A Strategy for Sustainability : A Case Study of an Industrial Supplier

Abstract: The need to address sustainability related issues have increased during the last decades. This originates from increased awareness regarding climate change and the effects of sustainability in strategic agendas. With this, businesses have experienced an accelerating pressure from stakeholders to adopt sustainability measures and actions into their everyday operations. The stakeholder pressure has also accelerated the use of reporting on sustainability in organizations. Though, companies are still not sure how to implement sustainability in current businesses. There is also a lack of studies looking into how companies can include sustainability in business strategies, considering sustainability in all three perspectives.The study has the purpose of increasing the understanding of possible sustainability actions at the case company, and in the supply chain, to constitute the important elements of a sustainability strategy. To fulfil the purpose, the study aimed to answer the questions on what activities that could be included in a sustainability strategy of an industrial supplier that considers the entire supply chain, and which managerial aspects that are important to consider. The research has been conducted as a single case study supported by a literature review, semi structured interviews, and a benchmarking study. The literature review covers sustainability to define the researcher’s definition, sustainable supply chains and industrial sustainability strategies. The literature review presents two frameworks for sustainable strategy that has been the core of this study. The interviews have been conducted at the case company and with its suppliers and customers.The conclusion of this study answers the research questions on sustainable activities to be included in a sustainability strategy and further managerial aspects that are necessary. For the first question, there is a four-step guide on the initiation of integrating sustainability in businesses. The first three steps conclude categories of areas that must be in place for the sustainability strategy to succeed. The fourth and last step concludes the elements to be included for a sustainability strategy, for an industrial supplier. Further, to answer the sub research question, a managerial framework named ROME, is presented emphasizing the importance of Reporting, Owning, Measuring and Educating, in terms of sustainability. The study concluded that using these tools will guide an industrial supplier in how to implement a sustainability strategy in a successful way. By implementing sustainability with these, the company could become a sustainable part of the supply chain, which both the company and the industry will benefit from.