Every actor of the society has its own expectations about the companies. Shareholders are interested in the maximization of the profitability, managers are interested in sustainability, and partners are interested in fulfilment of the business ethics. And the company with well-structured CSR policy should be able to meet expectations of all stakeholders. This can cost large part of the company's resources. It can potentially impact on company’s profitability whether positively or negatively. Using the quantitative research method we tried to explore the impact of CSR policy on the short-term profitability. Our research question is composed as:What is the relationship between CSR and short-term profitability?The main purpose of this study is to analyze and present positive or negative links between CSR policy and corporate financial performance (CFP) using different profitability indicators. We analyzed impact of weighted average CSR score and environmental rank on the short-term profitability.The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of different theories, such as stakeholder theory, shareholder theory, agency theory, legitimacy theory and etc.The research conducted in accordance with the functionalist research paradigm, the objectivist ontological and positivist epistemic research philosophies using the deductive approach. Our result indicates that there negative relationship between CSR performance and short-term profitability. Also we found that CSR policy can negatively impact on return on assets. This in turn could have negative implications on shareholders and stakeholders. No positive correlation between CSR policy and profitability observed. All in all, the expenses on CSR policy have a negative impact on indicators of financial performance.

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.

Seeberg, Fredrik & Zetterlund, Philip, 2017, Green energy, can it ever be wrong? - A qualitative study about how electricity supply companies uses CSR communications. (Grön el är aldrig fel? - En kvalitativ studie om hur elhandelsbolag i Sverige använder sig av CSR-Kommunikation) Environmental climate changes are a hot topic in the world today. Producing and delivering energy makes a big impact to that change and energy corporations are therefore inclined to use positive results and methods to claim a “Green” image. One common method to prove a corporation’s effort is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This study compares the usage of CSR as a communication tool by two Swedish energy corporations of very different sizes, Mälarkraft, a local corporation with about 150,000 customers, and E.ON Sverige, Sweden’s second largest energy supplier with over a million customers. Our study shows, that despite the difference in sizes, that both corporations uses CSR to achieve the same notion, a more favourable reputation. Their means to achieve this however, is clearly different. By studying the corporations strategies with interviews and context analysis of internet web pages, we show that the difference in sizes and local connection help differentiate the strategies. Key Words: Communication, CSR, Energy Corporations, Communication Strategy, Stakeholder Theory, Corporate Social Responsibility, Greenwashing, Green hushing.

The purpose of this study is to in depth examine how two companies in retail business work with investments in AI and similar technology and to investigate what role these investments had for the two companies. Retail plays an important role in the Swedish economy and accounts for one tenth of Sweden's GDP. The industry has undergone extensive digital development in recent years, which has led to companies being forced to make large investments in new technology such as AI in order to maintain their competitiveness. Through a qualitative interview study, two case companies in the retail business that target clothing are studied. The results show that both companies at different levels work with investments in AI technology. They both find great benefits with these investments mainly in the form of increased value for their customers. They also see that these investments are necessary to maintain their competitiveness in the market. The risks that emerge through the survey are mainly based on an integrity perspective when collecting data and the employees' barriers to change. / Syftet med denna undersökning är att på djupet studera hur två företag inom detaljhandeln arbetar med investeringar i AI och liknande teknik samt undersöka vilken roll dessa investeringar haft för de två företagen. Detaljhandeln fyller en viktig funktion inom den svenska ekonomin och står för en tiondel av Sveriges BNP. Branschen har de senaste åren genomgått en omfattande digital utveckling vilket lett till att företag tvingats genomföra stora investeringar i ny teknik som AI för att bibehålla sin konkurrenskraft. Genom en kvalitativ intervjustudie studeras två fallföretag inom detaljhandeln som riktar sig mot konfektion. Resultatet visar på att båda fallföretagen på olika nivåer arbetar med investeringar i AI-teknik. De finner båda stora fördelar med dessa investeringar främst i form av ökat värde för sina kunder. De ser även att dessa investeringar är nödvändiga för att bibehålla sin konkurrenskraft på marknaden. De risker som framkommer genom undersökningen grundar sig främst i integritetsperspektiv vid insamling av data samt de anställdas förändringsbarriärer.

Titel: Förhållandet mellan hållbarhetsprestationer och finansiella prestationer inom IT-sektorn. En kvantitativ studie på 321 börsnoterade bolag inom IT-sektorn i Europa och USA. Nivå: Kandidatuppsats i företagsekonomi Författare: Edwin Johansson och Robel Beyene Handledare: Jan Svanberg Datum: 2023-Maj Syfte: Syftet med studien är att med hjälp av ESG-betyg samt delkomponenterna E-, S- och G-betyg undersöka hur hållbarhetsprestationer påverkar finansiella prestationer för börsnoterade IT-bolag i Europa och USA. Metod: Studien har en vetenskapsteoretisk utgångspunkt i den positivistiska forskningsfilosofin och antar vidare en deduktiv forskningsansats. Dessutom är den kvantitativa forskningsstrategin och tvärsektionella forskningsdesignen den forskningsstrategi respektive forskningsdesign som studien antar. Hållbarhet- och finansiell data på 321 börsnoterade IT-bolag i Europa och USA har inhämtats från Thomson Reuters datastream för året 2021. Analysen har sedan genomförts i statistikprogrammet IBM SPSS. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet från denna undersökning tyder på att det finns ett svagt positivt samband mellan ESG samt komponenten miljö (E) och finansiell prestation men inte för komponenterna social (S) och styrning (G). Detta tyder på att miljöfaktorer är särskilt viktiga för det finansiella resultatet inom IT-sektorn.Examensarbetets bidrag: Denna studie ger värdefulla insikter för investerare, företag och beslutsfattare som är intresserade av att främja hållbarhet och ansvarsfullt företagsbeteende inom IT-sektorn. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: För att öka kunskapen samt för att kunna generera konkreta slutsatser behövs vidare forskning inom ämnet. För specifikt IT-sektorn kan vidare forskning inkludera företag från alla kontinenter för att utöka urvalet. Vidare kan liknande studier genomföras med en longitudinell design där flera år inkluderas. Nyckelord: ESG, finansiella prestationer, hållbarhetsprestationer, shareholder theory, stakeholder theory, legitimitetsteorin och IT-sektorn. / Title: The relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance in the IT sector. A quantitative study of 321 listed companies in the IT sector in Europe and the USA. Level: Bachelor thesis in Business administration Authors: Edwin Johansson and Robel Beyene  Supervisor: Jan Svanberg  Date: 2023 - May Aim: The purpose of this study is to use ESG ratings and the sub-components E, S and G ratings to investigate how sustainability performance affects financial performance for listed IT companies in Europe and the USA. Method: This paper has a scientific starting point in the positivist research philosophy and further adopts a deductive research approach. In addition, a quantitative research strategy and cross-sectional research design are adopted throughout this paper. Sustainability and financial data on 321 listed IT companies in Europe and the USA have been collected from Thomson Reuters data stream for the year 2021. A univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis has taken place in the statistical program IBM SPSS. Results and conclusions: The results from this study indicate that there is a weak positive relationship between ESG and the component environment (E) and financial performance. However, no relationship was found between the components social (S) and governance (G) and financial performance. This suggests that environmental factors are particularly important for financial performance in the IT-sector.Contribution of the thesis: This study provides valuable insights for investors, companies and decision makers that are interested in promoting sustainability and responsible corporate behavior in the IT- sector. Suggestions for future research: In order to increase the knowledge and to be able to draw conclusions, further research is needed within the subject. Specifically for the IT-sector, further research could include companies from all continents to broaden the view. Furthermore, similar studies can be carried out with a longitudinal design where data from several years are included. Key words: ESG-rating, sustainability performance, financial performance, shareholder theory, stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory and IT-sector.

Master of Arts / Department of Communication Studies, Theatre, and Dance / Nicole M. Laster / The adoption of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy affords a company with the opportunity to engage with stakeholders in a manner that is not necessarily tied directly to a company’s business as usual. CSR research has burgeoned in the last several decades, keeping pace with companies worldwide and their steady incorporation of CSR policies into their business models. To that end, research has been primarily focused on CSR policy perception from external stakeholders or managers. This research project examines the sensemaking processes related to an environmental sustainability-related CSR policy among a diverse group of internal stakeholders at a mid-sized electric utility company. An analysis of the data suggests that hierarchical divisions of employees are non-existent when the CSR policy is enduring, consistent, and upholds company values. Moreover, employee enactment of CSR policies operates as a mechanism whereby employees internalize the promoted corporate values. Such environmental CSR policies tacitly reinforce an organization’s cultural values among its employees. Additionally, environmentally sustainable CSR policies supported by environmentally exhausting companies induce a minimal justification hypothesis when dissonance is present between the nature of a company’s industry and practices related to sustaining the environment.

Firm behavior and performance has become increasingly susceptible to the influence of secondary stakeholders—namely community activists, advocacy groups, religious organizations, and other non-governmental organizations that often represent a broader social movement. Despite recent suggestions that secondary stakeholder demands trigger an important two-sided interactive process between secondary stakeholders and their targeted firms, little theoretical or empirical attention has been placed on firm-sided factors that influence the dynamics and outcomes of these interactions, especially the role and influence of the firm’s top managers during these interactions. In this three-essay dissertation, I theorize about and examine the influential role that the firm’s top managers expectedly occupy within the interactions that occur between secondary stakeholders and the firms that are the targets of their demands. My dissertation contributes to advancing strategic management and organization research by (1) examining influential managerial attributes that influence their firm’s responsiveness toward secondary stakeholder activism, and (2) examining certain important consequences of managerial responses for secondary stakeholder behavior and the targeted firm.

The aim of this study is to explore the involvement of stakeholders in the functions of leadership within the context of voluntary organisations in the UK. What is intriguing about the study is that business and management research has focused mainly on ‘vertical leadership’ that stems from an appointed or formal leader as opposed to ‘shared leadership’ that is distributed across the organisation. This study therefore, seeks to advance scholarly knowledge on the phenomenon of ‘shared leadership’ focusing on voluntary organisations taking a stakeholder perspective. A review of the current literature focusing on shared leadership indicates that the definition of shared leadership has converged around numerous underlying dimensions. However, the key distinction between shared leadership and other leadership paradigms is that the influence process emanates from different directions rather than the tradition top to down approach. This study attempts to explore the level of shared leadership at the organisational level in the context of voluntary organisations by employing a pragmatic approach to research. The research involved three phases; Phase 1 is qualitative, Phase 2 is quantitative and Phase 3 is qualitative. The research methods have included semi-structured interviews (Phase 1) with 10 participants, a survey (Phase 2) that had 126 respondents and in-depth interviews (Phase 3) involving 30 stakeholders. The findings suggest that the level of shared leadership in voluntary organisations is relatively high. However, the involvement of the stakeholders has been more on a ‘consultative’ level rather than on a ‘participative’ one. Moreover, the status or position of the stakeholder in the organisation is a significant factor in determining the level of shared leadership. It was revealed that some stakeholders are merely involved in low level activities. The findings of this research have implications on the Human Resource Management in terms of stakeholder engagement in the leadership process.

Background and problem – As a result of financial crises and the realization of a broader stakeholder network, recent decades have seen an increase in stakeholder demand for non- financial information in corporate reporting. This has led to a situation of information overload where separate financial and sustainability reports have developed in length and complexity interdependent of each other. Integrated reporting has been presented as a solution to this problematic situation. The question is whether the corporate world believe this to be the solution and if the development of corporate reporting is heading in this direction. Purpose - This thesis aims to examine and assess to what extent companies listed on the OMX Stockholm 30 (OMXS30), as per 2016-02-28, comply with the Strategic content element of the <IR> Framework and how this disclosure has developed since the framework’s pilot project and official release by using a self-constructed disclosure index based on its specific items. Methodology – The purpose was fulfilled through an analysis of 104 annual reports comprising 26 companies during the period of 2011-2014. The annual reports were assessed using a self-constructed disclosure index based on the <IR> Framework content element Strategy and Resource Allocation, where one point was given for each disclosed item. Analysis and conclusions – The study found that the OMXS30-listed companies to a large extent complies with the strategic content element of the <IR> Framework and that this compliance has seen a steady growth throughout the researched time span. There is still room for improvement however with a total average framework compliance of 84% for 2014. Although many items are being reported on, there are indications that companies generally miss out on the core values of Integrated reporting.

Financial markets have many different key actors, but one of the most important ones are the financial analysts. They are considered as experts in gathering and disseminating the information that firms produce, to those that seek it, such as stock recommendations and reports on firms. Related to this is a growing interest in society toward disclosures in regards of CSR as well as ESG. There has been considerable discussion in academia of whether or not CSR can be considered to be value relevant. This is a question which relate to both institutional and legitimacy perspectives in terms of theory, but also discussions in regards to agency and stakeholder theory as well:   Has value relevance of CSR disclosures increased in stock recommendations for the Nordic markets?   Thereby, the main purpose of this thesis is to find out whether or not there has been a shifting view of CSR over time, which would be evidenced in an increasing legitimization of CSR in terms of an increasing value-relevance to financial analysts. This would also be related to a shifting institutional logic, whereby it would be possible to relate to a shift in the view of the firm and its role in society. This is both looked at purely from the starting point of the dataset to the end point, but also for two different periods of time, so as to test if there is a different view of the issue after the financial crisis. In addition to this main purpose, this thesis furthermore sets out to answer whether CSR is value-relevant or not in different subsegments, such as nations, industries and the different types of recommendations that exist.   To answer the research question, an objectivist and positivist stance is taken, which subsequently leads the authors to utilize quantitative methods and statistical analysis to the data. Here, different panel models are fitted to the data to account effects that exist within it. To explain the findings, a theoretical framework is built upon three different levels: societal, firm and individual level. Here, on the societal level theories such as institutional theory as well as legitimacy theory are dealt with. On the firm level, agency theory and stakeholder theory as well as theoretical views of CSR forms the basis, and the individual level deals with theory related to the financial analyst.   In looking at the results and the analysis, one cannot draw the conclusion that there has been a shifting view of the value-relevance of CSR. Financial analysts appear to not find it value-relevant in issuing their stock recommendations, except for two cases: namely in terms of the industrial sector Basic Materials and the Buy recommendations. In terms of Basic Materials, it appears to be value-relevant in a positive manner. In regards to the Buy recommendation, it appears to have a negative effect on the value-relevance. All in all, this thesis cannot find evidence for a value-relevance of CSR to financial analysts in the Nordic markets. Essentially, the view of it appears to be pessimistic.