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The energy sector faces massive challenges regarding climate change. Simultaneously, the energy sector is amid a servitization process oftransitioning and creating new value-offerings to meet customer demand. As customers and institutions demand that business be conducted sustainably, organizations face a do-or-die situation regarding becoming sustainable. With the servitization trend, services constitute a large portion of the value-offerings within the energy sector. Therefore, providing sustainable services is a vital part in increasing the sustainability of the organization. This study explores and identifies factors affecting the sustainability performance of services in municipal organizations within the Swedish energy sector, and whether certain factors have a greater impact than others on the sustainability performance of a service. The study used a mixed method approach to identify sustainability factors as well as rank their importance. For the quantitative data collection, semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore different factors specific to energy services. A descriptive survey was used to investigate the impact of the newfound factors and ultimately rank them accordingly. Through the interviews, 13 overarching factors were found and divided into three sustainability dimensions: economic, environmental, and social sustainability. To assess the importance of each factor, descriptive statistics were used, providing the mean and standard deviation of the different factors. Moreover, the sustainability dimensions were assessed with the use of a one-way anova test to examine if a certain dimension is more important than another regarding sustainability performance. This concluded in no statistical significance between the sustainability dimensions. Of the identified factors, transportation, emissions, and resource-usage was perceived as most important for a service’s sustainability performance. With this knowledge, managers and business developers can create an understanding for what factors affect the sustainability performance of services. The study shows that the need for a holistic approach is needed as the organization, customers, and other stakeholders surrounding the service are vital actors affecting the sustainability of a service. / Energisektorn står inför stora utmaningar som en konsekvens av klimatförändringarna. Vid sidan av detta är energisektorn i mitten av en tjänstefieringsprocess, en process som innefattar en övergång till, och skapande av, nya värdeerbjudanden för att möta kundernas efterfrågan. I takt med att kunder och institutioner ökar sin kravställning mot hållbart företagande så ökar även pressen på företag att bli mer hållbara. I och med tjänstefieringstrenden inom energisektorn ökar andelen tjänster i företags värdeerbjudanden. Som en konsekvens av detta blir det avgörande för företag att kunna erbjuda hållbara tjänster för att både bli mer hållbara och konkurrenskraftiga. Denna studie undersöker hur hållbarhet ska bedömas för tjänster hos kommunala bolag inom den svenska energisektorn. För att genomföra detta undersöker studien vilka faktorer som är relevanta för att bedöma hållbarheten hos dessa tjänster. Utöver detta undersöker studien om vissa faktorer har en större påverkan på en tjänsts hållbarhet. För att undersöka att detta använder studien en mixmetod. Den kvalitativt undersökande delen består av semistrukturerade intervjuer för att undersöka faktorer som påverkar hållbarheten hos tjänster inom energisektorn. En deskriptiv enkät användes för att sedan undersökapåverkan av de identifierade faktorerna. Genom intervjuerna hittades 13 övergripande faktorer som delades in i tre dimensioner: ekonomisk, miljömässig, och social hållbarhet. Analysen av enkäterna skedde med hjälp av deskriptiv statistik, och genom detta erhölls medelvärde och standardavvikelse som användes för att jämföra de funna faktorerna. Vidare undersökning av de olika dimensionernas uppfattade inverkan på hållbarhetsprestanda genomfördes med hjälp av en envägsvariansanalys. Resultatet från denna analys visade på att ingen statistisk signifikans existerade gällande de olika dimensionernas uppfattade inverkan. Av de faktorer som identifierades ansågs transporter,utsläpp, och resursanvändning vara viktigast. Med denna insikt kan ledare och affärsutvecklare skapa en övergripande bild gällande vilka faktorer som påverkar hållbarheten hos en tjänst. Studien visar på att det behövs ett större perspektiv än att enbart studeraden specifika tjänsten, då organisationen, kunder, och andra intressenter påverkartjänstens hållbarhet.

There are increased calls for corporations to act responsibly. Those responsibilities exceed the classical assumption that the only responsibility of the firm is its shareholders and ultimately to maximize their wealth. Any social issue participation has been described as charity or squandering of resources at the expense of the shareholders. According to the Stakeholder theory, firms should consider every stakeholder that is affected by the company and stakeholder management can be a source of value. The risk reduction hypothesis is especially interesting in the context of corporate sustainability. There have been multiple studies that have explored the relationship between corporate sustainability performance and the risk of financial distress. Like those studies, this study found that corporate sustainability performance is negatively associated with the risk of financial distress. Thereby answering the research question proposed by the authors: “Does corporate sustainability performance affect the risk of financial distress?”. Companies with higher sustainability performance will experience less risk and engagement in those activities works as a risk reduction tool. Different levels of sustainability performance have different effect on the risk, which should be considered by investors and management. It should inspire investors to incorporate sustainable companies in their investment portfolios. Furthermore, the thesis contributes to the field of knowledge by analyzing the empirical results using the Stakeholder Theory, the Shareholder Theory, the Legitimacy Theory, the Resource-based view, the Agency Theory and the Stewardship Theory. The study provides evidence of an increasing importance of sustainability performance and suggests that firms can use sustainability performance to mitigate risk. This is a panel data analysis including approximately 16,000 firm-year observations. The study takes a deductive approach, and the research is conducted under a positivist paradigm. The data is tested through conducting OLS regressions with fixed effects. The results of the statistical testing have been compared to previous studies and other relevant literature.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the decision-making processes of real estate organisations in the built environment with respect to sustainable operations, as well as how they relate to management systems and building certifications. In the study, we utilised the proposed framework by Schrettle et al. (2014) after examining the relevant literature on operations management in general and built environment-specific research, as well as acquiring insights from multiple studies. The framework included areas regarding sustainability decision motivators, mediators, approaches, and actions, as well as their impact on sustainability performance andfirm performance. Therefore, we conducted a comparative case study of six Swedish real estate organisations responding to calls for more in-depth research on these topics.Our findings support the applicability of Schrettle et al.'s (2014) conceptual framework to conceptualise and examine sustainable operations decision-making processes in the built environment. This study's results underlined the impact of stakeholder expectations and organisational capabilities influence on the strategic approaches and actions of an organisation's sustainability transition. According to the findings, active engagement from all key stakeholders is required to provide economic value as well as social and environmental achievements. It also described how real estate companies could comply with regulations, attract tenants, and prepare for the future by adopting sustainable practises at all levels of decision-making. Aligning sustainable practises with business performance is advantageous for all parties involved, resulting in cost savings, enhanced quality, and growth opportunities. Through empirical evidence, qualitative case studies, and insights into strategies, methods, andactions employed by real estate operators, this study contributes to the fields of sustainable operations management and the built environment. Additionally, linking concepts from the field of management system theory to these fields by demonstrating how management systems and certification act as green labels that increase resource efficiency, make it easier to create sustainable products, and contribute to improving firm and sustainability performance.

Today there are requirements for large companies in Sweden to draw up sustainability reports to demonstrate their responsibility towards society and the environment. To achieve successful sustainability work, activities must be applied at all levels of the company. The company's CEO, who acts on behalf of the company's board and is responsible for the day-to-day management, is therefore assigned for the company's sustainability work. The CEO's incentive program has traditionally been characterized by financial goals, today the incentive programs also include sustainability goals. CEO salaries have increased in recent years, which has raised skepticism among the company's stakeholders regarding the effect of sustainability goals in the incentive programs. The purpose of the essay is to investigate which compensation and whether the presence of sustainability goals in the CEO's incentive program relate to the company's sustainability performance. To investigate this, a quantitative method has been applied where a regression analysis has been carried out. The essay's selection includes Swedish listed companies on the lists Mid Cap and Large Cap. The results show that the basic salary and the presence of specific sustainability goals relate positively to the company's sustainability performance. Based on the results, the incentive programs for the CEO may need to be reconstructed to achieve increased sustainability performance. / Idag föreligger krav för stora företag i Sverige att upprätta hållbarhetsredovisning för att visa sitt ansvarstagande gentemot samhället och miljön. För att åstadkomma framgångsrikt hållbarhetsarbete måste aktiviteter tillämpas på alla nivåer i företaget. Företagets VD som agerar på uppdrag av företagets styrelse och har ansvar över den löpande förvaltningen tilldelas därför ansvar för företagets hållbarhetsarbete. VD:ns incitamentsprogram har traditionellt sett präglats av finansiella mål och idag innefattar incitamentsprogrammen även hållbarhetsmål. VD-lönerna har de senaste åren ökat vilket väckt en skepticism hos företagets intressenter angående effekten av hållbarhetsmål i incitamentsprogrammen. Syftet med uppsatsen är att öka kunskapen om vilka ersättningar, samt om förekomsten av hållbarhetsmål i VD:ns incitamentsprogram relaterar till företagets hållbarhetsprestanda. För att undersöka detta har en kvantitativ metod tillämpats där en regressionsanalys genomförts. I uppsatsens urval ingår svenska börsnoterade företag på listorna Mid Cap och Large Cap. Uppsatsens resultat visar att grundlönen och förekomsten av specifika hållbarhetsmål relaterar positivt till företagets hållbarhetsprestanda. Incitamentsprogrammen till VD:n kan utifrån resultatet behöva rekonstrueras för att uppnå ökad hållbarhetsprestanda.

Urbanization and climate change are two of the most important issues of our days. Many attempts have been made to define the most sustainable way to organise cities in order to cope with the increased population, while simultaneously being climate friendly, socially acceptable and economically viable. This master thesis focuses on the comparison of the sustainability performance of two particular theoretically planned urban forms, located in the suburban area of Stockholm – a “compact city”-like neighborhood and a “garden-city”-like neighbourhood. It was decided that the focus would be on the carbon footprint of the representative residences of each urban form, with the help of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA); and that overall sustainability criteria for neighbourhoods would after wards be assessed, having a certification system forsustainable neighbourhoods (CityLab for districts, in particular) as a framework for a – mostly theoreticalassessment. After the exploring of the differences in the sustainability performance(environmental and social) of the two assessed urban forms, a discussion is made concerning the relationship between urban form and sustainability and conditions under which the most sustainable urban form could be achieved. The results of the analysis highlight that the concept “one size fits all” cannot conform to urban planning decisions, since cities should be able to adjust to the needs of each generation.

Communication around climate change is a challenging area. It is beneficial for companies to present themselves as more environmentally sustainable than they are, leading to greenwashing. Type 1 ecolabels, as described in the ISO standard 14024, try to mitigate this problem by providing independent verification of a company’s claims. TCO Certified is a type 1 environmental label, so ensuring that the organization behind TCO Certified, TCO Development, does not contribute to greenwashing is critical. TCO Certified has created a tool called the “benchmarking functionalities”. Using this tool, brand owners in the IT industry can compare their certified products using Sustainability Performance Indicators (SPIs) defined by TCO Development. Misinterpretations by brand owners using the “benchmarking functionalities” must be minimized to ensure the tool does not contribute to greenwashing. The design activity framework has been used for this study to create an alternative version of the benchmarking functionalities. The focus of the design process was to create a visualization that maximizes user comprehension to ensure the data cannot be misinterpreted and misused for greenwashing without compromising on usability. The alternative version was compared to the original version of the benchmarking functionalities in a user study. The results indicate that the original version of the benchmarking functionalities has a better System Usability Scale (SUS) score, and users could solve tasks quicker than with the alternative version. However, the users performed the tasks better with the alternative version. The difference between the correctness of the answers and the user’s confidence that their answer to a task was correct was larger for all tasks for the original version, indicating that there might be a false sense of comprehension in the original version of the benchmarking functionalities. To further understand the results, understanding how learning has impacted the study’s outcome is needed. Another relevant direction to study further is how stakeholders from different cultures, in terms of company and country, interpret and use visualizations for sustainability data. / Kommunikation kring klimatförändringar är ett utmanande område. Det finns incitament för företag att framställa sig som mer ekologiskt hållbara än de faktiskt är, vilket leder till grönmålning. Med hjälp av miljömärkningar av typ 1 som är definierade enligt ISO-standarden 14024, kan konsumenter få hjälp med att förstå huruvida ett företags påståenden om hållbarhet stämmer genom oberoende verifikation. TCO Certified är en typ 1 miljömärkning. Därmed är det viktigt för organisationen bakom TCO Certified, TCO Development, att se till att de inte är med och bidrar till gröntvättning på något sätt. TCO Certified har utvecklat ett verktyg för produktjämförelse och konkurrensanalys. Med hjälp av detta verktyg kan varumärkesägare inom IT-industrin med certifierade produkter jämföra sina produkter med varandra med hjälp av hållbarhetsindikatorer (SPIer) som har definierats av TCO Development. Det är viktigt att denna data inte kan misstolkas av varumärkesägare. I denna studie har designriktlinjerna definierade i ramverket för designaktiviteter använts, för att skapa en alternativ design av verktyget för produktjämförelse och konkurrensanalys. Huvudfokus i designprocessen var att skapa en visualisering som maximerar användarens förståelse av hållbarhetsdata, utan att kompromissa med användarvänligheten. Samtidigt är det också viktigt att utveckla visualiseringen så att användaren inte kan misstolka data på ett sätt som kan användas för grönmålning. Den alternativa versionen jämfördes med originalversionen av verktyget för produktjämförelse och konkurrensanalys i en användarstudie. Resultaten visar att användarna upplevde originalversionen som mer användarvänlig, och användarna löste uppgifter snabbare än med den alternativa versionen. Men användarna kunde lösa uppgifterna bättre med den alternativa versionen. Skillnaden mellan hur rätta svaren var och hur säkra användarna var på att de svarat med rätt svar skilde sig dock mycket i originalversionen, för alla uppgifter. Detta pekar på att användarna kan uppleva en falsk känsla av förståelse för hur originalversionen av verktyget för produktjämförelse och konkurrensanalys ska användas. För att vidare förstå resultaten från denna studie behövs det undersökas vad inlärning har för effekt på användarnas upplevelse av verktyget. En annan relevant riktning som kan undersökas i framtida studier är hur intressenter från olika kulturer, likväl företags- som geografisk kultur, tolkar och använder visualiseringar med hållbarhetsdata.

Yes / Purpose: this paper presents notable themes regarding the relationship between sustainability development and the food loss issue. In doing so, it provides coherent knowledge concerning this global problem and highlights the key research areas in this context. Design/methodology/approach: this paper is a viewpoint piece; normative literature and supposition are used to orientate the views of the authors. Findings: this paper has identified the main causes of food loss at each stage of the food supply chain. It has then classified the causes into three groups based on organisational environment: internal causes, micro-environmental causes and macro-environmental causes. In addition, the authors suggest a need to adopt a holistic view of the performance measurement system in the food industry through incorporating sustainability pillars with traditional performance perspectives in the context of food loss. Practical implications: food loss generating from various causes along the supply chain means that more food should flow across the supply chains to reach consumers’ homes. This paper provides reassuring insights that will help the decision-makers in food companies to revise the performance measurement system in the context of food loss reduction. Social implications: reducing food loss will contribute to increasing food availability and decreasing food prices, which leads to strengthening economic and physical access for those people who are not able to get food. Consequently, it considers a mandatory step to enhance food security. Originality/value: to raise the significance of food loss reduction along the supply chain and to stress an urgent need to adopt a holistic view of the sustainability performance measurement system with a particular focus on the food loss issue.

Cette thèse traite de la problématique de la performance durable d’une chaîne logistiques. Le travail de recherche se décline en trois phases : la première phase porte sur l’étude des approches existantes pour la mesure la performance durable des chaînes logistiques. L’approche proposée permet alors à une entreprise, de déterminer plus facilement les critères spécifiques de mesure de la durabilité. Cette approche comporte huit critères de durabilité à savoir : valeur financière, valeur non-financière, matière première, ressources naturelles, énergie, santé humaine et sécurité, développement des ressources humaines et l’éthique. Ces critères ont été développés à partir du concept des « Human needs » et le concept de «Triple Bottom » avec la prise en compte des aspects règlementaires, normatifs et lignes directrices.Nous avons développé un modèle de mesure de la performance durable des chaines logistiques. Ce modèle est un cadre amélioré du « value Chain model » (Porter, 2008) et de l’approche processus (Chan and Qi, 2003) permettant l’implémentation de l’approche développée. Cette proposition permet à l’entreprise de mesurer la performance durable de ses processus et de ses activités aussi bien en interne que sur le niveau chaine logistique. Pour implémenter et tester l’approche développée, nous avons sélectionné le cas concret du problème d’évaluation de la performance durable d’un fournisseur.La deuxième phase de ce travail est le développement de l’outil de mesure de la performance durable basé sur la méthode FAHP (Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process) avec une application au cas de l’évaluation des fournisseurs. Il ne s’agit pas de sélectionner le meilleur fournisseur mais d’aider l’entreprise à mettre en place un plan d’action basé sur les résultats obtenus. Pour construire ce modèle, nous avons proposé un cadre de choix entre trois méthodes possibles : la méthode « Extent Analysis Method »(Méthode I), la méthode de normalisation (Méthode II) et la méthode arithmétique des t-norme (Méthode III) pour déterminer les poids flous. La méthode I est plus simple mais elle obtient la plus grande propagation floue comparée aux deux autres méthodes. Les résultats de mesure des performances du fournisseur permettent d’orienter les actions d’amélioration à travers l’utilisation des facteurs de normalisation proposés dans le modèle formel de mesure.La troisième et dernière phase de ce travail fut l’implémentation du système de mesure et les méthodes FAHP dans une étude de cas au sein d’une industrie d’électronique en Thaïlande. La société étudiée visait à évaluer la performance durable de ses fournisseurs en vue d’améliorer leurs performances. Le modèle de mesure de la performance durable comportait dix indicateurs et vingt-cinq mesures de durabilité sur les trois dimensions (économique, environnementale et sociale). Nous avons constaté que les poids de la dimension économique, environnementale et sociale étaient respectivement de 50.87%, 34.86%, et 15.14% respectivement. Cela signifie que les performances économiques étaient les plus importantes et que les performances sociales étaient les moins importantes dans l’évaluation des fournisseurs. La société étudiée travaille avec plus de deux cents fournisseurs. A cause de ce grand nombre de fournisseur, une approche de mesure absolue a été adoptée pour l’évaluation des performances de chaque fournisseur. Cependant, nous avons sélectionné cinq fournisseurs pour l’implémentation et la validation de notre modèle. Les résultats de cette étude de cas ont montré que les méthodes FAHP proposées sont adaptées au contexte industriel et sont moins compliquées que la méthode lambda-max par exemple. / This thesis aims to clarify a sustainability implementation into supply chain and to develop a tool for measuring sustainability performance in supply chain and improving the sustainability performance for electronic industry in Thailand. This research has divided into three phases; the first phase is to clarify a sustainability measurement framework in supply chain. This framework allows decision makers identifying the sustainability measures based on their interesting area in sustainability criteria. There are eight categories of sustainability criteria in this framework which are financial, non-financial, raw material, natural resources, energy, human health and safety, human resources development, and ethical issues. The sustainability criteria in this framework have developed based on the concept of human needs and the triple bottom line concept. It have been justified by analyze with standard, guide line, and regulation involving sustainable development perspective. Moreover, this proposed framework enhances an engagement level of elements in supply chain as an important perspective to identifying the sustainability measures. After developing the conceptual framework for measuring sustainability performance, this thesis has proposed an approach to construct the performance measurement model. This work enhances the valuable of adopting the value chain model (Porter, 2008) and the process based approach (Chan and Qi, 2003) for constructing the sustainability measures model. This leads to an implementation of the proposed framework allowing decision makers to measures sustainability performance in any process or activity in the company and its supply chain. In order to implementing the proposed conceptual framework and the model construction method in practical situation, this thesis has selected the supplier performance evaluation problem for measuring sustainability performance.The second phase of this work is the development of the tool for measuring sustainability performance by focusing on supplier evaluation problem. The measurement tool is developed based on multi-criteria decision method. This model is not used for making a decision such as selecting the best supplier but it is a multicriteria decision aiding which help manager to establish supplier improvement program based on the results. The measurement tool is developed based on a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) approach. This thesis has proposed three FAHP methods by modified the extent analysis method (Method-I), modified the normalization approach (Method-II), and employed the weakest t-norm arithmetic (Method-III) for determining the fuzzy priority weight. These methods are easy to adopt in real-life problem in industry. The method-I is less complexity than method-II and method-III respectively but the method-I also obtains the larger fuzzy spread than method-II and method-III respectively. It is depends on the decision makers to select the proposed FAHP among these three methods for implementing in their situations. The results from supplier’s performance help manager for setting the direction to improve supplier’s sustainability by using the normalization rating from measurement model.The third phase of this thesis is an implementation of the proposed framework and proposed FAHP in the case study company in Thai electronics industry. The case study company aims to evaluate sustainability performance of their suppliers in order to manage and improve supplier’s performance. The sustainability performance measurement model consists of 10 indicators and 25 sustainability measures based on three dimensions (economic, environmental, and social). It is found that the importance weight of economic, environmental, and social dimension are 50.87%, 34.86%, and 15.14% respectively. It means that an economic performance is still the most important and the social performance is the less important of supplier’s evaluation....

De modo geral, há pouca informação disponível aos gestores para orientá-los tanto sobre o desenvolvimento de um Sistema de Medição de Desempenho (SMD) quanto à adequabilidade do SMD atual. Já Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) é uma abordagem para a gestão integrada das informações e dos processos de negócio para todas as fases da vida de um produto. A fim de compreender todas as fases da vida de um produto e, de forma consistente, considerar a abordagem PLM, as empresas estão tentando incorporar indicadores de desempenho de sustentabilidade em seus SMDs. O presente trabalho possui por objetivo propor um framework para o desenvolvimento de um SMD para a abordagem PLM com ênfase na sua aplicação prática, compreendendo as seguintes características: um procedimento com a descrição dos seus passos; um conjunto de ferramentas como formulários para apoiar o procedimento; uma lista de indicadores de desempenho de prática seleção dos indicadores na aplicação do framework, relacionados com PLM e sustentabilidade. Esta pesquisa adota a metodologia de pesquisa em design, como a abordagem mais ampla, na qual a proposta do framework é sintetizada da literatura e posteriormente aplicada e aperfeiçoada à medida que se conduzia uma pesquisa-ação. As principais contribuições consistem em possibilitar o diagnóstico do SMD atual da empresa assim como o seu nível de maturidade e selecionar indicadores com base em uma lista previamente sistematiza, para facilitar essa escolha. Finalmente, mostra-se que é possível incorporar indicadores de desempenho de sustentabilidade nos SMDs atuais da empresa para abordagem PLM, desde que existam stakeholders interessados em estabelecer objetivos estratégicos para a sustentabilidade. / Usually there is little information available to managers to guide them on either the development of a Performance Measurement System (PMS) or the uptade of the current PMS. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is an integrated approach to information management and business processes for all stages of life of a product. Further, in order to fully address all phases of a products life and consistently support consider the PLM; companies are trying to incorporate sustainability performance indicators into their PMS. Thus, this work aims at proposing a framework to develop a PMS for the PLM approach with an emphasis on practical application, comprising the following characteristics: a procedure containing steps and a set of tools such as forms to support them; a list of performance indicators PLM and sustainability to enable the selection of indicators. This research adopts the design research methodology, as the broader approach, in which the proposed framework is synthesized from literature and then applied and improved during an action research. The highlights of the framework are the diagnosis of the current SMD company as well as their level of maturity of the PMS and the selection of performance indicators through a list. Finally, this work indicates that is possible to incorporate sustainability performance indicators into the PMS for the PLM approach as long as there stakeholder interested in establishing strategic objectives for sustainability.