Strategiskt ledarskap: Implementering av hållbarhetsarbete i en organisation

Sammanfattning: Since 2016-12-31, big companies in Sweden must report their sustainability work according to Amendment (2016:947) to the Annual Account Act (1995:1554). This makes the sustainability reports easier to compare, and also easier to see which companies that practice sustainability. The amendment will be reflected in the annual reports stating from the fiscal year 2017, which makes it a relevant area of research. Except legal requirements, there are also economical and business related incentives which drives companies to report their sustainability work (Prop. 2015/16:193). Hence, companies take action incorporating sustainability work into their strategy and control systems (Zollo et al., 2009). However, there are challenges in developing and implementing such strategies. The lack of empirical studies on how to implement sustainability in an organization lays the foundation of this study and its research question; How is sustainability work practically implemented in an organization? The purpose of the study is to create an understanding of the implementation of sustainability work in an organization. Hence, a guide for interviews along with an analytical framework was constructed from institutional theory. They were used in a case study of Axis Communications AB to identify keywords that can be used when implementing sustainability work in an organization. The keywords identified was; Business culture, Awareness, Control systems, Goals, and Sustainable economics. Also, the study shows that if norms and routines go along with the formal structure of the organization, when it comes to sustainability work, it is possible for the formal structure and institutional structure to be loosely coupled. However, the implementation process might be smoother if underlying thought and values of the coworkers goes along with those of the organization. The result of the study contributes with theoretical knowledge of how sustainability work is implemented to an organization even though the cognitive structure is loosely coupled. The keywords contribute with being practical applicable since they can be used by companies who wants to implement sustainability to their daily work routines. They also ads knowledge which contribute with theoretical implications. The analytical framework that was developed can be used as a foundation for future studies of phenomenon, based on institutional theory.