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.

Företagsledningar ägnar en stor del av sin tid åt att hantera strategiska frågor av delvis annan art än de klassiska affärsstrategiska områdena som marknadspositionering och produktutveckling. Visavi intressenter som ägare, regering, massmedia och fackklubbar utformar de strategier för att säkra resursflöden och legitimitet. Att hantera en dylik koalition av en mängd intressenter med olika och ofta konflikterande förväntningar på företaget är en svår uppgift. Lätt uppstår rollkonflikter och legitimitetskriser som hotar företagets existens om felaktig eller ingen strategi sätts in. Denna studie fokuseras på två huvudfrågor. Den första är hur formering och förändring av dylika intressentstrategier sker. Den andra frågan är om en interaktiv planering är ett kraftfullt verktyg för företag att utveckla framgångsrike intressentstrategier. För att söka besvara dessa frågor valdes en klinisk forskningsansats. Tre fältexperiment genomfördes i ett par svenska företag med en unik möjlighet att följa de relativt dramatiska strategiska förloppen i respektive företag. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögsk.

La tesi discute l'introduzione della responsabilità d'impresa nella strategia come un'opportunità per cui la creazione di valore per uno stakeholder possa contribuire alla generazione di valore per ognuno degli altri stakeholder. In particolare si sostiene che la possibilità di sviluppare le risorse intangibili mediante le attività di stakeholder management costituisce il principale nesso tra la responsabilità d'impresa e il miglioramento delle performance dell'azienda. La prima parte della tesi è dedicata a presentare i principali concetti a riguardo della responsabilità d'impresa, le conseguenze della responsabilità sulla gestione, della rilevanza strategica degli stakeholder, per concludersi con la trattazione delle relazioni che riuniscono le tre dimensioni del paradigma Stakeholder management-Risorse intangibili-Performance economiche . La seconda parte presenta i risultati delle ricerche condotte sullo svolgersi del paradigma nelle attività realizzate dai corporate responsibility manager italiani, nei sistemi di misurazione e rendicontazione delle performance e nell'utilizzo che le aziende stanno facendo dei canali e degli strumenti di comunicazione. / This thesis proposes that by introducing corporate responsibility into strategy the value created for a single stakeholder ultimately generates value for every other stakeholder. In particular the thesis affirms that the development of intangible resources through stakeholder management activities constitutes the principal link between corporate responsibility and the enhancement of corporate performance. The first part presents the main concepts of corporate responsibility, the consequences of responsibility on business management, the strategic relevance of the stakeholder, and the relations among the three dimensions of the Stakeholder management-Intangible resources-Economic Performance paradigm. The second part offers the results of research regarding the attention to the paradigm shown in the activities realized by Italian corporate responsibility managers, in the measurement tools, accounting systems and in communication channels utilized.

The food industry represents one of the most promising business sectors for sustainable development comprising numerous environmental, social and economic challenges. The industry is fragmented into a multitude of organizations with particular supply chains based within a complex multi-stakeholder environment. Therefore, the organizational goal of creating a sustainable supply chain is experiencing increased attention within research. Even though previous literature has assessed the diverse drivers and barriers impacting sustainable supply chain management (SSCM), the theory of stakeholder management for SSCM has so far barely been recognized. This paper aims to fill this research gap and establishes the connection between the concepts of stakeholder management and SSCM taking into consideration the implicated drivers and barriers. The assessment of prominent drivers and barriers as well as crucial stakeholder groups functions as a basis for the evaluation of possible stakeholder strategies suitable for SSCM. This research study is situated in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the German food industry. By conducting 13 semi-structured interviews with supply chain representatives this study follows a qualitative research approach. The data analysis reveals that SMEs in the German food industry face numerous obstacles in their attempt to implement sustainability within the supply chain. Moreover, it is apparent that current stakeholder strategies are insufficient in the context of supply chain sustainability. A closer network beyond business is considered the most effective strategic objective for the engagement with crucial stakeholder groups in order to enhance the drivers and reduce the impact of existing barriers. Consequently, this thesis provides a theoretical contribution by developing a deeper understanding of stakeholder management as a tool for increasing supply chain sustainability and further advances existing theory with the formation of a new analytical framework as well as the recognition of a novel stakeholder strategy.