Background: Cross-sector social partnership (CSSP) is a joint effort that utilizes resources from different sectors to solve social issues, such as poverty, pandemics and environmental degradation. According to the United Nations, the environmental tipping point of global warming is soon reached, and to avoid this irreversible situation, the collaboration between state and non-state actors is a requirement. With extended resources gained from different sectors, the outcome of the CSSP is greater than if the actors were handling issues by themselves. Problem: There is a growing trend of CSSPs that strive to mitigate climate change, and the Climate Council of Jönköping is a practical example of this phenomenon. Multinational corporations (MNCs) have a large environmental impact and therefore they have a special responsibility to contribute to communities’ efforts to tackle climate change. Furthermore, within CSSP literature, additional research of corporations’ roles in CSSPs has been suggested. Purpose: Considering the increased focus on partnership practices, along with research gaps and complex CSSP elements, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate how MNCs contribute to the CSSP, the Climate Council of Jönköping. Method: Descriptive research was used to describe how MNCs contribute to a CSSP. With an abductive approach, deeper knowledge about the Climate Council of Jönköping as a phenomenon was gained. Empirical data was collected through a qualitative study, consisting of observational research and in-depth interviews, which was analyzed by making use of template analysis. The MNCs of the Climate Council of Jönköping are Castellum, GARO, Husqvarna Group, IKEA, and Skanska. Conclusion: The major conclusion of this study is that the MNCs perceive that their task within the Climate Council of Jönköping is to be a role model and to exchange ideas and knowledge regarding sustainability with other actors. Within CSSP literature, trust among actors, clearly-defined roles, and bridging each other’s weaknesses, are central concepts. The findings about the MNCs deviate from this, as all these factors are not identified. This suggests that the Climate Council of Jönköping and the MNCs do not contribute to public value and mitigating climate change as much as they possibly could.

This thesis explores the environmental and social responsibilities being increasingly shouldered by cement manufacturing sector and outlines a new approach for these companies to accept their responsibilities and to utilise professional approaches to address the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainable business. Managing these three dimensions in business translates corporate responsibility into an integrated responsibility for doing business profitably, ethically and in sustainable manner. This three-pronged approach is sometimes called the Triple Bottom Line. It helps companies to fulfil their more holistic Corporate Social Responsibility. A critical review of the literature led the thesis author to develop the theoretical framework for environmental and social reporting to proceed on TBL/CSR journey within the cement industry. Data were collected from TBL/CSR reports from cement companies on key environmental and social performances. Based upon those data, a questionnaire was developed to obtain more information from the leading worldwide cement companies. The combined results of the responses to the questionnaire and the quantitative data derived from the TBL/CSR reports were used to establish best practice benchmarks to serve as performance targets for the author¿s case study company, Oman Cement Company (OCC). The contribution to knowledge of this research is the summarisation and prioritisation of the cement industry¿s implementation of TBL/CSR management systems, which integrate the elements of TBL/CSR into their strategic plans and daily operational procedures. Guidelines were derived from the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact and the new ISO 26000 standard, which promotes a new way of working towards innovation, value creation and incremental actions for transforming businesses to become more responsible. The contributions to practice of this research are the practical and procedural insights, gained by quantitative analysis of environmental and social indicators, into how cement companies are making improvements in their processes and products in response to climate change, economic, governmental regulations and social pressures for improvement. Based upon the findings, recommendations and timetables were developed and are being implemented within the OCC as it progresses on its TBL/CSR journey.

Företag inom slow fashion arbetar mer med hållbarhet, både för konsumenterna och deras anställda. Det är stort fokus på att miljön ska bevaras medan företagen konkurrerar med fast fashionkedjor som massproducerar kläder och säljer till låga priser. Det stora problemet inom industrins produktion handlar om hur man ska försöka minska utsläpp och påverkan på miljön samt hantera överkonsumtionen genom hållbar marknadsföring. Studiens syfte är att utvärdera vilka karaktärsdrag slow fashion företag har gentemot fast fashion företag och hur slow fashion företag inom klädindustrin marknadsför sitt hållbarhetsarbete till konsumenterna. Studien undersöker även hur företagen arbetar med marknadsföring för att nå ut till sina nuvarande och framtida konsumenter. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och det empiriska materialet samlas in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med fyra slow fashion företag. Vi har även samlat in empiriskt material genom undersökningar av företagens offentliga material så som hemsidor och sociala medier för att komplettera intervjuerna. Resultatet analyseras med hjälp av tidigare forskning och begreppen slow- jämfört med fast fashion och marknadsföring. Vidare analyseras företagens ansvar med hjälp av begrepp och modeller inom triple bottom line, corporate social responsibility, certifieringar och legitimitet. Det sista inom studien som analyseras är konsumentens ansvar i form av politisk konsumtion samt aktiviteterna bojkott och buycott. Resultaten visar att alla fyra företagen är positiva till att arbeta med hållbarhet för att förbättra miljön och deras arbete kommer inte avta men att företagen vill nå ut till fler konsumenter och minska konsumtionen genom att påverka konsumenterna till att göra färre onödiga inköp. / Slow fashion companies work more with sustainability, both for consumers and their employees. There is a strong focus on preserving the environment while companies compete with fast fashion chains that mass-produce clothes and sell at low prices. The big problem in industrial production is about how to try to reduce emissions and impact on the environment and manage overconsumption through sustainable marketing. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the characteristics of slow fashion companies in relation to fast fashion companies and how slow fashion companies in the clothing industry market their sustainability work to consumers. The study also examines how companies work with marketing to reach their current and future consumers. The study has a qualitative approach, and the empirical material is collected through semistructured interviews with four slow fashion companies. We have also collected empirical material through studies of the companies' public material such as websites and social media to supplement the interviews. The results are analyzed with the help of previous research and the concepts of slow- vs. fast fashion and marketing. Furthermore, corporate responsibility is analyzed with the help of concepts and models within triple results, corporate social responsibility, certifications, and legitimacy. The last thing in the study that is analyzed is the consumer's responsibility in the form of political consumption and the activities boycott and buycott. Results show that all four companies are positive about working with sustainability because the environment and their work will decline, but that the companies want to reach more consumers and choose consumption by influencing consumers to make fewer unnecessary purchases.

Fokus i denna uppsats ligger i att jämföra fyra organisationers hållbarhetsredovisningar och se i vilken utsträckning de uppfyller GRI:s riktlinjer för ekonomisk påverkan. De fyra organisationer som granskas är Sveriges storbanker, Handelsbanken, Nordea, SEB och Swedbank. Eftersom att de agerar inom den finansiella sektorn har en avgränsning gjorts till det ekonomiska ansvaret eftersom det är det mest relevanta och intressanta att titta närmare på.  Problemformuleringen i denna uppsats lyder: På vilket sätt, i sina hållbarhetsredovisningar, tillämpar Sveriges fyra storbanker GRI:s riktlinjer för ekonomisk påverkan?  Syftet är att se hur bankerna har presenterat sin ekonomiska påverkan enligt GRI:s riktlinjer och jämföra dessa med varandra. För att få fram information om detta har respektive banks hållbarhetsredovisning för år 2010 granskats och tolkats. Den teoretiska referensramen som uppsatsen har utgått ifrån är CSR , ett begrepp som beskriver de tre ansvarsområdena ekonomi, socialt och miljö. Dessa tre områden är i grunden TBL (tripple bottom line). En stor del av teoridelen består av GRI:s riktlinjer och ramverk som även de bygger på TBL:s tre byggstenar.

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.

Studien syftar till att undersöka energi-, vatten- och kemikaliåtgång inom processerna blekning och färgning för nyproduktionsimiterande remake respektive nyproduktion. Genom att undersöka det kan en diskussion föras om huruvida nyproduktionsimiterande remake är ett möjligt alternativ för textilindustrin att hantera dess miljöproblem och textilavfall. Genom att testa att bleka, färga och mäta utvalda parametrar har vi i en labbmiljö skapat en testbild av hur en möjlig process skulle kunna se ut. Genom användning av Higg-Index har vi sedan kunnat få fram en indikation på hur hög resursåtgången skulle kunna vara på industriell nivå med konventionella och resurssparande metoder. Resultatet visar att om målet är att färga om till en så mörk färg som möjligt så skall remakeprodukten inte blekas i förväg. Resultaten gav även en indikation på hur många blekningar som skulle behöva göras i labbmiljö för att få ett helt vitt prov. Detta gav en indikation på hur hög energi-, vatten- och kemikaliåtgång skulle varit beroende på önskat resultat. Detta examensarbete har som mål att uppmuntra kritisk diskussion av remake samt ligga till grund för vidare forskning inom området. Detta för att på sikt bidra med lösningar som kan få textilindustrin att bli mer cirkulär. / The study aims to investigate the consumption of energy, water, and chemicals in the bleaching and dyeing processes for new-production imitating remakes versus new production. By examining this, a discussion can be initiated on whether new-production imitating remakes are a viable alternative for the textile industry to address its environmental issues and textile waste. By testing bleaching, dyeing, and measuring selected parameters in a lab environment, we have created a test representation of how a potential process could work. Using the Higg-Index, we have then been able to get an indication of how high the resource consumption would be at an industrial level with conventional and resource-saving methods. The results show that if the goal is to re-dye to the darkest color possible, the remake product should not be pre-bleached. The results also provided an indication of how many bleaching cycles would need to be done in a lab environment to achieve a completely white sample. This gave an indication of what the energy, water, and chemical consumption would be depending on the desired outcome. This thesis aims to encourage discussion of remakes and serve as a foundation for further research in the area, ultimately contributing to solutions that can make the textile industry more circular.

Le Nazioni Unite hanno espresso la necessità che aziende e consumatori si orientino ad una maggiore sostenibilità. Questa tesi parte da tale constatazione e analizza l’impatto che la sostenibilità ha sulle strategie aziendali, sull’orientamento all’innovazione di prodotto e processo e, infine, sulle relazioni che si sviluppano nella filiera produttiva. Inoltre, viene analizzata la relazione tra le strategie di marketing e le scelte di consumo sostenibili. Vengono analizzate, innanzitutto, due aziende di moda. L’analisi qualitativa mira a definire cosa sia per loro la sostenibilità, in che modo questa le metta alla prova e cosa possa garantire il successo duraturo di una strategia sostenibile. Viene successivamente analizzato un campione di 1104 intervistati per comprendere come le aziende di moda dovrebbero comunicare il loro impegno nella sostenibilità, attraverso mezzi di comunicazione specifici e ben definiti, soprattutto a quei consumatori che sono propensi - ma non del tutto convinti - ad acquistare abbigliamento sostenibile. Infine, viene analizzato un campione di 99 aziende vinicole a cui è stato sottoposto un questionario per capire se esiste una relazione tra la collaborazione tra i partner lungo la filiera produttiva e la performance sostenibile dell’impresa. I risultati evidenziano i fattori che orientano le strategie sostenibili delle aziende vinicole e della moda, e il comportamento dei consumatori. Vengono evidenziate soluzioni pratiche che possano accompagnare le aziende verso un crescente orientamento alla sostenibilità. / This doctoral thesis aims at shedding light on the United Nations’ call-to-action for producers and consumers who, jointly, have to contribute to sustainable development. The aim is to investigate the impact of sustainability on companies’ strategies by exploring their orientation towards process and product innovation, and the consequent business relationships that develop along the supply chain. Furthermore, the thesis seeks to investigate the role of some marketing strategies and the consumers’ sustainable attitudes. Two fashion companies are analyzed to explore what sustainability is for them and how they are challenged by sustainability concerns. Propositions are formulated that can help companies define long-term and effective sustainability-oriented strategies. A sample of 1104 respondents is then analyzed to understand how sustainability-oriented fashion companies should communicate their commitment, through specific and well defined communication tools, to those consumers who are positively disposed towards sustainable clothing but are still afraid of these “new” products. Lastly, a sample of 99 wine companies is analyzed. They were asked to answer a questionnaire whose purpose is to understand if there is a relationship between collaboration among partners along the supply chain and sustainable performance. Results allow for a better understanding of the factors driving sustainable strategies of fashion and wine companies, and consumer behavior. Practical solutions are highlighted.