Abstract Title: Municipal property companies CSR investments Seminar date: 2015-05-28 State university: Halmstad University Institution: School of Economics, Technology and Sience (ETS) Level: Bachelor Thesis in Economics, 15 hp Authors: Carl Berg von Linde and Martin Samuelsson Examinor: Jan-Olof Müller Supervisor: Eva Berggren Number of pages: 39 Attachments: 3 Keywords: CSR, Municipal-owned housing, Social- and environmental responsibility, Strategic CSR, Legitimacy, Levers Research question: · How do municipal Swedish real estate companies invest in CSR and why? Purpose: The aim of this study is to understand how three municipal property reasons around investment in CSR and to identify different factors why investing in CSR differs between municipal property companies. Methodology: A qualitative study with abductive conducted semi-structured interviews of three municipally owned housing companies. Conclution: The municipal real estate industry uses CSR as a strategy to gain different benefits such as brand recognition. By acting responsibly, companies will strengthen their legitimacy and create long-term economic gain.

This essay studies the practice of both the political and the administrative leadership at the municipal level from the point of view of the politicians and the chief officers leadership role, and the relationship between politicians and administrators. I discuss and analyse how politicians and senior officials practice leadership, differences or similarities and if their practice of leadership raises any challenges in a democratic framework at the municipal level. I conducted interviews with the municipal political leader and the head of administration at the municipal level in Karlshamn and Sölvesborg. In the analysis I discuss communication as a leadership process which highlights ?enabling elements? and potentials of the leadership process.

According to recent statistics the construction industry is responsible for the largest waste discharges of both dangerous and non-dangerous waste, when disregarding the "non-dangerous" amount of granite waste produced by the mining industry and the waste produced by the pulp and paper industry. Preventive work within waste management is an ongoing practice so to be able to reduce negative environmental effects. One of the most common actions for the companies to take is to separate the different kinds of waste from one another at the construction site. Although by working with the problem in earlier stages of the process a large amount of the waste could already have been reduced.Companies in the construction business that are actively working to decrease environmental impact in their operations often use an EMS (Environmental Management System). By using environmental management as method the company can manage their environmental work so that actions can be taken where they are needed the most.

During the 90s most companies organized and adopted routines for their environmental work. This work included for example eco-efficiency improvements and the introduction of environmental managing systems. At the UN conference in Rio in 1992 the concept Sustainable development was defined, but it was not until about the year of 2000 that companies in Sweden shifted their work from environmental management to sustainable management. A consequence of this is that they now have to focus on environmental aspect in conjunction with social and economic aspects.The purpose of this study is to gain understanding of what a change of focus to sustainable development means for companies. Has the environmental work suffered in the competition with social/economical aspects under the new sustainable focus? How will the new way of working affect the balance between environmental and social aspects? Changes were studied in five companies by analysing their annual-, environmental- and sustainability reports and through interviews of sustainable managers.

This report is an evaluation of the cooperation between the rescue command centre and the POSOM-groups (?Psychological and social support?) after the Tsunami catastrophe in December, 2004. The report describes the interaction between these two municipal administrations, what services the rescue command centre provided and how they gathered information. Finally the author suggests different solutions to how the collaboration within these different municipal administrations can be increased and improved in future times of crisis..

The climate issue is a significant question, and the problem is mainly caused by human activities. Everyone can help to counteract the enhanced Greenhouse effect by reducing the amounts of energy they use and by not consuming more products then they need.Schools are some of societies many consumers and therefore contribute to the Greenhouse effect. The School also has an important task; to teach and disseminate knowledge and information about the climate and the environment. According to the Swedish National Agency for Education, Skolverket, must all schools regularly consider the environment and sustainable development throughout the entire education process. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many schools in Sweden today.One of many tools that can be used to coordinate environmental work and initiatives, and also to make it more efficient, is environmental management systems.

Abstract: The world in which companies are acting today offers challenges in the sense that it is rapidly changing and that a vast amount of information is available. In order to ensure the competitiveness and survival of the company, an effective and efficient environmental scanning is essential to the company. Our aim with this Master's thesis is to investigate what factors constitutes important and basic conditions in a well functioning environmental scanning and how companies strategically can go about to achieve this. In order to highlight and specify how these factors can be applied on a specific company Thule has been our focal point. Thule.

The purpose of the study was to investigate how inventories of suspected polluted areas as a part of the planned control of existing companies cab be designed in order to achieve as great effect as possible. The study was conducted in cooperation with Piteå municipality. An analysis of regional inventory projects, local municipal strategies and a pilot study in Piteå was conducted. The experience from both the regional projects and the pilot study was that in order to achieve an effective control a number of factors were inportant: an efficient selection of companies, a good dialogue between the controlling agency and the companies, sufficient resources, education of municipal inspectors and guidance for decisionmaking. Another inportant result was that the municipal planning can prevent an efficient inventory if the control of city development projects is allowed to take time from the planned control.

The climate issue is a significant question, and the problem is mainly caused by human activities. Everyone can help to counteract the enhanced Greenhouse effect by reducing the amounts of energy they use and by not consuming more products then they need.Schools are some of societies many consumers and therefore contribute to the Greenhouse effect. The School also has an important task; to teach and disseminate knowledge and information about the climate and the environment. According to the Swedish National Agency for Education, Skolverket, must all schools regularly consider the environment and sustainable development throughout the entire education process. Unfortunately, this is not the case for many schools in Sweden today.One of many tools that can be used to coordinate environmental work and initiatives, and also to make it more efficient, is environmental management systems.

This study aims at examining the prospects for a policy transfer of a Swedish municipal environmental policy (that of Växjö) to the French urban commune Blois, for which an ambition of becoming a leading eco-city in France, was declared by the mayor in 2008.In the analysis, emphasis is laid on mechanisms to institutionalize the main environmental policy principles, such as political and institutional structures and processes. Other prospects for an institutionalization of a new environmental policy that are to be investigated are economic structures as well as visions of the different decision-makers concerned. Research methods used in the study are qualitative interviews, document studies and a questionnaire.The findings of the analysis show that today?s prospects for an environmental policy in Blois close to that of Växjö, are clearly limited. The limitations can partly be found in economic structures but these seem to be rather related to a lack of priority amongst actors.

Environmental management systems are a way of systematizing and streamlining an organization's environmental efforts. Within its EMS the organization determines it´s environmental policy and various environmental objectives. In order to achieve their environmental objectives the organization produces action plans that describe how they will work towards the objectives. Stora Enso Skog AB´s districts have been assigned to produce action plans for the company´s environmental objective of 90 % approved everyday nature consideration in final felling and any targets included within this objective. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the districts work with these action plans and how this could be improved.

The demands of environmental effects in today?s companies have been increasing more andmore. To be able to withstand customers, cooperatives and government demands the ISO14001 certification should not be neglected.In January 2007 the general management of SAS decided to introduce an environmentalmanagement system for SAS Tech. The work which has been carried out is a part of thecertification process of ISO 14001 which will be completed by the end of year 2009.The aim is to create auditroutines for the company in order to be able audit ISO 14001standard internally which is a demand to get certified and to keep the certification in thefuture. A schedule has been done which audits different part of the standard at every auditduring one year.

This report is a commission from the Care Unit of Hässleholm municipal. The purpose is to illuminate what is distinguish for contact persons at sheltered housing in the Municipal of Hässleholm? It contains three questions at issue. What are the expectations of the contact men? What information is given? How is communication between the professional categories working out?The report also contains a background with a brief Swedish history in care of older people.

The environmental work in Sweden has developed a lot over the past fifty years. Today, most companies have some kind of environmental work. Environmental activities are regulated by the Environmental Code, which applies in parallel with other laws. This report is an environmental review for Bräcke Diakoni. The report aims to find out how much environmental impact Bräcke Diakoni has.

Problem: When opening a newspaper today there is a good chance that the headlines have something to do with recent developments in the global climate debate. This development is forcing companies to take action. The problem for many companies, including Thule, is that they are unaware of the environmental work conducted throughout their value chain and also what they need to do to become green. Thule, a company with a strong focus on profitability and growth, will not make environmental issues a part of their core strategy unless it can be shown that economic incentives exist. With this thesis we will try to build a case that will help Thule, and also other companies, see the possibilities a green venture brings with it.