Hållbarhet i Policy och Praktik. En kvalitativ studie om hur hållbarhetsbegreppet tillämpas i den privata sektorn

Sammanfattning

Sustainability is a concept that has had a drastic breakthrough since the mid-1980s and has developed into a central issue for many companies. In recent times, institutions and regulatory frameworks such as the Science Based Targets (SBTi) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) have been established and have further shaped the concept of sustainability. The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze how five Swedish companies in two industries apply the concept of sustainability. A qualitative study has been conducted in which empirical material was collected through interviews with managers with sustainability-oriented or operational roles, as well as sustainability reports from the selected companies. The results of the study show that central aspects of the companies’ sustainability work revolve around legitimacy and translation. Legitimacy can be seen as a tool behind organizations’ ability to engage in sustainability issues by highlighting a value that is not solely monetary. At the same time, local translations are made to adapt the concept to the local context.