Partnership for sustainability : A qualitative study of the importancefor enhanced sustainability in thepartnership between mining suppliersand customers

Abstract: Global warming is a severe threat to the climate and the planet's environment. Climate changehas been a growing area to focus on for the entire world, including all industries andbusinesses to date. One industry being brought up to light over the last years in thesediscussions are the mining and metals industry in which they play a significant role incombating climate change. The mining and metals industry accounts for about 7% of theglobal greenhouse gas emissions while also being a key producer of raw materials necessaryto enter a low-carbon society. To realise a sustainable shift within the mining industry whilealso increasing their production, focus must rely on how mining companies could changecurrent operations towards a cleaner and more sustainable mining process. There are two major types of companies operating in the mining and metals industry. Theseare mining equipment suppliers and mining equipment customers who also own the mine siteat which the equipment operates. Those actors are essential in enabling enhancedsustainability in the mining processes. After conducting extensive literature reviews, it wasrevealed that a significant focus on sustainable operations, stakeholder pressures as well aschallenges and opportunities for the mining companies in becoming greener. However, theliterature had not yet emphasised on the possible importance the partnership between miningequipment suppliers and its customer could have in achieving enhanced environmentallyfriendly mining solutions. Therefore, the authors of this thesis have chosen to answer thefollowing research purpose: “The purpose of this study is to create a deeper understanding of the challenges,opportunities and driving forces that exist in the partnership between customer and supplierin the mining industry in the development of establishing sustainable mining processes.” This study conducted multiple case studies on mining equipment suppliers and miningequipment customers to develop a deeper understanding regarding how drivers, challengesand opportunities in the partnership affects their operations toward enhanced sustainabilityperformance. The study follows an abductive approach in which the theoretical frameworkdiscusses sustainability theories, stakeholder theory as well as three different life cycle stagesaffecting any given partnership. This is done in strict connection to the mining industry andhow previous researchers and theories have investigated the industry. Furthermore, the datacollection was done by interviewing 8 different mining companies and some of their topmanagement employees. So forth, this study has a unique and highly relevant empiricalmaterial being based on respondents facing this dilemma at the very high level of the globalmining industry. The empirical findings reveal that the most influential stakeholder pressure rises from a vastamount of governments, investors, and local communities for the mining customers. On theother hand, suppliers highlight that mining equipment customers are their most influentialstakeholders to consider. That implies an unbalanced stakeholder pressure in partnershipbetween customers and suppliers in the mining industry which require enhancedcommunication, evaluation, and implementation structures to better align visions,expectations, and common operations towards increased sustainability performances.