller sig till dess funktion. I små och medelstora företag fyller styrelsen sällan någon reell funktion. När företaget växer blir det dock svårt för en person att ensam klara av att styra och kontrollera bolaget, vilket leder till ett ökat behov av en arbetande styrelse. Tidigare forskning visar att företagsägarens personliga mål ofta avgör den strategiska riktningen i små och medelstora företag. För att kunna bemöta de krav som existerar, behöver därför företagsägaren förstå styrelsens roll och nyttan av strategiskt arbete. Syftet med studien är att utifrån ett företagsekonomiskt perspektiv bidra med kunskap om styrelsearbete i små och medelstora företag, samt att undersöka vilka attityder företagsägare i dessa företag har till styrelsens funktion. Studiens empiri har inhämtats från en kvalitativ datainsamling, i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra företagsägare ur tre olika små och medelstora företag. Den teoretiska referensramen berör ämnet bolagsstyrning och de aspekter som anses vara viktiga för ett framgångsrikt styrelsearbete. Studien kommer fram till att kunskapen vad gäller styrelsearbete är relativt låg hos företagsägare i små och medelstora företag, vilket gör att styrelsen inte används på ett effektivt sätt. Kunskapsnivån hos företagsägaren styr också huruvida styrelsen anses som viktig i det egna företaget, samt hur styrelsen arbetar. En annan slutsats som dras är att företagsägarens personliga mål påverkar dennes attityd till styrelsen. Om de personliga målen innefattar tillväxt, har företagsägaren en mer positiv attityd till en arbetande styrelse. Vidare ökar en positiv inställning till en arbetande styrelse sannolikheten att företagsägaren även har en positiv attityd till externa styrelseledamöter. / According to Swedish law, limited companies must have a board. However, it differs in the extent to which the board is involved in a company´s strategic work and how business owners relate to its function. In small and medium-sized enterprises, the board seldom fills any real function. As the company grows, it becomes difficult for one person alone to manage and control the company, leading to an increasing need for a working board. Previous research shows that business owner's personal goals often determine the strategic direction of small and medium-sized enterprises. In order to meet existing demands, business owners need to understand the board´s role and the benefits of strategic work. The purpose of the study is, from a business perspective, to contribute knowledge about board work in small and medium-sized enterprises and to examine the business owners' attitudes toward the functioning of the board. The study's empirical data has been collected from a qualitative data collection, in the form of semi-structured interviews with four business owners from three different small and medium-sized enterprises. The theoretical framework involves the subject corporate governance and the aspects that are considered important for a successful board work. The study concludes that awareness regarding board work, is relatively low among business owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, which means that the board is not being used effectively. The level of knowledge of the business owner also controls whether the board is considered as important in their own company, and how the board works. Another conclusion drawn is that the business owner's personal goals affect his attitude towards the board. If personal goals include growth, the business owner has a more positive attitude towards a working board. Furthermore, a positive attitude towards a working board increases the probability that the business owner also has a positive attitude towards outside directors in the board.

The importance of addressing the topic of sustainable development has been widely acknowledged, and the researchers call for future studies that would develop new perspectives on integrating sustainability in the business context. Currently, most of such studies focus on large companies, whereas it has been shown that the impact of SMEs on the economy, the society and the environment is also significant. The present work aims at exploring the integration of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate sustainability (CS) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Nordic countries. Adopting a qualitative dominant mixed research method, the following objectives are achieved: using content analysis, we analyse the activities disclosed by SMEs and describe their type and focus. Further, the multiple case study of 13 SMEs operating in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland allows exploration of the process of CSR integration in companies in more detail. Using the abductive approach to analysis and systematically combining the existing approaches to analysing CSR integration with the empirical findings, we are able to distinguish several specifics of SMEs. Namely, the process of CSR integration in SMEs may be different due to increased role of the top management commitment and the varying degree of externally formalising CSR and CS through obtaining certifications. This allows us to design suggestions for the updated model of CSR integration, which would reflect these specifics of SMEs. The present work contributes to current research by exploring CSR and CS integration in the context of SMEs, which have been previously identified as research gaps. We develop suggestions for modifying an existing framework for analysing CSR integration that combines the focus on specific business operations and the stages that a company can undergo in implementing CSR. The developed model could be used as a practical tool for analysing the company and the potential areas that would lead to CSR integration on a more strategic level. The qualitative nature of the present work and supporting the theoretical reflections with quotes from SME managers and owners provides opportunities for naturalistic generalisations and gaining insights on what activities could be implemented in companies. We acknowledge that our work has several limitations. The qualitative nature of the study does not allow statistical generalisation; thus, further research is recommended to enhance the findings and test the developed model in different context and using different methods, as well as targeting not only managers and owners whose responsibilities are related to strategy and sustainability, but also employees from other functions. Quantitative and qualitative studies of SMEs in the analysed region conducted by native speakers are also recommended.

Through our smartphones, the access to information is higher than ever before. Social media has revolutionized the communication landscape in how we share information and communicate to each other. Social media has significantly impacted marketing communication, therefore organizations in B2B are exploring and trying to identify ways in how to make a profitable use of social media. Despite this interest, there seems to be insufficient understanding of how to properly manage social media in the B2B context. Furthermore, branding and brand equity through social media communication creates opportunities such as deeper customer relationship, collaboration and reduce the information necessary for a purchase decision. Currently there is a gap in the theoretical understanding of how brand equity can be enhanced through social media. The purpose of this research is to explore and describe how brand equity can be enhanced through social media marketing within B2B for SME. This research aims to understand how small and medium-sized enterprises can utilize social media in the best way possible. The research adopted a qualitative exploratory descriptive approach. The collection of data was conducted through six semi-structured interview. The sample selection for the qualitative interviews were conducted on project managers and purchase managers. The result of this research gave new insights to the customer-based brand equity model in the B2B context and how customer-based brand equity can be applied in social media marketing. This resulted in a brand equity model for B2B social media marketing, where the steps have a dependency to each other. Thus, enhancing brand equity in social media demands an identification of the social media benefits, establishing a marketing plan, how to reach your target audience, utilize experience of others, communicating about technical innovation and change through the supply chain. / Genom användandet av smartphones är tillgången till information högre än någonsin tidigare. Sociala medier har revolutionerat kommunikationslandskapet i hur vi delar information och kommunicerar med varandra. Sociala medier har påverkat marknadsföringskommunikationen vilket har resulterat till att företag utforskar olika sätt för hur sociala medier kan nyttjas på ett fördelaktigt sätt. Trots detta, föreligger en otillräcklig kunskap om hur sociala medier kan användas inom B2B. Vidare skapar branding och brand equity via sociala medier möjligheter för en djupare kundrelation, samarbete samt att en minskad informationsinsamling inför ett köpbeslut. För närvarande visar forskningen en kunskapslucka vad gäller hur brand equity kan utvecklas genom sociala medier. Syftet med studien var att utforska hur brand equity kan utvecklas genom marknadsföring av sociala medier inom B2B för SME. Studien syftar till att ge en ökad förståelse för hur små och medelstora företag kan utnyttja sociala medier på bästa möjliga sätt. Studien antog en kvalitativ utforskande beskrivande ansats. Data samlades in genom sex semi-strukturerande intervjuer. De kvalitativa intervjuerna har i huvudsak genomförts med projektledare och inköpschefer. Resultatet av denna forskning gav nya insikter till den kundbaserade brand equity modellen inom B2B och hur den kundbaserade brand equity modellen kan tillämpas i ett sociala medier perspektiv. Detta resulterade i en brand equity modell för B2B inom marknadsföring för sociala media, där stegen är beroende av varandra. Däremot, en utveckling av brand equity inom sociala medier kräver en identifikation av fördelarna med sociala medier, ett upprättande av en marknadsplan, en plan för att nå sin målgrupp, ett användande av andras erfarenheter samt en kommunikation om teknisk innovation och förändring inom försörjningskedjan.

Background: Supplier integration is becoming increasingly important due to the increased globalisation in the business world nowadays. Today’s focal firm does not operate independently, but as a part of its supply chain which competes with other supply chains in the market. The number of the focal SMEs in Europe comprises 99% of companies operating throughout the continent. However, the vast majority of the existing literature is investigating supplier integration from MNEs’ perspectives. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to generate a new supplier integration theory for SMEs. The study aims to compare how SMEs and MNEs conduct supplier integration, spotting the similarities and differences in their approaches and finding out the reasons behind these varying approaches. Method: We choose a relativist ontology and a constructionist epistemology. Within the boundaries of these research assumptions, we follow an inductive multiple case study approach with exploratory characteristics. The case study consists out of 12 cases, six out of the plant engineering industry and six from the mechanical engineering industry. Each industry is represented by three SMEs and three MNEs. Our findings are gathered through coded and categorised interview transcripts, based on which a critical comparative discussion is done. Conclusion: Through our study we find size and industry related differences in conducting supplier integration. Next to obvious circumstances such as limited resources, we identify personal contact, trust creation and industry specifics as main drivers for variation in supplier integration approaches. Furthermore, we conclude that SMEs fit in particular cases better into the reviewed supplier integration literature, since their focus in relationships leads to a more sustainable interest into the partner’s economic well-being. Finally, our findings show mimetic behaviour in SMEs adopting MNEs’ managerial approaches, characterised by classification, evaluation and strategizing.

A literatura especializada em aglomerados de pequenas e médias empresas (PMEs) aponta que a realização de ações conjuntas entre empresas pode gerar vantagens competitivas, auxiliar na obtenção de especialistas em competências específicas, além de outros benefícios. Nesse sentido, estudos nessa área têm identificado aspectos importantes envolvendo temas como tipologia, governança, estágios evolutivos, eficiência coletiva, economias externas, cooperação, competição. Esses estudos, no entanto, não realizam uma análise comparativa a respeito da interferência de determinados fatores em um desempenho de sucesso de empresas de aglomerados de PMEs de base tecnológica. Com o objetivo de identificar os principais que podem interferir significativamente no desempenho desse tipo de aglomerado foi realizado um estudo de casos múltiplos envolvendo empresas de três aglomerados de PMEs de base tecnológica brasileiros do interior do Estado de São Paulo, situados em importantes pólos tecnológicos localizados nas cidades de Campinas, São Carlos e São José dos Campos. Inicialmente foi realizado um levantamento bibliográfico sobre os fatores que influenciam um desempenho de PMEs em aglomerados de empresas de um modo geral. Com base nesses dados foi elaborado um roteiro de pesquisa para ser aplicado nas entrevistas realizadas nas empresas. Os dados coletados em campo foram analisados com o auxílio do software Qualitative Solutions and Research que possibilita a inserção e análise de dados qualitativos. Com base nos resultados obtidos, identificou-se um grupo de 5 fatores principais que interferem no desempenho das empresas dos aglomerados estudados. Foi analisada também a incidência de cada um desses fatores em cada um desses aglomerados, destacando-se: o perfil, a gestão e o ambiente das empresas dos aglomerados. / The literature specialized in clusters of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) shows that, when companies take joint actions, they may gain competitive advantages, besides other benefits. Studies in clusters have identified important aspects involving themes such as typology, governance, evolutionary stages, collective efficiency, external economies, cooperation, and competition. These studies, however, do not carry out a comparative analysis regarding the interference of certain factors in the success of technology-based clusters, considered to be a particular type of companies\' agglomeration. With the objective of identifying the main success factors that can interfere significantly in the development of this kind of cluster, a study of multiple cases was carried out, involving three clusters in the interior of the State of São Paulo, situated in important technology parks located in the cities of Campinas, São Carlos and São José dos Campos. Initially, a bibliographical review on the important success factors of clusters in general was carried out. Based on this data, a research framework was established in order to be applied in the interviews conducted in the companies. The data collected were analyzed with the aid of the software Qualitative Solutions and Research, which enables the insertion and analysis of qualitative data. Based on the results obtained, a group of 5 success factors was identified; the incidence of each of these factors was also analyzed in each of the clusters studied, showing that the factors company profile and management were the most important.

O presente estudo tem como objetivo analisar o comportamento empreendedor de proprietários de pequenas e médias empresas de software de forma a identificar os comportamentos e ações que podem melhorar o seu desempenho organizacional. O estudo foi realizado em uma rede de revendas de uma empresa nacional de software de gestão empresarial integrada (Enterprise Resource Planning - ERP), que tem mais de 100 empresas representantes no país. Essas revendas têm empresários com comportamentos distintos entre si, com grande diferença nos resultados finais e no seu desempenho individual. Este trabalho está baseado em uma revisão teórica sobre o comportamento empreendedor, o desempenho organizacional, pequenas e médias empresas do setor de tecnologia e empreendedorismo, visando maior compreensão acerca desses temas. Realizou-se um estudo descritivo, com aplicação de uma pesquisa quantitativa com os proprietários dessas empresas, por meio de um questionário estruturado e validado com base na literatura, que foi disponibilizado online para autopreenchimento. Os resultados obtidos indicam que os comportamentos empreendedores de autorrealização, planejamento, inovação, além do constructo agressividade empresarial, são de maior significância para um maior desempenho organizacional, bem como algumas das características sociodemográficas de seus proprietários, como tempo de empresa entre 5 e 15 anos e dentro da faixa etária entre 26 e 45 anos. O estudo apresenta propostas de treinamento, recrutamento e de gestão para os proprietários das revendas e para os gestores da empresa estudada, de forma a fortalecer alguns dos comportamentos empreendedores dos proprietários das revendas, em busca do aumento do seu desempenho organizacional. Esses resultados se aplicam apenas a esta pesquisa, pois a amostra não é probabilística e, portanto, não podem ser generalizados. / The present study aims to analyze the entrepreneurial behavior of owners of small and medium-sized enterprises software in order to identify behaviors and actions that can improve their organizational performance. The study was conducted in a resales network of a national company of Enterprise Resource Planning - ERP software, which has more than 100 companies representing the country. These resellers have entrepreneurs with different behaviors, with great difference in the final results and their individual performance. The work is based on a theoretical review about entrepreneurial behavior, organizational performance, small and medium-sized companies in the technology and entrepreneurship industry, aiming more understanding of these topics. A descriptive study was carried out, with the application of a quantitative survey with the owners of these companies, through a structured and validated questionnaire based on the literature, which was made available online. The results obtained indicate that the entrepreneurial behaviors of self-realization, planning, innovation, in addition to the entrepreneurial aggressiveness construct, are of greater significance for greater organizational performance, As well as some of the sociodemographic characteristics of its owners, such as company time between 5 and 15 years and within the age range between 26 and 45 years. The study presents proposals for training, recruitment and management for the owners of the resellers and for the managers of the company studied, in order to strengthen some of the entrepreneurial behaviors of the owners of the resellers, in search of the increase of their organizational performance. These results apply just for this research, because the sample is not probabilistic and cannot be generalized.

Atualmente têm-se valorizado o aproveitamento das características das aglomerações, como os arranjos produtivos locais - APLs e a necessidade de cooperação entre as empresas. Neste contexto, a avaliação de desempenho em relação a um referencial externo e a identificação de melhores práticas, como proposto pelo benchmarking, pode ser de grande valia. Este trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um sistema de informações para benchmarking com acesso via web e sua aplicação piloto. O trabalho de campo contou com a participação de 29 empresas de até médio porte, que fazem parte dos APLs de Ibitinga (confecções de bordados) e de Jaú (calçados femininos). A partir desta aplicação, discute-se a viabilidade operacional de tal sistema, os estímulos e resultados para as empresas usuárias e as relações de tal sistema com os agentes de governança dos APLs. A avaliação do processo de implementação, realizada essencialmente por meio de observações da pesquisadora (de caráter qualitativo), aponta para a necessidade de um mecanismo que possibilite a adesão e participação de um número elevado de empresas em um curto espaço de tempo ou com participação vinculada a outras iniciativas, a fim de que uma base robusta de dados seja criada, eliminando a principal razão para que as empresas percam o estímulo em participar. Outras alternativas de abordagem também são discutidas a fim de melhorar os benefícios deste sistema para empresas e para a governança, como a formação de grupos de empresas (mesmo de setores diferentes) interessados em trocar experiências em uma determinada área ou mesmo a troca de experiência entre instituições de governança. / Nowadays, the clustering approach and the development of joint actions have gained acceptance. In this scenario, performance assessment against an external reference and the identification of best practices, as proposed by benchmarking, can be very useful. This study presents the development of a web-based benchmarking information system and its pilot application. The fieldwork was developed with the participation of 29 small and medium-sized companies from the clusters of Ibitinga (garment for use in the house) and Jaú (female shoes). The objective is to discuss the operational viability of such system, the incentives and results for the users and the relationship of this system with the cluster governing agents. The assessment of the implementation (of qualitative features), points to the need of an organization that enables a high number of companies to participate in a short period of time, like binding the participation to other initiatives, in order to create a strong database, removing the main reason for the incentive missing. Other approaches are discussed aiming to increase the benefits to the companies and to the governing, e.g. experience exchange by groups of firms (even from different industrial sectors) interested in a specific area or by governing institutions.

O presente estudo tem como objetivo analisar o comportamento empreendedor de proprietários de pequenas e médias empresas de software de forma a identificar os comportamentos e ações que podem melhorar o seu desempenho organizacional. O estudo foi realizado em uma rede de revendas de uma empresa nacional de software de gestão empresarial integrada (Enterprise Resource Planning - ERP), que tem mais de 100 empresas representantes no país. Essas revendas têm empresários com comportamentos distintos entre si, com grande diferença nos resultados finais e no seu desempenho individual. Este trabalho está baseado em uma revisão teórica sobre o comportamento empreendedor, o desempenho organizacional, pequenas e médias empresas do setor de tecnologia e empreendedorismo, visando maior compreensão acerca desses temas. Realizou-se um estudo descritivo, com aplicação de uma pesquisa quantitativa com os proprietários dessas empresas, por meio de um questionário estruturado e validado com base na literatura, que foi disponibilizado online para autopreenchimento. Os resultados obtidos indicam que os comportamentos empreendedores de autorrealização, planejamento, inovação, além do constructo agressividade empresarial, são de maior significância para um maior desempenho organizacional, bem como algumas das características sociodemográficas de seus proprietários, como tempo de empresa entre 5 e 15 anos e dentro da faixa etária entre 26 e 45 anos. O estudo apresenta propostas de treinamento, recrutamento e de gestão para os proprietários das revendas e para os gestores da empresa estudada, de forma a fortalecer alguns dos comportamentos empreendedores dos proprietários das revendas, em busca do aumento do seu desempenho organizacional. Esses resultados se aplicam apenas a esta pesquisa, pois a amostra não é probabilística e, portanto, não podem ser generalizados. / The present study aims to analyze the entrepreneurial behavior of owners of small and medium-sized enterprises software in order to identify behaviors and actions that can improve their organizational performance. The study was conducted in a resales network of a national company of Enterprise Resource Planning - ERP software, which has more than 100 companies representing the country. These resellers have entrepreneurs with different behaviors, with great difference in the final results and their individual performance. The work is based on a theoretical review about entrepreneurial behavior, organizational performance, small and medium-sized companies in the technology and entrepreneurship industry, aiming more understanding of these topics. A descriptive study was carried out, with the application of a quantitative survey with the owners of these companies, through a structured and validated questionnaire based on the literature, which was made available online. The results obtained indicate that the entrepreneurial behaviors of self-realization, planning, innovation, in addition to the entrepreneurial aggressiveness construct, are of greater significance for greater organizational performance, As well as some of the sociodemographic characteristics of its owners, such as company time between 5 and 15 years and within the age range between 26 and 45 years. The study presents proposals for training, recruitment and management for the owners of the resellers and for the managers of the company studied, in order to strengthen some of the entrepreneurial behaviors of the owners of the resellers, in search of the increase of their organizational performance. These results apply just for this research, because the sample is not probabilistic and cannot be generalized.