The increase in organic production and consumption demonstrates a movement in favor to alternative forms of food production, aiming to achieve modes that provide health and wellbeing for the producers and consumers, together with environmental preservation. People’s interest in organically produced food is increasing worldwide. Even so, many challenges are faced by the producers, and in this context new forms of organization appear in this market: clusters. The cluster constitute a way to gain competitiveness. In order to explore and better understand this phenomenon, this dissertation aimed, as main objective, to understand the formation of an organic cluster from the perspective of different stakeholders. Through a single embedded case study, this research had a qualitative approach, being the exploratory type. A research protocol along with other cautions in order to gain rigor in the qualitative research. The data were collected through documentary research, in-depth interviews and participatory observations, and analysed through content analysis. As evidence resulting from this study, the following points are highlighted: (1) it was possible to map the cluster and the relations established by the agents; (2) the main drivers of the cluster are mostly related to the pioneerism, institutionalization of the arrangement and its form of management. The barriers are mostly the lack of prepare to deal with tourists, and the marketing initiatives were considered both as a driver and a barrier, since needs to be better developed, but even incipient has some actions established; (3) the main motivations and barriers for the agents to work with organics were confirmed from the literature. The will to educate the consumers, although, was an interesting finding, as one of the drivers; (4) four pillars were identified as fundamental for the cluster, and their structuration and fortification might help the development of the arrangement: to product, to preservate, to show and to educate.

The purpose of this research was to examine how social issues are perceived and addressed in the food and drink sector, focusing on the narrower context of Nigerian purchasing practices, identifying the drivers, and barriers to the adoption of socially responsible purchasing (SRP) in the organisational supply chains. This research is underpinned by the stakeholder and institutional theories with the use of Carroll's CSR pyramid to explain the perceptions of stakeholders and the level at which each of the practices is in the pyramid. An in-depth study was conducted in multinational and indigenous food and drink organisations in Nigeria. Data was gathered from practitioners comprising of employees, managers, and executives by means of questionnaires and semi-structured face-to-face interviews to triangulate data sources. Drawing on the data collected, respondents' perspective of the meaning of socially responsible purchasing provided new insights into the phenomenon with various meanings and contestations. The findings suggest that socially responsible purchasing practices have a moderate positive influence on the organisations' supply chains within an unstable economic environment. Some of the practices were perceived to be voluntary and having an ethical underpinning while others were related to legal responsibilities. The findings suggest that the moderate influence is due to internal and external factors within the institutional environment. This research context was restricted to private organisations in the food and drink sector in Nigeria which might limit the generalisation of the findings. However, the findings may be transferable to other sectors of the economy where socially responsible purchasing issues are addressed in the supply chains. In practice, SRP is perceived to be an important element of CSR and supply chains despite the barriers to its implementation. The practices should be properly implemented to help in the sustenance of organisational supply chains. This research will be insightful for other industrial sectors as well as developing economies in Africa. The findings advance the stakeholder and institutional theories by providing an in-depth perception of various stakeholders and SRP practices within the institutional environment of organisations' supply chains. The research has contributed to enriching the literature on CSR and supply chains sustainability in Nigeria which has a relative shortage of literature on CSR and supply chain.

The coffee industry affects both people and the environment in a negative way, which is an aspect coffee producers are forced to relate to. Today, more and more organizations are involved in CSR and communication about CSR. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine young consumers of Generation Y, their attitudes and opinions towards coffee producers' CSR work and its communication on CSR. The study has two research questions “what does Arvid Nordquist communicates about its CSR work through their official website?” and “what kind of attitudes and opinions does a group of young consumers have on coffee producers' CSR work and communication on CSR?” For this study two theories have been used, the CSR theory Triple Bottom Line as a theoretical starting point and Deegan Unerman’s theory on the social contract, based on Freeman’s stakeholder theory, as a theoretical framework. This qualitative study used two methods of data collection. First, a document analysis of Arvid Nordquists offical website. Secondly, a focus group interview with young consumer of Generation Y. The conclusion that can be drawn from our research is that consumers from Generation Y are positive to CSR as a phenomenon, but that communication of CSR is followed by scepticism in combination with ignorance. This paper sheds light on a issue that in previous research has used quantitative methods, while this study uses qualitative methods. The importance of this paper is its contribution to how organizations can improve their communication of CSR to young consumers.

Para aqueles que acreditam que ética e negócios são instâncias separadas (tese da separação), Freeman e outros (2010) argumentam que eles podem estar juntos (tese da integração). Os autores defendem que a teoria do stakeholder é uma forma através da qual isso pode ocorrer. Nos certames da teoria do stakeholder, Phillips (2003) propôs o princípio de equidade do stakeholder, que resumidamente consiste em uma proposta que visa garantir um relacionamento ético entre organização e seus stakeholders. No presente estudo, se considera como stakeholder aqueles grupos que possuem obrigações mútuas com uma organização que vão além daquelas determinadas pelo que a moralidade da sociedade estabelece. Assim, com o objetivo de compreender como o princípio de equidade do stakeholder está presente, ou ausente, em uma organização específica, foi realizada uma pesquisa exploratória qualitativa, através de entrevistas em profundidade. As entrevistas transcritas foram analisadas através da análise de conteúdo, com técnica categorial, se tendo, as seguintes categorias: (A) moral, ética e justiça; (B) esquema cooperativo; (C) stakeholders: meios ou fins? Durante a análise, se compreendeu que o princípio de equidade do stakeholder está presente no relacionamento da Organização em questão com seus stakeholders conforme propôs Phillips (2003). Como achados, o trabalho levanta reflexões sobre o modelo genérico de esquema cooperativo, mostrando que os stakeholders derivativos podem ser menos frequentes do que aparentam ser. Também foi percebido pelo autor do estudo que ética, moral e justiça são conceitos que causam confusão aos entrevistados, o que leva a crer que é possível que outros membros da sociedade não tenham esses conceitos assimilados, merecendo mais atenção ao ensino de tais disciplinas. Por fim, o autor da presente dissertação destaca que o uso do bom senso, assim como agir honestamente e criar laços com outros indivíduos são caminhos para se manter uma boa relação com stakeholders. De forma a concluir o estudo, é feito um apelo para maior conscientização moral, não só dos administradores, mas também da sociedade, visando um mundo melhor para todos. / For those who believe that ethics and business are separated instances (separation thesis), Freeman et al (2010) argue that it can be together (integration thesis). The authors defend that the stakeholder theory is a way by which it can happen. In the field of stakeholder theory Phillips (2003) proposed the principle of stakeholder fairness which consists in a proposal that aims to guarantee an ethical relationship between organization and its stakeholders. In the present study stakeholder is considered as those groups which have mutual obligations with an organization. This obligations goes beyond those determined by what the society's morality has established. This study aims to comprehend how the principle of stakeholder fairness is, or is not, present in the management of an organization's stakeholders. For this purpose a qualitative explanatory research was done using deep interviews that were also transcript and analyzed by the categorical content analyses technique. It was proposed the following categories: (A) moral, ethics and justice; (B) cooperative scheme; (C) stakeholders: ways or endings? It was comprehended that the principle of stakeholder fairness is present in the relationship between the studied organization and its stakeholders as it was proposed by Phillips (2003). As findings the work brings thoughts about the generic model of the cooperative scheme showing that derivatives stakeholders can be less frequent as they seem to be. It was also realized by the author of the study that ethics, moral and justice are concepts that made confusion on the interviewers. It leads to believe that it's possible that other members of the society also do not have understood this concepts. This way the teaching of this disciplines deserves more attention. At the end, the author of the present dissertation detaches that the use of good sense, honest behavior and also the creation of ties with other individuals are good ways to keep a good relationship with stakeholders. In a way of concluding the study it was made an appeal for more moral consciousness not only for managers but also for the society, aiming a better world for everybody.

Little is known about how employees in New Zealand companies view their organisation’s involvement in community-based initiatives that attempt to address areas of social needs. Understanding what people and organisations think from their frame of reference (Taylor & Bodgan, 1998) on ways of contributing to enhance community wellbeing is of high importance within a nation growing in diversity, and where everyone needs to fully participate in building a harmonious society (Ministry of Social Development, 2005; Swanson, 2002). Despite abundant extant research and many models already developed, frameworks in this area are fragmented. A case study approach has been adopted using one New Zealand Company to test a preliminary framework, Stakeholders and Organisational Enablers Relationship (SOER) Model, that analyses “the nature of relationships in terms of processes and outcomes for the business and its stakeholders” (Jones & Wicks, 1999, p. 207). From investigating the company’s community involvement from the employees’ perspective, results indicate that this particular company is engaging with the community, supporting and empowering employees to participate in the company’s community programme and thereby making a difference in the community by giving to the community. However, in general terms, solving recurring social, economic, political and psychological issues that influence social wellbeing requires cooperation between public, private, and voluntary sectors of the community (New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development, New Zealand Ministry of Social Development, New Zealand Dept of Labour, & New Zealand Dept of Statistics, 2003; Roberts & King, 1989; Steane, 1999). While the results from the case company reported in this study demonstrate that community engagement is being taken seriously by exemplary private sector companies, generalisation of these findings would require further cross-sectional research across industries and organisations from all sectors: private, public and voluntary.

<p>Despite the globally growing interest in corporate responsibility (CR), there is little practical as wellas academic knowledge of CR practises in the media sector. The aim of this study is to make acontribution to the evolving understanding of what CR implies in the media sector by applying astakeholder approach to a case study, which is Alma Media, a Finnish media corporation. Firstly,from the corporate perspective, the objective of this study is to provide Alma Media with a CRagenda, based on the CR priorities defined in stakeholder interviews. Secondly, from a moretheoretical point of view, this study aims to evaluate the stakeholder theory as a means of definingthe CR characteristics of the media sector in Finland.The main body of the primary data is collected by 44 stakeholder interviews, supportedby participant observation at the case company. The data is structured with content analysis andanalysed according to the stakeholder categorisation of Mitchell, Agle and Wood (1997) in order toprioritise between the different stakeholders and their CR interests.The findings indicate Alma Media’s CR priorities are a mix of media ethics (reliability,responsible journalism, journalistic integrity), traditional CR issues (environment, personnel) andcultural responsibility (locality, citizenship). Most stakeholder demands concerns environmentalresponsibility. To understand media CR on a general, global level, further research is needed toconfirm the findings of this study and, particularly, to highlight the international differences andsimilarities in media CR.Concerning the theoretical objective of the study, the study concludes that the Mitchell,Agle and Wood model helps to identify the priority stakeholders and CR issues but fails to capturethe multi-dimensional nature of the power attribute and the role of stakeholder networks in themanagement of CR. Thus, stakeholder theory provides valuable insight into CR management butfurther research on stakeholder network models is needed.</p>

<p><strong>Problem: </strong>Det finns skillnader kring hållbarhetsredovisning mellan länder när det gäller reglering, tillämpning av GRI:s (Global Reporting Initiatives) riktlinjer, intressenternas makt att påverka med flera. Dessa skillnader kan ha uppstått på grund av många orsaker men i denna uppsats kommer det att utredas om kulturen kan förklara dessa skillnader.  </p><p><strong>Syfte:</strong> Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva och förklara i vilken utsträckning kulturen har en inverkan på hur de olika nordiska länderna väljer att lagstifta kring hållbarhetsredovisning och hur företagen tillämpar GRI:s riktlinjer. Men även om intressenternas makt att påverka företagen att göra en hållbarhetsredovisning har någon förklaring i kulturen.</p><p><strong>Metod: </strong>Den insamlade<strong> </strong>datan är huvudsakligen kvalitativ men har kompletterats med en del kvantitativ data. Insamlingen har skett genom litteratursökning, telefonintervjuer och en e-mailkontakt. Vid telefonintervjuerna har vi utgått ifrån ett frågeformulär och låtit respondenterna besvara frågorna med egna ord. Respondenterna har valts utifrån Fredrik Ljungdahls affärsnätverk inom PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers).                             </p><p><strong>Resultat: </strong>Det finns en svag kulturell förklaring till<strong> </strong>hur företagen i nordens länder väljer att lagstifta kring hållbarhetsredovisning, tillämpa GRI:s riktlinjer samt vilken makt intressenterna har att påverka företagen till att hållbarhetsredovisa. Graden av lagstadgad kontroll kan förklara skillnader i reglering medan det inte finns någon kulturell förklaring till tillämpningen av GRI:s riktlinjer. Graden av maktdistans kan slutligen förklara intressenternas makt att påverka företagen till att hållbarhetsredovisa.</p> / <p><strong>Problem: </strong>There are some differences in sustainability reporting between countries when it comes to regulation, applying GRI:s (Global Reporting Initiatives) guiding principles, stakeholders´ power to influence and so on. These differences can appear from different reasons but in this graduate paper we will investigate if these differences can be explained by cultural factors.</p><p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain to which extent the culture has any impact on how the Nordic countries choose to regulate the sustainability reporting and how the companies apply GRI:s guiding principles. But also if the stakeholders´ power to affect companies to do a sustainability report can have its explanation in the culture.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>The gathered data is mainly qualitative but has been complemented with quantitative data. The gathering has been done through literature research, telephone interviews and an e-mail contact. In the telephone interviews we used a question form although the interviewee was allowed to answer the questions in his or her own words. The interviewee have been chosen on the basis of Fredrik Ljungdahls business network within PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers).            </p><p><strong>Result: </strong>There are a weak cultural explanation to how the Nordic countries choose to regulate the sustainability reporting, apply GRI:s guiding principles and which power the stakeholders´ have to influence the companies to do a sustainability report. The degree of statutory control can explain the differences in regulation while there are no cultural explanation to the application of GRI:s guiding principles. The degree of powerdistance can finally explain the stakeholders´ power to influence the companies to do a sustainability report.</p>

Problem: Det finns skillnader kring hållbarhetsredovisning mellan länder när det gäller reglering, tillämpning av GRI:s (Global Reporting Initiatives) riktlinjer, intressenternas makt att påverka med flera. Dessa skillnader kan ha uppstått på grund av många orsaker men i denna uppsats kommer det att utredas om kulturen kan förklara dessa skillnader.   Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att beskriva och förklara i vilken utsträckning kulturen har en inverkan på hur de olika nordiska länderna väljer att lagstifta kring hållbarhetsredovisning och hur företagen tillämpar GRI:s riktlinjer. Men även om intressenternas makt att påverka företagen att göra en hållbarhetsredovisning har någon förklaring i kulturen. Metod: Den insamlade datan är huvudsakligen kvalitativ men har kompletterats med en del kvantitativ data. Insamlingen har skett genom litteratursökning, telefonintervjuer och en e-mailkontakt. Vid telefonintervjuerna har vi utgått ifrån ett frågeformulär och låtit respondenterna besvara frågorna med egna ord. Respondenterna har valts utifrån Fredrik Ljungdahls affärsnätverk inom PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers).                              Resultat: Det finns en svag kulturell förklaring till hur företagen i nordens länder väljer att lagstifta kring hållbarhetsredovisning, tillämpa GRI:s riktlinjer samt vilken makt intressenterna har att påverka företagen till att hållbarhetsredovisa. Graden av lagstadgad kontroll kan förklara skillnader i reglering medan det inte finns någon kulturell förklaring till tillämpningen av GRI:s riktlinjer. Graden av maktdistans kan slutligen förklara intressenternas makt att påverka företagen till att hållbarhetsredovisa. / Problem: There are some differences in sustainability reporting between countries when it comes to regulation, applying GRI:s (Global Reporting Initiatives) guiding principles, stakeholders´ power to influence and so on. These differences can appear from different reasons but in this graduate paper we will investigate if these differences can be explained by cultural factors. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe and explain to which extent the culture has any impact on how the Nordic countries choose to regulate the sustainability reporting and how the companies apply GRI:s guiding principles. But also if the stakeholders´ power to affect companies to do a sustainability report can have its explanation in the culture. Method: The gathered data is mainly qualitative but has been complemented with quantitative data. The gathering has been done through literature research, telephone interviews and an e-mail contact. In the telephone interviews we used a question form although the interviewee was allowed to answer the questions in his or her own words. The interviewee have been chosen on the basis of Fredrik Ljungdahls business network within PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers).             Result: There are a weak cultural explanation to how the Nordic countries choose to regulate the sustainability reporting, apply GRI:s guiding principles and which power the stakeholders´ have to influence the companies to do a sustainability report. The degree of statutory control can explain the differences in regulation while there are no cultural explanation to the application of GRI:s guiding principles. The degree of powerdistance can finally explain the stakeholders´ power to influence the companies to do a sustainability report.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important subject in business administration, and has been for many years. Over the past few years it has been become an increasingly debated topic. The CSR subject mainly focuses on multinational enterprises (MNEs), resulting in a research gap concerning CSR in small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). SMEs outline the majority of all companies on the European market; therefore, it is empirically interesting to further investigate how SMEs perceive CSR commitment. The purpose of this dissertation is to explain how CSR commitment of internal and external stakeholders influences CSR commitment in SMEs. The research was conducted with a quantitative survey. The data collected with the survey was tested and analyzed with both an explanatory and exploratory research strategy. Explanatory research was performed in order to test the derived hypotheses and explain the research question. Exploratory research was then performed in order to provide a further understanding of how SMEs view stakeholders and their CSR commitment. These two research strategies revealed that internal and external stakeholders influence CSR commitment in SMEs. However, SMEs perceive some stakeholders similarly because of their relationship with the company. There are three main concepts of CSR commitment: environmental, social and financial responsibility. Results showed that financial CSR is considered distinctly different from the two other measured CSR concepts. The theoretical contributions may be of importance to owners of SMEs and MNEs in order to gain a deeper understanding of CSR as a subject. Also, findings can help scholars interested in further researching CSR commitment in SMEs. The methodological contributions of this dissertation are of relevance for future research on the subject, since the developed instrument for measuring CSR commitment was successful. Without an established measure for this area, this instrument enables further development and thereby more valid research regarding CSR commitment and SMEs.

In modern times environmental matters have increased in importance and are being discussed more frequently, and especially in relation with company activity. One way of complying with modern standards for companies is to work with environmental management systems, and it has become quite normal for companies to certify their environmental management systems to a recognized environmental certification. Continuing on this, the purpose of our thesis is to gain a deeper understanding regarding and ultimately assess why it is that companies seek environmental certification. Additionally, we have developed a sub-purpose which is designed to help us gain a deeper understanding regarding the main purpose in a practical context. We will look at 5 production companies in Umeå that have implemented an environmental certification, specifically ISO 14001, and try to understand the reasoning behind choosing to become certified. We will also examine the environmental effectiveness of an ISO 14001 certified environmental management system. We have conducted a comparative case study with these 5 companies in Umeå. Our method of collecting primary data was to interview the companies with a qualitative semi-structured interviewing technique. In the empirical part of the thesis we focused on practically testing the theoretical material. Furthermore, we also analyzed secondary data received from the companies' websites and directly from the interviewees in order to assess the effectiveness of an ISO 14001 certified environmental management system in financial and environmental terms. Regarding the theoretical framework, we focus on two theories referred to as the legitimacy theory and the stakeholder theory, and these theories are used to explain organizational behavior. We also have theoretical material explaining the positives and negatives of environmental management systems, and also ISO 14001 certification and the reasons why companies can benefit from such certification. Our findings suggest that the matter of legitimacy, in combination with the stakeholder theory, affected all of the companies in one way or another when choosing to seek environmental certification. In what ways the companies were affected differed even though there were many similarities across the companies regarding their reasoning to become ISO 14001 certified. We also found that, despite collecting a lot of hard data illustrating the companies' environmental performance over recent years, it was difficult to directly link any improvements to ISO 14001. It was, however, stated that ISO 14001 certification for the environmental management systems did improve the overall quality and environmental focus and performance, but it is still difficult to assess this with much accuracy and certainty due to many contributing factors.