The purpose is twofold: (i) to determine the extent to which companies' efforts aimed at sustainable business practices consider stakeholders in their organisations and business networks, the marketplace and society; and (ii) to validate or refute a stakeholder framework of business sustainability efforts within focal companies, the marketplace, society and business networks. Design/Methodology/Approach: Based on a questionnaire survey targeting large companies across industries and sectors in Spain. The sample consisted of 231 companies generating a useable response rate of 38.5%. Exploratory factor analyses was performed on a crossindustry sample to test a five-dimensional framework. Findings: Reports on the validation of initial and refined factor solutions. The factor analyses confirmed five stakeholder dimensions related to business sustainability efforts of organisations, their business networks, marketplace and society. The validated results indicate satisfactory convergent, discriminant and nomological validity and reliability through time and across contexts. Research implications: The stakeholder framework in connection to business sustainability efforts in supply chains consisting of five factors was validated: (i) the focal company, (ii) downstream stakeholders, (iii) societal stakeholders, (iv) market stakeholders, and (v) upstream stakeholders.. Suggestion for further research is provided. Managerial implications: The validated framework of stakeholders allows insight into the environment which stakeholders operate and how they influence on the focal company. Originality/Value: The manuscript contributes to the validation of a stakeholder framework of business sustainability efforts within focal companies, their business networks, the marketplace and society. The measurement properties provide support for acceptable validity and reliability across contexts and through time.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which the attitudinal loyalty of customers of small and medium apparel businesses is influenced by their perceptions of trust, commitment and satisfaction. In turn, the influence of their attitudinal loyalty on future behavioural loyalty is established. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative descriptive research approach was employed and questionnaires were administered to customers of three selected small and medium enterprise (SME) brands in the metropolitan city of Gaborone, Botswana. A total of 260 questionnaires were suitable for data analysis. The interrelationship of the constructs was analysed via structural equation modelling. In addition, the measurement and structural models were assessed. Findings Trust, commitment and satisfaction have a positive and significant influence on the attitudinal loyalty of SME customers, while attitudinal loyalty has a positive and significant influence on their behavioural loyalty. Research limitations/implications The tested model confirms the hypothesised relationships between SME customers’ trust, commitment, satisfaction, attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty. Attitudinal loyalty is linked to its three antecedents (trust, commitment and satisfaction) and its outcome, behavioural loyalty. Practical implications The findings assist the management of SMEs in understanding how the cultivation of trust, commitment and satisfaction can foster attitudinal loyalty, ultimately leading to improved behavioural loyalty. Originality/value The current study contributes to new knowledge on the interrelationship of selected relationship quality dimensions, attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty among SME customers in the apparel industry of Botswana. Few research studies have examined how attitudinal loyalty relates to its antecedents and outcome in Botswana, as an emerging African economy.

This version is available at https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/60222/ Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. Unless otherwise explicitly stated on the manuscript, Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Please check the manuscript for details of any other licences that may have been applied. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or private study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the Strathprints administrator: strathprints@strath.ac.ukThe Strathprints institutional repository (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk) is a digital archive of University of Strathclyde research outputs. It has been developed to disseminate open access research outputs, expose data about those outputs, and enable the management and persistent access to Strathclyde's intellectual output. 1 VALIDATING THE INFLUENCE OF STAKEHOLDERS AND SOURCES WHEN IMPLEMENTING BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES AbstractThe objective of this paper is to validate or disprove the critical role of stakeholders and sources present in organisations, the relevant marketplace, business networks and society at large, in situations where organisations implement sustainable business practices. The empirical findings indicate major similarities and minor differences between organisations in Spain and Norway across two studies. In extension, the empirical findings appear to be valid and reliable through time and across contexts. Suggestion for further research is provided.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe: corporate reasons for, and organizational challenges of sustainable business models; and the evolution of economic effects, social boundaries and environmental actions in sustainable business practices. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on insights gained from eight Norwegian companies in different industries. Purposeful sampling was employed to ensure that the companies had sustainable business models beyond the level of mere compliance, of sustainable business practices in the marketplace and society. A deductive approach to data collection ensured that the companies had sufficient understanding to relate their sustainable business practices to interviewers. The interviews were subsequently transcribed and analyzed systematically by the research team. Findings – The empirical findings indicate evolutionary changes as companies move on a continuum from superficial to embedded sustainable business models and the application of sustainable business practices. The planning, implementation and evaluation of sustainable business models evolves over time within companies and their supply chains, as well as in the marketplace and society. Research limitations/implications – A limitation of this study is that it is exclusively undertaken in Norwegian companies, although the companies are from different industries with different characteristics. Future research is clearly necessary and will be conducted in other countries in similar industries, so as to explore the empirical findings from this study in other contexts. In addition, the interfaces between environmental actions, economic effects and social boundaries need to be investigated further. Originality/value – The study contributes to a growing body of knowledge on corporate reasons for and organizational challenges of sustainable business models, as well as environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable business practices.

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