<p><p>Utvecklingen inom näringslivet tycks gå mot ett mer ansvarsfullt företagande, men hur kan man veta vilket arbete som egentligen sker och vilka effekter detta får? De tre viktigaste identifierade dimensionerna av ansvarfullt företagande för en hållbar utveckling är ekonomi, miljö och etik (sociala aspekter). Ett uppmärksammat ramverk i sammanhanget är Global Reporting Initiatives riktlinjer och företagen såväl som regeringen har identifierat behovet av ett mer aktivt arbete med hållbar utveckling och redovisningen av detta.</p><p> </p><p>Syftet med denna uppsats är att med ett redovisningsperspektiv undersöka orsaker till och metoder för hållbarhetsredovisning samt identifiera och påvisa möjlig utveckling för företagens redovisning av hållbar utveckling.</p><p> </p><p>Vår analys bygger på en kvalitativ undersökning, eftersom vi är intresserade av hållbarhetsredovisning i ett bredare perspektiv genom att belysa så många aspekter som möjligt hos de undersökta bolagen.</p><p> </p><p>Undersökningen har visat att det inte finns någon heltäckande hållbarhetsredovisning hos de undersökta bolagen, men att det trots detta finns inslag av hållbarhetsredovisning och en potential och vilja för att kunna utveckla och förbättra arbetet med och redovisningen av hållbar utveckling.</p></p>

With sustainability means taking responsibility for the reality that you live and operate in. The concept sustainable development is defined as “development that meets the needs of the present world without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Elkington, 1999, p, 55). Sustainable reporting means to extend the ordinary financial reporting to include both the environmental and social/ethical impacts that the organisation have, so called triple bottom line. We are in our essay discussing the element of sustainability reporting and how to perform one. Today there are an increased pressure from stakeholders on companies to express their values and ethical responsibility. This forces the organisations to extend their ordinary financial reporting to include environmental and social impacts that their operations have. We have in our essay looked at the global ethical guidelines for sustainability reporting, the Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative and from these tried to examine how companies can establish a sustainability report. Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative are two voluntary codes that companies can draw inspire from when creating a sustainability report. Our purpose with this essay is to examine the concept of sustainability reporting on the basis of observing three financial institutions and their sustainability reports. We have chosen to look at the three different banks, Rabobank Group, the Co-operative Financial Services and Swedbank, to compare how they have constructed their sustainability reports, and to see how they have drawn inspiration from the Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative. The investigation is of a qualitative approach where the examined source is the companies’ sustainability reports. The reports have been analyzed and from the analysis have conclusions been drawn to try and interpret how the companies have acted towards the guidelines. Mainly we have been looking at the organisations and the existing balance between the economical, social and environmental aspects. Further we have also been looking at the organisational structure and the management’s attitude towards Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, and the progress to implement it within the organisations. Finally we have tried to observe the relationship between the organisations and stakeholders and the transparency in communicating about the measures being taken. We have come to the conclusion that both Rabobank and Co-operative Financial Services, CFS, have a more developed sustainability report compared to Swedbank. We believe the reason why can be found in many different aspects, since there is not just one component that makes a sustainability report. Both Rabobank and CFS are co-operative organisations that are being owned and controlled by its members, compared to Swedbank who is a public company that have obligations towards its shareholders. The managements’ attitude towards sustainability also has an effect of the outcome of the reports as well as attitudes from the society in which the company is operating.

Globaliseringen har bidragit till nya möjligheter men också hot för företag. Västvärldens företag kan lägga produktionen i delar av världen där kostnaden för att tillverka en vara är lägre än i hemlandet. I dessa leverantörsled kan missförhållanden uppstå såsom kränkningar av mänskliga rättigheter. Intressenter av olika slag fordrar mer transparens av företagen, det vill säga de kräver information utöver den finansiella i företagens rapporter. Hållbarhetsredovisning är en form av redovisning som har blivit allt vanligare och anses generellt innehålla information om företagets ekonomiska, miljömässiga och sociala prestanda. I jämförelse med den finansiella redovisningen existerar det ännu inga standarder för denna form av rapportering. Global Reporting Initiative är en internationellt erkänd organisation som arbetar för att utforma riktlinjer för hållbarhetsrapportering, vilka är frivilliga att upprätta. Hållbarhetsredovisningen visar på att redovisningen går mot en ny era där det inte endast räcker med finansiell redovisning utan företagen bör ta ett större ansvar gentemot samhället och miljön. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur företag mäter och redovisar mänskliga rättigheter. En kvalitativ metod har använts för att genomföra studien, där fem företags hållbarhetsredovisningar har undersökts. Teorin som ligger till grund för undersökningen är de informationskvalitativa egenskaperna, vilka genomsyrar den finansiella redovisningen. Slutsatserna visar att fallföretagen inte mäter mänskliga rättigheter på arbetsplatsen i kvantitativa termer. Däremot redovisar de mänskliga rättigheter i form av kvalitativ information. Av studien framkom även att informationen i de undersökta hållbarhetsredovisningarna är begriplig, att uppförandekoder är en del av relevansen, att granskningen ökar tillförlitligheten och att jämförbarheten blir relativt god tack vare GRI: s riktlinjer och dess innehållsförteckning.

Utvecklingen inom näringslivet tycks gå mot ett mer ansvarsfullt företagande, men hur kan man veta vilket arbete som egentligen sker och vilka effekter detta får? De tre viktigaste identifierade dimensionerna av ansvarfullt företagande för en hållbar utveckling är ekonomi, miljö och etik (sociala aspekter). Ett uppmärksammat ramverk i sammanhanget är Global Reporting Initiatives riktlinjer och företagen såväl som regeringen har identifierat behovet av ett mer aktivt arbete med hållbar utveckling och redovisningen av detta.   Syftet med denna uppsats är att med ett redovisningsperspektiv undersöka orsaker till och metoder för hållbarhetsredovisning samt identifiera och påvisa möjlig utveckling för företagens redovisning av hållbar utveckling.   Vår analys bygger på en kvalitativ undersökning, eftersom vi är intresserade av hållbarhetsredovisning i ett bredare perspektiv genom att belysa så många aspekter som möjligt hos de undersökta bolagen.   Undersökningen har visat att det inte finns någon heltäckande hållbarhetsredovisning hos de undersökta bolagen, men att det trots detta finns inslag av hållbarhetsredovisning och en potential och vilja för att kunna utveckla och förbättra arbetet med och redovisningen av hållbar utveckling.

Abstract In 1998 the Swedish legislation was sharpened, and active educationalists were legally bound to report any suspicion of child maltreatment. Nevertheless, there are a number of unrecorded cases of maltreated children, and research reveals that less than half of these children are reported to social services (Olsson, 2001). The purpose of the present study was to illustrate the problems with the mandatory reports in schools, as well as to study how educationalists proceed when they suspect that a child is maltreated. The method consisted of semi-structured interviews with five educationalists. The results revealed complex problems regarding educationalists mandatory reports. The procedures and routines varied and seem to be dependent on the educationalists, schools, and situations. The results also exposed the lack of official support in form of policy procedure manuals. Conclusion was that educationalists defined maltreated children in different ways, and in addition educationalists were not aware of the full significance of the mandatory reporting, even though they were aware of that they had a duty to report.

The issue of sustainability has gained significance in the past two decades or so particularly inthe business sector throughout the globe. Companies from various industries have inculcatedaspects of sustainability in their portfolios due to reasons ranging from stakeholder demandsto industry competition and profit. In fact, with the issues of climate change and resourcedepletion now gaining global political and economic significance; not going ‘green’ is not anoption for companies anymore.This paper sheds light on the ways that companies are becoming more environmental friendlyand benefitting from this process. All aspects of the business process ranging fromprocurement of materials to waste management and recycling have been viewed from asustainability perspective. This also includes the manner in which firms practice ‘greenmarketing’ for their environmental friendly practices and products. Since this paper will actas a guiding strategy for a company ‘Ascom’, the industry under focus is thetelecommunications industry. More specifically, the activities of three of Ascom’s majorcompetitors namely Siemens, Alcatel and Cisco have been thoroughly reviewed to providebenchmarks for Ascom. Coupled with the current theories and frameworks on the issue ofsustainability in business, the benchmarks set by these competitors will be used torecommend Ascom on how they can become more ‘green’.

This thesis contributes to the reporting of Intellectual Capital (IC) and includes four papers on the recognition and comparability of IC. IC, often called intangibles in the financial reporting discourse, reflects resources which create value in and for organizations. These resources originate out of human knowledge and capacities, which, through their uniqueness, can provide competitive advantages for an organization. As something intangible, IC is a challenge to report as it is not only a matter of reporting value that has been or can be realized but also a matter of reporting the creative processes focusing on present and future value. This challenge is a particular reflection of how and when to recognize IC as something reportable and is intensified if IC needs to be comparable. The thesis draws on the distinction that is made between mandatory and voluntary reporting when discussing recognition and comparability. Three of the studies relate to firms’ practices of reporting through annual reports. Since these reports contain both mandatory and voluntary sections, reflecting reporting both as a requirement as well as a possibility, different aspects of reported IC is emphasized. Using a wider range of documents, the fourth study relates to the enforcement of the mandatory reporting standards which the firms are required to apply in their reporting. As the overall finding in the thesis, three categories of recognition of IC are developed which reflect differences related to whether the reporting is mandatory, voluntary or, as this thesis argues, something in between. Reflected through the categories, comparability interrelates differently with recognition. The thesis contributes with the description of IC as a foundation for reporting which makes the matter of recognition of IC in reporting complex. It further highlights that through recognition of IC reporting is continuously expanding wherefore it is not possible to identify an end of an already expanded and demarcated reporting regime. In this expansion, by settling what is mandatory reporting through requested characteristics, voluntary reporting is defined.

Syftet med min studie är att bidra med kunskap kring hur man kan samverka mellan förskola och socialtjänst gällande barn som far illa. Min studie är utförd med kvalitativa intervjuer med verksam personal inom förskoleverksamheten och socialtjänsten. Jag intervjuade en förskollärare, en förskolechef och en specialpedagog inom förskoleverksamheten samt två socialsekreterare på barn - och familjeenheten på socialtjänsten. Mina intervjufrågor handlade om vilka erfarenheter de har av att samverka tillsammans samt tillvägagångssätten från att upptäcka oro för ett barn till att det görs en anmälan. Resultatet visar på att det håller på att det utarbetas en större grad av samverkan mellan de olika professionerna. Samt att de olika yrkesprofessionerna uttrycker att de vill ha en mer kontinuerlig kontakt och samverkan med varandra för att de anser att detta gynnar barnets och familjen bästa.  Mitt resultat visar även på att förskolepersonalen anser att det är en jobbig del av arbetet att göra en anmälan. De känner sig ofta osäkra på om de tecken som de ser är befogade nog till att göra en anmälan eller inte. Socialsekreterarna lyfter vikten av att göra en anmälan, de menar på att minsta misstanke på att ett barn far illa ska anmälas. De menar även att det inte är förskolans ansvar att avgöra om det är befogat eller inte, utan alla misstankar är befogade. De lyfter även att det inte är förskolans uppdrag att utreda, utan att det är socialtjänstens ansvar. / The purpose of my study is to provide knowledge on how to collaborate between preschool and social services regarding child abuse. My study is designed with qualitative interviews with staff working in early childhood education and social service. My interview questions were about their experiences of collaborating together regarding concern for a child. The results in my study shows that a bigger development between preschool and social service is being developed and the staff within the various professions want a more continuous contact and interaction with each other. They believe that this will benefit the child. My results also show that the preschool staff believes that it is a difficult part of the work to make a report to the social service. They often feel uncertain about the things they see are legitimate enough to make a report or not. Social workers highlight the importance of making a report, they argue that the slightest suspicion that a child is mistreated should be notified. They also believe that it is not the preschool staff responsibility to determine whether it is justified or not. They think that all suspicions are justified. They also highlight that there are the social workers responsibilities to investigate not the preschool workers.

The data delivery architectures in most enterprises are complex and under documented. Conceptual business models and business analytics applications are created to provide a simplified, and easy to navigate view of enterprise data for analysts. But the construction of such interfaces is tedious, manually intensive to build, requiring specialized technical expertise, and it is especially difficult to map exactly where data came from in the organization. In this paper we investigate how two aspects (lineage and requests for data i.e. semantics and new reports) can be addressed by tying metadata documentation to a systematic data delivery architecture in order to support business analytics applications. We propose a tool framework that includes a metadata repository for each step in the data delivery architecture, a web based interface to access and manage that repository and mapping tools that capture data lineage to support step by step automation of data delivery.

Climate change affects the health of people and the environment. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published research that explains the danger of greenhouse gas emissions on humans, wildlife, and the planet. Initiatives and policies are enacted every day to counter the harm that is done to the environment. Many companies now publish environmental impact reports or Corporate Sustainability Reports (CSR) to promote industry transparency. Participating in environmental and social initiatives is also a competitive advantage for these Fortune 500 companies. Customers can support a company based on their environmental friendliness or social responsibility. Companies are then encouraged to promote social issues like workplace diversity, women in management, and community development; and environmental issues like habitat conservation, green building, and energy reduction. The general merchandising sector companies scored from highest to lowest in the following order: Walmart, Nordstrom, Sears Holdings, Macy’s, PPR, Target, Kohl’s, JC Penney, Dollar General, Belk, Neiman Marcus, Shopko Stores, Follett, Family Dollar, Dillards, Newegg.com, Michael’s Stores, and Fry’s Electronics. These companies represent the most successful companies based on their strategies to reduce their environmental impact. Extended Producer Responsibility, green building, and community initiatives are three categories that are imperative to discuss when addressing environmental and social reporting.