Global supply chains feature multi-tier systems encompassing many geographically dispersed and sequential partners operating across diversified product chains. This research attempts to examine the different mechanisms that reinforce the management of sustainability throughout complex multi-tier supply chain. Using a multi-case study of a sample of eight firms and relying on the foundations of complexity theory, this research recognises the complex operating environment of global multi-tier supply chains and reveals various mechanisms to effectively manage and facilitate the relationships with first- and lower-tier suppliers. Although institutional controls are important to manage the sustainability of first-tier suppliers, the findings posit that due to the inherent complexities of global multi-tier supply chains, duplicating institutional controls to lower-tier suppliers might not be effective. Therefore, firms should attempt to foster modest mechanisms that reinforce adaptation and self-organisation, for example, collaboration and guiding mechanisms, to effectively manage the sustainability of lower-tier suppliers. The research contributes to multi-tier sustainable supply chain management literature by exploring the different mechanisms to manage multi-tier supply chains and the inherent complexities that may impact on firms’ endeavours in achieving their sustainability goals. Managers can utilise different contingent mechanisms to effectively manage the relationships with suppliers that are beyond their immediate visibility.

Syfte: Genom ett ökat intresse för hållbarhetsfrågor världen över har företag krav på sig att vara transparenta och visa hur de jobbar med hållbarhetsfrågor. Samarbete och kommunikation med leverantörer är en viktig faktor för att företag ska kunna få insikt i, och kunna påverka de processer som används av dess leverantörer. Fokus ligger på skogsindustrin för att den är en av få industrier i Sverige som redovisar en positiv påverkan på klimatet. Studien syftar därför till att skapa förståelse för relationshanteringens roll i upprättandet av en hållbar leverantörskedja inom skogsindustrin. Forskningsfrågan lyder: Hur styr företag inom skogsindustrin sina leverantörer med hjälp av relationshantering för att skapa en hållbar leverantörskedja? Metod: Studien har grundats på en kvalitativ metod med utgångspunkt i tolkning och analys av organisatoriska dokument som kompletterats med semistrukturerade intervjuer av tre personer som har insikt i inköpsprocessen på tre utvalda företag inom skogsindustrin.   Resultat och Slutsats: Studien visar att relationshantering har en stor roll i skapandet av en hållbar leverantörskedja inom den svenska skogsindustrin. Slutsatsen som kan dras från resultatet är att företag inom den svenska skogsindustrin arbetar på liknande sätt för att främja relationer till leverantörer och att detta bidrar till en ökad hållbarhet, även om företagen kan skilja sig åt i användning av metoder och prioritering av hållbarhetskriterier.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Arbetet bidrar med ytterligare argument för att företag genom en bra hantering av relationer till leverantörer kan påverka hållbarheten och göra mer hållbara val som gynnar såväl det egna företaget som omvärlden. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Det hade varit intressant att se på den faktiska påverkan som relationshantering har på hållbarheten. Det tycks också intressant att gå djupare in på leverantörskedjan och studera relationshanteringens effekter på fler parter i leverantörskedjan, såsom underleverantörer.

Bakgrund: I takt med att samhällets krav ökar kring hållbart arbete och konsumenter efterfrågar mer hållbara produkter, har modeindustrin hamnat i rampljuset på grund av dess negativa påverkan. För att vända den negativa trenden med ohållbart mode behöver nya metoder utvecklas för bättre produktion och konsumtion. Hållbara metoder kan även ge konkurrensfördelar och det krävs därför effektiva verktyg för att sprida information om företagens hållbarhetsarbete. Tidigare forskning förespråkar användandet av digitala kanaler för att sprida hållbarhetskommunikationen men saknar applicering på den svenska modemarknaden.  Syfte: Studien syftar till att undersöka hur modeföretag på den svenska marknaden kommunicerar sitt hållbarhetsarbete via sina digitala kanaler. Detta studeras med grund i det arbete modeföretagen utför för att nå en mer hållbar verksamhet. Frågeställning: Hur arbetar modeföretag med hållbarhet för att nå en mer hållbar verksamhet? Hur kommunicerar modeföretag sitt hållbarhetsarbete via sina digitala kanaler? Metod: Studien utgår från en kvalitativ metod med kvantitativa inslag och antar en abduktiv forskningsansats. Studiens empiriska insamling utförs i en tvåstegsprocess bestående av semistrukturerade intervjuer och innehållsanalys av fallföretagens digitala kanaler. De utvalda fallföretagen består av tre svenska modeföretag, vars respondenter valdes ut baserat på ettmålstyrt urval. Slutsats: Efter utförd studie dras slutsatsen att svenska modeföretag arbetar med ekologisk och social hållbarhet i form av olika initiativ och engagemang, där den ekonomiska dimensionen integreras i samtliga beslut. Arbetet sker med stort fokus i leverantörskedjan genom integrering av SSCM och drivs på av utomstående krav i kombination med en intern drivkraft. För att sprida information om hållbarhetsarbetet använder modeföretag framför allt hemsidan, i synnerhet den specifika hållbarhetssidan. Sociala medier används desto mindre för hållbarhetsinformation och mer för säljande kommunikation, med undantag för LinkedIn. Företag utnyttjar därmed inte sociala mediers fulla potential, då konsumenter inte involveras tillräckligt i konversationen om hållbarhet. Bristande hållbarhetskommunikation på sociala medier grundar sig i företagens begränsningar kopplat till krav och regelverk i kombination med rädslan för medial uppståndelse. / Background: As society demands that companies integrate CSR into their operations and consumers demand more sustainable products, the fashion industry has been under the spotlight due to its negative impact. To stop the negative trend of unsustainable fashion to escalate, new methods need to be developed for more sustainable production and consumption. Sustainable methods can also provide competitive advantages, and therefore effective tools are required to spread information about companies' sustainability work. Previous research advocates the use of digital channels to disseminate sustainability communication but lacks application in the Swedish fashion industry. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate how fashion companies on the Swedish market communicate their sustainability work through their digital channels. This is studied based on the work fashion companies do to achieve a more sustainable business. Research question: How do fashion companies work with sustainability to achieve a more sustainable business? How do fashion companies communicate their sustainability work through their digital channels? Methodology: The study is based on a qualitative method with quantitative elements and adopts an abductive research approach. The study's empirical gathering is based on a two-step process consisting of semi-structured interviews and a content analysis of the case companies' digital channels. The selected case companies consist of three Swedish fashion brands, whose respondents were selected based on their competence concerning the subject. Conclusion: Based on the study, the conclusion is drawn that Swedish fashion companies work with ecological and social sustainability in the form of various initiatives and engagements, where the economic dimension is integrated in all decisions. The work is focused on the supply chain through the integration of SSCM and is driven by external regulations in combination with an internal driving force. To disseminate information about the companies’ sustainability, fashion companies mainly use the website, especially the specific sustainability page. Social media is used less for sustainability information and more for sales communication, except forLinkedIn. Thus, companies do not use social media's full potential, as consumers are not involved enough in the conversation about sustainability. Lack of sustainability communication on social media is based on the companies' limitations linked to requirements and regulations in combination with the fear of negative attention from the media.

The rapid increase in the adoption of global sourcing practices that took place in 1980’s led to significant transformations in traditional value chains, which were encompassed by single, vertically integrated organizations, and became globally dispersed networks of independent buyers and suppliers, where each of these firms performs specific value-adding activities that will ultimately result in that value chain’s final output. As concerns over the negative social and environmental impacts caused by industrial activity continue their rise to prominence, stakeholders are starting to realize that the changes through which value chain structures underwent have shifted the locus of corporate sustainability from individual focal firms to entire supply networks. This wider scope of stakeholder expectations has, thus, created a necessity for corporate sustainability initiatives to be diffused to all members of the supply network. Chapter one constitutes a theoretical investigation of the strategic relevance of corporate sustainability diffusion in global supply networks for both focal and non-focal firms within global supply networks, as well as the determining factors of a firm’s capacity to diffuse and performance in diffusing corporate sustainability within its supply network? The theoretical contributions of this study are divided into two parts. The first part seeks to establish a more solid cause and effect relationship to explain why firms that are more highly exposed to stakeholder scrutiny (i.e. focal firms) should necessarily face a higher risk of being held responsible for the sustainability-related misconducts of lesser exposed members of the network (i.e. supplier sustainability risk). The first part also proposes an expansion of the dichotomous categorization of corporate sustainability initiatives as either mandatory or voluntary, to add what we termed: semi-voluntary corporate sustainability initiatives. This addition serves to explain why certain firms adopt non-mandatory corporate sustainability initiatives, which apparently destroy shareholder value. We argue that this distinction is important because cases concerning semi-voluntary initiatives are likely to involve higher levels of supplier sustainability risk. In part two of the theoretical development we introduce a theoretical framework to explain the existing heterogeneity among different firms within a supply network in regards to their ability to implement the diffusion of corporate sustainability initiatives in the network (i.e. network dominance) and propose that it results from the interaction among three network-related firm characteristics: relative resource value, resource substitutability, and relative network position. Lastly, we discuss why higher levels of network dominance increase the likelihood that firms will be able to ensure a high level of corporate sustainability diffusion in the network. Chapter two aims at empirically testing a set of hypotheses derived from the propositions put forth in the second part of chapter one’s theoretical development Therefore, it seeks to answer questions, such as, who is responsible for ensuring that all network members meet the necessary corporate sustainability standards in order to adequately fulfill the demands of stakeholders? Why do some firms engage in corporate sustainability and others do not? What contributes to the effective diffusion of corporate sustainability in a supply network? These hypotheses are tested on a sample of 10,728 firms in the automotive sector, linked by 45,044 inter-firm relationships. Strong support for our hypotheses provides both researchers and managers with an interesting discussion of how this emerging business paradigm, where corporate sustainability is becoming the norm and no longer the exception, may have significant implications on how value chains are structured within this sector. / Business Administration/International Business Administration

Motivation: Reverse Logistics is part of the concept of Sustainable Supply Chain Management, which is the supply chain consideration of the economic, environmental and social goals of all the stakeholders. These considerations should be balanced in a so-called Triple Bottom Line approach. However, literature approaching the social aspects is almost inexistent and the Triple Bottom Line approach is not common when examining the supply chain problems. The study focuses on companies operating in the Swedish market, since the country is an example in many TBL aspects. Moreover, the study is limited to the fashion apparel industry due to its high amount of returns.  Objectives: The purpose of this study is to explain how Reverse Logistics in the fashion industry can contribute to the social dimension of Triple Bottom Line, as well as to identify the tools and strategies used by the fashion companies to balance the trade-offs between the Triple Bottom Line dimensions in the context of Reverse Logistics and explain the reasons behind the decisions.  Approach: This is a multiple case study of six companies. Both primary (semi-structured interviews) and secondary (corporate reports and websites) sources were used to collect data. The empirical data was analyzed using pattern matching, first each case individually and thereafter cross-case analyses were performed.  Conclusions: The social contribution of Reverse Logistics in the fashion industry is mainly limited to donations to charity. In addition, it is not focused on the workforce, as suggested by the literature. Regarding the trade-offs in Triple Bottom Line, most of the fashion firms do not recognize them in the context of Reverse Logistics. Therefore, companies do not need to prioritize the Triple Bottom Line dimensions or use tools to balance them.

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What other means of influence exist in business other than economic? That is the question we set out to answer in regards to the fashion industry and the specific supply chain of cashmere. The cashmere industry has been described as complex, therefore the research has taken a complex adaptive systems approach to investigate how relationships between parts give rise to the collective behaviours of a system and how the system interacts and forms relationships with its environment. This paper describes a qualitative case study research conducted to identify the potential influence that a small to medium enterprises can have on their supply chain actors to steer them towards sustainability. Looking specifically at the supply chain of one Scottish cashmere manufacturer within the luxury fashion industry we have assessed this company’s current reality to the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development. This paper aims to present enablers and barriers towards influence, their correlations and complexity when looking at sustainability. In addition it will provide prescriptive thoughts for SMEs to support internal and external transition through sustainable development towards a sustainable cashmere supply chain.

Some business leaders in the manufacturing industry lack strategies to optimize green supply chain management strategies that increase profitability while reducing the carbon footprint. The lack of green supply chain strategies sub optimizes the use of resources business leaders use to meet their financial goals. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore successful green supply chain strategies leaders used to increase profitability while reducing the carbon footprint. The participants were 7 business leaders in one manufacturing organization headquartered in Massachusetts who have sophisticated green supply chain strategies in place. The natural resource-based view theory was the conceptual framework for this study. Data were collected through semistructured interviews and organizational documents. Through thematic analysis, 3 key themes emerged: environmental management strategies, profit-increasing strategies, and governance strategies. The findings of this study might be of value to business leaders to reduce costs and create sustainable, competitive supply chains using responsible methods. The implications for social change include the potential for leaders to preserve finite natural resources for future generations and reduce the carbon footprint of manufacturing organizations.

A company cannot be more sustainable than its supply chain. Given their complexity and the need for collaborative, strategic action for sustainability across supplier networks this research takes a systems perspective to answer, “How can a Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD) lens support supplier network collaboration towards sustainability?”.The application of the SSD lens includes mapping barriers and enablers to collaboration for sustainability found in literature and a case company along with the Five-Level Model (5LM) to which we add complex adaptive system elements. Based on this a thematic analysis of the barriers and enablers is performed paper presents results of the 5LM and thematic analysis, finding that taking an SSD perspective shows interconnections across the multiple enablers and barriers to collaboration. The challenges encountered during 5LM along with the results implications for the Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) academic field and practitioners are discussed. We conclude that the variety and complexity of barriers and enablers for collaboration make it important to approach sustainability strategically across the supplier network. The SSD perspective supports collaboration for sustainability by providing an opportunity to examine it from a systems perspective and to formulate prescriptive considerations for the case company and guiding questions for SSCM practitioners.

Supply chain practitioners in developing economies, like Nigeria, experience challenges in implementing sustainable supply chain management practices. Poor sustainability implementation engenders the negative effects of supply chain operations on people, the environment, and business continuity. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to explore and describe the experiences of supply chain practitioners in the consumer goods manufacturing industry in Nigeria about sustainable supply chain management based on the theoretical foundations of stakeholder and general systems theories. The focus of the research question was to examine the experiences of supply chain practitioners to understand the challenges in implementing sustainable supply chain management practices. Data were collected through semistructured face-to-face interview of 21 practitioners with a minimum 3 years of professional experience using the purposive sampling strategies of key knowledgeables and snowball to achieve saturation. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed guided by the Husserlian transcendental phenomenological approach for essences. The major finding was that the cost of implementing sustainability initiatives and poor government policies and regulations were the most significant barriers. Sustainability in the supply chain is still at its infancy in Nigeria, with room for improvement. The findings could contribute to positive social change as supply chain practitioners may better engage stakeholders and implement sustainability practices that minimize the negative effects of their supply chain operations on society and the environment.