How can stakeholders influence management’s commitment to sustainable development of a company?
Abstract
Sustainability is a concept which is gaining more and more attention. The translation of
sustainable development in the business context is done through Corporate Social Responsibility
(CSR). CSR is widely studied in the context of corporations and large companies,
but there is a lack of research in the world of Smaller and Medium Size Enterprises
(SMEs), which function differently than the large ones.
In this case study, a car company from Romania is chosen for studying the introduction
for the first time of CSR in the business strategies. The purpose of the research is to analyse
if stakeholders’ perspective on sustainability could have an influence on the management’s
commitment to sustainability. Materiality analysis, a tool which is used to understand
which topics are material for a company, is used to describe the stakeholders’ and
the managers’ perspective on sustainability.
The case study is mainly qualitative, but some quantitative research methods have also
been used, allowing for facilitation and data triangulation. The answer to the research
question is revealed through interviews and the observations made along the research
period.
The findings of the research support the idea that sustainable development is a concept
which requires for systems thinking and a change of paradigm, making education one of
the most important arenas for future progress. Further, findings of this study are also in
agreement with conclusions from other studies on SMEs that much more research should
be carried out in the context of CSR in SMEs.
Main Author
Format
Theses
Master thesis
Published
2021
Subjects
The permanent address of the publication
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-202106173848Use this for linking
Language
English