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Purpose of the study. This thesis deals with the role of sustainable purpose in the formation of sustainable start-ups. It aims to determine if sustainable purpose was a reason to start a company, what caused the emergence of sustainable purpose within the entrepreneurs, and how this purpose can benefit the enterprise. The study design. The study first defines sustainable purpose by juxtaposing selected concepts, models, and frameworks that aim to harmonize doing business and positive contribution to the planet and people. Based on that, we conducted semi-structured interviews with founders of sustainable start-ups (N=9). These were analysed via a qualitative content analysis and cross evaluation. Major findings. The findings were divided into six major categories. Interviewees contributed knowledge and opinion about their founding motivations, their source of sustainable purpose, how sustainable purpose benefits their business, what their view on sustainability is, what they criticise about today’s business world, and what the characteristics of themselves and their business are. Summary of interpretation. The collected data suggests that sustainable purpose was a reason for entrepreneurs to start a business that positively impacts society and the planet. Impactful life events influenced entrepreneurs to think critically about doing business and contributing to a better world. These impactful life events can be identified as the source of sustainable purpose within entrepreneurs. Lastly, entrepreneurs did identify benefits of having a sustainable purpose.

The thesis External dimension of CSR social pillar in Škoda Auto: company's activities and local community deals with the company's activities, which have an impact on the community of Mladá Boleslav. Particular focus is given to external dimension of social pillar of CSR. However the other activities, which are not declared as part of CSR.but have some impact on the local community, are also described in the thesis. One of the main goals of the thesis is to find out how the local NGOs percieve these activities and if they are trying to actively influence the CSR strategy of the company. The research is based on contemporrary theories in CSR, moreover the concept of cross-sectoral partnership is used. The output of the thesis is the evaluation of external dimension of CSR social pillar in Škoda Auto and proposal of new strategy, based on the collaboration with the local stakeholders using the topics suitable to cross-sectoral partnership.

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Changing climates, human population growth, and aging infrastructure threaten the availability and quality of one of life's most vital resources, water. Hydrological ecosystem services are goods and benefits derived from freshwater that include flood damage mitigation, water for agricultural and commercial use, swimmable and navigable waters, and healthy aquatic habitats. Using computer algorithms inspired by biological and ecological processes known as evolutionary algorithms and on-site stormwater management practices such structural best management practices (BMPs) and green stormwater infrastructure (GSI), this research aims to maximize hydrological ecosystem services at the watershed-scale in both agricultural and urban environments by integrating these algorithms with the watershed model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), and the hydraulic model Storm Water Management Model (SWMM). This dissertation first develops an information theoretic approach to global sensitivity analysis for distributed models, demonstrated using SWAT, and later uses the sensitive model parameters in a multi-objective automatic calibration scheme using multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO). Multiple alternative watershed-scale BMP designs (parallel terraces, detention/infiltration ponds, field borders, and grade stabilization structures) that help minimize peak runoff and annual sediment yield were simultaneously identified using SWAT coupled with the species conserving genetic algorithm (SCGA). Finally, using recently developed economic estimates called triple bottom line (TBL) accounting, watershed-scale GSI designs are identified that reduce combined sewer overflow volumes in an urban setting while maximizing the net benefit across social, economic, and environmental categories. Overall, this dissertation research provides useful and relevant computer-based tools for water resources planners and managers interested in maximizing hydrological ecosystem services benefits.

Background: As the Earth heads towards the zone of exceedance, there is a highlighted importance in contributing towards sustainable development. The sustainable development goals (SDGs), introduced by the United Nations, act as guidance to integrate environmental, social, and economic aspects, to ensure a sustainable future.  However, research is missing on the interconnection between the need to engage stakeholders in the Port and the SDGs. Researching the port of Le Havre is used as an example to demonstrate an in-depth analysis of the actors’ activities and their level of engagement regarding sustainability. Purpose: This thesis aims to analyze the sustainability strategies taken by the stakeholders in the port industry based in the port of Le Havre and identify the key elements to achieve the SDGs by engaging the stakeholders.  Method: The study aligns with an interpretive analysis, where qualitative multiple exploratory case studies were carried out. Through semi-structured interviews, the researchers were able to assess the sustainable activities realized by the stakeholders. By analyzing the data using a coding procedure, five aggregate dimensions emerged. Conclusion: This study suggests that the stakeholders and their awareness of sustainability are essential to achieve the SDGs. In addition to this conclusion, the findings also suggest they should act collectively towards meeting the SDGs, to ensure a holistic and long-lasting strategy towards sustainability.

Road freight transportation is important for the development of the global economy and, at the same time, one of the most destructive businesses when it comes to the environment and human health. As societies evolve, the need for freight transportation increases and the transport demand cannot in a sustainable way be fulfilled with the use of diesel trucks as it is done today. For the sake of our environment, the electrification transition needs to ramp up. However, when it comes to covering long distances with an electric truck, problems arise due to the lack of sufficient driving strategies, technology, and infrastructure adapted to the needs for long-distance electrified transportation. Therefore, different battery-electric truck solutions need to be evaluated to identify an economically, socially, and environmentally friendly way of operating. Consequently, the purpose of this master's thesis is the following:  From a carrier operation perspective, identify different solutions for electrified long-haul transportation and evaluate how cost competitive they are based on triple bottom line. To fulfill this purpose the study was divided into two steps, where the first one was to, through literature and interviews, identify different solutions for electric long-haul transportation and external parameters affecting these solutions. The parameters and solutions were then combined with different distances into focus cases. The second step consisted of identifying both internal and external cost drivers, which were used to create a cost model that considered environmental, economic, and social sustainability. The cost model was then used to evaluate the different focus cases to determine their competitiveness. The solutions were based on wire charging, a 300-, 450-, or 624 kWh battery, and were operated either through trailer swap or point-to-point. The external parameters that were the most important ones were battery degradation, the electricity market, and prerequisites for effective logistics. These were all combined into focus cases which were evaluated on the distances 300-, 400-, 500-, and 600 km. The cost model that was used included both internal and external costs to cover the economic, environmental, and social perspectives in the evaluation. To evaluate the focus cases and be able to compare it to a diesel solution the model considered the costs that differ between a battery electric truck and a diesel truck, which at an overall level was electricity cost, charging infrastructure, batteries, salary when charging, environmental, and social costs. For the distance of 300 km, the most competitive combination was wire charging, 300 kWh battery, and trailer swap. For the distances 400- and 500 km the best combination was wire charge, 450 kWh battery, and trailer swap. The best solution for 500 km was wire charge, 624 kWh battery, and trailer swap. The conclusion is, from a carrier operation perspective, that the most competitive solution to use is based on trailer swap, including a battery with a capacity that is adapted to the distance where the batteries can be charged through wire charging at a charger with a high utilization factor. Finally, for shorter distances, a battery electric truck is cost-competitive against a diesel truck. However, at longer distances a battery electric truck's competitiveness in comparison to a diesel truck gets worse, but at all distances the battery electric truck solution is both socially and environmentally beneficial in comparison to a diesel alternative.

The severe and far-reaching impact of the crisis in the past few years has promptedcompanies to rethink the inadequacies of the crisis response. Although the previous literatureregarded threat rigidity and innovation to response challenges. The study on utilisingsustainability to withdraw a crisis and how a corporation can develop a framework fornavigating its operation during the crisis is still limited. Additionally, sustainability has beengaining particular attention after the pandemic crisis which led to several environmental,social, and economic consequences.This thesis research aims to analyse a business case study with secondary data and conductsemi-structured interviews with a supervisor, specialist, and director from Intercos Group, onhow sustainability can be a possible approach to overcome a crisis within a corporation whilealso enhancing a business’s performance.The findings showed that implementing the triple-bottom-line framework, which aligns withthe principles of Sustainable Development, has been influential in guiding the corporation’spractices. Three highly effective approaches – transparency, market-oriented qualityapproach, and sustainable value optimization - derived from the three -dimensional elementsselected for this research transparency, values and markets which showed that it caneffectively address crises. By adopting these approaches, corporations can enhance internaland external communication, foster transparent and open dialogues, create additional valuefor stakeholders, and uncover new business opportunities during critical times. This enablescorporations to become more resilient, reliable, and innovative in their crisis responsestrategies. Our research enriches the previous content on corporate sustainability and providesnew ideas for creating sustainable corporate development strategies. At the same time, wehave devoted our efforts to advancing the practical application of the triple bottom lineframework in sustainable enterprise development during times of crisis.

This study is an introduction to the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and TripleBottom Line (TBL) utilization in Swedish born global firms. The purpose of this study was toexplore how born globals utilize CSR and TBL and thus contribute to the research field withnew knowledge. The knowledge gap found by the researchers was the lack of foundationalknowledge of the field born globals, CSR and TBL together. The research questionsconcerned the utilization of CSR and TBL, what negative aspects of CSR and TBL were seenby the companies and what parts of CSR and TBL were most important. This study wasconducted on Swedish born global firms utilizing sustainability practices. A conceptualframework was generated by the concepts born global, CSR and TBL to visualize theirconnection. The purpose and the questions were fulfilled and answered by conductingsemi-structured interviews with four Swedish born global companies of different sizes andindustries. To further develop the analysis, Archie B Carroll's input was added. What could beconcluded from this study was that the companies had different ways of utilizing CSR.Furthermore, the negative aspects of working sustainably with CSR and TBL was seen aseconomical and time consuming. The positive aspects were the other values gained for thefirms externally which overweighted the negative costs. Thus has this research contributed tomanagers within born global firms as well as the theoretical research field of born globals andCSR.

Bakgrund: De ökande utsläppen av växthusgaser som bidrar till den globala uppvärmningen gör hållbarhet till ett viktigt ämne i dagens samhälle. Godstransporter står för en betydande del av dessa utsläpp och än idag drivs mer än 90% av Sveriges lastbilar av fossil diesel. Samtidigt ökar behovet av transporter som tillgodoser samhällets alla behov vilket påverkar aktörer från ett ekonomiskt, socialt och miljömässigt perspektiv. Detta gör att åkeriföretag får stor betydelse för hela supply chains vilket gör att hållbarhet kan vara viktigt som konkurrensmedel. Sverige har som mål att inrikestransporter ska nå netto noll i växthusgasutsläpp år 2045 vilket innebär att åkeribranschen står inför stora utmaningar. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att öka förståelsen för hur svenska åkeriföretag som utför vägburna godstransporter i Sverige kan bli mer konkurrenskraftiga via hållbarhetsarbete utifrån sociala, miljömässiga och ekonomiska faktorer, dvs Triple Bottom Line (TBL). Metod: Studien är utformad enligt en kvalitativ forskningsmetod med en tvärsnittsdesign där ett realistiskt perspektiv appliceras. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in via dokument och 16 semistrukturerade intervjuer med intervjupersoner från 13 olika åkeriföretag samt branschorganisationen Sveriges Åkeriföretag, vilka valdes ut med hjälp av ett kriteriestyrt urval i kombination med ett snöbollsurval. Slutsats: Genom att utgå ifrån företagets unika förutsättningar arbetar svenska åkeriföretag med hållbarhetsåtaganden utifrån hela TBL för att skapa konkurrensfördelar. Det finns en mängd olika framgångsfaktorer och hinder som påverkar åkeriföretags omställning till mer hållbara verksamheter och för att skapa hållbara och attraktiva värdeerbjudanden använder åkeriföretag i huvudsak en hybridstrategi med tyngdpunkt på hållbarhet som differentiering med inslag av lågkostnadsstrategi. Genom att använda sina interna resurser och samtidigt anpassa sig efter externa omvärldsfaktorer samt de begränsningar som naturen sätter skapar åkeriföretagen en unik kombination i ett värdeerbjudande där samtliga dimensioner i TBL behöver balanseras på ett sätt som transportköpare finner attraktivt.