Preface:Recognizing management in LCM

The Life Cycle Management conference 2013 took place in Göteborg, Sweden in August that year. During some very sunny days, nearly 450 presentations took place in front of more than 600 conference goers, leading to uncountable numbers of meetings, conversations, and reflections. A group that brought together different facets of management and policy-making research in relation to LCM was created as conference special issue editors. The group identified a need for systematized descriptions and analyses of life cycle-related practices in industry and in society at large. Preferably, the research should be grounded in the social and management sciences. The intention with the special issue was advancing LCM research, with an emphasis on the 'M' for management. The special issue includes 7 papers developed from the conference presentations. The combination of life cycles and management enables many kinds of LCM research. Novel terminology and perspectives to LCM research introduced by the included papers convey some of this diversity. Studies with a product chain perspective to LCM offer a complementing contrast to the study of corporate LCM. Advancement of LCM research can thus be achieved by expanding from the company perspective towards, looking deeper into the interactions of multiple actors. Also, critical perspectives have been shown to be valuable for the legitimacy and credibility of LCA and its practitioners. These studies show how deeper studies in the social sciences offer paths for the further advancement of LCM

Sustainability program brands: Platforms for collaboration and co-creation

While CSR and Sustainability have been widely debated topics over the past decades, there is still evidence of unethical practices by businesses, as witnessed through corporate scandals across a number of industry sectors. This highlights the need for firms to collaborate to actively prevent malpractices and instead find ways to improve standards along the whole value chain. With the increased pressure from various stakeholders, calling for firms to address these issues in a collaborative and holistic manner, the development of models facilitating collaboration is vital. Taking a communication perspective, this paper seeks to improve the knowledge on how organisations can manage diverse stakeholders to improve value chain collaboration towards more sustainable practices. Based on a multiple case study methodology, involving in-depth interviews with senior directors in the food and drink value chain, a framework is developed, depicting the value of a branded sustainability program as a useful platform for stimulating collaboration and co-creation from diverse and/or competing stakeholders. The framework builds on, and contributes to several literature strands including CSR/Sustainability communication, Coopetition and Branding

Strategic ambiguity in corporate sustainability communications

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonPurpose: The aim of this thesis is to develop a better understanding on how businesses should communicate their sustainability strategy to their stakeholders. Businesses are facing the challenge of designing sustainability communications strategies that appeal to stakeholders of various interest and knowledge on the topic, and stakeholders whose objectives might even be contradictory to that of the company. In order to facilitate the communications process to encourage a better uptake of sustainability initiatives by corporations and the public, it is essential to find solutions to these communications challenges. Methodology: The study focuses on the food and drink value chain in Western Europe and is based on empirical evidence from a multiple case study methodology involving in-depth interviews with 25 senior managers and directors from food and drink manufacturing companies, retailers, and some of their stakeholders. Findings: A framework for corporate sustainability communications is developed, depicting five communications strategies. The framework also offers an insight how stakeholders can be categorised into the most appropriate communications strategy through the application of certain segmentation attributes. It is further illustrated how the application of strategic ambiguity can add value to the communications process in order to stimulate interest, initiatives and innovation from stakeholders. Theoretical and practical implications/originality: Previous research on corporate communications strategies, has seen limited empirical validation, is primarily focussed on consumers, and more importantly is lacking in advice regarding how to craft communications that not only appeal to a multitude of stakeholders, but that also encourage collaboration. The findings therefore add confirmation and extension to the previous research and, importantly, it provides a link between theories of strategic ambiguity and the corporate communications literature. The framework also offers practical value as it provides managers with a clear guidance on how to design effective corporate sustainability communications, ensuring diverse appeal and/or engagement for collaboration. Thus it provides a tool that has the potential of facilitating holistic sustainability progress in a value chain.Brunel Business Schoo