Service science is an emerging multidisciplinary field concerned with the study of service systems and value co-creation. In recent years, the field has expanded considerably, growing to encompass a community of researchers and practitioners from a range of backgrounds and knowledge domains. However, very little research has focused on the study of service systems within the context of social-purpose organizations (SPOs), such as a nonprofit charitable organization or academic institution. We contend that SPOs represent a class of service systems that are understudied in service science, and the goal of this thesis was to contribute to the ongoing development of the disciplines theoretical foundations through an empirical study of a special type of SPO, the social enterprise. Through case-study research we surveyed five social enterprise organizations across Canada. Our findings point to a number of areas that suggest a conceptual bias towards service systems that are economically motivated and profit driven.

Företag som upprättar så kallade hållbarhetsredovisningar har blivit allt vanligare. Dock råder det inom forskningen på området en oenighet om vad hållbarhetsredovisning egentligen är. En mängd olika begrepp används om vartannat och några klara definitioner finns inte fastlagda. Syftet med denna studie är därför att göra en kartläggning av de olika begrepp som används inom den globala, akademiska hållbarhetsredovisningslitteraturen för att utreda innebörden av dessa begrepp samt för att utreda hur dessa begrepp förhåller sig till varandra. Studien genomförs med hjälp av en litteraturstudie där 12 artiklar väljs ut genom ett intensitetsurval och sedan analyseras och jämförs med varandra. Resultatet av detta blir en kartläggning där de olika begreppens betydelse och inbördes relationer utrönas. Studien mynnar ut i fastläggandet av fem stycken huvudbegrepp inom området; sustainability reporting/accounting, TBL reporting/accounting, CSR reporting, FCA och environmental accounting som tillsammans kan anses representera huvuddragen för vad hållbarhetsredovisning egentligen är. / Companies claiming to be accounting for sustainability are becoming more and more common. However, within the research on the area there are some disagreements regarding what accounting for sustainability really is. A large quantity of terms and concepts are being used interchangeably and there are no clearly established definitions. The purpose with this study is therefore to constitute an investigative screening on the different terms and concepts used within the global, academic, sustainability accounting literature to investigate the meaning of these terms and concepts and also investigate how these terms and concepts are relating to each other. The study is conducted by performing a study of literature where 12 articles are chosen with the help of an intensity sample. Thereafter the articles are analyzed and compared. This results in a clarification of the meaning of the terms and concepts, and of the internal relations in between them.  The study leads to the establishment of five main terms and concepts within the area; sustainability reporting/accounting, TBL reporting/accounting, CSR reporting, FCA and environmental accounting that together can be seen to form a foundation of what accounting for sustainability really is.

<p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to interview four legal jurists in order to explore how they conduct CSR activities within their service corpora-tion, with primary focus on SME law firms.</p><p>Background: A current issue to address concerning the conduct of business these days is CSR activities. Although, the previous research concerning CSR activities and the service sector is limited.</p><p>Theoretical Framework: The theoretical framework is divided into four parts; a general part concerning the concept of CSR activities, a review of earlier studies of CSR activities, the stakeholder theory and finally the theory about the triple bottom line.</p><p>Method: A qualitative case study was employed in order to answer the purpose. The most suitable research approach was a combination of a deductive and partially an inductive approach. The primary data consisted of semi-structured interviews. The secondary data were used in order make a comparison in relation to manufacturing corporations.</p><p>Empirical findings & Analysis: As for all corporations an integration of voluntary social and environmental concerns in their business operations are considered as CSR activities. A significant concern is CSR activities that the inter-viewed service corporations experienced was the lack of human and economic resources to deal with CSR activities. Furthermore, the lack of stakeholder pressure does not facilitate the matter of implementing more CSR strategies into the corporations‟ business conduct. As a result of the lack of stakeholder pressure the interviewed corporations tend to only take part in CSR activities that create goodwill value for the corporation. According to the interviewed service corporations CSR activities is a new phenomenon that is likely to become a bigger part of their business conduct in the future.</p><p>Conclusion: The interviewed corporations tend to focus their CSR activities to-wards the social activities since this is the kind of activities that is closely connected to the core business.</p>

<p>The history of environmental reporting began in the early 1990’s when some companies included the environmental issue in their annual report. The increased interest of ethical and sustainable investments and demands from different stakeholders conjure a change of the report design. To develop the environmental reports and create design guidance for sustainability reports an organisation called Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was born. The GRI is environmental reporting taken to another level, a level that is according to sustainable development. This qualitative study concerns sustainability reporting in general and the GRI-guidelines in particular. The question is why the Swedish companies, which are already using the guidelines, have chosen to use the guidelines and what type of behavioral changes within the company it has lead to? From my study, I have found that the GRI-report could help corporations to be able to see what actually has been done in the organisation. My conclusion is that the GRI-guideline is a potential tool for gaining control and visibility of the triple bottom line on a corporate level, and it highlights the importance of collecting internal information.</p>

Problem – Companies are increasingly focusing on sustainability issues in response to internal and external pressure. Research on sustainable performance of focal companies is vast; however there is a lack of guidelines for managing sustainability in extended supply chains. Scholars claim a need for additional research on intra- and inter-organizational diffusion of best sustainable practices. Besides, the outcomes of sustainable sourcing practices are still uncertain. The gap between potential benefits of sustainable sourcing and actual performance is attributed to lack of capabilities, instruments, and efficient processes. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore existing sustainable sourcing practices which are used by leading multinational companies. Based on the obtained knowledge we aim to develop a framework that will suite as a guideline for enforcing sustainable sourcing practices. Method – The research has been conducted through the method of grounded theory, enabling the researchers to constructively interpret data from documentary primary data and semi-structured interviews. This approach was utilized in order to explore what are the most common practices of managing sustainable sourcing applied by the companies awarded as Industry leaders by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Conclusion We found that a commonly accepted approach towards managing and enforcing sustainable sourcing is absent both in theoretical discourse and practice. However, the most frequently mentioned tools and approaches were defined. They include the adoption of suppliers’ code of conduct, establishment of dedicated sustainability departments, procurement personnel training, suppliers’ capability building, risk assessment and categorization of suppliers, IT platforms for information sharing, supplier self-assessment, audit, joint projects with suppliers, meetings and conferences, and suppliers’ scorecards. Finally, we developed a Sustainable Sourcing Enforcement framework which could serve as a guideline to enforce supplier’s commitment to act sustainably. The framework consists of five chronologically connected pillars: Objectives alignment, Commitment creation, Supplier selection, Ongoing development and Work with stakeholders.

Alternative fuel types and technologies are increasingly being advocated for transportation needs to ameliorate concerns around energy security, climate change, and fuel cost. Each fuel type has unique advantages and disadvantages for cost structure and emissions. Meanwhile, corporate fleet customers are often making more sustainable choices of vehicle type due to public perception and other influencing factors. The sustainability of these vehicles can be viewed from a triple bottom line perspective of financial, environmental, and societal implications. However, there is currently a lack of organized knowledge that would allow a decision-maker to elect the appropriate vehicle type beyond lifecycle cost and carbon emissions. The simplification of the impact of fuel type choice disregards issues that are emerging in prominence around water consumption and public health. Water consumption is of particular importance to investigate as fuel types that have reduced carbon emissions are often more water intensive. This thesis develops a tool that examines these issues through modeling to provide a more holistic lifecycle view of a prospective fleet's impact. The choice of vehicle type then can be optimized by utility theory preference elicitation of the different customer desires. Various scenarios of corporate preference and fleet specifications are explored to provide case studies that exemplify the complexity of the decision process. Each potential scenario has its own characteristics that cannot be optimally fulfilled by an overarching fuel type but rather should be thoroughly examined individually to understand the true consequences.

Syfte: Denna studie syftar till att kartlägga i vilken utsträckning företag på en svensk marknad arbetar med CSR och även att identifiera ett eventuellt samband mellan hållbarhetsarbetets utsträckning och lönsamhet i form av EPS och DuPont. Dessa lönsamhetsmått representerar dels ett investeringsperspektiv, dels ett internt företagsperspektiv. Metod: En kvantitativ studie har gjorts på Stockholmsbörsens Large Cap med en indelning av företagen på en hållbarhetsskala. Datan har analyseratstillsammans med lönsamhetsmåtten EPS och DuPont genomkorstabulering samt en statistisk analys. Slutsats: Denna studie finner att det finns ett engagemang för CSR inom LargeCap och det finns ett negativt samband mellan CSR-arbete och EPS.Studien finner inget samband mellan CSR-arbete och DuPont. Det finns en obalans i prioriteringen av TBL där det ekonomiska perspektivet är det främsta.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (School of Business and Finance) / As organizations face stiff pressure from various stakeholders, management has had to move beyond the idea of shareholder wealth maximization and incorporate the environmental and social concerns from the various stakeholders. The study identifies how Sustainable Supply Chain Management (SSCM) practices enable the firm to manage the social, environmental and economic Triple Bottom Line (TBL) for four key stakeholder groups - customers, suppliers, regulators and the community. The study adopted a case study design, focused on Safaricom, arguably Africa's most innovative cellular firm which has championed the M-pesa money transfer platform. The objectives were, first, to establish key attributes namely; power, legitimacy and urgency of selected stakeholders of Safaricom and the key determinants of their salience, second, to determine stakeholder expectations and how they hold Safaricom accountable; third, to identify the extent of Safaricom's influence and control over the selected stakeholders; and finally, to establish how and to what extent the firm manages stakeholder exposure through their SSCM practices and TBL measures. Data from semi-structured interviews with Safaricom management and the four key selected stakeholder groups, together with company and public documents, were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Stakeholder groups were selected to represent examples of low, moderate or high levels of salience and exposure. While all are considered important, the case reveals how Safaricom management prioritizes and addresses stakeholder needs according to their attributes. As each stakeholder group is heterogeneous, the case reveals how the firm manages each distinctively and adopts diverse SSCM practices, which are aligned with the firm's TBL measures. Moreover, stakeholder exposure has a moderating effect on the relationship between the firm's SSCM practices and the TBL measures.

This diploma thesis deals with the topic of social business in the South Bohemian and Pilsen Region, its development and possibilities for further development. The aim of the thesis is to evaluate the state of social business in both regions and to recommend possible steps that would lead to a greater development of social business in the Czech Republic. The theoretical part deals with the history of the social economy and its subjects. Attention is also devoted to social entrepreneurship, its development and the principles that social enterprises must follow. Further, there is described the development of social entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic, legislation and support possibilities for social enterprises. In this section, there are also examples of countries where social enterprises is working successfully. These are Great Britain, Italy and Poland. The practical part deals with the evaluation of the questionnaire survey, which took place among managers of social enterprises in both regions. Questions in the questionnaire were very broad. There were questions about the size of the enterprises , the cooperation, the problems that enterprises face or the benefits of doing business for the company. Based on the results of this survey, research questions were answered. Further, recommendations are described in this part, which could help to further develop social entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic. This is rather a nationwide recommendation. In this case, the empirical investigation is rather supplementary.

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No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação - José Saraiva.pdf: 22991420 bytes, checksum: e836f2abfe79e26c39e991417f888d60 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-04 / Não informada / Data of institutions linked to the government, indicate that Brazil loses about R$ 8 billion per year to fail to recycle their solid waste, in this context, this work goes on to add with the willing objectives, by creating a business model for managing an industry of Contract Manufacturer for TFT-LCD Displays and exploring Services Remanufacturing and repair of LCD-TFT displays. All these products are intended for intermediate goods industry and services with the prospect of Adding Value to Sustainable productive chain, supply chain, providing Income and Employment generation to groups and associations on separate collection of consumer electronics, revitalizing , in a strategic way the trade balance of semiconductors components, today unfavorable, in the Brazilian and Latin American market. The methodology used aims to provide a holistic approach of the product chain, with the aim of having a better understanding of all gains, risks, advantages and disadvantages, with the purpose of showing the viability and sustainability of the proposed business model. Was examined initially, legal, environmental, social and economic aspects of electronic waste; then is presented a business plan for a company Spin-off, which proposes to build a remanufacture and repair industry, from products collected at the end of the life cycle. Glass with the deposition of the active matrix - TFT (ITO), is an essential raw material for business, will be availed from LCD Displays collected. Operations and strategies of the Spin-off Company are discussed starting from a sustainable value model, where the sustainable value generation is the efficiency of business processes, automation, acquisition of machinery and equipment, the production process design, in good management practices, knowledge management and technological innovation through the construction and improvement of new machines inherent Remanufacturing and Repair process, thus ensuring a high level of reuse of this raw material/waste, providing reintegration as intermediate good in the product life cycle, bringing financial benefits for cooperatives, professionalization of the cooperative members, maximizing the number of product collected with low loss of raw materials / process waste salvageable besides development actions related to the social aspects of sustainable development in the context of the Triple Bottom Line. / Dados de instituições ligadas ao governo, indicam que o Brasil perde cerca de R$ 8 bilhões por ano ao deixar de reciclar seus resíduos sólidos(IPEA), neste contexto, este trabalho passa a ganhar força de acordo com os objetivos dispostos, que são respectivamente, o de criar um modelo de negócios que opere uma empresa no formato Contract Manufacturer em Dispositivos de telas de LCD de matriz ativa e a exploração de Serviços de Remanufatura e Reparo de Displays de LCD-TFT. Todos esses produtos, destinam-se a indústria de bens intermediários e assistências técnicas, com a perspectiva de Agregar Valor Sustentável a cadeia produtiva, cadeia de suprimentos, proporcionando a Geração de Emprego e Renda aos grupos e associações de coleta seletiva de produtos eletroeletrônicos, revitalizando, de forma estratégica, a balança comercial de componentes semicondutores, hoje desfavorável, no mercado brasileiro e latino americano. A metodologia empregada, busca proporcionar uma visão holística da cadeia do produto, com o propósito de haver um melhor entendimento de todos os ganhos, riscos, vantagens e desvantagens, mostrando a viabilidade e a sustentabilidade do modelo de negócios proposto. Examinam-se inicialmente, os aspectos legais, ambientais, econômicos e sociais dos resíduos eletroeletrônicos; depois, apresenta-se um plano de negócios de uma empresa Spin-off, que se propõe a construir uma indústria de remanufatura e reparo, a partir de produtos coletados em final do ciclo de vida. O estado da arte, toma como base o Vidro com deposição da matriz ativa – TFT, que é o insumo essencial para o negócio, aproveitado a partir das telas de LCD coletadas. As operações e estratégias da empresa Spin-off, são discutidas à luz de um modelo de valor sustentável, trazendo ganhos financeiros para as cooperativas, profissionalização dos cooperados, maximização da quantidade de produtos coletados, proporcionando baixa perda de insumos/resíduos aproveitáveis ao processo, além de desenvolver ações ligadas aos aspectos sociais do desenvolvimento sustentável, no contexto do Triple Bottom Line.