Résumé : Au Québec, la crise de l’industrie porcine a particulièrement affecté la coopérative La Coop fédérée. En réponse à cette crise, la marque de certification Porc certifié La Coop a été développée afin de personnaliser le produit et se différencier sur les marchés. Considérant le succès du Porc certifié La Coop sur les marchés d’exportation et les préoccupations grandissantes de consommateurs pour la qualité des aliments, La Coop fédérée envisage maintenant de mettre en valeur la marque de certification Porc certifié La Coop auprès de consommateurs québécois. Une résidence au sein de La Coop fédérée nous a permis d’identifier trois principaux enjeux liés à cette mise en valeur : la stratégie de communication, la stratégie de marque et la stratégie de certification. La stratégie de communication correspond au nombre et à la nature des signaux à mettre en valeur sur l’emballage (ex. : respect du bien-être animal, porc nourri à 100 % de grains végétaux et porc élevé sans antibiotiques), la stratégie de marque a trait à la présence ou non d’une marque sur l’emballage (ex. : Lafleur) et la stratégie de certification concerne la présence ou non d’une marque de certification (ex. : Porc certifié La Coop). La principale hypothèse de l’étude précise deux éléments. D’abord, la propension à payer pour la stratégie de communication comportant trois signaux est plus élevée que la propension à payer pour la stratégie de communication comportant un seul signal. La nature additive du modèle multiattributs permet de comprendre ce phénomène. Ensuite, la propension à payer est plus élevée lorsque la stratégie de marque utilise une marque réputée et une marque de certification réputée. Selon la théorie des signaux, il y a alors un lien de vulnérabilité à la marque réputée et un lien de vulnérabilité à la marque de certification réputée, ce qui renforce la crédibilité des signaux. Une expérimentation a été réalisée au moyen d’un panel Internet. L’échantillon final de l’étude est de 1 060 consommateurs québécois. Deux principaux résultats ressortent de l’étude. Premièrement, la propension à payer pour la stratégie de communication comportant trois signaux n’est pas toujours plus élevée que la propension à payer pour la stratégie de communication comportant un signal. Ce résultat s’explique par la dominance du signal bien-être animal au Québec. Deuxièmement, les résultats montrent l’absence d’effet modérateur des stratégies de marque et de certification. Il semble donc que le lien de vulnérabilité ne permet pas toujours de renforcer la crédibilité des signaux. Une autre variable est à considérer pour renforcer la crédibilité des signaux, soit la responsabilité sociale perçue. // Abstract : In Quebec, the crisis in the pork industry particularly affected La Coop fédérée cooperative. In response to this crisis, the certification mark “Porc certifié La Coop” was developed to customize the product and differentiate it in the marketplace. Given the success of the certification mark on the export market and the growing concerns of consumers about food quality, La Coop fédérée is now planning to promote the certification mark Porc certifié La Coop to Quebec consumers. A residency within La Coop fédérée has helped identify three main issues related to this campaign: the communication strategy, the branding strategy and the certification strategy. The communication strategy is the number and nature of the signals presented on the packaging (e.g., animal welfare, 100% grain-fed pork, pork raised without antibiotics), the branding strategy is the presence or absence of a brand on the packaging (e.g., Lafleur) and the certification strategy is the presence or absence of a certification mark on the packaging (e.g., “Porc certifié La Coop”). The main hypothesis of this study specifies two elements. First, the willingness to pay for the communication strategy with three signals will be higher than the willingness to pay for the communication strategy with only one signal. The additive nature of the multi-attribute model explains this phenomenon. Second, the willingness to pay will be higher when the branding strategy uses a reputed brand and the certification strategy uses a reputed certification mark. According to the signaling theory, there is then a vulnerable bond to the reputed brand and a vulnerable bond to the reputed certification mark, which strengthens the credibility of the signals. An experiment was conducted using an Internet panel. The final study sample totaled 1060 Québec consumers. Two main results emerged from the study. First, the willingness to pay for the communication strategy with three signals is not always higher than the willingness to pay for the communication strategy with one signal. This result is explained by the dominance of the animal welfare signal in Québec. Second, results show that the branding and the certification strategies have no moderating effect. This result seems to indicate that the vulnerable bond does not always strengthen the credibility of the signals. Another variable strengthens the credibility of the signals – that of perceived social responsibility.

Titel: Finansiella målsättningar inom årsredovisningar – En kvantitativ studie av svenska börsbolag Nivå: C-uppsats i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Andreas Hamrén och Nils Ryngmark Handledare: Arne Fagerström Datum: 2016 – januari Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva och jämföra skillnader angående finansiella målsättningar i årsredovisningar samt hur förutbestämda faktorer påverkar dessa skillnader.   Metod: Studien har en kvantitativ metod som utgår från en deduktiv ansats. Insamlingen av data har skett från årsredovisningar, som sedan ställts mot tidigare forskning och teorier. Dokumenten har granskats med en innehållsanalys för att sedan undersökas genom korrelationsanalyser som presenteras tillsammans med resultatet. De oberoende variablerna som studien utgått ifrån är bransch, storlek, antal styrelseledamöter, lönsamhet och skuldsättningsgrad. Resultat och slutsats: Studiens resultat tydliggör flertalet skillnader och likheter gällande finansiella målsättningar. De slutsatser som dras utifrån de statistiska testerna är att storlek och skuldsättningsgrad hade signifikanta samband med antalet finansiella målsättningar. Styrelseledamöter visade ett svagare samband, medan lönsamhet inte hade någon korrelation. Den deskriptiva variabeln bransch åskådliggjorde stora skillnader mellan segmenten och gav en bild av tillhörighetens betydelse för differensen. Uppsatsen bidrag: Det praktiska bidraget ger en bild över förekomsten av finansiella målsättningar på Stockholmsbörsen samt vilka typer av mål som är vanligast förekommande. Bidraget kan ge ett förslag till nynoterade bolag i uppbyggnadsfasen angående i vilken utsträckning marknaden presenterar målsättningar. Det teoretiska bidraget kan stärka intressent- och signaleringsteorins betydelse gällande frekvensen av målsättningar. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Förslag till vidare forskning är att komplimentera studien med intervjuer, detta för att få en uppfattning av de bakomliggande faktorerna till utformandet av målsättningarna. Ett ytterligare förslag är att inkludera exempelvis den danska börsen som är liknande den svenska för att finna avvikelser mellan företagskulturerna. Nyckelord: Finansiella målsättningar, frivillig information, framåtblickande information, årsredovisningar, asymmetrisk information, intressentteorin, signaleringsteorin / Title: Financial targets in annual reports – a quantitative study of swedish listed companies Level: Final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Andreas Hamrén and Nils Ryngmark Supervisor: Arne Fagerström Date: 2016 - January Aim: The purpose of this study is to describe and compare differences regarding the financial objectives in the annual reports and how predetermined factors influence the differences. Method: This study has a quantitative method based on a deductive approach. Data have been collected from annual reports, which are then set against previous research and theories. The documents were reviewed by a content analysis then examined by correlation analysis and presented along with the results. The independent variables of the study were industry, company size, number of board members, profitability and debt ratio. Result and conclusion: The result of the study make clear majority of the differences and similarities regarding financial objectives. The conclusions drawn on the basis of the statistical tests are that the size and debt ratio have a significant correlation with the number of financial objectives. Board members showed a weaker correlation, while profitability had no correlation at all. The descriptive variable industry illustrated the large differences between the segments and gave a picture of the importance of industry affiliation. Contribution of the thesis: The practical contribution illustrates the occurrence of financial targets on the Stockholm Stock Exchange and the types of goals that are most common. The contribution may give proposals to new listed companies in the construction phase regarding the extent to which the market presents the objectives. The theoretical contribution can give strength to the importance of stakeholder and signaling theory regarding the frequency of objectives. Suggestions for future research: Suggestions for further research is to implement studies with interviews, in order to gain an understanding of the underlying incentives of the financial objectives. A further proposal is to include, for example, the Danish stock exchange that is similar to the Swedish in order to find similarities and differences between corporate cultures. Key words: Financial objectives, goals, voluntary information, forward-looking information, annual reports, asymmetric information, stakeholder theory, signaling theory

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka vad det finns för finansiellt syfte med att köpa namnrättigheterna för en arena där det i främsta fall bedrivs idrottsrelaterade evenemang. Delsyftet är att undersöka hur företagets aktiekurs påverkas vid tillkännagivandet av att de blir arenasponsor samt att se huruvida arenasponsorns aktiekurs påverkas efter att ett idrottsevenemang ägt rum. Metod: Undersökningen är en flerfallsstudie av fem företag där en metodtriangulering med en kombination av kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod används för att på så sätt ge en rättvis bild av fenomenet. Uppsatsen utgår från ett positivistiskt vetenskapligt förhållningssätt och ett deduktivt angreppssätt. Den kvalitativa delen av uppsatsen består av primärdata i form av intervjuer med personer från ansvariga positioner på företagen. Den kvantitativa delen består av en eventstudie-metodologi där den insamlade datan användes för att mäta om en avvikande avkastning (AR) uppstod i samband med tillkännagivelsen av namnrättighetsaffären samt en genomsnittlig avvikande avkastning (AAR) vid idrottsevenemangen. Utöver detta undersöktes även om specifika matchutfall påverkade företagens aktiekurs. Eventperioden för idrottsevenemangen sattes till dagen efter evenemanget medan eventperioden för tillkännagivelsen sattes till 75 dagar, 25 dagar innan och 50 dagar efter nyheten. Uppsatsens estimeringsperiod omfattade i båda fall 70 dagar. Resultat: Vid tillkännagivandet av arenarättighetsaffären uppvisar resultatet mellan en positiv AR på 2,48 procent till en negativ AR på 1,44 procent för de sex rättighetsaffärerna. Vid matchutfallen uppvisar resultatet allt från en positiv AAR på 0,26 procent till en negativ AR på -0,06 procent. Slutsats: Arenasponsringens stora finansiella vinning ges genom ett starkt varumärkeskapande vilket på sikt leder till ökade finansiella fördelar för företaget med namnrättigheterna av arenan. Finansiellt påverkades inte företagets aktiekurs av varken matchutfall eller tillkännagivandet av arenasponsringsnyheten. / Purpose: The aim of the thesis is to see what the financial purpose is for buying the naming rights of an arena where the main activity is sporting events. The subsidiary aim is to investigate if the company's share price is affected by the announcement that they became arena sponsors and to see whether the stadium sponsor's share price is affected after a sporting event has taken place. Methodology: The survey is one multi-case study of five companies, which are based on both a quantitative and a qualitative approach. The paper was based on a positivistic scientific approach and deductive approaches. The qualitative part of the thesis consists of primary data in the form of interviews with individuals holding responsible positions in the companies. The quantitative part consisted of an eventstudy, where the collected data is used to measure if an abnormal return (AR) has arisen in connection with the announcement of the name rights deal and an average abnormal return (AAR) in connections with the sporting events. Event period for sporting events is added to the day after the event while the event period for the announcement is added to 75 days, 25 days before and 50 days after the news. The surveys estimationperiod was comprised to 70 days. Results: At the announcement of the arena namingrights deal presented results from a positive AR of 2.48 percent to a negative AR of 1.44 percent. During the match, the outcome showed the results of a positive AAR of 0.26 percent to a negative AR of -0.06 percent. Conclusions: The big financial benefit of buying the naming rights of an arena is the strong brandbuilding which ultimately leads to increased financial benefits for the sponsoring company. The company's share price is not affected  by either match outcomes or the announcement of the sponsorship deal.

Based upon two years of ethnographic fieldwork in London, England, which incorporated nearly 200 interviews with gang members, gang associates, and police officers, among others, this thesis addresses three questions presently unresolved in the street gangs literature: What is the business of gangs? How are gangs organised? And how do gangs recruit? With regard the business of gangs, this thesis illustrates how recreation, crime, enterprise, and extra-legal governance represent sequential stages in the evolutionary cycle of London’s street gangs. Gang member testimony emphasises how gangs typically begin life as neighbourhood-based peer groups, but also how, in response to external threats and financial commitments, gangs grow to incorporate street-level drugs distribution businesses that very much resemble the multi-level marketing structure of direct-sales companies. People join gangs to make money, achieve status, and obtain protection. Gangs engage in turf wars, acquire violent resources, and develop hierarchical structures in order to maintain provision of these desirable goods and services. Gang organisation, in turn, becomes a function of gang business. To better understand the nature and extent of gang organisation, this thesis moves on to discuss the presence of subgroups, hierarchy and leadership, pecuniary and non-pecuniary incentives, rules, responsibilities, and restrictions, and consequences for absconding within gangs. It further presents how, in order to convey reputation and achieve intimidation, gangs seek association with elements of popular culture that help promote their image. Finally, through the novel application of signalling theory to the gang recruitment process, this thesis demonstrates how gangs face a primary trust dilemma in their uncertainty over the quality of recruits. Given that none of the trust-warranting properties for gang membership can be readily discovered from observation, gangs look for observable signs correlated with these properties. Gangs face a secondary trust dilemma in their uncertainty over the reliability of signs because certain agents (e.g., police informants, rival gang members, and adventure-seekers) have incentives to mimic them. To overcome their informational asymmetry gangs thus screen for signs that are too costly for mimics to fake but affordable for the genuine article. The thesis concludes with a discussion of gang desistance and intervention in the context of escalating youth violence in London.

Risk kan beskrivas som ”sannolikheten att drabbas av skada eller förlust” eller som ”sannolikheten att en händelse ska inträffa”. Begreppet risk saknar emellertid en allmänt accepterad definition. Företagen nämner vilka risker de har i sina årsredovisningar och halvårsrapporter. Problemet är att det finns stora skillnader mellan vilken inställning företagen har till hur utförligt de ska rapportera om sina risker. Det kan finnas både fördelar och nackdelar med att informera om risker. Den finansiella rapporten är ett sätt för intressenterna att få tillgång till värdefull information om företaget för att de sedan ska kunna fatta välgrundade beslut. Genom ett globalt intresse för de finansiella rapporterna har behovet av ett gemensamt regelverk ökat. Från och med 2005 ska alla börsnoterade företag i EU tillämpa IFRS i sin koncernredovisning för att det ska bli lättare för intressenterna att kunna jämföra olika alternativ. Det här innebär bland annat att företagen måste tillämpa de regler som finns i IAS 34 och IFRS 7 om risker och riskhantering.Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur företag som är börsnoterade på NASDAQ OMX Stockholm informerar om risker och riskhantering i årsredovisningar i jämförelse med halvårsrapporter. Dessutom syftar studien till att ta reda på om det finns något samband mellan hur företagen lämnar riskupplysningar och företagens storlek, branschtillhörighet och skuldsättningsgrad. Studien baseras på 90 årsredovisningar och 90 halvårsrapporter från 2012. Urvalet bestod från början av 203 företag listade på NASDAQ OMX Stockholm. Studien omfattar inte finansiella företag samt företag med brutet räkenskapsår.Studien visar att företagen informerar om betydligt fler strategiska, operativa och finansiella risker i årsredovisningarna än i halvårsrapporterna. Det kan bero på att IAS 34 ställer låga krav på hur mycket risker företagen måste upplysa om i halvårsrapporterna. Även riskhanteringen är lägre i halvårsrapporter än i årsredovisningar. Skillnaderna kan förklaras genom att företagen prioriterar relevans framför tillförlitlighet i halvårsrapporterna. Dessutom kan det grunda sig i att företagen anser att nyttan inte överstiger kostnaden att ge ut informationen till intressenterna. För övrigt kan det bero på att riskupplysningarna i halvårsrapporterna helt enkelt speglar intressenternas efterfrågan av information. Det skulle kunna betyda att intressenterna enbart använder halvårsrapporter för att få aktuell information och därmed nöjer sig med att gå tillbaka till årsredovisningarna för att få mer informationen om företagets risker.Studien visar att det finns ett positivt samband mellan företagets storlek och antalet riskupplysningar för 17 av 31 risker i årsredovisningarna och för 14 av 31 risker i halvårsrapporterna. När företagens branschtillhörighet utreddes som förklaring till varför företag informerar olika mycket om risker kunde undersökningen visa att det finns skillnader mellan företagens riskrapportering i olika branscher. Det varierade hur stora dessa skillnader var. Studien kunde inte visa att företagens skuldsättningsgrad skulle ha någon betydelse för hur företag informerar om risker i årsredovisningar och halvårsrapporter. / Program: Civilekonomprogrammet

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:25:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Bruno Esteter.pdf: 401071 bytes, checksum: db303ce103d1d54e442f3d7053e8d614 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-09 / The twenty-first century should be recognized as the age of corporate governance (CARLSSON, 2001). In order to develop the Brazilian capital market, the discussion around the issue remains relevant and current. This research aimed to investigate the influence on investors perception of corporate governance practices in abnormal returns when firms issue publicly traded strategic investment announcements based on Signaling Theory (SPENCE, 1973), considering the listing in different segments of BOVESPA (Nível 2 and Novo Mercado) and the issuance of ADR s level 2 and 3 as a proxy for it. Strategic investment is any use of the resources employed which results in growth opportunity for the company (KESTER, 1984). In this research, announcements of mergers and acquisitions (FA), joint venture (JV), investments in expanding or building new manufacturing plants, R & D investments were considered as announcements of strategic investments. Through the methodology of event study, were investigated 569 investment announcements of 127 different companies during the period january 2005 through december 2010. The period of the event concerned includes the range of -5 to 10 days after the announcement of the event to the market. To identify the market's behavior during various times, several windows were used event: -5 to 10 days after the event, from -5 to date of the event, the event date to +5 and +10, of -1 to +1 and only to the event date. Tests were carried out disregarding the advertisements issued by PETROBRAS and VALE, excluding announcement issued by financial firms, with control variables, by type of announcement and companies with more than one announcement in the period investigated. The results suggest no influence by joining different levels of corporate governance or the issuance of ADR s in the returns obtained by companies during the various windows investigated, suggesting little influence these governance practices in view of the market when these companies issue announcements of investments market strategy. / O século XXI deverá ser reconhecido como sendo a era da governança corporativa (CARLSSON, 2001). Com o intuito de desenvolver o mercado de capitais brasileiro, a discussão em torno do assunto se mantém relevante e atual. Este trabalho teve como objetivo investigar a influência, na percepção dos investidores, de práticas diferenciadas de governança corporativa nos retornos anormais quando as empresas com capital aberto emitem anúncios de investimentos estratégicos à luz da Teoria da Sinalização (SPENCE, 1973), considerando a listagem nos segmentos diferenciados da BM&FBOVESPA (Nível 2 e Novo Mercado) e a emissão de ADR s nível 2 e 3 como proxy para tal. Investimento estratégico é toda e qualquer utilização de recursos empregados que resulta em oportunidade de crescimento para a empresa (KESTER, 1984). Neste trabalho, anúncios de fusões e aquisições (FA), joint venture (JV), investimentos em expansão ou construção de novas plantas fabris, investimentos em P&D foram considerados como anúncios de investimentos estratégicos. Por meio da metodologia de estudo de evento, foram investigados 569 anúncios de investimentos de 127 empresas de capital aberto distintas, durante o período de janeiro de 2005 até dezembro de 2010. O período do evento considerado compreende o intervalo de -5 até 10 dias após a divulgação do evento ao mercado. Visando identificar o comportamento do mercado durante diversos momentos, foram utilizadas diversas janelas de evento: de -5 até 10 dias após o evento, de -5 até a data do evento, da data do evento até +5 e +10, de -1 até +1 e apenas para a data do evento. Foram realizados testes desconsiderando os anúncios emitidos pela PETROBRAS e VALE, excluindo os anúncios emitidos por empresas do setor financeiro, com variáveis de controle, por tipo de anúncio e empresas com mais de 1 anúncio no período investigado. Os resultados obtidos sugerem não haver influência da listagem em níveis diferenciados de governança corporativa ou da emissão de ADR s nos retornos obtidos pelas empresas durante as diversas janelas investigadas, sugerindo pouca influência destas práticas diferenciadas de governança na percepção do mercado quando estas empresas emitem anúncios de investimentos estratégicos para o mercado.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:25:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Jose Roberto Neves.pdf: 1692057 bytes, checksum: 1c05273fdce25b1f9e76a01c967c3542 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-16 / The dividend policy is essential for companies as it is related to investing and financing decisions. In addition, companies pay significant amounts as dividends. Moreover, despite the development of various theories and the accomplishment of numerous empirical results, there is no consensus on what is achieved. Stimulated by these factors, this paper seeks to study the relationship between dividend policy of firms and information asymmetries in the Brazilian capital market, or in other words, empirically verify the adherence of signaling theory in the Brazilian market. Furthermore, it sought to validate the classical determinants of dividend policy (size, growth potential, profitability and risk). To conduct this study, it was used four different measures to evaluate the dividend policy of firms, related to the decisions on to pay dividends or not, how much to pay, to initiate the payment and to increase the amount paid. We used two statistical methods: panel data with fixed effect and regression with LOGIT model for binary variable. The sample of companies has involved those which are listed on the BOVESPA and the data used encompassed the period from 2000 to 2009. The results show that profitability is the most important dividend determinant, indicating that more profitable firms pay more dividends. The "market-to-book" ratio proved to be a significant factor in determining the amount of dividend paid and is related more to profitability than the company's growth potential, since this indicator can take on the dual meanings. The risk is significant and negatively related to companies' decision to pay dividends or not. On the other hand, the results do not support the signaling theory of dividends. / A política de dividendos é fundamental para as empresas, pois ela relaciona-se com as suas decisões de investimento e de financiamento. Além disso, as empresas pagam valores expressivos a título de dividendos. No entanto, apesar da elaboração de diversas teorias e da realização de inúmeros resultados empíricos, ainda não há consenso nos resultados alcançados. Estimulada por estes fatores, esta dissertação buscou estudar a relação entre a política de dividendos das empresas e a assimetria de informação no mercado de capitais brasileiro, ou, em outras palavras, verificar empiricamente a aderência da teoria de sinalização no mercado brasileiro. Adicionalmente, buscou-se validar os determinantes clássicos da política de dividendos (tamanho, potencial de crescimento, rentabilidade e risco). Para a realização desse estudo, foram utilizadas quatro diferentes medidas para avaliar a política de dividendos das empresas, relacionadas com as decisões de pagar ou não dividendos, de quanto pagar, de iniciar ou não o pagamento e de aumentar o valor pago. Foram utilizados dois métodos estatísticos: painel de dados com efeito fixo e regressão com o modelo LOGIT para variável binária. A amostra de empresas envolveu as listadas na BOVESPA e os dados considerados englobaram o período de 2000 a 2009. Os resultados mostram que a rentabilidade das empresas é o determinante mais relevante, apontando que empresas mais rentáveis pagam mais dividendos. A relação market-to-book mostrou-se um determinante significativo na determinação do montante de dividentos pagos, estando relacionado mais à rentabilidade da empresa do que ao potencial de crescimento, uma vez que esta relação pode assumir este duplo significado. O risco é relevante, e negativamente relacionado, para a decisão das empresas de pagar ou não dividendos. Por outro lado, não foi encontrado suporte para a teoria de sinalização de dividendos.

Background/Discussion: Among investors, annual reports are used as a decision-making document to value a company. Many companies therefore use voluntary disclosure as a complement to statutory information in annual reports. Previous studies have examined what the underlying factors for voluntary disclosure are. These have among other things, resulted in factors such as size, country of origin and owner concentration, which has a significant impact on the amount of voluntary disclosure. Therefore, it is interesting to examine if there is a significant difference between the amount of voluntary disclosure in companies with controlled ownership versus management ownership. The selection is based on companies listed on the Swedish stock market Nasdaq Strockholm, Large Cap and Small Cap. Purpose: This comparative study is aiming to investigate differences in the amount of voluntary disclosure between companies with controlled ownership and management ownership. The purpose is to create a deeper understanding and increase awareness of the ownership structure's impact on voluntary information. Method: A quantitative method has been used for the study and empirical data has been collected through observations of annual reports. The collected data has then been assessed according to a valuation index designed for the study. The index has been adapted to both swedish and international regulations. The study has then used scatterplots and a t-test to measure whether or not there is a significant difference in the amount of voluntary disclosure between the two owner concentrations. Result: Based on the study's sample, there is no significant difference in the amount of voluntary disclosure between control-owned and management-controlled companies. Control-owned companies tend to report more information about accidents than managementcontrolled companies. The management-controlled companies in the study tend to report more information on marketing than control-owned companies

Sammanfattning Bakgrund: I och med Gro Harlem Bruntlands rapport "Our common future", som skrevs i mitten av åttiotalet, fick hållbarhetsfrågan ett uppsving och trots att det nu har gått mer än 25 år är ämnet fortfarande högaktuellt. Det finns ett stort behov av att göra samhället hållbart och det är av allmänt intresse att vi åstadkommer förändringar. Här har företagen och den offentliga sektorn en viktig roll och hållbarhetsredovisningen är ett verktyg att nå detta mål. Problem: I Sveriges kommuner är det idag väldigt stor variation på hur och om man hållbarhetsredovisar. Enligt FAR, branschorganisationen för revisorer och rådgivare, är kvaliteten på rapporterna dessutom långt ifrån tillfredsställande. Att upprätta hållbarhetsredovisning är inte lätt eftersom rapporten ska sammanställa ett flertal olika dimensioner. Idag är hållbarhetsredovisning frivillig för den offentliga sektorn och det finns ännu inga riktlinjer som är anpassade just för denna sektor, vilket gör det svårt för de organisationer som vill börja med denna form av redovisning. Jämförelse och kontroll av information blir ett problem eftersom redovisningarna inte är enhetliga. Det är av intresse att förstå de drivkrafter som får kommuner att hållbarhetsredovisa i syfte att kunna gynna målet- ett hållbart samhälle. Syfte: Vi har några förklaringsvariabler som vi tror kan utgöra tänkbara drivkrafter till att organisationer hållbarhetsredovisar. Dessa är sökande efter godkännande, institutionellt tryck/anpassning och informationsspridning. Vi ska i denna uppsats pröva dessa variablers giltighet i några av Dalarnas kommuner. Metod: Undersökningen bygger på sexton kvalitativa telefonintervjuer med anställda inom nio av Dalarnas kommuner som alla har någon form av ansvar för redovisning inom kommunen. Slutsats: Den viktigaste drivkraften bakom hållbarhetsredovisning inom Dalarnas kommuner är enligt vår undersökning att sprida information och att söka legitimitet. / Abstract Background: When Gro Harlem Brundtland wrote her report "Our common future" in the mid eighties sustainability really got a boost and although it has now been more than 25 years, the subject is still highly topical. There is a great need to make society sustainable and it is the public interest that we bring about change. Here, companies and the public sector play an important role and sustainability reporting is a tool to achieve this goal. Problem: There are very big differences in if and how the municipalities of Sweden make sustainability accounting reports. Accourding to FAR, the trade association of accountants and advisors, the quality of the reports is far from satisfactory. To set up sustainability accounting reports isn´t easy because of the complexity of the task since it spans over three very different dimensions. Sustainability accounting is voluntary in the public sector today and there are yet no guidelines to follow, which makes it hard for the organisation that wants to begin making these kind of reports. Comparision and verification of the information in the reports also become a problem because of the lack of homogenity of the reports. It´s important to understand the driving forces that make municipalities create sustainability accounting reports in order to serve the purpose - to create a sustainable society. Purpose: We have a few explanatory variables which we think are possible driving forces why organisations create sustainbility accounting reports. These are search för approval, institutional pressure/ adaptation and to spread information. We are going to try the validity of these variables among some of the municipalities of Dalarna. Method: The study is based on sixteen qualitative telephone interviews with staff in nine of the municipalities of Dalarna who are all involved in the process of making accounting reports. Conclusion: The most important driving forces behind sustainability accounting in the municipalities of Dalarna, according to our survey, are to spread information and to seek legitimacy.

Résumé : Au Québec, la crise de l’industrie porcine a particulièrement affecté la coopérative La Coop fédérée. En réponse à cette crise, la marque de certification Porc certifié La Coop a été développée afin de personnaliser le produit et se différencier sur les marchés. Considérant le succès du Porc certifié La Coop sur les marchés d’exportation et les préoccupations grandissantes de consommateurs pour la qualité des aliments, La Coop fédérée envisage maintenant de mettre en valeur la marque de certification Porc certifié La Coop auprès de consommateurs québécois. Une résidence au sein de La Coop fédérée nous a permis d’identifier trois principaux enjeux liés à cette mise en valeur : la stratégie de communication, la stratégie de marque et la stratégie de certification. La stratégie de communication correspond au nombre et à la nature des signaux à mettre en valeur sur l’emballage (ex. : respect du bien-être animal, porc nourri à 100 % de grains végétaux et porc élevé sans antibiotiques), la stratégie de marque a trait à la présence ou non d’une marque sur l’emballage (ex. : Lafleur) et la stratégie de certification concerne la présence ou non d’une marque de certification (ex. : Porc certifié La Coop). La principale hypothèse de l’étude précise deux éléments. D’abord, la propension à payer pour la stratégie de communication comportant trois signaux est plus élevée que la propension à payer pour la stratégie de communication comportant un seul signal. La nature additive du modèle multiattributs permet de comprendre ce phénomène. Ensuite, la propension à payer est plus élevée lorsque la stratégie de marque utilise une marque réputée et une marque de certification réputée. Selon la théorie des signaux, il y a alors un lien de vulnérabilité à la marque réputée et un lien de vulnérabilité à la marque de certification réputée, ce qui renforce la crédibilité des signaux. Une expérimentation a été réalisée au moyen d’un panel Internet. L’échantillon final de l’étude est de 1 060 consommateurs québécois. Deux principaux résultats ressortent de l’étude. Premièrement, la propension à payer pour la stratégie de communication comportant trois signaux n’est pas toujours plus élevée que la propension à payer pour la stratégie de communication comportant un signal. Ce résultat s’explique par la dominance du signal bien-être animal au Québec. Deuxièmement, les résultats montrent l’absence d’effet modérateur des stratégies de marque et de certification. Il semble donc que le lien de vulnérabilité ne permet pas toujours de renforcer la crédibilité des signaux. Une autre variable est à considérer pour renforcer la crédibilité des signaux, soit la responsabilité sociale perçue. // Abstract : In Quebec, the crisis in the pork industry particularly affected La Coop fédérée cooperative. In response to this crisis, the certification mark “Porc certifié La Coop” was developed to customize the product and differentiate it in the marketplace. Given the success of the certification mark on the export market and the growing concerns of consumers about food quality, La Coop fédérée is now planning to promote the certification mark Porc certifié La Coop to Quebec consumers. A residency within La Coop fédérée has helped identify three main issues related to this campaign: the communication strategy, the branding strategy and the certification strategy. The communication strategy is the number and nature of the signals presented on the packaging (e.g., animal welfare, 100% grain-fed pork, pork raised without antibiotics), the branding strategy is the presence or absence of a brand on the packaging (e.g., Lafleur) and the certification strategy is the presence or absence of a certification mark on the packaging (e.g., “Porc certifié La Coop”). The main hypothesis of this study specifies two elements. First, the willingness to pay for the communication strategy with three signals will be higher than the willingness to pay for the communication strategy with only one signal. The additive nature of the multi-attribute model explains this phenomenon. Second, the willingness to pay will be higher when the branding strategy uses a reputed brand and the certification strategy uses a reputed certification mark. According to the signaling theory, there is then a vulnerable bond to the reputed brand and a vulnerable bond to the reputed certification mark, which strengthens the credibility of the signals. An experiment was conducted using an Internet panel. The final study sample totaled 1060 Québec consumers. Two main results emerged from the study. First, the willingness to pay for the communication strategy with three signals is not always higher than the willingness to pay for the communication strategy with one signal. This result is explained by the dominance of the animal welfare signal in Québec. Second, results show that the branding and the certification strategies have no moderating effect. This result seems to indicate that the vulnerable bond does not always strengthen the credibility of the signals. Another variable strengthens the credibility of the signals – that of perceived social responsibility.