Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur HSBs värderingar skapar värde för HSBs intressenter. För att undersöka detta har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ metod. Denna grundar sig i en syn på verkligheten som social konstruktion och en hermeneutisk, tolkande, syn på kunskap. Undersökningen är gjord vid HSB Centrala Värmland i Karlstad. Företag söker ständigt nya sätt att skapa värde. Värde anses idag vara något som skapas tillsammans, genom relationer och att enbart fokusera på ägare och att göra vinst är således inte längre tillräckligt. Ett företag måste ta hänsyn till samtliga av sina intressenter och lära sig vad som skapar värde för dem. På senare tid är det intresset för sociala, etiska och miljömässiga värderingar ökat. Begrepp som socialt ansvar och hållbarhet blir allt viktigare och dessa aktiviteter verkar kunna styras precis som andra system inom ett företag. Värderingar kan vidare vara drivande faktorer i förbättringsprocesser vad gäller tjänstekvalitet, så kallad värderingsbaserad tjänstekvalitet för hållbara affärer. Slutsatsen av undersökningen är att HSBs värderingar, engagemang, trygghet, hållbarhet, omtanke och samverkan, ETHOS, skapar värde för HSBs intressenter och särskiljer HSB från andra företag på marknaden genom att de genomsyrar hela HSBs verksamhet och kan kopplas till allt HSB gör. Avgörande i denna process är framför allt den interna kommunikationen. HSBs medarbetare definierar värderingarna, ETHOS, som sina egna och agerar enligt dem vilket, som ovan nämnt, ger värderingarna innehåll. Genom att lyssna på sina intressenter, och ge dem vad de vill ha och förväntar sig, driver och förbättrar värderingarna tjänstekvaliteten. HSB som är en kooperativ organisation har en större möjlighet att komma nära sina intressenter och därmed att förstå vilka värderingar dessa har, än andra privat- eller aktieägdaföretag, vilket måste anses som en fördel.

Sustainable development is concerned with acknowledging economic, social and environmental development aspects, catering for the current needs of society without damaging the well-being of future generations. Ecotourism is a niche market that emerged because of increased market demands for sustainable tourism practices. It serves to provide tourism products and services while accommodating for the economic, social and environmental aspects of society. However, earlier research suggests that it is difficult to handle the three dimensions of sustainable development, indicating that trade-offs may occur. Furthermore, as tour operators are able to affect local development prospects, it is of interest to examine how they handle sustainable development, and more specifically, contribute to trade-offs between the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development. This thesis was aimed at answering the following research question; “How do ecotourism tour operators contribute to trade-offs between the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development?”, with the objective of examining how ecotourism tour operators handle the dimensions of sustainable development, and what trade-offs that may occur between economic, social and environmental concerns. This qualitative research was carried out in the context of ecotourism tour operators in Costa Rica through semi-structured interviews. Nine respondents participated in this research, representing seven local ecotourism tour operators. The data collected on the trade-offs of ecotourism and sustainable development has in turn been analysed with reference to a pre-established theoretical framework. This study has revealed that ecotourism tour operators are actively engaging in initiatives supporting the idea of sustainable development. The tour operators handle the economic, social and environmental concerns through different initiatives. One conclusion that can be derived from this research is that all pillars of sustainable development are important to acknowledge. However, this is difficult as the three dimensions are somewhat contradicting. Therefore, depending on how ecotourism tour operators prioritise different initiatives, trade-offs are inevitable as both inter- and intragenerational needs are difficult to align.

Bakgrund: Hållbarhetsredovisningar har blivit allt mer populära på senare tid. Genom dessa kommunicerar företaget ut till sina intressenter om verksamhetens påverkan på samhället ur ett hållbarhetsperspektiv. Tidigare forskning har till stor del koncentrerat sig på företagens perspektiv och vilken nytta de har av hållbarhetsredovisningar, men det finns även en mottagande sida av kommunikationen som utgörs av företagens intressenter. Bland intressenterna finns det ett forskningsgap om hur kreditgivarna uppfattar hållbarhetsredovisningarna, trots att de är en av de viktigaste intressentgrupperna. Forskning med utgångspunkt i legitimitetsteorin och signaleringsteorin, har även visat att den nytta företagen har av hållbarhetsredovisningarna kan ske på bekostnad av hållbarhetsredovisningarnas användbarhet ur kreditgivarnas perspektiv.   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur användbara hållbarhetsredovisningar är för svenska kreditgivare, samt att bidra till diskussionen i forskningen kring hållbarhetsredovisningens användbarhet utifrån hur den ser ut idag. Studien har även som delsyften att skapa en djupare förståelse för varför det ser ut som det gör, samt att bidra med underlag, dels till företag hur de ska bedriva sin hållbarhetsredovisning med kreditgivare i åtanke, men även till standardsättare vid utveckling av ramverk för hållbarhetsredovisning.   Teoretisk utgångspunkt: Arbetet innehåller en referensram som innefattar ämnen som hållbarhetsredovisning, kvaliteten på informationen, extern granskning och kreditgivning. Arbetet innehåller också en teoridel där vi tar upp intressentteorin, legitimitetsteorin, signaleringsteorin och Carrolls CSR pyramid.   Metod: För att besvara syftet med studien har vi använt oss av en kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Det empiriska materialet består av sju intervjuer med åtta personer som arbetar med kreditgivning till företag. Studien är gjord ur en hermeneutisk synvinkel där fokus har legat på att tolka respondenternas uppfattning av hållbarhetsredovisningarnas användbarhet utifrån intervjuerna.   Resultat och slutsatser: Studien visade att det finns individuella skillnader kreditgivarna emellan om vilket behov av hållbarhetsrelaterad information de har och det varierar därför hur användbara hållbarhetsredovisningarna är från kreditgivare till kreditgivare. Informationsbehovet för de individuella kreditgivarna visades i sin tur kunna bero på vilken nivå av ansvarstagande de befinner sig på, storleken på de lån och kunder de kommer i kontakt med, samt på vilken bransch deras kunder är verksamma inom. Vi kom fram till att kreditgivarna uppfattade att det finns utrymme för förbättring vad gäller kvaliteten på hållbarhetsredovisningarna. Utifrån de samhällsekonomiska teorierna fann vi att kritiken mot hållbarhetsredovisningarnas kvalitet kan bero på att de riktar sig till flera intressenter och inte bara kreditgivare samt misstanken om att företag använder hållbarhetsredovisningarna av strategiska orsaker. Vi kom dock fram till att hållbarhetsredovisningarna håller en tillräckligt god kvalitet för att kreditgivarna ska kunna ha användning av dem. Däremot visade studien att kreditgivarna föredrog att inhämta informationen genom personlig kontakt med företaget framför hållbarhetsredovisningarna, vilket kan förklaras av kreditgivarnas interna struktur och redovisningsmiljön.

Nation states of the world are driven by socio-economic imperatives that are rapidly degrading the natural resources that sustain life on Earth. This paradox has led to numerous initiatives to better understand and measure sustainability and sustainable development through indices. The primary objective of this research is to critically analyse the plethora of indices developed and used by institutions and organisations globally that have a role to play in measuring the sustainability and sustainable development of nation states, and distil the analysis into one integrated Sustainable Development Index (SDI) that compares all countries. A secondary objective is to review South Africa‟s response to measure sustainability and determine how well it performs compared to other nation states. A qualitative approach is used to review the literature in three steps, namely to consider the challenges of measuring what matters, to reflect on the response to govern and measure sustainability, and then to identify outcomes in terms of specific indices related to triple bottom line dimensions. The review considers the scope and level of integration of global indices as well as South Africa‟s response to measure sustainability. The analysis phase normalizes all the data to establish an integrated SDI for all countries, it then analyses and interprets the data to determine the variation and correlation between all the global indices, and then benchmarks countries and specifically South Africa. The review finds that twenty-one years after the Agenda 21 agreement at the Rio Earth Summit, no acceptable or established SDI has been developed and implemented by the United Nations, and the analysis develops two options for an integrated SDI at nation state level. In terms of both these SDI‟s South Africa performs poorly from a benchmarked perspective. From both the nation state and global indices perspectives, the appraisal of the single integrated SDI finds significant variations in the results, coupled with a wide range of correlation outcomes which distil into well correlated single integrated SDIs. The findings indicate that recent SDI developments are moving towards human wellbeing indicators, however although environmental priorities are considered, they play a secondary role. This “inconvenient truth” alludes to a “business as usual” approach as the policy makers of the world continue to focus on short-term socio-economic imperatives. Environmental thresholds and “limits to growth” considerations need to be fundamental aspects of all SDIs. This argument continues by factoring thresholds and priorities into the triple bottom line dimensions - a Sustainability Intelligence Quotient is developed from the integrated SDI, which suggests that only two countries meet the requirements. / (Master of Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Nation states of the world are driven by socio-economic imperatives that are rapidly degrading the natural resources that sustain life on Earth. This paradox has led to numerous initiatives to better understand and measure sustainability and sustainable development through indices. The primary objective of this research is to critically analyse the plethora of indices developed and used by institutions and organisations globally that have a role to play in measuring the sustainability and sustainable development of nation states, and distil the analysis into one integrated Sustainable Development Index (SDI) that compares all countries. A secondary objective is to review South Africa‟s response to measure sustainability and determine how well it performs compared to other nation states. A qualitative approach is used to review the literature in three steps, namely to consider the challenges of measuring what matters, to reflect on the response to govern and measure sustainability, and then to identify outcomes in terms of specific indices related to triple bottom line dimensions. The review considers the scope and level of integration of global indices as well as South Africa‟s response to measure sustainability. The analysis phase normalizes all the data to establish an integrated SDI for all countries, it then analyses and interprets the data to determine the variation and correlation between all the global indices, and then benchmarks countries and specifically South Africa. The review finds that twenty-one years after the Agenda 21 agreement at the Rio Earth Summit, no acceptable or established SDI has been developed and implemented by the United Nations, and the analysis develops two options for an integrated SDI at nation state level. In terms of both these SDI‟s South Africa performs poorly from a benchmarked perspective. From both the nation state and global indices perspectives, the appraisal of the single integrated SDI finds significant variations in the results, coupled with a wide range of correlation outcomes which distil into well correlated single integrated SDIs. The findings indicate that recent SDI developments are moving towards human wellbeing indicators, however although environmental priorities are considered, they play a secondary role. This “inconvenient truth” alludes to a “business as usual” approach as the policy makers of the world continue to focus on short-term socio-economic imperatives. Environmental thresholds and “limits to growth” considerations need to be fundamental aspects of all SDIs. This argument continues by factoring thresholds and priorities into the triple bottom line dimensions - a Sustainability Intelligence Quotient is developed from the integrated SDI, which suggests that only two countries meet the requirements. / (Master of Environmental Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

This thesis is a research about how Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be integrated within Small to medium sized enterprises (SME) inside the fashion industry. It examines the drivers for fashion companies to take social and environmental responsibility and what difficulties and opportunities that they might face in their work towards a more sustainable supply chain. There is no doubt about that the fashion industry needs to re-think their strategies in order to be ethical and environmentally friendly, however focus usually lies on the large chains and their impact. In this report, focus lies on fashion companies that belongs to the category “SME”. SME plays a significant role to the economy and have a great impact on the society yet there is little research and empirical findings on how SME can contribute in a profitable way to a sustainable future. A literature review was made to find the current status of how small companies work with CSR together with relevant theories on how to apply it in reality. Three companies chose to participate in an interview in order to get empirical findings and to connect the literature review with reality. The main barrier for SMEs within the fashion industry to involve in CSR is the financial aspect however there is many advantages such as improved stakeholder relationships as well as improved brand reputation that will generate profit in the long run. This study tries to motivate fashion companies to engage in CSR in order to build a stable business.

Large amounts of dredged sediment are removed from ports and river channels annually to maintain necessary depths in the maritime industry. The most common management approach for dredged soils throughout the southeast US is disposal in confined facilities. This may be the most feasible approach for ports with modest amounts of dredged soil and ample capacity for disposal. However, there is likely a more feasible option for some ports desiring to increase dredged soil containment capacity. This thesis evaluates the beneficial reuse of dredged soils after lightly cementing with 5.0% or less cement by slurry mass. A previously conducted survey was interpreted prior to performing a literature review, testing, and performing sustainability calculations for reuse of dredged soil when lightly cemented. There were 239 experiments performed as part of this thesis to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing dredged soils after lightly cementing for beneficial reuse projects near ports.

The goal of the presented research is to explain the importance of integrating the literatures on leader bottom-line mentality (BLM) and behavioral ethics and to demonstrate that leader BLM can adversely impact followers' perceptions of ethical leadership. By doing so, several contributions can be made. First, I identify an antecedent of ethical leadership. Predominantly, most ethical leadership research has focused on identifying its outcomes (Brown & Mitchell, 2010). Second, I will offer new theoretical insights regarding the antecedents of ethical leadership. Past ethical leadership research has primarily relied on social exchange (Blau, 1964; Gouldner, 1960) and social cognitive (Bandura, 1977, 1986) theories, whereas I will draw on trait activation and cognitive stress theories to examine the relationship between BLM and ethical leadership. By integrating these two theories I will demonstrate Kerr's (1975) example of “the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B.” Third, I will explain and demonstrate why follower BLM and leader stress perceptions are important boundary conditions regarding the primary relationship of interest and overall model. Comprehensively, I examine and demonstrate the potential of a backfiring effect that can be strengthened or weakened. This research aims to shed light on the often disregarded catch-22 leaders face in world that is increasingly concerned about bottom-line outcomes, while also demanding an immaculate standard of ethical behavior from leaders.

Under de senaste årtiondena har ekonomisk globalisering varit ett faktum och den globala handeln har ständigt ökat. Många företag använder idag en global inköpsstrategi för att kunna effektivisera sin verksamhet, tillgodose sina kunders behov, minimera sina inköpskostnader och maximera sina vinster. Men den globala handeln har gjort försörjningskedjan mer komplex och företag upplever idag svårigheter att kontrollera leverantörer genom sin försörjningskedja. Det har lett till att leverantörers verksamheter sköts oansvarigt och de globala inköpen påverkar de ekologiska, sociala och ekonomiska aspekterna i triple bottom line på ett negativt sätt.   Studien syftar därför till att undersöka hur företag som är verksamma i norra Sverige, från Gävle i söder till Treriksröset i norr, arbetar med globala inköp utifrån triple bottom line genom sin försörjningskedja. Genom att skapa en modell som kan fungera som vägledning för hur företag kan arbeta med globala inköp, samt bidra med ny kunskap och vägledning inom ämnet lyder studiens problemformulering enligt följande:  Hur arbetar företag i norra Sverige med globala inköp utifrån triple bottom line genom sin försörjningskedja?  Den modell som skapats av författarna är baserad på den linjära inköpsprocessmodellen. Modellen har kompletterats med befintlig teori och litteratur inom studiens ämne för att beskriva den globala inköpsprocess och de steg och aktiviteter företag genomgår vid globala inköp. Vidare i studien har modellen utvecklats ytterligare baserat på det empiriska data som samlats in. Det empiriska datat är insamlat från åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer tillsammans med respondenter som har goda kunskaper inom globala inköp och arbetar på företag verksamma i norra Sverige. Studien bidrar i sin helhet med att skapa en förståelse för hur företag i norra Sverige arbetar med globala inköp utifrån triple bottom line genom sin försörjningskedja. Samt vilka konsekvenser globala inköp kan innebära för de tre aspekterna och vilka arbetssätt företag kan använda för att minimera konsekvenserna.   Studien resulterar i fyra slutsatser: För det första har företagen, trots föreliggande utmaningar, ett starkt fokus på triple bottom line när de arbetar med globala inköp. Vidare strävar även majoriteten av företagen efter att vara proaktiva istället för reaktiva i sitt globala inköpsarbete. Dessutom är kontrollen genom hela försörjningskedjan bristande eftersom samtliga företag gör djupgående kontroller av sina huvudleverantörer, men endast ett fåtal kontrollerar sina underleverantörer. Till sist går det att se att globalt inköpsarbete är under förändring till följd av nytillkommen lagstiftning och påverkan från händelser i omvärlden.

O objetivo deste trabalho é elucidar a relação da percepção dos docentes e profissionais sobre as competências para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável Corporativo (DSC), comparando o que é ensinado nos cursos de administração ao que é necessário na prática, em relação às competências para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (DS), em organizações no Brasil. Levando em consideração o conceito de DSC e o Triple Bottom Line (TBL), existem competências específicas para a gestão deste DS: competências organizacionais (ligadas ao DSC, por meio de estratégias para alcançar o conceito de TBL de DS); competências distintivas (que abrangem as competências em cada uma das dimensões do TBL) e competências foco (que abordam as dimensões em conjunto) e ainda ter a formação em competências individuais (abrangidas normalmente nos cursos de administração de forma geral), para conseguir conjuntamente com as competências desenvolvidas pela organização melhor gerir os objetivos do DS. Para tanto é necessário a Educação para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (EDS) inserida em conteúdos dos cursos de administração, e que tem como objetivo o enfoque em se construir uma sociedade que se desenvolva de maneira sustentável, preparando profissionais que conheçam gestão para atuarem em organizações de diferentes maneiras em busca do desenvolvimento sem prejudicar o ambiente para que ele se mantenha para gerações futuras. Assim, para se alcançar o objetivo proposto, esta pesquisa foi efetuada uma pesquisa de levantamento por amostragem (amostra por conveniência) com profissionais do DS nas organizações brasileiras; e com coordenadores de curso e docentes, ainda houve a pesquisa documental por meio de uma análise de conteúdo dos Projetos Pedagógicos de Curso (PPC), planos de ensino, grades curriculares e ementas de cursos de administração com notas quatro e cinco no Exame Nacional de Desempenho dos Estudantes (ENADE) e/ou signatários do Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME); a terceira etapa se constituiu da comparação dos dados obtidos nestas duas etapas anteriores e finalmente a etapa quatro que relacionou todas as etapas para responder o objetivo geral do trabalho. Dentre os principais resultados obtidos têm-se que há concordância entre os docentes e profissionais no que tange ao conceito de DS, ambos percebem o TBL como principal; no entanto quando comparados com os conteúdos encontrados nos documentos analisados a maioria destes não possuem a abordagem TBL, mas tendem a ter mais assuntos relacionados à dimensão ambiental, que acaba por coincidir com a maior área de atuação dos profissionais que responderam a esta pesquisa; sobre a abordagem dada ao DS, todos concordam que o mesmo deve estar diretamente ligado às estratégias das organizações. Apesar destas concordâncias, o que ocorre nas organizações ainda está distante da visão dos acadêmicos. O outro resultado importante deste trabalho é que os profissionais e acadêmicos concordam que o administrador precisa saber trabalhar de forma interdisciplinar, unindo questões financeiras, ambientais e sociais; ter pensamento sistêmico; conhecer o modelo do TBL e ter resiliência, dentre as competências do profissional. Já em relação às competências distintivas, ambos concordam que as mais importantes estão relacionadas à dimensão social; e sobre as competências foco, ambos concordam que as mais importantes estão relacionadas a abordar o TBL de forma completa e sempre voltado ao benefício de todos os stakeholders. Baseando-se nestes resultados foram propostos modelos de melhoria do EDS para os cursos de administração. / The objective of this research is to elucidate the relationship between academia´s and professionals\' perceptions of the competencies for Corporate Sustainable Development (CSD), comparing what is taught in management courses to what is needed in practice in Brazilian organizations. Regarding the concept of CSD and the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), there are specific competences for the Sustainable Development (SD) management: organizational competences (linked to the CSD, through strategies to achieve the SD concept of TBL); distinctive competences (covering competences in each of the TBL dimensions) and focus competences (which address the dimensions together) and still have the individual competences (usually discussed in management courses) to better manage the CSD together with the competences developed by the organizations. Hence it is necessary the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) inserted in the contents of the management courses, and that aims to focus on building a society that develops in a sustainable way, preparing professionals who know management to work in organizations in different ways in order to develop without harming the environment so that it remains for future generations. Thus, to achieve the proposed objective, this research was developed in four stages: the first with the professionals who work with the SD in organizations, through a sampling survey (convenience sampling). The second with the academy, including the course coordinators and faculty in a survey research and a documentary research through a content analysis of the pedagogical documentation from management courses with grades four and five in the National Student Performance Examination (ENADE) and/or signatories of Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRME). The third stage was the comparison of the data obtained in these two previous steps. The fourth step aimed to answer the core objective of the research. Among the main results, there is an agreement between the faculty and professionals concerning the concept of SD, both perceived the TBL as most important concept. However, when compared to the contents found in the documents analyzed most of these do not have the TBL approach, but the environmental dimension, which corresponded to the area of activity of the most professionals who answered this research. On the approach given to the SD, everyone agrees that the same should be directly linked to the strategies of the organizations. Despite these consensus, what happens in organizations is still far from the vision of the faculty. The other important result is that the professionals and faculty agree that the manager needs to know how to work interdisciplinary, uniting financial, environmental and social issues; to think in a systemic way; to understand the TBL and to be resilient, among the professional competences. About the distinctive competences, both agree that the most important ones are related to the social dimension. And on the focus competences both agree that the most important ones are related to addressing the TBL in a complete means and always focused to the benefit of all stakeholders. Based on these results, it was proposed models to improve the ESD for the management courses.