CRITICAL FACTORS FOR CSV IMPLEMENTATION

Sammanfattning: Summary Title: Critical factors for CSV implementation: A case study of reconceiving products within the food industry in Sweden Seminar date: 2016-05-26 Course: FEKN90, Degree Project, Master level in Business Strategy, Business Administration, 30 University Credit Points (30ECTS) Authors: Emelie Jacobsen, Fredrik Lundin & Stephanie Schramm Davholt Supervisor: Matts Kärreman Key words: Creating shared value, CSV implementation, reconceiving products, strategy, sustainability Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify whether there is a difference in critical success factors when implementing CSV compared to a general strategy implementation. A chronological perspective as well as a ranking of importance of critical factors will also be investigated to form a comprehensive framework of the CSV implementation process. Methodology: This study followed a qualitative multiple-case design including six Swedish case companies within the food industry. The empirical information has been gathered through semistructured interviews, sustainability reports and with follow up questions through mail correspondence. The empirical information was analyzed through coding and then compared to previous literature. Theoretical perspective: Previous research has focused on how to implement strategy in general. We could not find as much research on CSV implementation, therefore we have proceeded from the general strategy implementation literature’s results where we identified eleven critical factors. Empirical findings: When implementing CSV our empirical findings show that eleven factors are critical for the implementation process. Out of these eleven factors we have categorized two of them as continuous, corporate culture and cooperation between departments, and we have identified two new factors, trends and timing and education. The remaining seven factors are: clear strategy formulation, management’s involvement, commitment, implementation approach, communication, control systems and follow-up and feedback. Besides these eleven factors we could also identify value based communication as crucial for the CSV implementation. Since it has a direct link to corporate culture we have chosen to include this concept within this factor. Conclusions: This thesis culminates into a three step model for CSV implementation with two continuous factors, corporate culture and cooperation between departments, which are present throughout the entire implementation process. Step 1 includes clear strategy formulation, management’s involvement, trends and timing, and commitment. Step 2 consists of implementation approach, communication and education. Step 3 consists of control systems and follow-up and feedback.