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“Business sustainability” refers to the total effort of a company – including its demand and supply chain networks – to reduce the impact on the Earth's life‐ and eco‐systems. The objective of this paper is to describe a business sustainability model based upon a case study of a European manufacturer.Design/methodology/approachA case study approach was applied describing the efforts of business sustainability in the demand and supply chain networks of a Norwegian office chair producer. It is based upon a series of semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with top executives of the company as well as observations and content analyses of internal and external documents about the company's efforts of business sustainability.FindingsThe case study shows that business sustainability is not about doing just one thing, but that a multitude of simultaneous efforts (e.g. actors, resources and activities) should be in place. Furthermore, business sustainability is not only about a company's own business operations, but its whole demand and supply chain networks which need to be included and taken into consideration.Research limitations/implicationsThe case study in focus is limited to just one company's effort of business sustainability and its demand and supply chain networks. It provides a business sustainability model that offers opportunities for further research.Practical implicationsFocusing on the corporate impact of the natural environment can be highly profitable. Business sustainability and by extension the carbon footprint of demand and supply chain networks is becoming a criterion in the decision‐making process of customers across industries. Business sustainability is a concern to everybody in society as the indicatives of climate change and global warming become more evident and troublesome. No one can have missed the fact that the weather is becoming more extreme, causing damage around the globe.Originality/valueThe authors argue that research into business sustainability needs at this stage of development to be inductive rather than deductive – it may be an irreversible mistake to try to re‐package existing theory into business sustainability, as climate change prediction and the poor condition of the Earth have not been fully understood or comprised in previous theory.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the structural properties of a stakeholder research model of focal company business sustainability and the associated consideration of upstream, downstream, market and societal stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach Based on two industrial business samples in Norway and Spain, partial least squares– structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied to empirically test a research model consisting of five stakeholder constructs. Findings The model was tested in Norway and validated in Spain. An analysis of the path coefficients and levels of significance shows that all relationships in the research model were significant and meaningful. Research limitations/implications This paper develops a model that explains and predicts company considerations of other stakeholders in the business sustainability efforts within supply chains (both upstream and downstream) and also beyond in the market and society. Practical implications The results of this study can guide companies in structuring, planning and implementing business sustainability in their supply chains, the marketplace and the society. It can also provide a foundation for monitoring and follow-up assessment of corporate decision-making. Originality/value This study contributes to supply chain management (SCM) and stakeholder theory to establish a framework for business sustainability with respect to company stakeholders in supply chains.
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