Background: Sustainability has become one of the main factors driving business innovation and resulted in a green transition, which has slowed down in recent years, and to accelerate the green transition again, major barriers need to be removed. The gender imbalance in sustainable entrepreneurship could be a barrier to the acceleration of the green transition since women entrepreneurs showcase what the green transition represents, yet there are fewer women in entrepreneurship compared to men. Despite there being fewer women in entrepreneurship, several studies have found that women are more inclined toward sustainability, compared to men, when it comes to the practices of sustainable entrepreneurship. However, no studies state how or why this is.  Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is therefore to bridge that knowledge gap by investigating the potential ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind women's entrepreneurial sustainability. Moreover, the purpose of the findings is to create a new theory that offers new insights and a unique understanding regarding women's entrepreneurial sustainability implementation and motivation.   Research Question: How do women entrepreneurs incorporate sustainable business practices and why are they motivated to do so?  Method:  A inductive qualitative single case study on eleven women entrepreneurs. The data collection was through semi-structured interviews. Followed by a Gioia’s grounded theory analysis to create a theoretical model to answer the research question.  Conclusion: Women entrepreneurs are motivated through various intrinsic and extrinsic motivations where they use their decision authority as the approach to implementing their sustainable business practices.

abstract: Corporations work to reduce their negative impacts on the environment and society by adopting Sustainable business (SB) practices. Businesses create competitive advantages via practices such as waste minimization, green product design, compliance with regulations, and stakeholder relations. Normative models indicate that businesses should adopt similar sustainability practices, however, contingency theory suggests that effectiveness of practices depends on the context of the business. The literature highlights the importance of organizational culture as a moderating variable between SB practices and outcomes, however this link has not been empirically examined. This thesis presents the development and testing of a theoretical model, using configuration theory, that links SB practices, organizational culture, and financial performance. Published frameworks were utilized to identify SB practices in use, and the Competing Values Framework (CVF) to identify dimensions of culture. Data from 1021 Corporate Sustainability Reports from 212 companies worldwide was collected for computerized text analysis, which provided a measure of the occurrence of a specific SB practice and the four dimensions of the CVF. Hypotheses were analyzed using cluster, crosstab, and t-test statistical methods. The findings contribute significant insights to the Business and Sustainability field. Firstly, clustering of SB practice bundles identified organizations at various levels of SB practice awareness. The spectrum runs from a compliance level of awareness, to a set of organizations aware of the importance of culture change for sustainability. Top performing clusters demonstrated different priorities with regards to SB practices; these were in many cases, related to contextual factors, such as location or sector. This implies that these organizations undertook varying sustainability strategies, but all arrived at some successful level of sustainability. Another key finding was the association between the highest performing SB practice clusters and a culture dominated by Adhocracy values, corroborating theories presented in the literature, but were not empirically tested before. The results of this research offer insights into the use of text analysis to study SB practices and organizational culture. Further, this study presents a novel attempt at empirically testing the relationship between SB practices and culture, and tying this to financial performance. The goal is that this work serves as an initial step in redefining the way in which businesses adopt SB practices. A transformation of SB practice adoption will lead to major improvements in sustainability strategies, and subsequently drive change for improved corporate sustainability. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Sustainability 2017

Структура магистерской диссертации включает введение, три главы, заключение, список литературы. В первой главе будет определено понятие устойчивого развития, формирование устойчивости и методы оценки эффективности улучшения устойчивого развития. Во второй главе будет представлена методология исследования с углубленным анализом собранных данных. В третьей главе будут исследованы проблемы и механизмы управления устойчивым развитием компании и рекомендации по стратегии устойчивого развития, а также будет оценена их эффективность. Диссертация завершится кратким изложением основных выводов и их последствий для устойчивого развития современных корпораций. / The structure of the master's thesis includes an introduction, three chapters, conclusion, list of references. The first chapter will define the concept of sustainable development, the formation of sustainability and the methods for evaluating the effectiveness of improving sustainable development. The second chapter will provide the research methodology with an in-depth analysis the collected data. In the third chapter, will explore the problems and mechanisms of the company's sustainable development management and recommendations for sustainable development strategy, and their effectiveness will be evaluated. The thesis will conclude with a summary of the key findings and their implications for the sustainable development of modern corporations.