In modern society, there is a generally accepted notion that corporations should be socially responsible, but there is much disagreement over what exactly "social responsibility" means. The primary area of disagreement concerns whether or not firms have a duty to consider non-owner stakeholders in their decision-making process. This paper addresses the need to quantify the benefits of socially responsible activities that provide financial returns to shareholders while still addressing the needs of non-owner stakeholders. It investigates the extent to which the reputational effects of corporate social responsibility lead to increased effectiveness of corporate lobbying expenditures, as measured by effective tax rates. This interactive effect creates a tangible economic benefit for firms, and ultimately their owners, providing an opportunity for firms to address the interests of both non-owners and owners. I expect, and find, that firms that are more socially responsible get a higher return on their lobbying expenditures than firms that are less socially responsible, reflected in lower effective tax rates. This result suggests that the competing viewpoints of the stakeholder and shareholder theories may not be as diametrically opposed as prior literature has suggested. The financial benefits that can be gained from being socially responsible may result in bottom-line profits to the shareholders, while still addressing the needs and desires of non-owner stakeholders. / Ph. D.

Non-government organisations (NGOs) are special kinds of organisation which focus on serving the common good in society. Historically they have helped the needy, disadvantaged and vulnerable people and communities. The view that society had of NGOs has changed: they are no longer seen as charity and welfare organisations but as valuable partners in the context of sustainable development. Although many different non-profit organisations exist, all strive towards development, betterment and upliftment. These organisations are dependent on funding, yet need to be sustainable, which creates the challenge of obtaining funding in order to render services. This research explored the current funding context, using Bramley’s Children’s Home as a case study, in order to identify the challenges experienced by NGOs in obtaining adequate funding. It also investigated the perceptions of management regarding the impact of these challenges on the sustainability of the organisation. The research findings indicate that funding is seen as a common dilemma in this sector, and that there is a lack of sufficient long-term investment from donors. The effect is that NGOs struggle to implement much-needed services and therefore improving services in order to address the constantly changing needs of people remains a challenge. Emphasis has been placed on the importance of collaboration between the NGO sector, the business sector and government. By establishing partnerships each sector can benefit when contributing to sustainable development and can possibly also address the challenge of funding within NGOs. This research strives to showcase the important role of NGOs within the context of sustainable development, with specific reference to Bramley Children’s Home in addressing the social problem of caring for and protecting vulnerable children. / Master of Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Business is arguably the most powerful institution of our society and ever since the publication of the second King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa (King II) in 2002, South African corporate companies have sharpened their focus on their commitment to the “Triple Bottom Line”, an expanded baseline for measuring a company’s performance which includes, in addition to the traditional financial yardstick, accounting of the impact of their activities on society and the environment. It is impossible for organisations to ignore the impact of social, ethical and environmental issues on their business. This research provides an overview of Corporate Social Investment initiatives in South Africa towards developing education. There is a demand for corporate companies to comply with both the King Report on Corporate Governance as well as Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment. Considering the poor state of education, both Government and the private sector are contributing financially to improve the socio-economic conditions of the country, specifically the state of education. Government’s contribution to public education remains its single largest investment, because it is the key to reducing poverty and accelerating long-term economic growth. However, very little impact can be measured as conditions are still very poor and problems still persist. There is no integrated, sustainable focused approach which can be effectively measured and evaluated. The purpose of this research is to investigate initiatives toward the development of education, the focus and the magnitude and effects of initiatives. Thereafter a more synergetic and integrated plan is presented and recommended to the corporate sector to assist in developing education. / MCom (Business Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Non-government organisations (NGOs) are special kinds of organisation which focus on serving the common good in society. Historically they have helped the needy, disadvantaged and vulnerable people and communities. The view that society had of NGOs has changed: they are no longer seen as charity and welfare organisations but as valuable partners in the context of sustainable development. Although many different non-profit organisations exist, all strive towards development, betterment and upliftment. These organisations are dependent on funding, yet need to be sustainable, which creates the challenge of obtaining funding in order to render services. This research explored the current funding context, using Bramley’s Children’s Home as a case study, in order to identify the challenges experienced by NGOs in obtaining adequate funding. It also investigated the perceptions of management regarding the impact of these challenges on the sustainability of the organisation. The research findings indicate that funding is seen as a common dilemma in this sector, and that there is a lack of sufficient long-term investment from donors. The effect is that NGOs struggle to implement much-needed services and therefore improving services in order to address the constantly changing needs of people remains a challenge. Emphasis has been placed on the importance of collaboration between the NGO sector, the business sector and government. By establishing partnerships each sector can benefit when contributing to sustainable development and can possibly also address the challenge of funding within NGOs. This research strives to showcase the important role of NGOs within the context of sustainable development, with specific reference to Bramley Children’s Home in addressing the social problem of caring for and protecting vulnerable children. / Master of Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Business is arguably the most powerful institution of our society and ever since the publication of the second King Report on Corporate Governance for South Africa (King II) in 2002, South African corporate companies have sharpened their focus on their commitment to the “Triple Bottom Line”, an expanded baseline for measuring a company’s performance which includes, in addition to the traditional financial yardstick, accounting of the impact of their activities on society and the environment. It is impossible for organisations to ignore the impact of social, ethical and environmental issues on their business. This research provides an overview of Corporate Social Investment initiatives in South Africa towards developing education. There is a demand for corporate companies to comply with both the King Report on Corporate Governance as well as Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment. Considering the poor state of education, both Government and the private sector are contributing financially to improve the socio-economic conditions of the country, specifically the state of education. Government’s contribution to public education remains its single largest investment, because it is the key to reducing poverty and accelerating long-term economic growth. However, very little impact can be measured as conditions are still very poor and problems still persist. There is no integrated, sustainable focused approach which can be effectively measured and evaluated. The purpose of this research is to investigate initiatives toward the development of education, the focus and the magnitude and effects of initiatives. Thereafter a more synergetic and integrated plan is presented and recommended to the corporate sector to assist in developing education. / MCom (Business Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Bakgrund: Ökat tryck från omvärlden har bidragit till att allt fler företag tillämpar och kommunicerar sitt samhällsansvar (CSR) inom de ekonomiska, miljömässiga och sociala aspekterna för att kunna tillfredsställa sina intressenter. Störst fokus i praktiken hamnar dock på den externa kommunikationen av CSR-arbetet och mindre engagemang läggs på den interna kommunikationen. Detta bidrar till att de anställda utelämnas trots att de bedriver den direkta kommunikationen med kunderna som är den värdefullaste intressenten för företagens framgång. Syfte: Uppsatsen syftar i att skapa en ökad förståelse för hur den interna kommunikationen fungerar mellan ledning och butiksnivå gällande budskap och arbete kring CSR inom ett modeföretag. Uppsatsen avser även att utreda om det förekommer brister i den interna kommunikationen angående CSR-arbetet. Frågeställning: Hur fungerar den interna kommunikationen kring CSR-arbetet inom ett modeföretag? Metod: Induktiv ansats med ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt i form av fem intervjuer med personer på olika nivåer inom organisationen. Slutsats: Uppsatsens resultat finner ett mönster som genererar iii-modellen där den centrala delen hamnar på butikschefernas roll, hur pass involverade, informerade och intresserade de är av företagets CSR-arbete. Butiksanställda tenderar till att påverkas av och anamma samma beteende som butikscheferna vilket avgör vilken roll de antar som CSR-kommunikatörer ut mot företagens viktigaste intressenter, kunderna. Studien påvisar att modeföretaget behöver förbättra sin interna kommunikationsprocess för attde butiksanställda ska kunna agera CSR-kommunikatörer.

Aim Companies around the world are making sizeable investments into CSR initiatives, but ensuring appropriate returns on these investments remains challenging. Therefore, it is of value to study the communication of corporate CSR efforts. The purpose of this study is to investigate how consumers react to rational versus emotional message strategies in CSR communication. Two categories of consumer reactions were considered: trust and purchase intention. Methods Qualitative research with four focus groups was conducted. Participants discussed three texts regarding a CSR project, utilising a rational, emotional and a hybrid rational-emotional message strategy respectively. The conversations focused on trust towards the communication and purchase intention. Results Trust - All of the respondents viewed the rational text over the emotional text as more trustworthy, but they most positively reacted to the combined strategy. Rational information was viewed as more reliable by many participants, with emotional cues adding value by better holding their attention. Purchase intention – Participants more positively reacted to the rational CSR communication strategy, compared to an emotional strategy. For approximately half of respondents, the hybrid strategy targeting both rational and emotional cues was the most successful in terms of purchase intention. Upon further analysis, it was identified that this division in respondents’ opinions may reflect a gender difference, where men portrayed the more task oriented and women the socially sensitive consumers. Conclusions The findings support previous research championing the use of rational strategies over emotional strategies in CSR communication. A number of managerial implications that can be used by companies in order to better communicate their CSR activities and increase returns on CSR-related investments are provided.

ProblembakgrundStora mängder av jordens resurser används för att tillverka varor och tjänster för att mötakonsumenters behov. Företag kan avhjälpa en del av problemet genom att göra hållbarainvesteringar i sina verksamheter. Att sträva efter hållbarhet har idag blivit ett krav och enförväntning från företagens intressenter, för att kunna vara konkurrenskraftiga. Begreppet CSR(Corporate Social Responsibility) är svårdefinierat och ingen tydlig definition finns gällande dessomfattning. Ett CSR-arbete innebär att företag ska ta ett frivilligt ansvar, utöver det som ärlagstiftat, vilket medför att de blir vinstdrivande samtidigt som de bidrar till ett hållbart och bättresamhälle. SyfteSyftet med denna studie är att skapa en större förståelse kring begreppet CSR och granska vilkadrivkrafter som kan ligga bakom företagens CSR-arbete, samt att beskriva hur svenska klädföretag, kan ta hänsyn till begreppet vid investeringar. MetodGenom en kvalitativ och deduktiv ansats genomfördes denna fallstudie för att besvara de uppsattafrågeställningarna. Detta har gjorts med hjälp av en skrivbordsundersökning genom att studerafem klädföretags hållbarhetsredovisningar, vilka var Björn Borg, Gina Tricot, KappAhl, MQsamt Polarn O. Pyret. SlutsatsSlutsatsen som denna studie resulterat i är att svenska klädföretags CSR-arbete drivs utifrån deförväntningar och krav som företagets intressenter ställer på dem. Vid investeringar tar företagenhänsyn till CSR genom att ställa höga krav på leverantörerna och utbildar även dessa. Hänsyn tasäven genom att investera i hållbara material och kontrollera att företagen uppfyller kraven somställs. / BackgroundLarge amounts of the earth's resources are used to produce goods and services to meet consumer needs. Companies can remedy part of the problem by making sustainable investments in their businesses. Today, in order to be competitive, companies must strive for sustainability in order tomeet the expectations of corporate stakeholders. The concept of CSR (Corporate SocialResponsibility) is difficult to define, and no clear definition exists regarding its scope. Working with CSR means that companies take voluntary responsibility beyond what is legislated, whichmeans that they will profit while contributing to a sustainable and better society. PurposeThe purpose of this report is to create a greater understanding of the concept of CSR, examine the driving forces that may be behind corporate work with CSR, and describe how Swedish clothing companies can take into account the concept of investments. MethodIn this report, a qualitative and deductive approach was used to answer a set question. This was done with a desk-based review by studying five clothing company’s sustainability reports. The companies included Björn Borg, Gina Tricot, KappAhl, MQ and Polarn O. Pyret. ConclusionThe report concludes that the discussed Swedish clothing company’s incorporation of CSR isdriven by the expectations and demands of its stakeholders. When making investments, companies take into account CSR by setting high standards for suppliers, for example, consideration of investment in sustainable materials, educate them and verify that the companies meet the demands.

Bakgrund: Matsvinn har på senare tid fått stor medial uppmärksamhet samtidigt som konsumenters miljömedvetenhet har ökat. Matsvinn uppstår i hela produktflödet och anses vara ett stort miljöproblem samtidigt som det utgör en kostnad för företag. Det finns ett flertal identifierade reaktiva åtgärder för hur distributions- och butiksledet ska kunna minska detta. Däremot saknas kunskap beträffande orsaker för uppkomsten av matsvinn samt proaktiva åtgärder för att minska detta. Tidigare forskning pekar på att effektivisering av produkters flöde skulle kunna minska matsvinn. Stora livsmedelskedjor utomlands har implementerat styrningsverktyget lean för att effektivisera dess verksamhet samt minska dess matsvinn. På grund av bristen när det gäller forskning om proaktiva åtgärder samt implementering av lean-verktyg för att minska matsvinn krävs ytterligare studier för att undersöka verktygets möjlighet inom svensk dagligvaruhandel. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att redovisa faktorer som kan förklara uppkomsten av matsvinn av färskvaror inom dagligvaruhandeln. Vidare syftar studien till att redovisa en flödeskartläggning och en beskrivning av beställningsprocessen för att undersöka vilka verktyg inom styrningsverktyget lean som kan implementeras för att leda till en minskning av matsvinn. Genomförande: Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär och har en multipel fallstudiedesign. Dess empiri är insamlad från fyra organisationer inom dagligvaruhandeln där intervjuer utförts på både distributionsenheter samt livsmedelsbutiker. Sammanlagt har tolv respondenter intervjuats. Slutsats: Studien konstaterar att vissa styrningsverktyg inom lean kan implementeras på företag inom den svenska dagligvaruhandeln för att minska matsvinn. Däremot har en problematisk balansgång mellan minskat matsvinn och kund nöjdhet identifierats vilket hämmar matsvinnsreducering en. Vidare har studien gett praktiska tillvägagångssätt för att effektivisera distributions- och butiksledet. Dessa hjälpmedel ska användas för att reducera aktörernas matsvinn vilket leder till minskad negativ miljöpåverkan samt ökad lönsamhet.

Bakgrund Corporate Social Responsibility är något som allt fler företag tar hänsyn till i sin dagliga verksamhet då krav från omvärlden konstant ökar. På senare år har forskare börjat intressera sig för CSR:s betydelse för motivationen hos anställda. Tidigare studier indikerar att det finns ett samband mellan CSR och motivation dock är fältet fortfarande outforskat och det krävs fler studier på detaljerad nivå. För att lyckas med CSR-arbetet krävs det att information kontinuerligt kommuniceras på ett konsekvent, tydligt och intresseväckande sätt. Kan CSR-arbete kommuniceras på ett klart sätt kan det leda till ökad motivation hos anställda. En bransch där motiverade anställda påstås vara viktigt är servicebranschen, då anställda är en del av den tjänst som levereras. Därmed är det relevant att studera hur CSR kan användas för att öka motivationen hos anställda som arbetar inom servicebranschen. Syfte Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur CSR påverkar motivationen hos anställda i företag inom servicebranschen i Sverige. Vidare kommer den interna kommunikationen av CSR undersökas och hur denna påverkar motivationen. Därmed är syftet med studien att utreda och kartlägga de faktorer som upplevs vara viktiga för att de anställda ska bli motiverade av företagets CSR-arbete. Metod Studien har antagit en fallstudiedesign då målet med studien varit att detaljrikt granska ett specifikt fall. Metoden som har använts är en kvalitativ metod med en iterativ ansats då författarna gått fram och tillbaka mellan teori och empiri under arbetets gång. Datainsamlingen har skett genom intervjuer och enkäter. Slutsatser Genom den empiriska datainsamlingen har vi kunnat identifiera ett flertal framgångsfaktorer inom området CSR och motivation. Dessa framgångsfaktorer kan främst härledas till intern kommunikation och ledarskap. Vidare har utmaningar i arbetet med att göra CSR till en motivationsfaktor funnits som visar att val av kommunikationsform och att anpassa ledarskapet mellan olika individer kan upplevas problematiskt. Sammanfattningsvis har CSR-aktiviteter visat sig påverka anställdas motivation positivt om de kombineras med effektiv kommunikation och tydligt ledarskap. / Background Due to increasing external demands corporate social responsibility has been adapted more frequently by companies in their daily activities. In recent years, researchers have started to develop an interest in CSR’s importance regarding the motivation of employees. In order to succeed with CSR-activities and increase employee motivation, information is required to be continuously communicated in a consistent, clear and interesting way. An industry where motivated employees are known to be important is the service industry, since employees are a big part of the service provided. Therefore, it is relevant to study how CSR-activities can be used to increase motivation of employees working in the service sector. Aim The aim of this study is to explore how CSR affects the motivation of employees working at companies within the service industry in Sweden. Furthermore, the internal communication of CSR is examined and how this contributes to motivation. Thus, the purpose of the study is to investigate and identify the factors that are perceived to be important for employees in order to be motivated by the company's CSR efforts. Methodology The study adopts a case study design since the goal of the study has been to perform a detailed examination of a specific case. The method used is a qualitative method and an iterative approach has been used, combining an inductive and deductive approach, and the authors have been shifting between theory and empirical evidence during the process. Data has been collected through interviews and questionnaires. Conclusions Through our empirical data collection we have been able to identify a number of factors in the field of CSR that could lead to success in terms of employee motivation. Furthermore, the challenges that exist to make CSR a motivating factor for employees are the choice of communication channels and adapting leadership between different individuals. In summary, CSR has been shown to influence employee motivation positively if combined with efficient communication and leadership.