Title: Influence of stakeholders and sources when implementing business sustainability practices

Authors: Nils M. Høgevold; Göran Svensson; Beverly Wagner; Juan Carlos Sosa Varela; Carlos Ferro; Carmen Padin

Addresses: Oslo School of Management, PB 1195 Sentrum: Kirkegaten 24-26, Oslo, Norway ' Oslo School of Management, PB 1195 Sentrum: Kirkegaten 24-26, Oslo, Norway ' Department of Marketing, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, 173 Cathedral Street, Glasgow, G4 0RQ, UK ' School of Business and Entrepreneurship, Universidad del Turabo, P.O. Box 3030, Gurabo, 00778-3030, Puerto Rico ' Department of Business Administration and Marketing, Economics and Business Faculty, University of Vigo, Campus Lagoas-Marcosende, 36200 Vigo, Spain ' Departamento Economía Aplicada, Facultad Economía, Vigo University, Campus Lagos Marcosende, s/n. 36200 Vigo Pontevedra, España

Abstract: The objective of this paper is to assess the role of stakeholders and sources that are present in organisations, as well as their marketplace, business networks and society at large, in situations where organisations implement sustainable business practices. A questionnaire was developed, based upon qualitative research conducted and amongst executives of Norwegian organisations who have implemented business sustainability practices. A total of 110 useable responses was collected. The results indicate that the majority of organisations have implemented comprehensive sustainable business practices to a large extent. The study also indicates consistency, as well as differences across stakeholders, namely that economic, social and environmental aspects are taken into consideration in organisational efforts at sustainable business practices. The work furthermore provides empirical substantiation of a two-dimensional framework of sources in business networks and a five-dimensional framework of stakeholders in the marketplace and society.

Keywords: market stakeholders; societal stakeholders; business sustainability; business networks; supply chain management; SCM; upstream; sustainable business practices; Norway; economic sustainability; social sustainability; environmental sustainability.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPM.2016.075261

International Journal of Procurement Management, 2016 Vol.9 No.2, pp.146 - 165

Received: 10 Oct 2014
Accepted: 17 Dec 2014
Published online: 09 Mar 2016 *

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