Stakeholder engagement is considered, by both researchers and practitioners, an increasingly important aspect of corporate sustainability, and it is argued that companies should work together with their stakeholders to address the substantial social and environmental challenges ahead. Because of its importance, scholars within stakeholder theory and corporate sustainability have called for more research on how stakeholder engagement is conducted. This thesis, based on interviews with sustainability executives representing 18 Nordic companies, explores how companies work to engage stakeholders in their sustainability work. The study indicates that stakeholder engagement is an important part of the companies’ sustainability work, and that the companies are dependent on working together with stakeholders. It also highlights that even though stakeholder engagement occurs on a range of different levels, from one-way communication to strategic collaborations, education and information sharing efforts appear to be the most common. The companies in the study advocate for engaging with all stakeholders, but three stakeholder groups are considered particularly important due to their impact on the companies: customers, investors, and employees. Finally, transparency, openness, and listening are considered important success factors for stakeholder engagement, whereas lack of resources is seen as the overarching challenge.

Corporate responsibility is increasingly involved in corporate reputation, and so, in the economic success of a company. Car fleet operating companies are exposed to criticism and, as a direct result of this many corporate protagonists responsible for the operation of car fleets are developing measures to decrease CO2 emissions and fuel consumption. A second trend is the increasing usage of image-generating marketing actions in the worldwide ‘information society’. For various reasons, these image campaigns do not always lead to the expected improvements in corporate reputation. The crucial question is, how do these marketing actions, in the name of corporate social responsibility, relate to corporate reputation? The objective of this research is to establish rules for these relationships and to derive a new stakeholder approach to optimise corporate reputation regarding car fleet management marketing. First of all this study examines theoretical evidence in preparation for further empirical studies on the behaviour of sustainable car fleet management. With this in mind, the thesis looks at empirical evidence about the factors deemed necessary for successful responsible car fleet operation and its marketing. After conducting an online survey with more than 300 respondents, a multiple-embedded-case study with three cases, six supplementary cases, and several stakeholders represents the main part of this work. As a result, this work depicts, through three models, and via a new stakeholder approach (a combination of the three), the relationships of certain main types of firm with main types of fleet as well as the main types of marketing to support corporate reputation. Unexpected findings regarding the suitable intensity of communication to internal and external stakeholders have emerged. This approach successfully supports the design of sustainable car fleet management and a suitable arrangement of the marketing approach.

Approved for public release; distribution in unlimited. / The purpose of a United States Army Directorate of Contracting (DOC) is to award or execute contracts for supplies or services and perform post-award contract administration functions for the Army installation and Army units stationed at the installation. The DOC accomplishes its purpose within the context of the Federal Acquisition System's Vision, which is to deliver on a timely basis the best value product or service to the customer, while maintaining the public's trust and fulfilling public policy objectives. A DOC must consider many external stakeholders to achieve its purpose. The basic premise of this thesis research is to improve a DOC's organizational effectiveness through the examination of its external environment, particularly, external stakeholders. The concept of stakeholder management concentrates on an organization's need to consider its relationships with specific stakeholder groups. An organization's ability to satisfy the desires of key stakeholders, meeting the stakeholders' criteria, is the key to an effective organization. Data were gathered from 15 government stakeholders and 14 contractors using a questionnaire that addressed such questions as: What are your organizations expectations and requirements of the DOC? How well did the DOC meet your needs and expectations? Does your organization control a resource needed by the DOC? The thesis summarizes findings and provides recommendations. The overall benefit of this thesis research is improved environmental awareness, which enables the DOC to become more effective in achieving its mission and meeting the desires of its external stakeholders. / Major, United States Army

The thesis analyses the use of the principles of stakeholder management as they are applied in the marketing management of the transport and logistics company GTL, spol. s r. o. The aim of the thesis is to find a suitable marketing and marketing communicaton strategy of the company. The proposed strategy draws on findings in the field of stakeholder management. The theoretical and methodolical part of the thesis concerns marketing communication strategy focused on public relations. The thesis further discusses corporate social responsibility, marketing in B2B services and ultimately the key topic -- the theory of stakeholder management and stakeholder analysis. The introduction to the practical part of the thesis provides a situation analysis of the GTL company. This is followed by a stakeholder-analysis-based marketing research study. The last section proposes a marketing communication strategy of the GTL company for the year 2012.

Num complexo ambiente de negócios, em intensa e contínua transformação, os projetos podem ser considerados entre as principais ferramentas organizacionais que sustentam a busca de melhorias em termos de processos, produtos e tecnologias, tornando-se uma atividade essencial para a maioria das empresas. A ampliação e aprofundamento da gestão de projetos tiveram como consequência o ganho de importância dos stakeholders ou partes interessadas do projeto, independentemente de seu envolvimento ser permanente ou temporário. Neste estudo, visou-se identificar e discutir: i) as práticas de gestão de stakeholders, ii) o desempenho dos projetos e iii) a relação entre as práticas de gestão dos stakeholders e o desempenho dos projetos. A partir da aplicação de um questionário eletrônico, em 2018, com participantes de projetos organizacionais, levantaram-se as características do projeto, da empresa e dos próprios participantes para 105 projetos finalizados. Capturou-se a percepção de concordância entre os participantes em relação à participação dos stakeholders, a adoção das práticas de gestão dos stakeholders e o desempenho dos seus respectivos projetos. Os dados obtidos permitiram desenvolver uma compreensão objetiva dos conceitos em discussão, segundo o entendimento dos participantes dos projetos. Foram propostos dois modelos conceituais com o objetivo de se identificar a dependência entre as práticas de gestão de stakeholders e o desempenho do projeto. Tais relações propostas foram avaliadas com o uso da técnica de modelagem de equações estruturais. O estudo permitiu evidenciar - com base nos diversos respondentes, participantes de projetos com diferentes características, realizados em distintas empresas - as práticas de gestão de stakeholders efetivamente adotadas e as dimensões de desempenho consideradas nos projetos. Em termos da avaliação da relação entre os conceitos, para ambos os modelos, as relações foram confirmadas e as contribuições mostraram-se positivas e significativas, de modo que os resultados são consistentes com os objetivos propostos no estudo. / In a complex business environment, in an intense and continuous transformation, projects can be considered among the main organizational tools that support the search for improvements in terms of processes, products and technologies, becoming an essential activity for most companies. The extension and deepening of the project management had the consequence of gaining importance to the project stakeholders, regardless of whether their involvement is permanent or temporary. In this way, this study aimed to identify and discuss: i) stakeholder management practices, ii) project performance, and iii) the relations between stakeholder management practices and project performance. From the application of an electronic questionnaire, in 2018, with practitioners of organizational projects, we raised the characteristics of the project, the company and the respondents themselves to 105 completed projects, in addition to the perception of agreement of these participants regarding the participation of stakeholders, adoption of stakeholder management practices and performance of their respective projects. The data obtained allowed an objective understanding of the concepts under discussion, according to the participants\' understanding of the projects. Two conceptual models were proposed in order to identify the occurrence of dependence between stakeholder management practices and project performance, so that such proposed relations were evaluated using the structural equation modeling technique. In general, the study showed - from the various respondents, for projects of different characteristics carried out in distinct companies - the management practices of stakeholders effectively adopted and the dimensions of performance contemplated in the projects. In terms of the evaluation of the relation between the concepts, for both models the relationships were confirmed and the contribution showed to be positive and significant, so that the results obtained are consistent with the proposed objectives.

<p>There often exist hard-to-identify or unforeseen external parties that emerge as indirect stakeholders of a project who can significantly influence its execution and outcome. The broader stakeholder landscape in both theory and practice recognizes the local community including other interest groups of a project site as such key stakeholders. However recent cases have revealed shortcomings in managing this category of stakeholders, leading to authoritative rejection of development permit applications and strong local opposition that consequently increase costs and delay to the project. There is indication that a weak community stakeholder management process in the planning stages can cause problems to the project, or worse, in some cases lead to project failure and abandonment by the developer. Wind energy development projects are not exempted from this condition and are possibly even more prone as they involve the erection of tall wind turbines across wide-open landscapes that are deemed controversial and unacceptable to a wider population. Endorsed by the persuasive rationale for wind energy especially in view of the environment and sustainable development, a more comprehensive and effective guidance for community stakeholder management in the planning stage is required to mitigate, if not eliminate, potential issues that can hinder the successful implementation of wind energy development projects. Hence this thesis primarily seeks to answer the research question of: “How should community stakeholders of wind energy development projects be managed in the planning stage prior to permit application?”.</p><p>Using a qualitative approach to research through interviews with several industry practitioners and reviewing secondary data of industry best practices, policies, literature and case studies, 16 community stakeholder management key conclusion points could be made from research data collected. These points are individually important while in aggregate form a broad and novel framework that serves to further raise the awareness and readiness of wind energy development project managers in their community stakeholder management initiatives. A baseline list of community stakeholders and their common concerns were identified, together with suggested approaches to identify community stakeholders in each project. Community consultation is key to the process and engaging the community as widely and early as possible is recommended. Furthermore, key principles and an array of common methods for community stakeholder management in the planning stages of the project are presented, while acknowledging that not all stakeholders can be satisfied at each instance. Ultimately these findings were consolidated in a community consultation checklist that serves as a more systematic and practical tool in guiding project managers in their community stakeholder management initiatives during planning.</p><p>The research findings herewith contribute valuable insights to the existing body of knowledge in this area and also provide enhanced practical guidance to project managers in achieving successful community stakeholder management during planning, facilitating higher acceptance for the proposal, carrying out a more efficient and effective planning process and improving the likelihood for project approval from both authoritative and judiciary standpoints.</p>

There often exist hard-to-identify or unforeseen external parties that emerge as indirect stakeholders of a project who can significantly influence its execution and outcome. The broader stakeholder landscape in both theory and practice recognizes the local community including other interest groups of a project site as such key stakeholders. However recent cases have revealed shortcomings in managing this category of stakeholders, leading to authoritative rejection of development permit applications and strong local opposition that consequently increase costs and delay to the project. There is indication that a weak community stakeholder management process in the planning stages can cause problems to the project, or worse, in some cases lead to project failure and abandonment by the developer. Wind energy development projects are not exempted from this condition and are possibly even more prone as they involve the erection of tall wind turbines across wide-open landscapes that are deemed controversial and unacceptable to a wider population. Endorsed by the persuasive rationale for wind energy especially in view of the environment and sustainable development, a more comprehensive and effective guidance for community stakeholder management in the planning stage is required to mitigate, if not eliminate, potential issues that can hinder the successful implementation of wind energy development projects. Hence this thesis primarily seeks to answer the research question of: “How should community stakeholders of wind energy development projects be managed in the planning stage prior to permit application?”. Using a qualitative approach to research through interviews with several industry practitioners and reviewing secondary data of industry best practices, policies, literature and case studies, 16 community stakeholder management key conclusion points could be made from research data collected. These points are individually important while in aggregate form a broad and novel framework that serves to further raise the awareness and readiness of wind energy development project managers in their community stakeholder management initiatives. A baseline list of community stakeholders and their common concerns were identified, together with suggested approaches to identify community stakeholders in each project. Community consultation is key to the process and engaging the community as widely and early as possible is recommended. Furthermore, key principles and an array of common methods for community stakeholder management in the planning stages of the project are presented, while acknowledging that not all stakeholders can be satisfied at each instance. Ultimately these findings were consolidated in a community consultation checklist that serves as a more systematic and practical tool in guiding project managers in their community stakeholder management initiatives during planning. The research findings herewith contribute valuable insights to the existing body of knowledge in this area and also provide enhanced practical guidance to project managers in achieving successful community stakeholder management during planning, facilitating higher acceptance for the proposal, carrying out a more efficient and effective planning process and improving the likelihood for project approval from both authoritative and judiciary standpoints.

Diss. Wirtschaftswiss. Zürich, 2004 (kein Austausch). / Im Buchh.: Bern etc. : Haupt. Literaturverz.

The primary purpose of this thesis is to provide a better understanding of the motivations that lead companies to engage in CSR reporting practices and to explore how such practices differ among industries within Sweden. Furthermore, the study attempts to explain the phenomena from the perspective of stakeholder theory. To do so, the study adopts a semi-structured qualitative interview with four Swedish companies which are currently reporting CSR performance and four companies which are not reporting CSR performance in four industrial categories. The companies selected in the study were asked to explain what made them decide to issue CSR reports or do not.The results show that the most important motivating factors are increasing shareholder value and reputation management by means of CSR reporting. The motivations in CSR reporting of different industrial sectors in Sweden are found similar to the cases of the previous research except for environmentally-sensitive industry. When companies in this industry decide to start reporting they do so to be perceived as environmentally-responsible to a broad set of stakeholders. In the next step, companies recognize that it can be important to a more narrow range of stakeholders such as institutional investors.When applying a stakeholder strategy matrix, two industry groups − environmentally sensitive industry and corporate governance-issues-sensitive industry show that the practice of CSR reporting is to communicate with traditional stakeholders, specifically, the shareholders, not with multi-stakeholders. This means that motivations for companies to engage in CSR reporting are led by diversified interests of traditional stakeholders rather than diversified types of stakeholders (Freeman, 1984). On the other hand, the supply chain issues-sensitive industry employs CSR reports as a mean of defending potential risks so as to manage the relationship with multi-stakeholders. In an ethical issues-sensitive industry, a more important factor considers incorporating sustainability to be beneficial to business which indicates taking care of traditional stakeholders.

The following research examined the role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its influence on branding in the energy sector. This research took place at Hydro Ottawa because it is a power distribution and a power generation company, with a mixed private and public business model operating in a monopolistic context, which is a well-rounded example that can be transferred to other organizations and other sectors. This research followed a case study approach guided by Strauss and Corbin’s (1990, 1998) grounded theory. This study attempted to answer the following research question 1) Who are the main stakeholders at Hydro Ottawa and what type of influence do they have on the development of their CSR and branding strategies? 2) How is CSR enunciated and applied at Hydro Ottawa? 3) How does CSR shape the brand image of Hydro Ottawa? In order to explore the research questions, the data collected for this study consisted of interviews, organizational documents, as well as observation. Due to the time limitation for a master’s thesis, six participants were chosen for interviews, which were later transcribed, coded and analysed by the researcher. The findings indicated that building a CSR strategy based on a healthy organizational culture, stakeholder needs, and the triple bottom line (financial, social, environmental) led to CSR essentially becoming the brand. The brand can then be communicated and shaped from and inside-out (from the employees to the external stakeholders)/outside-in (from external stakeholders to inside the organization) approach. Based on a grounded theory analysis, the researcher created a step-by-step prescriptive model that could be used to advance corporate social responsibility into Hydro Ottawa’s brand as well as offer a critical perspective of the findings.