Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the companies approach to sustainability and to examine the relationship between the report content and the sustainability efforts businesses are making in practice. Method: The study has a qualitative perspective with semi-structured interviews and content analysis as method to collect data. Three companies were interviewed; Tekniska Verken AB, Apoteket AB and Max hamburgerrestauranger AB. The content analysis was used when collecting data from the three companies’ sustainability reports. Frame of reference: Legitimacy theory, Stakeholder theory, Institutional theory, the Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility. Results: The result showed that all companies are prepared to work for sustainable development and that they view sustainability as an integrated part of their work. The sustainability report is the basis for sustainability reporting, which is a way for companies to demonstrate to their stakeholders what they stand for and what they implement in practice. It also emerged in the interviews that the sustainability report should be transparent and open and contain both positive and negative influences. The authors found, however, especially positive influences in the company’s reports. A significant correlation was found between the practical work on sustainability and sustainability reporting. Conclusion: The companies have a genuine interest in sustainable development, but the sustainability report is also an opportunity for companies to demonstrate their values and promote their brand. The essay also demonstrates the importance of sustainability to be profitable for companies so they can be able to progress its business with continued economic growth.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-72113 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Lundkvist, Johanna, Åkesson, Sandra |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi, Linköpings universitet, Företagsekonomi |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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