Sustainability Management and Business Cluster 7Sterke

Abstract

Sustainability is the topic of discussion with the start of industrialization and advancement in human civilization. Sustainability is now topic of concern for various groups like government, NGOs, international organizations, financial institutions, business companies, academics, and consumers. The business companies are the center of attraction for economic activities which has a direct impact over environment and society. So, various stakeholders demand the sustainability performances report of the companies. There are various frameworks for sustainability measuring and reporting like UN SDGs, UN Global Compact, GRI, DSJI Index, CDP Index, etc. This thesis aims to find out how the companies inside the 7sterke business cluster are working for sustainability management by knowing their competency level and challenges faced by them. As well as this thesis also tried to find out how CEOs and managers understand and take sustainability in their business. The study relies on literature review and interview. Responses from companies are analyzed to understand the status quo. From the study, it is found that most of the companies are working for sustainability in certain forms, but they do not fully meet the TBL theory. Most of them are using ISO standards like ISO 14000, ISO 9000 and ISO 26000. There is not any company who is using standard sustainability reporting framework for sustainability measurement and reporting so transparency to all stakeholders is lacked. For many company's time, budget and financial stability of companies are challenged to implement sustainability programs. There are various similar examples and cases from which companies like in 7sterke can use to understand and work on sustainability. In this thesis also, examples from Orkla business group, Moelven ASA and TOMS shoe are discussed. This thesis has also given some recommendations which 7sterke can use for future research and work.