MasterThesis,M.Sc.EBAinStrategicMarketCreation,

CopenhagenBusinessSchool,2017

Author:MaikeLenaRöder

Supervisor:KarinTollin,DepartmentofMarketing

Charactercount:78pages/188.602characters

Hand-indate:September15,2017

Fra

CORPORATESUSTAINABILITYASCOMPETITIVESTRATEGYArgumentsforImplementingSustainabilityintotheStrategyofEuropeanAirlines

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Agenda

1 Introduction...........................................................................................................................1

1.1 Relevanceofthetopic................................................................................................................1

1.2 Problemstatementandresearchquestion................................................................................2

2 TheoreticalFramework.........................................................................................................3

2.1 WhatisCorporateSustainability?..............................................................................................3

2.1.1 CSderivingfromtheconstructSustainability........................................................................3

2.1.2 ThedistinctionbetweenCSandCSR......................................................................................5

2.2 WhyisCorporateSustainabilityimportantandforwhom?.......................................................7

2.2.1 Twoparadigmshifts:CSandStakeholderTheory..................................................................8

2.2.2 MotivationforCS:CorporateBranding..................................................................................9

2.3 HowtoimplementCorporateSustainability............................................................................12

2.3.1 CSasresourceforCompetitiveAdvantage..........................................................................12

2.3.2 ManagementandPlanningofCSstrategytypes.................................................................14

3 ManagingtheSocialDimensionofCorporateSustainability.............................................16

3.1 WhatisthesocialdimensionofCS?.........................................................................................16

3.2 HowtomanagethesocialdimensionofCS?...........................................................................18

3.2.1 LevelsofcommitmenttoCS.................................................................................................20

3.2.2 IntegratingBusinessandSociety.........................................................................................21

3.2.3 TransparencyofCS...............................................................................................................23

3.3 Bestpracticesofimplementingsocialinitiatives.....................................................................24

4 Methodology.......................................................................................................................26

4.1 Philosophyofscienceandresearchobjective..........................................................................27

4.2 ResearchDesign.......................................................................................................................28

4.2.1 Mixedresearchapproach....................................................................................................28

4.2.2 Qualitativeresearchstrategy...............................................................................................30

4.3 DataCollection.........................................................................................................................31

4.3.1 Caseselection.......................................................................................................................31

4.4 ContentAnalysis.......................................................................................................................32

4.5 Qualitystandards.....................................................................................................................34

5 IndustryAnalysis..................................................................................................................36

5.1 Trendsandissuesintheairtravelindustry..............................................................................36

5.1.1 Increasedcompetition..........................................................................................................36

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5.1.2 Hypermobility.......................................................................................................................37

5.1.3 Environmentalissues...........................................................................................................38

5.1.4 Ungentletourism.................................................................................................................39

5.1.5 Impactofpoliticalevents.....................................................................................................41

5.2 ConsequencesforSocialAspects.............................................................................................42

5.3 SustainabilityReporting...........................................................................................................43

5.2.1 Newreportingframeworksandgoals..................................................................................44

5.2.2 Reportingprofilesanddimensions.......................................................................................46

5.2.3 CSCertifications...................................................................................................................47

6 EmpiricalFindings................................................................................................................48

6.1 LufthansaGroup.......................................................................................................................49

6.1.1 Socialinitiativesreported.....................................................................................................49

6.1.2 Commitmentlevel................................................................................................................52

6.2 InternationalAirlinesGroup(IAG)............................................................................................53

6.2.1 Socialinitiatives...................................................................................................................53

6.2.2 Commitmentlevel................................................................................................................56

6.3 AirFrance–KLMGroup...........................................................................................................58

6.3.1 Socialinitiatives...................................................................................................................58

6.3.2 Commitmentlevel................................................................................................................62

6.4 Ryanair.....................................................................................................................................63

6.4.1 Socialinitiatives...................................................................................................................63

6.4.2 Commitmentlevel................................................................................................................65

6.5 QuestioningFindingsduetoBadPress´...................................................................................66

6.6 SynthesisofEmpiricalFindings................................................................................................70

7 DiscussionandLimitations..................................................................................................71

8 ConclusionandOutlook......................................................................................................77

9 Bibliography.........................................................................................................................79

10 Appendix..........................................................................................................................88

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Abstract

PURPOSE

Despitethenegativeeffectthattheairlineindustryhasonthenaturalenvironment,theairline

industryisconstantlygrowing.Variousinitiativeshavebeentakenandareunderwayintrying

tominimizethenegativeeffects,intheindustryandbygovernments.Inthisthesis,corporate

sustainability(CS)isunderstoodbroadlyincludingeconomic,environmentalandsocialaspects.

Thecorequestiondealtwithinthisthesisis:Iscorporatesustainabilityacompetitivestrategy

intheEuropeanairline-industry,andwhataretheargumentstofurtherintegratecorporate

sustainabilityintothestrategiesofairlines?Hence,thethesisaimstoaddressthemeaningof

emphasizing the social dimension of corporate sustainability and outlines arguments to

implementCSasacompetitivestrategyintheairlineindustry.

METHODOLOGY

Largeandglobalizedfirmswithadirectimpactontheenvironmentusuallyhavehighdeveloped

CS strategies. I selected the four most important airlines in Europe to examine their

commitment level towardsCorporateSustainabilitywiththemeansofacontentanalysisof

reported social initiatives. Responsibilities from the governance, towards employees and

towards society are grounds for categorizing each airline´s commitment levels (Beginning,

Sufficient,Satisfying,Sophisticated/Outstanding).Afterconsideringsocial issuesofairlinesin

thepress,IneededtoadjustmyCSscores.Overall,thethesisprovidesaholisticpictureofthe

phenomenon CS in an interesting and practical way that fosters further engagement and

improvementofCSstrategies.

FINDINGS

Although the social dimensionof CS theoretically bears thepotential of building long term

competitiveadvantage,practicallyitisstillgivenlessattentionthanissuesoftheenvironmental

and economic dimension. Corporate reports can be a valuable resource for generating an

overviewofsustainablebehaviorsoffirms.However,differentreportingframeworksmakeit

hard to evaluate and compare sustainability strategies. Sustainability strategies vary

significantlyacross theairlines.Asnoairlinehas reachedanoutstandingcommitment level

towardsCS,theairlinesdonotunderstandtoachievecompetitiveadvantagethroughcreating

valueforthemselvesandforthesocietyyet.

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ListofTablesandFigures

Table1-GroupingaspectsofthesocialdimensionofCSasidentifiedbyresearchers............18

Table2-RelatingthecategorizationofCSstrategiesfromthreeresearcherstoeachother..20

Table3-CriteriaofallsocialaspectsforeachcommitmentleveltowardsCSasidentifiedby

BaumgartnerandMarrewijk;internalstakeholders..........................................................21

Table4-CriteriaofallsocialaspectsforeachcommitmentleveltowardsCSasidentifiedby

BaumgartnerandMarrewijk;externalstakeholders..........................................................21

Table5-CharacteristicsofthefourlargestairlinesinEuropebypassengers..........................32

Table6-Reportingdisconnect:socialissueslessimportantthanenvironmentalissues.........46

Table7–Europeanairlines´reportingframeworksandsustainabilitycertifications...............48

Table8–TheCSstrategyofLufthansareachesaverysatisfyinglevelofcommitment...........53

Table9-TheCSstrategyofIAGshowsalmostasatisfyinglevelofcommitment.....................57

Table10–TheCSstrategyofAFKLMshowsasophisticatedlevelofcommitment..................63

Table11–TheCSstrategyofRyanairshowsanelementarylevelofcommitment..................66

Table12-RankingtheairlinesaccordingtotheirCSstrategy...................................................71

Table13-Mainfindingsofeachchapterasbasisfordiscussion...............................................72

Figure1-ThethreedimensionsofCorporateSustainabilitybyWillers&Kulik..........................6

Figure2–StrategicallyplanningofcorporatesustainabilitybyBaumgartner(2014)..............15

Figure3-Structureofthethesis.................................................................................................29

Figure4–Limitationofdatacollectionforempiricalresearch..................................................33

Figure5-TheimpactofairtransportontheincreasingGHGemissionsoftheindustry.........38

Figure6-DifferentreportingstylesasdefinedbyHahn&Kühnen(2013)...............................44

Figure7-ThebroadscopeofSDGsdeterminesglobalactionforpeopleandplanet..............45

Figure8-TotalscoreofeachairlinewithinthesocialdimensionofCS....................................70

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1 Introduction

1.1 Relevanceofthetopic

How absurd - while huge sections of the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world’s most

magnificentnaturalwonders,wererecentlyfoundtobedead,killedbyoverheatedseawater,

in themeantime, climate-change denial becomes increasingly common in the halls of the

AmericanCapitol(Hughesetal.,2017).Andthedenialiswide-ranging.

Transportisasignificantandgrowingcontributortoclimatechange(Gössling,Cohen,&Hares,

2016),andspecificallyairtransportisthefastestgrowingsourceofGreenHouseGas(GHG)

emissions.Currently,aviationcontributesaround4.6%to the totalGHGemissions (Becken,

2007) implying an 87% increase since 1990 (European Commission, 2006). Further, air

transport causes 75% of all GHG emissions of all EU tourism transport (Gössling, 2017).

Additionally,theexponentialdemandforaviationserviceswillsoonresultinaninfrastructure

crisisinEuropeasexpertsoftheindustryagree(InternationalAirTransportAssociation(IATA),

n.d.).Astheindustrygrowsrapidly,thenegativeeffectsitcausesonourplanetandpeoplealso

increase.Takentogether,thesegrowinggapsbetweencurrentmobilitytrendsandsustainable

transportscenarios(Gössling,2017)callforimmediateglobalactiontocurbnegativeeffectsof

thetravelindustryasmanyresearchersindicate.Actionfromwhom?Whiletouristsstatethat

airtravelhasbecomeanintegralpartoftheirlives,theyknowthatthisprivilegeconflictswith

theirsocialdesireofbeingasustainablecitizen.Thisleavestheleadroleformoresustainable

tourismuptothegovernment(UnitedNations,2002).Variousinitiativeshavebeentakenand

areunderwayintryingtominimizethenegativeeffects,intheindustryandbygovernments,

suchasbringingairtransportintoEUEmissionsTradingScheme(EuropeanCommission,2006).

However,thenegotiations'goalhasbecomewhatispoliticallypossible,notwhatisdesirable.

Asestablishingaglobal,'topdown'targetforstabilizingemissionshasfailedsofar,hittingthe

ParisAgreementgoalsstillreliesonvoluntary,'bottomup'commitments(Geden,2015).Are

companiestheonesresponsibleforreducingnegativeeffectsfromaviationastourism’sfuture

dependsonit?Whyandhowcouldairlinessustaintravelling?Againstthisbackground,Iintent

to fill the researchgap identifiedbyTollin: “Althougha considerablenumberof companies

appear to have embraced the sustainability construct insights into ‘why’ and ‘how’ some

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companieshaveembarkedonthispath(andothersnot)islacking.”(Tollin&Vej,2011)Hence,

further research that addresses themeaning and implication of sustainability leadership is

important(Tollin,BechChristensen,&Wilke,2015).

1.2 Problemstatementandresearchquestion

Astravellingandsustainabilityseemlikeacontroversytome,Iconductedthreepilotinterviews

toconfirmorrejectthisconsideration.Intheinterview,sevenstudentsrepliedtotwelveopen

questionsabouttheirtravelbehaviorsandattitudestowardsairlines(Appendix3)whichcan

beinterpretedasfollows:Allrespondentsseetravellingasamajorgoalinlife“IfIcouldIwould

travelALLthetime”.Theynaturallytravelledoftenwhilethepricedeterminedmostlyhowthey

travelled.Moststudent´sopinionaboutairlinesseemedrandom“IlikeStaralliancealot.ButI

don’t knowwhy”, “I don’t really see thedifferences”. Even if the respondents knewabout

airlines sustainability initiatives (“What do you mean?”) their knowledge was limited to

environmentalissuesaspayasurchargetotravelcarbonneutralforexample.Clearlyeveryone

waswilling to pay extra for travellingmore sustainably “I´m in”, “Whynot?”, “Iwould pay

maybe5%-10%-sofora40€Ticket,Iwoulddonate4€”.Overall,thispilotinterviewfindings

arecongruentwiththefindingsfromBecken(2007)“Ifthevalueoffreedomtotravelisfirmly

established inthemindsofmanytouristsand limitingtravel isconsideredunacceptable”as

wellaswiththecritiqueofIATA“Airlinesstruggletodifferentiatethemselves,competingon

networkavailabilityand to someextentonpricingandservice” (InternationalAirTransport

Association(IATA),2017).Thus,thecorequestiondealtwithinthethesisis:

Inthisthesis,theunderstandingofCS,asamarketingstrategyforcompanies,isbroadbecause

asacoreessenceitcontainseconomic,environmentalandsocialaspects(Tollinetal.,2015).

Additionally, CS is used as an umbrella construct including Corportate Social Responsibility

(CSR), sustainability development, corporate citizenship, stakeholder engagement, triple

bottomline(TBL)andsimilarterminologiescloselyrelatedtotheapproachofStrand,Freeman

Is corporate sustainability a competitive strategy in the European airline-industry, and

what are the arguments for further integrating corporate sustainability into the strategies

ofairlines?

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&Hockerts (2015) (Strand,Freeman,&Hockerts,2015). Iaddress theresearchquestionby

describingfirst,whatinitiativeshaveuntilnowbeentakenintheairlineindustrytoimprove

the social quality of life (addressing the social dimension) and secondly, categorize these

initiativesintocommitmentleveltofinally,reflectonthedevelopmentofCSatthismoment.

Hence,thethesisaimstoaddressthemeaningofemphasizingthesocialdimensionofCSand

reflectontheargumentsfor implementingcorporatesustainability intothecorestrategyof

business.My primary theoretical perspective derives from stakeholder theory as the social

dimension of CS mainly deals with the management and treatment of people (CCC). This

stakeholderperspectiveonCSisextendedbytheresource-basedviewwhenadoptingCSas

corporatebrandingstrategy.Bothperspectivesstressthenecessityofturningthecorporate´s

culturefocusfrominside-outtooutside-in(Tollin&Vej,2012)whenaddressinghowCScanbe

anopportunityforcompetitiveadvantageintheEuropeanairlineindustry.

2 TheoreticalFramework

2.1 WhatisCorporateSustainability?

CSisabroadconceptwithcompleximplicationsandthereforehardtodefine(Parmaretal.,

2010). Despite half a century of research and debate around themegatrend sustainability

managers still struggle tounderstandwhat itmeans toeconomize sustainably (T.Bansal&

DesJardine,2015;Mihalache&Silvia,2013).Oftensustainability is limitedtoenvironmental

issues,synonymouslyusedwiththetermCSR(Jenkins,2006)orconfusedwiththeconceptof

sharedvalue(T.Bansal&DesJardine,2015).Especiallyinthepraxisofsustainability,thereis

noconsensus(Windolph,Harms,&Schaltegger,2014).Inthefollowing,thetermsustainability

anditsevolutionisexplainedandonthisbasicknowledge,thedefinitionofCSisprepared.

2.1.1 CSderivingfromtheconstructSustainability

In 1987, the concept of sustainability was originally created in the Brundtland Report Our

CommonWealth, named after the Norwegian primeminister Gro Harlem Brundtland, and

whichwasworkedoutby‘WorldCommissiononEnvironmentandDevelopment’withtheaim

ofpreventingthedeteriorationofenvironmentandnaturalresourcesbyplacingenvironmental

issuesfirmlyonthepoliticalagenda(ProducedbytheEnvironmentBranchoftheInternational

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CivilAviationOrganization (ICAO),2016). Thisexplainswhy thepolitical term ‘Sustainability

Development’istraditionallyassociatedwithenvironmentalissuesandwhyonlyincreasingly,

thetermwasseeninabroaderview(Jenkins,2006).Harmonizingprosperitywithecologywas

the challenge of the 1980s and the Brundtland Report can be marked as the birth of

‘sustainable development’. But this narrow definition, due to the focus on environmental

issues,obscuredconcernsforhumandevelopment,equity,andsocialjustice(WHO,2002).

Fromabroaderview,sustainabilityisaconceptthatbalancestheneedforeconomicgrowth

withenvironmentalprotectionandsocialequity(Bradford,Earp,Showalter,&Williams,2016).

ThisexplainswhytheviewofCSisreferredtoasthe‘‘three-leggedstool,''‘‘triplebottomline,''

orthe‘‘threePs’’ofpeople,planet,andprofit(Bradfordetal.,2016).In1997,Thetriplebottom

line (TBL)was first put forth by Elkingtonwhose bookCannibalswith Forksmarks another

milestoneintheevolutionofsustainabilitybecausehedeclaredtheconsiderationoftheTBL

asadutyforeverycompany(Elkington,1997).Long-termsustainabilityrequiresthatallthree

dimensions of the TBL are satisfied simultaneously (Dyllick&Hockerts, 2002). In 2002, the

runningconcernoverthe limitsofthesustainability frameworkwasagainaddressedbythe

WorldSummittroughanexpansionofthestandarddefinition.TheJohannesburgDeclaration

states that sustainability is “a collective responsibility to advance and strengthen the

interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable development—economic

development,socialdevelopmentandenvironmentalprotection—atlocal,national,regional

andgloballevels.”(UnitedNations,2002,p.1)

ThetermsustainabilityderivesfromtheLatinwordsustinerewhichcanbetranslatedinto‘to

holdsomethingup’(Strandetal.,2015).Whenactingsustainablewe‘holdup’abalanceduse

ofresourcesandsuppliessothatthefuturegenerations’useisnotcompromised(Sen&Das,

2013).Inotherwords,theconceptofsustainabilitypressuresourgenerationtobalancethe

short- and long- term supply and demand of resources in a way that secures similar

opportunitiesforourchildrenandfurthergenerations.Thus,wecapturethatthedimensionof

timeisclearlyessentialwhendefiningCSasBansal(2015)pointsout.AndSenandDas(2013)

claimaswell,tounderstandsustainabilityasvisionandwayofthinkingandactingonemust

seetheworldasasystemthatconnectsspaceandconnectstime.Generally,therearetwo

reoccurring key concepts of sustainability: firstly, the ethical concept concerning fighting

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povertyandsecondly,theideaof‘limitations’oftheenvironment'sabilitytomeetpresentand

futureneeds.

When transposing the idea of sustainability to the business level, Dyllick (2002) defines

“corporatesustainabilityasmeetingtheneedsofafirm’sdirectandindirectstakeholders(such

asshareholders,employees,clients,pressuregroups,communitiesetc.)withoutcompromising

itsabilitytomeettheneedsoffuturestakeholdersaswell”(Dyllick&Hockerts,2002).Butup

until today, researchers and NGOs are still trying to make the definition of the construct

sustainabilityunderstandablefornon-politiciansdespiteitsverycommonusage(Tollin&Vej,

2012). For a comprehensive corporate sustainability strategy, it is crucial to internalize the

interdependencies fromsustainabledevelopmentandCS. Inthis thesis, Iwillworkwiththe

definitionofCSasnothingelsethanSustainabledevelopmentincorporatedbytheorganization

whichcontainsconsequentlythesamethreeinteractingpillars:economic,ecologic,andsocial.

(Baumgartner&Ebner,2010)

2.1.2 ThedistinctionbetweenCSandCSRActingsustainablyand feelingsocially responsibleasacompanyseemstogohand inhand.

Although both phenomena aremegatrends today it remains questionable if it is common

knowledgewhatdifferentiatesCSandCSR?Whilethesetermsareusedsynonymouslybymany,

othersargue thatCSR isan integralpartof sustainabledevelopmentbecause it implies the

samethreedimensions:environment,economy,andsociety (Cowper-Smith&DeGrosbois,

2011;I.Freeman&Hasnaoui,2011).ToclarifyinghowCSRdiffersfromCS,bothtermsneedto

bedefinedmoredetailed.

TheconceptofCSRhasalonghistorystartingin1926whenClarkfirstlymentionsthebusiness

obligationstosociety(I.Freeman&Hasnaoui,2011).Despitethis80yearsofbackground,the

“modernera”withrespecttoCSRdefinitionsismarkedwhenHowardBowenpublishedhis

book‘SocialResponsibilitiesoftheBusinessmen’in1953.Inthelastthreedecadesthetopic´s

acceptanceincreasedsignificantlysothattoday,thetermCSRisrecognizedworldwide.Despite

the overflow of CSR definitions, they describe the same phenomenon, just fail to guide

managersonhow to challenge this phenomenon (Dahlsrud, 2008). Themostoftenutilized

definitionsofCSRhavebeencreatedby theEuropeanCommission in the21st century.The

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Commissionprovidedtwodefinitionswithinonedecade:First,in2001,theydetermineCSRas

‘‘aconceptwherebycompaniesintegratesocialandenvironmentalconcernsintheirbusiness

operationsandintheirinteractionwiththeirstakeholdersonavoluntarybasis.’’Andthen,ten

years later in 2011, the European Commission redefined CSR as ‘‘the responsibility of

enterprisesfortheirimpactsonsociety.’’(Strandetal.,2015).

In the past, the notions of CSR and CS have shown separate paths because of narrowly

interpreted definitions: While CS was mostly related to the environment, CSR was mostly

referredtosocialaspects,suchashumanrights(Lynes&Andrachuk,2008).Nowadays,CSand

CSR have grown into convergence (R. Hahn & Kühnen, 2013) and thus, are treated as

synonymousconceptsbycontemporaryliteratureaswellasbycompanies(Strandetal.,2015;

Tollinetal.,2015).Marrewijk(2003)pointsouttheremainingdifferences:CSfocusesonvalue

creation,environmentalmanagement,andhumancapitalmanagementinpracticewhileCSR

is associatedwith themoral obligation aspects like stakeholder dialogue and sustainability

reporting(VanMarrewijk,2003).Still,itisreasonabletotreatCSandCSRsynonymouslyasthe

twoconstructs´effortsclearlyshareacommonaim:theattempttobroadentheobligationsof

firmstoincludemorethanfinancialconsiderations.NeitherCSnorCSRisafillerwordanymore

becausebynow,societyexpectsthatcompaniesaimformuchmorethanprofitmaximization

(Conrady,2012).Apartfromthat,‘TheEconomist’signedoffonthisumbrellaapproachwhen

itinvokedthephrase‘‘corporateresponsibility-orsustainabilityorwhatever’’in2008(Strand

etal.,2015).Inthisthesis,CSandCSRwillthusbetreatedasthesamelooseumbrellaconcept.

Figure1-ThethreedimensionsofCorporateSustainabilitybyWillers&Kulik

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TheframeworkfromWillersandKulik(2011)finalizesthediscussiononthedefinitionofboth

concepts. As it is illustrated in figure 1, the framework embeds the TBL at the Society-,

Corporate- and Instrumental level. At the top (society level), there is thebroad conceptof

sustainability,atthecorporate level,CSRactivitiesmustbeadaptedtotherapidlychanging

valuesandexpectationsofsociety,andattheinstrumentallevel,theimplementationofthe

company'sresponsibilityincludingmonetarydonations,voluntaryemployeeengagement,or

ecologicalcorporateactionforexample.(Willers&Kulik,2011)

2.2 WhyisCorporateSustainabilityimportantandforwhom?

Researchpromisesthatsustainabilitywillhaveahugeimpactoncompanies’waysofcompeting

andcreatingvalueandthusbecameakeysuccessfactorofcompanies’long-termstrategies

(Hart&Dowell,2011;Porter&Kramer,2011).However,onlyaminorityofcompanieshave

adoptedaproactiveroleinfacingenvironmentalandsocialissueswhichimpliesconsidering

stakeholder expectations (Tollin et al., 2015). By definition, CS stresses the relevance of

companiesproactively,systematically,andholisticallytakingstakeholdersintoconsiderationin

their decisions-making from a truly long-term perspective (Bradford et al., 2016). In other

words,stakeholderengagementis“attheheartofeffectiveCSRandsustainability”(Strandet

al., 2015). Scholars have discussed the relationship betweenCS (business) and stakeholder

theory(society)fordecadesalreadybutwithsomeshortcomings(Bradfordetal.,2016).Most

literatureonCSismissingthelinktotheoryatall(R.Hahn&Kühnen,2013).However,Hahn´s

etal.extensive literaturereviewhelpsto identifythatthosestudiesthatdoadoptatheory

show a preoccupation with stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, and to a certain extent

institutional theory1.Truly, there isan“obvioustieofCStostakeholder informationneeds”

(Bradford,2016,p.85)callingforstakeholdertheorytoexplaintheimportanceofsustainability

reporting inpractice.However, researchers’ theoreticalapproach topin stakeholder theory

ontoCStheorywithoutaconfrontationofthetwotheorieshavemuddiedthewatersofthe

theoreticaldebateonCS,especiallywithregardstopracticalapplicationsformanagersBrown

1 Next to stakeholder theory these two theories are common theoretical frameworks for CS:

• Legitimization theory implies that companies need a “license to operate” to conduct business which depends on the perception of society about the firm’s relationship with stakeholders (Parmar, 2010).

• Institutional theory suggests that social norms and institutional expectations create such pressures for organizations that corporations must respond accurately to these increasingly important conventions. (Hahn & Kühnen, 2013; Martin, 2011)

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argues (Brown& Forster, 2013). Still, Iwill focus on anchoring stakeholder theory onto CS

instead of combining theories that support CS (another common practice that bears

inconsistenceresearchfindingsduetothelackofacomprehensivetheoreticalreferencepoint

(R.Hahn&Kühnen,2013)becausethislinkwillpavethewayforunderstandingthemotivations

behindimplementingCSstrategies.

2.2.1 Twoparadigmshifts:CSandStakeholderTheory

Since approximately 30 years, stakeholder theorists have rethought the purpose of the

organizationinthefieldofbusinessethicsbydiscussingifthecompanyisaprivateassociation

or a public entity promoting the interest of awide range of stakeholders (Mansell, 2009).

Stakeholdertheoryisoneofthemajormanagementparadigmshiftsinthelastcenturyonhow

to manage firms – next to the corporate sustainability paradigm shift – and traceable to

Freeman(Amaeshi,2006).ThedefinitionofStakeholdertheorystatesthatthemanagers´duty

is not limited to maximizing the firm´s success or profit for the benefit of shareholders

exclusively (shareholder theory), but their duty expands to legitimizing the corporation’s

actionsinfrontofawidersetofappropriatestakeholdersaswellasconsideringmoralsand

ethics when dealing with them (Donaldson & Preston, 1995). Thus, from a stakeholder

perspective,thereasonforbusinessesengaginginCSgroundsonbotheconomicandethical

justifications,andtheseaspectsshouldblendtogetherinbusinessdecisions(Brown&Forster,

2013).Thepurposeofstakeholdertheory is toprovidebusiness firmsandmanagerswitha

powerful organizing tool when establishing corporate strategy by determining how

stakeholders should be defined and prioritized (Schwartz & Carroll, 2008). But there is an

ongoingdebateaboutthisdefinitionandprioritizationbecausethereisabroadandanarrow

viewtothisdebate.AccordingtoFreedman(1984),stakeholdersarebroadlydefinedas‘‘any

group or individualwho can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization’s

objectives.’’Freemanclassifiescustomers,investors,andemployeesas‘‘primarystakeholders’’

andother groups suchas competitors as ‘‘secondary stakeholders.’’ (R. E. Freeman,2010).

AccordingtoMitchelletal.,thebroadversionisunrealisticallycomplexformanagerstoapply

(Mitchell,Agle,&Wood,1997).The“narrow”versionisbasedongroupsthatare“necessary”

for the firm’s survival (Schwartz & Carroll, 2008). Rather modern is the view of Lynes &

Andrachuk(2008)whosuggeststhatnaturalenvironment,aswell,isconsideredoneofmany

stakeholders.

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Sincethemainissueofsustainabledevelopmentforcompaniesistobalancethemultipleand

often conflicting interests of stakeholders it is essential that stakeholder engagement and

dialogueisatthecoreofaneffectivestakeholderrelationshipmanagement(Amaeshi&Crane,

2006).Inthisshiftfromamono-stakeholder(shareholders)toamulti-stakeholdermodelfor

strategic management reporting takes an essential role (Parmar et al., 2010). Indeed,

sustainability reporting is increasingly recognizedasan importantcontribution tocorporate

sustainability(R.Hahn&Kühnen,2013).Bydisclosingsustainabilityinformationcompaniesaim

to improve transparency, enhance brand value, reputation and legitimacy, enable

benchmarkingagainstcompetitors,signalcompetitiveness,motivateemployees,justtoname

afewmotivations.Alreadyin1988,Elkingtonrecognizesthatthepressurefrominternational

consumersonbusinessresultsinthecompanies´inabilitytokeepsecretsanylonger(Elkington,

1997).LikeCS,Sustainabilityreportingissynonymoususedwithsocialresponsibilityreporting

or reporting and combines long-term profitability with social justices and environmental

concern. While Sen & Das (2013) argue that Sustainability reporting is rather an ongoing

journeythanadestination,KMPGentitlesSustainabilityreportingasmainstreamandclaims

that it has reached its ‘tipping point’ (KPMG International, 2013). Additionally, Colquhoun

declaresthatsustainabilityreportingismorethan“greenwashing”assustainabilityisbecoming

a dominant lens through which the company analyses its business process and practices

(Colquhoun,2016).Duetoglobalization,newstakeholdersanddifferentnationallegislations

are putting new expectations on business resulting in a rapid changing strategy for CS

(Dahlsrud,2008).Businessisexpectedtogobeyondregulationsandcompliancewiththelaw

bysupportingeducationandbecoming involved in thegovernanceofcommunities–a role

previously occupied by the public sector (Jenkins, 2006).Moreover, stakeholders pressure

force companies to internalize all the social and environmental externalities they create

(Steger,Ionescu-Somers,&Salzmann,2007).

2.2.2 MotivationforCS:CorporateBranding

Themainmotivationbehind sustainabilitymanagement (disregardingethics) is government

regulations, stakeholderpressures,andeconomicprofit (Windolphetal.,2014).Though, in

literatureithasbeenclaimedthatgovernmentsandregulatorsare“clearlynotaforcedriving

companies towards more corporate sustainability” (Steger et al., 2007). And even the

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customers, identified as the most influential stakeholder group by EY, do not exert high

pressureon company’s engagement in environmental and social initiatives (Ernst& Young,

2014)becausetheirmainconcernbyfarisstilltheproductprices.Hence,itisinevitabletolook

at themotivationbehind company´s engagement inCSRactivities fromaneconomic stand

point.Sofar,theevidenceontheeconomicmotivationbehindCSisratheroftheoreticalnature

thanofempirical (Brown&Forster,2013).Comparing researchers´evidences2, Lauringand

Thomsen claim that legitimacy together with reputation might be overarching ‘source of

inspiration’forthesustainableengagementofacompany(Windolphetal.,2014).InSteger’s

cross-industrial quantitative analysis (2007) sustainabilitymanagers state clearly that brand

andreputationisthedominatedriverforCSRengagement.Consequently,theeconomicdriver

forCSisdiscussedinthecontextofthecompetency“corporatebrandmanagement”duetoits

monumental importance for generating differentiating opportunities from the marketing

perspective(Stegeretal.,2007).

Corporatebrandingisthemanagementofthecorporatebrandandhasgainedacentralrolein

marketingresearchstressingforthefactthatbrandsareincreasinglyseenaskeyorganizational

asset(Cunha&Louro,2001).Brandtheoristssuggestthattheknowledgeofapersonabouta

companyheavilyinfluencestheperceptiononthecompany´sproductsandservices(Jenkins,

2004).Whileacompanycansufferfromnegativebrandimage,itcanalsopositivelylinktheir

brand to a socially responsible cause. From thisperception-based interpretation, corporate

brandisadistinctiveimageofacorporationnotonlyfromtheconsumerperspectivebutfrom

all relevant stakeholders of the corporation (employees, customers, investors, suppliers,

partners, regulators, special interests, and local communities) which highlights the tight

connectiontostakeholdertheory(Fiedler&Kirchgeorg,2007).Corporatebrandmanagement

requires adjustments of corporate vision, culture and image. Moreover, effective brand

2 These researchers suggest similar motivations for CS engagement:

• In Lynes (2008) semi-structured interviews with managers and employees from SAS the most frequently cited motivations for both corporate social and environmental responsibility simultaneously are stakeholder pressures, corporate citizenship and image.

• Brown (2013) finds evidence that CS initiatives can reduce costs and risks to the firm, build firm competitive advantage, enhance reputation and legitimacy, and create synergies.

• Windolph (2014) states that several studies emphasize competitive pressure, branding, or cost advantages as important reasons for sustainability management.

Tollin (2017) clarifies “Sustainability at a corporate level may be addressed from different areas of competences, and subsequently different theoretical fields in the literature (e.g. supply chain management, corporate branding, value creation, product innovation and business model innovation).”

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management requires dedication for “self-assessment, responsive attitudes towards

stakeholders,and respect forvalues thatattractallparties to thecorporation” (JoHatch&

Schultz,2003).Ifthebrandismanagedeffectively,accordingtoAaker´sassumptionthatbrands

areresourcesforgeneratingandsustainingcompetitiveadvantage,brandmanagersareable

to capitalize and realize brand value, i.e. generate superiormarket performance (Cunha&

Louro,2001).

Parmar also argues, an excellent corporate reputation in the marketplace, defined as

“corporateassociationswhichindividualsoutsideanorganizationbelievearecentral,enduring

and distinctive to the organization” (Varadarajan, 2017), can be a source of competitive

advantageandincreasedeconomicvalue(Parmaretal.,2010).Thisseemslogical:firmswitha

favorable reputation for sustainability across its stakeholder groups are more attractive

business partners (resulting in a larger selection of better business opportunities and less

transaction costs), can enter new markets, and attracting and retaining top talent (ibid).

Furthermore, on another dimension of reputation is linked to the customer: A credible

corporate reputation is likely to influencecustomers’brandchoice, repurchase, and loyalty

behaviors,accordingtoVaradarajan(2017).Besidesthesepromisingbenefitsfromthebrand

asasset, thepsychological viewof theperception-basedbrandshows thatbrandvalue isa

‘soft’,complexandintangibleconceptandthus,bearschallengesfortworeasons:firstly,the

value of brand is hard to measure and validate due to its indirect impact on financial

performance of the firm; and secondly, the assessment of CS influence on brand value is

difficulttoisolatebecausevariousotherfactorshaveanimpacttoo(Stegeretal.,2007);Atthe

sametime,thesoftnatureofbrandimageisbeneficialbecauseintangibleresourcesaremore

likely to lead to innovation and competitive advantage (CA), as they aremore likely to be

valuable,rare,inimitableandnon-substitutable(Toppinen,Li,Tuppura,&Xiong,2012).

Tosumupthediscussion,werefertoargumentthatCSisnotathreattotheachievementof

corporateeconomicgoals;Instead,companiescangeneratesignificant“brandlove”through

sustainable commitment and differentiation (Colquhoun, 2016; Uddin, Tarique, & Hassan,

2008).CSRisallaboutcompetinginareaswherecompetitiveadvantageisshort-livedlikein

technology,qualityservicesandprice(Mihalache&Silvia,2013).Thisdiscussionshowswhy

researchersemphasizetheshiftfromcustomerneedstocredibilityinthecenterofbranding.

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Particularlyafterthefinancialandeconomiccrisisstartingin2008,itisnowuptotheWestern

world´sbusinessestorebuilttrustasatoppriorityanddemonstrateresponsiblywiththemeans

ofCSR(Knopfetal.,2010).Consideringthemostinfluentialbrandingframeworks,achangeto

amoreinclusiveapproachcomparedtothestrongcustomerfocusthatispresenttodayseems

necessary.Notonlyconsumerwantsandneedsshouldshapemarketingstrategiesbutalso

social,economicandecologicaldriversmustalsoplayavitalroletoachieveaswitchinfocus

fromshorttermgainstowardslong-termvisibilityinthemarketplace(Crittenden,Crittenden,

Ferrell, Ferrell, & Pinney, 2011). Hence, a strong obstacle in integrating sustainability into

brandingframeworksistoincludemoredriversthanjustcustomers’needsandwants(ibid).

2.3 HowtoimplementCorporateSustainability

The business role regarding responsibility traditionally defined as a need to eliminate the

negativeeffectsofbusinessisadefensiveapproachthatbelongsinthepastbecauseitbecame

clear (from the previous sections) that responsibility can be basis for opportunity

(Baumgartner, 2014). If responsibility is linked to opportunity, CS can be source of value

creationforbusinessandsocietysimultaneously,asBaumgartner(2014)predicts.However,it

seemsthatcorporationsimplementsustainabilityissuescoincidentallyinsteadoffollowinga

clear strategy designed to improve performance (Baumgartner& Ebner, 2010). Indeed, no

academic literature on this exists and thus, there is not sufficient knowledge about how

corporationscouldmanagethecomplexCSR-performancelink-although,opportunities,risks,

and obligations regarding sustainability needs have long been identified in literature,

Baumgartner (2010) criticizes. Yet, challenges like climate change, resource depletion, and

globalpovertypromptbusinessleaderstoattemptcreating“aformofcommercethatuplifts

theentirehumancommunityinawaythatrespectsbothnaturalsystemsandculturaldiversity”

(Hart&Dowell,2011).

2.3.1 CSasresourceforCompetitiveAdvantage

Stuart L.Hart isoneof the first studies toapplyResource-basedview (RBV) toCS in1995,

arguingthatcorporate´senvironmentalandsocialresponsibilityisresourceorcapability3that

3 In line with RBV), resources are defined as anything that the firm possesses which can be physical (land, money, machines) or intangible (reputation, brand value, skilled employees, innovation and knowledge). A capability, in contrast, is defined as the firm´s ability to deploy resources or in other words, to perform (e.g. visualize, plan, and implement strategies and improve its efficiency and effectiveness). (Barney, 1991

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leadstoasustainedcompetitiveadvantageandthus,leadstosuperiorfirmperformance.The

resource-based view (RBV) emphasizes the firm´s internal processes but originally did not

includethefirm´sconnectionto itsnaturalenvironment.Though, thisconnectionwillbeof

immenseimportanceinthefuture,Hartpredictsbystatingin1995“itislikelythatstrategyand

competitive advantage in the coming years will be rooted in capabilities that facilitate

environmentallysustainableeconomicactivity-anaturalresourcebasedview(NRBV)ofthe

firm”.FromtheNRBV, theoutcomeofbeingamindful firmawareof thepotentiallyscarce

nature of environmental resources is themotivation to develop additional capabilities and

engage various innovative practices. (Hart & Dowell, 2011) Since in rapid changing

environments intangible recourses are not sufficient to preserve competitive advantage

anymore,organizationalcapabilities,oralsocalleddynamiccapabilities,toinnovatebecome

necessary.

The ideaof ‘sustainabilityoriented innovation’ isdefinedas innovation thathas “apositive

overallneteffecton theorganization” (Hansenetal., 2009,p.687).Concretely, sustainable

innovationscapabilityallowsthefirmtointegrate,build,andreconfigureinternalandexternal

sustainability–relatedresourcestodevelopnewproducts,processes,andpractices,andmodify

existingproducts,processes,andpractices,andtherebysignificantlyreducetheimpactofits

activitiesonthenaturalenvironment(Varadarajan,2017).Itembracesconsiderationssuchas

thephysicalproductlifecycleandtheinclusionofavarietyofstakeholdersintheinnovation

process(e.g.,suppliersandcustomers).Varadarajan´sframeworkisalignedtoBansal´s(2005)

findingsonmorepositiverelationships:Theresource-basedview(RBV)ofthefirmsupportsa

positiverelationshipbetweenahighlevelofsustainableinnovationsorientationandproduct

innovation performance, and sustainable innovations orientation and process innovation

performance(Bansal,2005).

Fromamanagerialperspective, “Corporate sustainabilitymanagement ismore thanadding

another parameter to manager´s decision. It requires the integration of sustainability

dimensions into the planning, processes, and other activities of a company on all levels of

management,thenormative,strategic,andoperationallevels”(Tollinetal.,2015),oneofthe

interviewed managers answers. Although academic papers postulate a cross-functional

implementation,Windolph reveals that sustainabilitymanagement isnot implementedasa

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cross-functional task in practice (Windolph et al., 2014). One reason could be that this

integrated view of CS (Appendix 1, b) and its implication in the context of corporations is

relatively new (Toppinen et al., 2012). Also, managerial decisions on the corporate´s

sustainabilityorientationanditsrelevancealwaysdependontheactualbusinesssituationand

the contextual factors (Baumgartner, 2014; Varadarajan, 2017). Factors that significantly

influence the implementation of CS and are positively related to corporate sustainable

developmentarethefollowingasBansal(2005)findsout4:

- International experience – A firm’s international experience will become valuable

source to comply with increasingly complex (natural resource) regulations, and are

better at developing organizational structures and systems that allow coordination

acrossdifferentregulatorystructures

- Mediapressure–Thetotalamountofmediacoverageraisesthefirm’svisibility.The

threatofnegativemediapublicitypressuresfirmstocommittosustainablestrategies

- Mimicry–Firmswilllikelymimicthereportedsustainabilitystrategiesoftheirpeersto

reduceuncertaintyandavoidfinancialsanctions

- Organizationalsize–largerfirmsneedtolegitimizeactionsinfrontofmoremediaand

largerstakeholdergroups

2.3.2 ManagementandPlanningofCSstrategytypes

Asmentionedabove,an“integratedview”onCSimpliestoimplementallCSdimensionson

eachlevelofmanagement,accordingtoBaumgartner(2014).Onthenormativemanagement

level,thefitbetweensustainabilityengagementandorganizationalculturearequestionedand

thenitshouldbeevaluatedwhetherthecultureisopenorrestrictiveanddefensiveregarding

sustainabledevelopment.On the strategicmanagement level, sustainabilitydimensionsare

consideredintheStrength-Weakness-Opportunity-Threatanalysisofthefirmwiththeaimto

developaneffectivecorporatesustainabilitystrategy(table2).Andfinally,ontheoperational

management level, necessary projects and activities for corporate sustainability are

implementedandcarriedoutinthedifferentcorporatefunctionslikematerialsmanagement,

logistics,production,maintenance,marketing,communications,andhumanresourcespolicies.

4 Similar corporate characteristics that influence CS positively have been also identified by Toppinen including country of origin, company size, profitability, sector, stakeholders, and media. (Toppinen, 2012)

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AlignedwithBaumgartner´sframework(2014)aboutmanagingdifferentCSstrategytypes,the

followingdecisionframeworkgivemanagersguidancewhenstrategicallyplanCS(figure2).

Figure2–StrategicallyplanningofcorporatesustainabilitybyBaumgartner(2014)

1. DECIDEONBASICSTRATEGICORIENTATION

Passive(Introverted–riskmitigationstrategy:focusonlegal/externalstandardsconcerningenvironmentalandsocialaspectstoavoidrisksforthecompany)

Active(reactiveorproactive)

3. DEFINEACTIVESTRATEGYTYPE*

Extroverted–Legitimatingstrategy:focusonexternalrelationships,licensetooperate

Conservative–Efficiencystrategy:focusoneco-efficiencyandcleanerproduction

Visionary–Holisticstrategy:focusonsustainabilityissueswithinallbusinessactivities;competitiveadvantagesderivefromdifferentiationandinnovation

4. BEAWAREOFPERSPECTIVES

Conventionalvisionarystrategy–Outside-inperspective:ifsustainabilityissuesleadtomarketadvantages,theyarepartofthestrategicmanagement

Systemicvisionarystrategy–Inside-outperspective:fromaresourcebasedviewthesustainabilitystrategiesaredeepseatedinthenormativelevelofthecompany

*Thestrategytypemustsupportthebasiccompetitivestrategyofthecompanytocontributetothestrategicpositionofthecompanyinthemarkettofinally,secureandincreasetheeconomicsuccess.

2. PLAN(LONG-TERM)SUSTAINABILITYOBJECTIVESANDACTIVITIES

Usingforecasting:SWOTanalysisandfuturedevelopmentsareanticipated

Usingbackcasting:firstdefineadesiredfuturestateandafterwardsplanactionstoachievethisdesiredstate(moresuitable)

Designstrategicmeasurementsandactivitiesusingclassicapproachesforstrategydevelopment.

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Baumgartner gives further advise: Only if the context-specific relevance of sustainable

developmentforthecompanyhasbeenidentifiedpreviously,thedecisionframeworkonthe

strategicmanagementlevelisapplicabletodifferentorganizationsofdifferentsizesindifferent

sectors. After applying the decision framework,managers need to ensure the initiation of

innovationandcontinuousimprovementacrossallrelevantfunctionsontheoperationallevel

whensettingupaclearsustainabilitystrategy.(Baumgartner,2014)

3 ManagingtheSocialDimensionofCorporateSustainability

3.1 WhatisthesocialdimensionofCS?

Although social responsibility is the newest of the three dimensions of corporate social

responsibility, it is previously getting more attention and many organizations increasingly

addresssocialconcerns.WhenaknowledgeablemanagerexpandsthedefinitionofCSoutside

ofthe‘green’itenableshimtoseetheopportunityofsustainabilityasanintegralpartofvalue

creation.Thechallengeof implementingCS is:Foracomprehensivecorporatesustainability

strategy(Appendix1,e)itisnecessarytoconsiderallthefollowingsustainabilitydimensions,

theirimpacts,andtheirinterrelations(Baumgartner&Ebner,2010):

- Theeconomicdimension(orgenericdimension)ofCSembracesgeneralissuesofan

organization that must be implemented to remain in the market for long time.

Baumgartnersuggeststhatthemanagementshouldnotfocusonlyonthetasksthat

show immediate financial results but tasks that lead to increased financial and

sustainability results in the long-term. These generic tasks include: Innovation and

Technology, Collaboration, Knowledge management, Process, Purchase, and

Sustainabilityreporting.

- Theenvironmentaldimension(orecologicdimension)concernstheimpactscausedby

resourceuse,andemissionsintoair,waterorground,aswellaswasteandhazardous

waste,notonlycausedduringtheproductionbutalsoovertheproductlifecycle.The

higher the commitment level for environmental strategies is themore it should be

concentrated on causes rather than on effects. However, eco-efficiency bears only

shorttermimprovementbecauseusuallyitsaveseasilycostsinthestartingphase;but

inthefollowingyearsitbecomesharderandhardertofindfurtherimprovements.

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- ThesocialdimensionCSisallaboutthecorporate´sconsciousnessofresponsibilityfor

itsownactionsaswellasacrediblecommitmentinallbusinessactivities,aimingtostay

successfullyinthemarketforalongtime.Themainpurposeofsocialinitiativesisto

positivelyinfluenceallpresentandfuturerelationshipswithstakeholders.

(Appendix1,f)

Definingthesocialdimensionofsustainabilityischallengingforcorporatepractitioners,dueto

itsintangible,qualitativenatureandlackofconsensusonrelevantcriteria(vonGeibler,Liedtke,

Wallbaum,&Schaller,2006).Baumgartner(2010)andvonGeibler(2006)bothidentifysocial

issuesbyconsideringexistingclassifications,forexampletheGRIReportingGuidelines.Both

authors identify similareightaspectsconcerning thesocialdimensionofCS.Baumgartner´s

listingshowsclearlythesignificanceofboth,theinternalandexternalstakeholders.Uddin´s

categorization of the social aspect according to responsibility towards

customers/employees/community(Uddinetal.,2008) isalsovaluable.Hedefinesthesocial

dimensionas“Socialresponsibilitymeansbeingaccountableforthesocialeffectsthecompany

has on people - even indirectly” (p.205). Uddin´s definition of responsibilities towards

customersinclude,forexample,taskssuchasprovidinggoodvalueformoney,thesafetyand

durability of products or services, standard or after-sales service, prompt and courteous

attentiontoqueriesandcomplaints,adequatesupplyofproductsorservices,fairstandardsof

advertisingandtrading,andfullandunambiguousinformationtopotentialcustomers(ibid).

Toprovideacomprehensiveoverviewofthesocialaspectsofsustainability,Ihavechosento

compareaspectsidentifiedbyallthreeauthors,Baumgartner(2014),vonGeibler(2006)and

vanMarrewijk(2003)asshownintable1.Assomeaspectsarecongruent,Iintegrateseveral

ones into one group so that table 1 shows eight distinct groups of aspects in the social

dimensionofCS.

AspectsofthesocialdimensionofCSasidentifiedbyBaumgartner(B),vonGeibler(G),vanMarrewijk(M)dividedintoeightcontentgroupsincludingexamples

Internalstakeholders(responsibilityfromgovernance,towardsemployees)

1- Corporategovernance(B):Corporatetransparencyinallactivities,BoDstructure- Peoplemanagement(M):Participatoryorinteractivepeoplemanagement- Knowledgemanagement(G):Employeeinvolvementindecision-making

2 - HealthandSafety(B,M):Guaranteethatnohealthandsafetyrisksoccuratwork- Qualityofworkingconditions(G):EmployeeProgramstopreventdangers/tostayfit

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3 - Workingenvironment(M):Awarenessofneeds,claimsandmotivationofemployees- Motivationandincentives(B):Incentivesandrewardsystemsforsustainabilityissues

4

- Employment(G):Creationandsafeguardingofjobs- Humancapitaldevelopment(B):Permanenteducation,mentoring,training- Innovationpotential(G):Contributiontoscientificdebate,numberofpatents- Diversity(M):Policiesforemancipationofwomen,coloredpeopleandminorities

Externalstakeholders(responsibilitiestowardsthecommunity)

5 - EthicalbehaviorandHumanrights(B):Cultureofrespect,fairrules/profitallocation- Workethicsandglobalization(M):Seriouslyconsideringstakeholders’ideals/needs

6 - Nocontroversialactivities(B):Notholdingsharesthataredefinedasnotsustainable- Nocorruption,norcartel(B):Nomanipulation,norule-breaking,noprice-fixing

7- Productacceptanceandsocietalbenefit(G):socialstandardsinthesupplychain- Consumers(M):Goodvalueformoney,durabilityofproducts,aftersalesservice- Suppliers(M):Togetherwinapproachwithsuppliers,qualitycontrolexternalverified

8 - Corporatecitizenship(B):Conservationofnationalsubsidiary,increasesociallifestyle- Societaldialogue(G):Participationinsustainabilityactivitiesforthelocalcommunity

Table1-GroupingaspectsofthesocialdimensionofCSasidentifiedbyresearchers

Satisfyingeachstakeholdergroupisanimportantbusinessstrategybecause,becauseitallows

the company to (re)gain trust from consumers, better signal the company´s (potential)

suppliers reliabilitywhich is important for business partnerships, and to earn respect from

employees. Additionally,NGOs increasinglywant towork togetherwith companies seeking

feasible solutions and innovations in areas of common concern (Uddin et al., 2008).

Furthermore,Uddin(2008)claimsthatthesocialdimensionofsustainabilityallowscompanies

to maximize their commitment to all stakeholder groups which is especially beneficial for

investors.Heconcludes:“Thewinningcompaniesofthiscenturywillbethosewhoprovewith

theiractionsthattheycanbeprofitableandincreasesocialvalue”(ibid).

3.2 HowtomanagethesocialdimensionofCS?

Whereas environmental management systems have a longer history in organizations, the

managementofsocialissuesbycorporationshasonlybecomeamoresignificantconcernsince

themid-1990s,whentheconceptofthetriplebottomlineemergedandsocialissuesbecome

moreprominentamongcorporateleaders(Elkington,1997).Mihalache(2013)explains:The

impactofcompanies’activitiesonthecommunityisanexcellentcatalystforsocialaccounting

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duetotheirimpactonincreasinglyimportantintangibleelementsofvalueforanorganization,

suchasbrand,customerloyalty,andlicensetooperate.Still,managingsocialissuesremainsa

challenge:Socialissuesaregenerallymorecomplexandhardertoobjectivelyquantifyandthe

roleofthecorporationinaddressingthemissomewhatlessclearthanforenvironmentalissues

(Toppinenetal.,2012).

Carroll´swell-knownmodelof the“CSRPyramid” (Appendix1,a) createsa framework that

helpstocharacterizethenatureofbusinesses’responsibilitiestothesocietyofwhichit isa

part (Carroll,2016).Herstakeholderperspective,alsohelpstounderstandthescopeof the

manager’sdecisionsonsocialinitiativesinsociety.Carroll(2016)suggeststhatthesetoffour

socialresponsibilitiesconstitutetotalCSR:economic,legal,ethicalandphilanthropic.Whileat

the bottom of the pyramid economic responsibilities of business to the society serves as

foundation to sustain, on top of it are the philanthropic responsibilities including giving

activitiesthatarenotrequiredby law,andnotgenerallyexpected. Itmeansforexampleto

contribute facilities and human resources for humanitarian programs, or to contribute

financially in arts, education, sports or community, or to promote human welfare. These

voluntaryactivitiesmeetcommunity’sdesireofacompanyasgoodcorporatecitizen,andare

not expected by the community like ethical responsibilities (Mihalache & Silvia, 2013). A

company´s decision to pursue philanthropic responsibilities can be of strategic, ethical or

altruisticnature(Schwartz&Carroll,2008).

Aseriesofhighprofilepubliccontroversiesinthe1990sinvolvingmultinationalcorporations

suchasShell,Nike,TheGap,andothershaveputthesocialdimensionofsustainabilityback

intothelight.Worstcasescenariosareforexample,ShellOil’sdecisiontosinktheBrentSpar,

anobsoleteoilrig,intheNorthSeaorNike´sabusivelaborpracticesatIndonesiansuppliersin

theearly1990s(Brown&Forster,2013;Martin,Johnson,&French,2011;vonGeibleretal.,

2006).Hence,managingreputationalriskhasbecomeaseriousconcernforcorporations.

Mostlyduetothegrowingimportanceofsocialissuesinbusiness,theUnitedNationsinitiated

The Global Compact promoted in 1999 good practices by corporations by articulating ten

principlesthatcoverhumanrights,labor,andenvironmentalissuesandstate(Appendix1,h)..

The Global Compact principles have been widely adopted by multinational corporations

demonstratingtheimportanceofthesocialdimensionofCSonceagain.TheGlobalcompact

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doesn´tsolelylisttheprinciplesbutincludeaclearguidanceon“Whatdoesitmean”,“Why

shouldcompaniescare”and“Whatcancompaniesdo”foreachprinciple.

3.2.1 LevelsofcommitmenttoCS

Marrewijkpointsoutthereisno"onesolutionfitsall"conceptofCS.Everycompanyhasthe

opportunity to create added value resulting in different levels of commitment to CS (Van

Marrewijk,2003).Thesecommitmentlevels(alsocalledambitiouslevels,developmentlevels

ormaturitylevels)havebeenassigneddifferentsustainabilitytasksasbyresearchers.Sofar,

inappropriatemanagerialattemptstorespondtotheCSchallengeletdifferentstrategiesat

variousdevelopmentstagesemerge.Intable2,IcombineMarrewijk´sdifferentinterpretations

of CS (2003) with Carroll´s business responsibilities (2016) as well as with Baumgartner´s

maturity levels of CS (2010). Thematrix serves as self-assessment tool formanagers or an

evaluationtoolasincaseofthisthesis.

InterpretationofCSbyMarrewijk

Carroll´sbusinessresponsibilities CSmaturitylevelbyBaumgartner

Compliance-drivenCS

Legalresponsibilities:CSisperceivedasadutyandobligation,orcorrectbehavior

Beginning

Profit-drivenCS

Economicresponsibilities:CSispromotedifprofitable,forexamplebecauseofanimprovedreputationinvariousmarkets(customers/employees/shareholders)

Elementary

CaringCSEthicalresponsibilities:Topmanagersbelievethathumanpotential,socialresponsibilityandcarefortheplanetareassuchimportant

Satisfying

SynergisticCS

Ethicalresponsibilities:Stakeholderandtop-managementfindsthatsustainabilityisimportantinitself,especiallybecauseitisrecognizedasbeingtheinevitabledirectionprogresstakes

Sophisticated

HolisticCS

Philanthropicresponsibilities:Eachpersonororganizationhasauniversalresponsibilitytowardsallotherbeings

Outstanding

Table2-RelatingthecategorizationofCSstrategiesfromthreeresearcherstoeachother

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AdditionaltothematrixreflectingdifferentcategorizationmodelsofthedevelopmentofCS,

table3andtable4provideanevaluationframeworkandguidanceformanagerswhoaimto

achieveacertaincommitmentlevelofCS.ForeverysocialaspectidentifiedbyBaumgartner

andMarrewijkspecificinitiativesandnormsarelistedforeachofthefivecommitmentlevels

of CS. While table 3 addresses social aspects concerning internal stakeholders, table 4

addresses social aspects concerning external stakeholders. From an economic view, the

optimum level of commitment to CS is remarkably debatable (Steger et al., 2007). Many

researchers have found out that the nature of the relationship between sustainability

performanceandthefinancialperformanceisnonlinearandcanevenchange.Theyarguethat

sustainabilityimprovementspayofffinanciallyinthebeginningbutthenbecomecostlywhen

companies are trying to achieve a zero-emission goal for example, resulting in aU-shaped

relationship.Apartfromthisdebate,aproactivesustainabilitystrategyisassociatedwithhigh-

order learning, a corporate capability possibly resulting in competitive benefits such as for

efficiency,productivityandcontinuousinnovation(SharmaandVredeburg1988).Hence,when

I laterutilize table3and4 toevaluate thecommitment levelsofEurope´s largestairlines I

assume that the more proactive or more committed towards CS a company is, the more

capabilityithasforinnovation-orientationandopportunityforbetterperformance.

InAppendix2,Ipresentafullevaluationframeworkincludingthecriteriaofallsocialaspects

foreachcommitmentleveltowardsCSasidentifiedbyBaumgartnerandMarrewijk.Thetwo

tablespresentwhichcriteriatofulfilltoreachahigherlevelofcommitmenttowardsCS,one

for responsibilities concerning internal stakeholders and one for responsibilities concerning

externalstakeholders.DuetotheirextensivesizethetablesaremovedtotheAppendix:

Table3-CriteriaofallsocialaspectsforeachcommitmentleveltowardsCSasidentifiedbyBaumgartnerandMarrewijk;internalstakeholders

Table4-CriteriaofallsocialaspectsforeachcommitmentleveltowardsCSasidentifiedbyBaumgartnerandMarrewijk;externalstakeholders

3.2.2 IntegratingBusinessandSocietyPorter and Kramer propose a new perspective on the relationship between business and

societybecause they claim thatCSeffortsbecomecounterproductivewhen forgetting that

corporatesuccessandsocialwelfareare interdependent (Porter&Kramer,2006).Theysay

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that business and society need eachother ismore than a cliché, it is the truth. Successful

corporations need a healthy society: Education, health care, and equal opportunity are

essential for a productiveworkforce. At the same time, a healthy society needs successful

companies.PorterandKramerfurthersuggestthatahighly-developedCSstrategyisnotonly

anchored on the strategic level of the firm, as explained above, but also requires an

understandingoftheinterrelationofbusinessandsociety.Theirperspectivethatbusinessand

societymustbeintegratedcanhelpcompaniesoutofthecurrentconfusionaboutcorporate

responsibilitiesandhelptorealizesharedvaluebymakingchoicesthatarebeneficialforboth

sides.Whenmanagerschoosewhichsocialissuestoprioritizetheymustconsideroutside-in

and as well as inside-out linkages between society and business to transform defensive,

responsiveCSintoastrategic,integratedCS.However,thetruthisthatupuntiltoday,onlyfew

firmshave“trulyembedded the sustainablepractice into theiroperations” (Ernst&Young,

2014).Parmaragrees,advancedCSmanagersshouldnotask“Howcanthecompanydomore

goodworks?”–eventhoughdoingmoregoodisneverabadidea–butneedtoask“Howdoes

thiscompanymakecustomers,suppliers,communities,employees,andfinanciersbetteroff?

Howcanwework together to create value for eachother?”Thus, Parmar also calls for an

integratedapproachtosocial,environmentalandeconomicissues(Parmaretal.,2010).

“The integrative view on corporate sustainability argues thus that firms need to address

economic,environmentalandsocialaspectssimultaneouslywithout,apriori,emphasizingone

aspectoveranother—evenifthisentailstensionsandconflicts.”(T.Hahn,Pinkse,Preuss,&

Figge,2015).Hahnet.al.(2015)identifyfurtherimplicationsformanagers:Insteadofignoring

tensionintensivesituationswithsecondarystakeholderslikeNGOs,whereenvironmentaland

social aspects cannot be aligned with financial outcomes or solved through market

transactions,managersneedtoembracethesetensionsanddiscusssomeselectedoneswith

the aim to explore and manage different resolution strategies. Altogether, managers that

follow ‘the integrative logic’ might implement the most proactive corporate sustainability

strategiessimplythroughacceptingtensions(ibid).Overall,thenewintegratedapproachofCS,

inwhichbusinessandsocietyareintertwined,followsapragmaticapproachbecauseitfocuses

onmanagingthecompany´sstakeholderrelationshipsasakeytaskofsuccess.Further,Porter

andKramer(2011)believethatcompaniesareresponsibleonesfortakingtheleadinbringing

businessandsocietybacktogether.Toachievethat,companiesmustseeopportunitiesand

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decisionsthroughthelensofaprinciplecalled‘sharedvalue’–aprincipleleadingtothenext

transformationinbusinessthinking,theauthorsclaim.Companiescancreatesharedvalueby

creatingeconomicvalueinawaythatalsocreatesvalueforsocietybyaddressingitsneedsand

challenges. Inotherwords, itcanbecreatedbybetterconnectingcompanies’ successwith

societalimprovement.Resultisthatcompaniesopenuptomultiplewaystoservenewneeds,

gainefficiency, createdifferentiation, andexpandmarkets. Theauthorsnotify that value is

definedasthebenefitsrelativetocostsandnotbenefitsalone.Consequently,theprincipleof

sharedvalueisthesolutiontolegitimizebusinessagain.(PorterandKramer,2011)

3.2.3 TransparencyofCSOne of the most successful approaches to manage social issues is stakeholder dialogue.

Amaeshiexplains: stakeholderdialogueor stakeholderengagementat thecoreofeffective

stakeholder relationship management is essential as the main issue for sustainable

developmentconcernsprimarilythechoicescompaniesmakebetweentheconflictinginterests

ofstakeholders(Amaeshi&Crane,2006).Ofcourse,dataandreportingisanecessarybasisfor

management decisions on trade-offs of different stakeholder interests because you cannot

monitorwhatyoudonotmeasure.Inthatsense,forasociallysustainablecompanyitiskeyto

implementatransparentdialoguethatseemsfairandtrustworthyforallstakeholdergroupsin

ordertoderivevaluefromitssocialinitiatives(Dyllick&Hockerts,2002).Stakeholder´sdemand

fortransparencyandaccountabilityhavepushedmanycompaniestoreportexternallyontheir

CSactivities(Bradfordetal.,2016).Inthepasttwodecades,therewasa“significantincrease

intheamountofinformationdisclosedaboutenvironmentalandsocialactivitiesundertaken

bycompanies”(Toppinenetal.,2012).Ifstakeholdersarenotawareofcorporatesocialand

environmentalbehaviorthereturnstosuchbehaviorarelimited.However,whenstakeholders

wereawareofittheywouldreactpositivelytocorporateresponsibility,accordingtoSenetal.

To put it in a nutshell, these studies suggest that firms should try harder building their

reputations through the promotion and communication of social initiatives to their

stakeholders.

Acompanywhofailstoengageinsustainabilityreportingcouldsufferfromanegativeeffect

onitsperformance,reputation,andtheabilitytoraisecapital(EY2014).Forexample:Results

indicatethatfirmshigherinsocialperformancearemoreattractiveemployersthanfirmslower

in socialperformance.Ofcourse,potentialapplicantsneed tobeawareof firms'corporate

24

social performance first, so that those with more positive ratings may have competitive

advantagesbyattractingmorepotentialapplicants(Bradfordetal.,2016).However,gaining

awareness is difficult because stakeholders are often reluctant to read toomuch into this

informationwhichmakes the understandability of the reports particularly relevant for the

willingnessofuserstoreadthereports,Bradfordargues.Onereasonforthisreluctanceisthat

sustainability reporting is more consistent with image management than with rendering

veritableaccountsofactualsocialandenvironmentaleffectsofcorporateactivities.

3.3 Bestpracticesofimplementingsocialinitiatives

Inthischapter,bestpracticeexamplesofsuccessfulimplementationsofCSstrategiesserveas

inspirationforothercompany´showtoimprovetheirCSstrategyfurther.Grantknows,when

putting resources and capabilities to practicalwork, onemust assess the intangible asset´s

strengthandweakness(Grant,2016).Benchmarkingisapowerfultoolforanobjectiveanalysis

ofcapabilitiesrelativetotheonesofcompetitors.“Bysystematicallycomparingprocessesand

activitieswith those of other firms, benchmarking allows a company tomake an objective

appraisalofitscapabilities”(Grant,2016,p.142).PorterandKrameridentifythefollowingsix

firmshavedistinguishedthemselvesthroughanextraordinarylong-termcommitmenttosocial

responsibilityandIaddonebestpracticeexampleoutofthetransportindustry:

• NestléMilkDistrictModel:Nestléworkswithmorethan600000farmers,mostlysmall

farms,withtheaimtodomoreforthefarmersandcommunitiesontheonehand,and

ontheotherhandtohaveareliable,safeandhigh-qualitymilksupplyfortheirproducts.

Nestlé´sMilkDistrictsanddairyindustrieshasbeenadoptedin30countries,including

developing countries such as Colombia, India, and Pakistan. In Moga (Africa) for

example,Nestlé´sknowledgetransferhashelpedtoreducethecalves’deathrateby

75%andtoincreasethemilkproduction50-fold.Asthemilkqualityimproved,Nestlé

couldpayhigherpricestofarmersthanthegovernment.Itisawin-win,orsharedvalue,

situationonawidescale:WhileNestlécontributestopovertyreduction,theyimprove

nutritiongenerallyandfortheirproducts.(Porter&Kramer,2006,p.12)

• Toyota´sPrius:Toyota’searly introductionofthehybrid-enginecarPriustackledthe

public concern about auto emissions. The Prius has not only significantly reduced

pollutants and servesworldwide customer needs, it has also given Toyota a unique

superior position over rivals in hybrid technology which fits comfortably to the

25

company´s genetic mission and vision. Toyota has set the technology of the

environmentalfriendlyandinnovativecarmodelPriusastheworldstandard.(Porter&

Kramer,2006,p.1)

• Ben&Jerry's“CaringCapitalism”:ThefirstCSRreportisregardedashavingbeenissued

byBenandJerry’sIceCreamin1989(Sen&Das,2013).Thefoundersofthepremium

icecreamBenCohanandJerryGreenfieldredefinedcorporatephilanthropy.Acaring

companyculturehavebeenestablishedbecauseBen&Jerry'sbeganrewardingtheir

employees with profit-sharing programs, free health club memberships, day-care

serviceandcollegetuitionaid.TheBenandJerry´sFoundationdonates7.5percentof

the company's pre-tax profits to nonprofit charities nationwide. The Foundation

mission is to engage employees in activities for social and environmental national

justiceandawardsabout$1.8millionannuallytoeligible.(TheEntrepreneur,2008)

• Patagoniaproductlife-cycle:Thecompany´smantra—Reduce,Repair,Reuse,Recycle

– demonstrates commitment to sustain the entire product´s life cycle. Patagonia

promises tomake long-lastingproducts, fixbrokenequipment,help to rehomegear

that isno longerneededelsewhere,andaccept/retoolworn-outconsumer items. In

1994,theymadethedecisiontotakeastandagainstchemicallyintensivecottonand

switchtoorganicallygrowncottonthroughouttheiractivesportswearline.Patagonia

works with suppliers that make high-quality materials while reducing their

environmentalfootprint,andinspectsfactoriestoensurefairlaborpracticesandgood

working conditions. The retailer´s vision to “use business to inspire and implement

solutions to the environmental crisis” serves as role model in the textile industry.

(Patagonia,2007)

• Unilever´sProjectShakti:ForIndian´sruralareasUnileverhasdevelopedadirect-to-

homedistributionsystemwhichisrunbyunderprivilegedfemaleentrepreneurs.The

45,000entrepreneurscoveraround100,000villagesacross15 Indianstates.Project

Shakti helps communities not only by giving access to hygienic products to fight

communicablediseasesbutalsogiveswomenskillsthroughtheUnilever´strainingand

microcredits which doubles the income of these women. In themeantime, project

Shakti accounts for 5% of Unilever’s total revenues in India and has extended the

company’sbrandawareness inmedia-darkregions.Weconcludeagain,Unileverhas

26

created shared value by meeting the needs of life-struggling communities while

enablingeconomicvaluefromhard-to-reachconsumers.(Porter&Kramer,2011)

• Johnson&Johnson´shealthbenefits:Todayitiscommonknowledgethatcostsfrom

lostworkdays, diminishedemployeeproductivity, andpoorhealthoftenexceed the

costs forhealthbenefits foremployees.Byhelpingtheiremployeestostopsmoking

(50%did)andbyimplementingnumerousotherwellnessprograms,thecompanyhas

saved$250milliononhealthcarecostsandtheirworkforcebecomemoreproductive.

(Porter&Kramer,2011)

• Maersk´s Slow Steaming: A ship that reduces speed by 20%will use 40% less fuel,

thereby reducingCO2emissions correspondingly.WhenMaersk Linedecided to cut

CO2emissionspercontainerby12.5%from2007to2009,andby25% in2020, the

concept of slow steaming took off. The concept implies adding 1-2 vessels per

container,whichnotonlyreducesCO2emissionsbut isalsoawin-win-winsituation.

Slowsteaming isaconcept for the futurebecause it isbetter forcustomers (higher

degreeofcertainty),betterfortheenvironment(overthelast1½yearreducedMaersk

Line'sCO2emissionsbyabout7%percontainermoved),andbetterforourbusiness

(Schedule reliability improves leading to 77% on-time performance score with the

closestcompetitorsrangingfrom59%-64%).(Maersk,2010)

4 Methodology

Thecentralobjectiveofthechapteristoconnecttheprevioustheoreticalframeworkwiththe

following empirical data. Each of the sections cover explanations for the chosen method.

Guided by the question “Is corporate sustainability a competitive strategy in the European

airline-industry,andwhatare thearguments for further integratingcorporatesustainability

intothestrategiesofairlines?”,thisresearchwasdesignedtoidentifyspecificsocialinitiatives

implementedintheairlineindustryandtheirlevelofcommitment.Thedatawascollectedfrom

the airlines’ environmental or CSR reports (free-standing or published jointly with annual

financialreports)availableonline.

27

4.1 Philosophyofscienceandresearchobjective

PositivismandInterpretivismarethetwobasicapproachestoresearchmethodsinSociology.

While Positivist prefer scientific quantitative methods, Interpretivists prefer humanistic

qualitativemethods.(Payne&Payne,2004)Additionally,newphilosophicalmovementsexist,

suchasRealismandPragmatism,drivenbyThomasKuhn“paradigmshift”onhowtoseethe

world.Within qualitative research, an alternative to Interpretivism is Pragmatism. The two

philosophiesInterpretivismandPragmatismaredistinctintheirresearchobjectives:Whena

qualitativeresearcheradoptsaninterpretivestanceheorsheaimstowardsanunderstanding

thatisappreciatedforbeinginteresting;Whentheresearcheradoptsapragmatiststancehe

orsheaimsforconstructiveknowledgethatisappreciatedforbeingusefulinaction(DeVaus

&deVaus,2001).Further,theInterpretivistparadigmimpliesthattheimplicationsdrawnfrom

the research cannot be generalized or perceived as norms, as each case is unique (in

accordancewiththenatureofinterpretivism).Intheinterpretivist(socialconstructivist)school

theontologicalassumptiononthenatureofreality isthatmultiplerealitiesexist,whichare

socially constructed by individuals (Corbin& Strauss, 2008). The Interpretivism-view of the

worldisnecessarywhenIin-deeplyassessthephenomenonCS(definitionanddevelopment).

Asthedifferentmotivationsunderlyingthesocialinitiativesfromairlinesanditsreportingare

noteasytodetect,ImustinterpretsubjectivelythecommitmentlevelofCS.

Thefollowingfour levelsofknowledgecanallhelptoanswertheresearchquestionhowto

managethesocialdimensionofcorporatesustainability:Exploratory–Whatisthis?Ask:What,

who,howmany;Descriptive–Howdoes it look like?Ask:How;Explanatory–Whyis itthis

way?Ask:Why;Normative–Howcanitbedifferent?Ask:How.Exploratoryresearchisused

to examine “two or more contrasting cases” and “can be used to highlight differences

similaritiesbetweenthem,leadingtoabetterunderstandingofsocialphenomena”(Walliman,

2006).Descriptiveresearchissometimesdismissedas“justgettingthefacts”,butthistypeof

research isoften the fundamentofourknowledgeof theshapeandnatureof society.The

descriptionscanbeconcrete(femalerateinmanagementpositions)orabstract(commitment

level of CS). When the description is good, the next step, asking the “why” question of

explanatoryresearch,isprovoked.(deVaus,2001)Thus,explanatoryresearchisanotherkind

of descriptive research, whichmoves beyond getting the facts and tries tomake sense of

human,political,social,culturalandcontextualelementsinvolved(Walliman,2006).AsIaim

28

to explore the CS commitment level of the four largest airlines in Europe, I firstly need to

describethesocialinitiativestheyreport.Thesetwotypesofresearchcombinedhelpmeto

provideboth, anunderstandingof thedevelopmentofCS and its state-of theart for large

Europeanairlines.

4.2 ResearchDesign

“Thefunctionofaresearchdesignistoensurethatthedatathatareobtainedenableusto

answertheinitialresearchquestionsasunambiguouslyaspossible”(DeVaus&deVaus,2001,

p.1). In other words, without researchers knowing from the start, which methods are

appropriatetocollectdata,nostrongconclusionscanbedrawnintheend.Myresearchdesign

is not fixed but flexible, as it evolved over time. The capacity for flexibility is “one of the

strengthsofqualitative…toevolvingcircumstancesastheynaturallyoccur”(Payne&Payne,

2004,p.176).

4.2.1 Mixedresearchapproach

For this thesis, I use a retroductive approach of social research combining deduction and

inductionasshowninfigureYXY.Theretroductiveapproachcontainstheinterplayofstarting

theanalysiswithsocialtheory(deduction)andevidence(induction)withthepurposetogive

themostadequateanalysisofsocialreality(Ragin&Amoroso,2010).SeefigureCYtofollow

thestructureofthethesischapterbychapter.

Chapter2,3,5:ConceptualFramework-Thesocialtheorybehindthispapercanbedivided

intotwoparts.InPartA,aliteraturereviewonthedefinitionanddevelopmentofCSfostersan

understandingforthethree-dimensionalmegatrendCSanditsdifferentstrategytypes.InPart

B,Iprovideaframeworktoassesshowcommittedacompanyistowardsthesocialdimensions

ofCSandgiveguidanceonhowtoimplementsocialinitiatives.Inbothpartsofthetheory,I

use research by Baumgartner for explaining CS strategy types (Introverted, Extroverted,

Conservative, Visionary) and descriptive criteria for each commitment level towards CS.

Moreover, an analysis of the air travel Industry ensures that the reader understands the

regulationsandrisksthatAirlinesCSmanagersarefacing.Thetwotheoreticalpartsservesas

sourceofknowledgeonthestateoftheartofCS.

29

Chapter6,7:EmpiricalFindingsandDiscussion

Thisthesisusesinductiveanddeductivereasoningforatwo-foldedanalysis.Firstly,acontent

analysisoftheairlinessocialinitiativestowardsinternalandexternalstakeholdersisgiven.This

content analysis grounds on the different types of reports that the airlines or its parent

companypublishes. Informationontheairlineswebsitesareadditionallytaken intoaccount

withtheaimtoreflectexamplesofeachsocialresponsibilityissue.Withthedescriptionofthe

socialinitiativesItestinwhichlevelofcommitmenttherespectiveairlinecanbecategorized.

Usingonlydeductiveresearchleadstoconclusionswhethertheairlinesfitintothedeveloped

commitmentlevels.However,itdoesnotincludeanyfurtherimplicationsforCSmanagerson

Workingexperience

PilotInterview

1

ProblemStatement

Managingsocialissuesintheory

IndustryAnalysis

Theoreticalevidence

CaseStudy1

CaseStudy2

CaseStudy3

CaseStudy4

Categorizationofcommitmentlevels

DevelopmentstageofCS

PilotInterview

2

PilotInterview

3

DeductionTestingtheoreticalevidence

Buildingevaluation Induction

LiteratureReviewon

CS

Figure3-Structureofthethesis

30

howtoimprovetheirCSstrategy.Therefore,Iattempttoinvestigateinductivelywhetherone

canobservepatternsofcommitmenttowardsCS.Hence,byusingaretroductiveapproachin

combiningdeductionandinduction,thispaperaimsatproducingscientificevidenceabouthow

corporationsmanagetoimplementCSstrategiesandexplainwhatitmeansfortheindustry

andwhatitimpliesforfutureprospects(Ragin&Amoroso,2010).

4.2.2 QualitativeresearchstrategyForthisresearch,Ichoosetoconductamultiple-casestudy.Acasestudycanbedescribedas

the empirical investigation of a specified or bounded phenomenon and the focus of the

researchisoftenconcentratedoninstancesofgreatercomplexity(K,2014).Casestudydesigns

tend to be flexible designs (Walliman, 2006). Moreover, case studies are not used for

generalizability, but “is rather about the quality of theoretical analysis that is allowed by

intensive investigation intooneora fewcases”(Walliman,2006,p.45).Traditionally, there

havebeenprejudicesagainstcasestudystrategybecauseithasbeenclaimedthatcasestudies

lackreliabilitybuttoday,hereissomesuggestionthatthecasestudymethodisincreasingly

beingusedandwithagrowingconfidence.Despiteextensivecritique,thecase-basedmethod

hasbecomeacommonapproachforexploringorganizationalphenomena.

Duringthelastcentury,thedevelopmentofqualitativemethodsshowedimpressiveadvances

and results, thus helping to gain more acceptance not only in the field of social research

becausequalitativeresearchdrawsastrongconnectionbetweendatacollectionandtheory

building.Theresultsfromthedataanalysisoftenrequirerefinementofthetheory,bothduring

andaftertheanalysisisconducted(Walliman,2006).Duringanyqualitativedatacollection,it

isimportanttohaveacriticalattitudetowardsthedatabeingcollectedtoreducetheamount

ofcollecteddata.Aqualitativeresearchstrategyisemployedinthesensethatweinterpretand

construct, emphasizing the meaning of words rather than quantifying data. The

appropriatenessofthisstrategyliesinthequalitativeresearchers’aimtogatheranin-depth

understanding of human behavior. Qualitative research strategy and the ‘hollowed

methodology’ criticism may be overcome through codification. With the interpretation of

qualitativedataand thedevelopmentofdata categories,qualitativedata canprovidewell-

grounded conclusions. (Corbin& Strauss, 2008) I useprocedures and strategiesdefinedby

31

Corbin&StrausstodemonstratehowIcodethecontentanalysisandinterpretempiricaldata

(Appendix1,c).

4.3 DataCollection

I combine primary data (sustainability reports) with secondary data (airlines in themedia)

becausesecondarydataaddsvalueandenhancetheprimarydatabyaddingcomplementary

informationtotheresearch.Aftercriticallyanalyzingwhatthecorporationreportthemselves

abouttheirsocialinitiatives(inductivereasoning),IcomparetheircommitmentleveltowhatI

find in the press (The Guardian) about their social issues. This comparison of primary and

secondarydataenrichestheresultsoftheairline´scommitmentleveltowardsCSas“theories

are improved through this testingagainstevidence (deductive reasoning)” (Payne&Payne,

2004,p.171)

4.3.1 CaseselectionFollowingaqualitativeresearchapproach,thefocusissetonadetailedanalysisofcasestudies

onasmall-scale.Casestudiescanhavemultiplefunctions:itsrhetoricalfunctionishelpingto

dramatizeandpersuadebyusingapowerfulexample,anditslogicalfunctionishelpingtosort

outideas.(Payne&Payne,2004)IhavedeterminedmythesistoassessCSofthefourlargest

airlines Groups in Europe (Lufthansa Group, Ryanair, KLM-Air France, IAG) in terms of

passengers carriedduring2016. By showinghow committed airlines are to implement and

communicatesocialinitiativesIexplicitlydonotintendtocomparetheairlinessocialstrategies

(whichis,bydefinition,notthepurposeofacasestudy)butinstead,intendtotriggeranintense

discussiononthedevelopmentstageofCS.

Airlines fulfill the following conditions that influence positively the implementation of CS

identifiedbyBansal (2005)andVaradaranjan (2017): theyoperateonahighly international

basis(flyto33-118countries),areexposedtothemediaduetotheirlargeendconsumerbase

(93,4-110millionpassengersperyear),andcanbeconsideredasverylargecompanieswith

regards to their employees and fleet size (11.500-124.000 employees, 4000-617 aircrafts

operatinginfleet),competeinanindustrythatcausesgreatenvironmentaldegradation(figure

X).Accordingtoallthesecharacteristicssummarizedintable5,airlinescanbeassumedtohave

32

implementedadevelopedCSstrategy.Inotherwords,duetotheindustrycharacteristicsand

companycharacteristicsitismorelikelytoassumeahighercommitmentlevelofCSthaninless

regulatedindustriesandsmallercompanies.

Characteristicsfrom2016

LufthansaGroup

RyanairPlc IAGAirFrance–KLMGroup

Foundedin Germany,1953 Ireland,1985 UK,2011 France,2004

Employees 124.000 11.500 63.400 82.100

Revenue 31.660€m 6.535€m 22.567€m 28.000€m

Profitsaftertax 1.803€m 1.316€m 1.952€m 1.05€m

Passengers 110m 106,4m 100,6m 93,4m

Destinations 308destinationsin103countries

200destinationsin33countries

200destinationsin80countries

328destinationsin118countries

AircraftsinFleet 617 400 548 534Table5-CharacteristicsofthefourlargestairlinesinEuropebypassengers

4.4 ContentAnalysis

“Contentanalysisisoneofthemoreimportant,butunder-rated,researchmethod”(Payne&

Payne,2004,p.51).Originallycontentanalysiswasusedtoanalyzewrittenandvisualtextsina

quantitativeway.Butcontentanalysiswasextendedtobeappliedtoliterature,autobiography

andotherdocuments,photographyetc.withemphasis shifting toqualitative. Inqualitative

research,contentanalysisshouldaddressattitudes,valuesandmotivations.Allcollecteddata

needs to be organized in a structuredway by systematically allocating the content to pre-

determined, detailed categories. (Payne & Payne, 2004) To structure this thesis´ content

analysis I apply the generic process model byMayring containing four steps of a content

analysis(Mayring,2014):

- Materialcollection:Firstly,Idefinethematerialtocollect.Theairline´sownpublished

reportsserveasobjectforanalysis.However,Ineedtodelimitatewhichreports.AsI

amlookingonlyfortheinformationregardingthesocialdimensionofCSthecollected

reportmustincludeatleastoneoftheeightsocialaspectsconcerningtheresponsibility

fromgovernance, theresponsibilitytowardsemployeesandtowardsthecommunity

(society),asIdefineinchapterX.

33

During the research process, I found out that some airlines do not publish a

sustainabilityreportitselfbuttheGrouporparentcompanyreportsit.Hence,Iused

thefollowingreportswhicharepublishedin2017andcontaindatafromthefinancial

year2016:

• Lufthansa Group - Corporate sustainability report “Balance” and “Annual

Report”fromLufthansaGroup

• IAG-“AnnualReportandAccounts–Thebestisyettocome”fromIAGaswell

as“AnnualReportandAccounts”fromBritishAirwaysPlc

• AirFrance–KLMGroup-“RegistrationReport”

• Ryanair-“AnnualReport”.Inthiscase,informationonsomeoftheeightsocial

aspectswasmissingcompletelyinthereport,sothatIalsoscreenedtheairline´s

websitetounderstandwhattheyaredoingsocially.

- Descriptiveanalysis:Thecontentofthereportswasfurtherscreenedfortheexistence

andtheextendofinitiativeswithintheeightsocialaspectsofsustainability.Theeight

aspectsalsoguidemydescriptioninthesensethatIpickoutoneexampleperaspect

toillustrateitinthethesis.Theexamplesarenotnecessarilycomparable(donotdeal

with the same issue) across airlines because it is more important that the aspect

illustrated is reported clear andunderstandable by the airlines. Thepurposeof this

qualitative description is to assume themotivation, values and believes behind the

airline´s social initiative. The evaluation criteria as identified by Baumgartner and

Marrewijk can be found in table 3 and 4 and help to categorize my evaluation of

motivation,valuesandbelieves.

CorporateSustainability

Economicdimension SocialDimension

Responsibilityfrom

Governance

Responsibilitytowards

Employees

Responsibilitytowards

Community

Environmentaldimension

Figure4–Limitationofdatacollectionforempiricalresearch

34

- Category selection: Structural criteria are selected, forming thebasis of the content

analysis. As a first step, I independently searched the airline´s reports for recurring

patterns: Initiatives that seemed standard were ignored, whereas initiatives that

seemedspecialweregivenextraattention.Inasecondstep,IevaluatedtheairlinesCS

strategybyoperationalizingBaumgartner´sframeworkaboutmaturitylevelsofCSand

theexpansionbyMarrewijk (table3and4).Criteria fromboth researchers serveas

evaluationframework.Finally,Icouldcategorizethesocialinitiativesbytheairlinesinto

four levels of commitment: Beginning (Poor), Elementary (Sufficient), Satisfying,

SophisticatedandOutstanding.Tosimplifytheanalysis,Iassigneachlevelascorefrom

onetofourpoints:

Ö 1point:Beginning(poor)level

Ö 2points:Elementary(sufficient)level

Ö 3points:Satisfyinglevel

Ö 4points:SophisticatedandOutstandinglevel

- Material evaluation: In order to enhance objectivity and critical thinking, secondary

sources are necessary to test my evaluation of the airline´s reports. I choose to

reproduceoneortwoconspicuouseventsorimmensescandalsabouteachofthefour

airlinesthatarepublishedin“TheGuardian”since2016.Theselectedarticlesleadto

anadjustmentofmyevaluationabouteachairline´scommitmentleveltowardsCS.In

general,itisnotonlyInterestingwhichinitiativesthecorporationsreportbutalsohow

theyreportthem:reportingprofilesoftheairlinesareevaluatedinspiredbyToppinen´s

categorization of voluntary disclosed data (defensive, proactive, or stuck-in-the-

middle).

4.5 Qualitystandards

Thereislittlepointinresearchunlesstherearerationalgroundsforarguingthattheaccounts

produced accurately reflect the nature of what we have studied, Payne argues. Themost

standardqualitycriteriausedinsocialresearcharewhethertheresearchisvalidandreliable.

(Payne&Payne,2004)

35

“Validity(…)referstothecapacityofresearchtechniquestoencapsulatethecharacteristicsof

theconceptsbeingstudied,andsoproperlytomeasurewhatthemethodswereintendedto

measure.”(Payne&Payne,2004,p.233)Paynefurtherdividesvalidityintoexternalandinternal

validity, where external validity is defined as the degree to which the findings can be

generalizedandinternalvalidityisconcernedwiththefitbetweenthestudy’spurposeandits

findingsanddevelopedimplications.Thus,Ineedtoask:Whicharethelimitsofgeneralization

when operationalizing this research (external validity) and are my conclusions plausibly

defendablebyafullydevelopedconceptualframework?Inthisstudy,theexternalvalidityis

verynarrowbecause Ipresentuniqueexamples, consistingofonly fourdifferentEuropean

airlinesandtheirreports,andnotsamples.AlthoughIamnotworriedwhetherthecasestudy

examplesarerepresentative, Istilldecidedto includeone low-costcarrier (Ryanair)nextto

three flagcarriers (Lufthansa, IAG,andAirFrance–KLM),which Ihopewill leadtoamore

interestingdiscussion.Additionally,thecasestudiesarelimitedtooneindustry–theairtravel

industry.Corporationsfromotherindustrymightshowdifferentpatternsofcommitmentlevels

towardsCS.The internalvalidity isbasedon theunderstandingof twophenomena:CSand

Stakeholdertheory.Still,theinternalvalidityofthisstudyisquitenarrowbecausethereexists

onlylimitedresearchonspecificallythesocialdimensionofcorporatesustainability.HowCS

strategiescontributestoachievecompetitiveadvantageismainlyansweredbyenvironmental

benefits.Ingeneralthough,qualitativeresearchhandlesmostvalidityissuesmoreeffectively

thanquantitativeworkdoes,butqualitative research is lessgeneralizable. (Payne&Payne,

2004)

Reliability refers to the extent to which one’s data collection and data analysis produced

consistentandcrediblefindings.WhenIquestionifmyfindingsarereliableIneedtoask:Would

anotherresearchergetthesameresultsasIdidwhenrepeatingthisstudy?(Payne&Payne,

2004)ToensureadecentamountofreliabilityIstrictlyusedBaumgartner´sandMarrewijk´s

criteria for eachmaturity level of CS to assessment of social initiatives and retrospectively

compared my findings with sustainability certifications and external CSR ratings. Still, my

assessmentremainssubjective.Ifanotherresearcherwouldrepeattheassessment,theairlines

couldbeassignedtodifferentcommitmentlevelsofCS.However,bystrivingfortransparency

throughout the thesis I aim to enable the reader to understand and interpret the results

himself.Furthermore,multiplefiguresandtablesaresupposedtoguidethereaderthroughthe

36

logicalstructureofthisthesis.Finally,relevantappendiceshavebeenattachedtothethesisto

provide the reader with an additional overview of interesting information. This relevant

informationincludesillustrationsoftheories,alistofthemainconcepts,informationaboutthe

companiesandtheirCSstrategies,andtranscriptionsofthepilotinterviews.

5 IndustryAnalysis

5.1 Trendsandissuesintheairtravelindustry

The traveland tourismsectorhasbecomeoneof thedriving forcesofglobalemployment,

economicsecurityandsocialwell-beingofthe21stcentury.AndasTravelandTourismisone

oftheworld’slargestandfastestgrowingeconomicsectorsitcanbekeydriverofsustainable

growth.However,torealizethistransformativeroleconcertedactionfromeveryoneinvolved

isnecessarycallingforasuitablepolicyframeworkandcoordinationbetweenpublicauthorities

and private stakeholders. It’s a collective challenge to invest in environmentally-friendly

tourism,toinvestintoagreeneconomy.(Conrady,2011)Todayitiscommonknowledgefor

touristsaswellaswell-documentedforairlinesthattherisksofoverdevelopmentandover

exploitation of natural resources and environments are real. And they cannot be ignored

because the industrydependson its sustainability.Often incontrast to thisknowledge, the

following five trends and issues appear in the air travel industry (other travel book). These

trendsmustbetakenintoconsiderationbytheairlineswhenplanningtheirCSstrategy.The

trendsoftheairlineindustryhavebeenidentifiedbyG.Kentinthisbook‘AProfileoftheGlobal

AirlineIndustry’asfollows(Kent,2015)andc.Rolandinhisbook‘TrendsandIssuesinGlobal

Tourism’from2011and2012.

5.1.1 Increasedcompetition

Whiletheairlineindustryhasfascinatedtheworldsince1903,commercialaviationwasonly

establishedduringthe1950s,60sand70s.Intheendof1970,theAmericanCongressdecided

toderegulatepassengerairlinesandthus,competingovertheskybeganasmanynewcarriers

entered themarketplace. In 1992, the creationof the EU's SingleAviationMarket enabled

European airlines to flywithout restrictions anywhere in the EU. The gradual liberalization

processinEuropefacilitatedthemarketentryofnewoperatorssothattheproliferationoflow

37

costcarriershadstarted,notifiableduringatimeofregression.Themainobjectionoflowcost

carrier´s (LCC) businessmodel is to reduce costs to supply airline service to price sensitive

passengers.DuetotheincreasedhighcompetitionintheaviationmarketmanyLCCsandother

establishedairlineseitherleftthemarketorwereacquiredbyothercompanies.Ryanairand

Easyjet remain themost established players in the LCC category. As a result of the supply

increase created by the new entrants withmore competitive tariffs, a strong reduction in

incumbents’revenueonrouteswithinEuropewasgenerated(thebusinessmodelisnotaligned

tocompleteoninternationalroutesyet).Furthermore,theinternetandfaresearchengines

havestronglyincreasedthetransparencyofairlinepricing,whileatthesametimeairlineticket

prices have become the main driver for customer purchasing behavior. Altogether, the

inflationaryspiralputspressureonthepricingforallairlines.From1989,itbeganthatlarge

strategicallianceswereformedvoluntarilymoreandmoreoften.Today,thelargestalliances

areStarAlliance(27members)andSkyTeam(20members),andOneWorld(13members)that

alltogethertransport61,2%ofallpassengersintheworld.Oneofthereasonsforthatisthat

airlineswanttoextendtheirroutesandflytomoredestinationstostaycompetitive.Evenmore

illustrativeforthefiercecompletionistherecentinsolvencyofAirBerlinonthe15thofAugust

2017.Asoneofthetop10EuropeanairlinesandsecondbiggestairlineinGermanyAirBerlin

stillhasbeenloss-makingforyearsandthus,wasmerelysurviving.TheGermangovernment,

likeItaly’sbeforeitwithAlitalia,isnowhelpingtofindasolutiontoprotectjobs.(TheGuardian,

2017b)

5.1.2 Hypermobility

Thedemand for air travel increases, especially innations suchasChina, India and those in

Africa.Onaglobalscaletheeconomyisimprovingwhichmakestravellingaffordabletomore

andmorepeople.IATAprojects:In2011,therewere2.8billionpassengers,in20143.3billion

passengers,andtheamountmaydoublewithin20yearssothatin20347.3billionpassengers

areexpected,andin2050theremightbe16billionpassengers.Thisforecastthenimpliesa4.1

percentgrowthrateindemandforairconnectivity.ChinaandtheUnitedStatesareexpected

toremainthelargestpassengermarketbyfarbuttheAsianmarketalsoexpands.(International

Air Transport Association (IATA), 2017) The main drivers for this current and increasing

hypermobilityarethefollowing:

38

- Living standards/prosperity:Whenanation´seconomy is strong, airlines thrive.And

whentheeconomyisweak,theystruggle.

- Populationanddemographics:youngerpopulationsandworking-agegroupsaremore

likelytoflythanover65yearolds.

- Priceandavailability:Globally,realcostsdecreasedbyover1percentannuallywhileair

trafficgrewbyover1percent.

Europe faces similar trends: in theperiod1995–2013, averageannual growth inpassenger

transportintheEUwas1.0%.Thenumberofdailyflightshasincreasedfromlessthan10,000

in1992toaround23,000in2016.Today,thereare7,400routesinEuropewhichis3timesas

muchasin1992.In2015,over1.45billionpassengersdepartedorarrivedatEUairports.The

growingaviationindustrybringsEuropeeconomicgrowth:Moreflightsmeanmorebusiness,

tourism,trade,jobsandprosperity.In2014forinstance,aviationsupported8.8millionjobsin

theEUcontributingover€621billion.(EuropeanCommission,2016)Roundingitup,holidays

becameanintegralpartofourlifestyle.Long-distancetravelsarenolongeraprivilegeforonly

afew,butanorganizedmasseventwhere“thepricesetsthedirection”whilehundredpercent

customer-orientationandsatisfactionofneedsaretakenforgranted(Conrady,2011).

5.1.3 Environmentalissues

Figure5 -Theimpactofair transportonthe increasingGHGemissionsoftheindustry

39

IntheEU,transportaccountsfor31.6%offinalenergyconsumption,outofthis82.8%isaresult

ofroadtransportand13.2%ofintra-EUairtransport.Notably,theshareoftransportemissions

increased from 18.8% in 1990 to 25.3% in 2012, while the share of emissions from non-

transportsectorsdeclined(Gössling,2017).ThismakestheairTransporttooneofthefastest-

growingsourcesofgreenhousegasemissions.Mistakenlyinsignificantcanbeseenthefacts,

thatAviationaccountsforabout3%oftheEU’stotalgreenhousegasemissionsandmorethan

2%ofglobalemissions.Thesenumbersappeartobemoredrasticallyinotherwords:Ifglobal

aviationwasacountry,itwouldrankinthetop10emitters.TheEuropeanCommissionpredicts

thatby2020,global internationalaviationemissionsareprojectedtobearound70%higher

than in2005andthe InternationalCivilAviationOrganization(ICAO) forecaststhatby2050

theycouldgrowbyafurther300-700%(EuropeanCommission,n.d.).Since2012,aviation´s

emissionshavebeenincludedintheEUemissionstradingsystem(EUETS)whichobligatesall

airlinesoperatinginEuropearerequiredtomonitor,reportandverifytheiremissions,andto

surrender allowances against those emissions. They airlines can trade a certain level of

emissionsfromtheirflightsperyear.TheEUsystemhascontributedtoreducingthecarbon

footprint of the aviation sector by more than 17 million tons per year so far. (European

Commission,2014)

5.1.4 Ungentletourism

The growing list of World Heritage in Danger proves that there are serious threats from

tourismstotheworld´soldestplaces(UNESCOWorldHeritageCentre,n.d.).Withthethree

followingexamples,Iaimtoraiseawarenessforvariouseffectsfrommasstourismindifferent

places:

- GentrificationinVenice:Venicestatusasaworldheritagesiteisslowlysinkingbecause

it is underpopulated an over touristic. In July 2014, Unesco’s world heritage site

committee postponed the decision on whether to put Venice, the architectural

masterpiecespreadacross118island,onitslistofendangeredsites.In2015followed

aseriousdamningreportabouttheeffectsofovercrowding,constructionandpollution

onVenice’steeteringfoundationsandecology.MostoftheVenetianshavebeenprized

outandcrowedoutso that theresidentpopulation isonlyhalfof thesizeas in the

1970s.Today,Veniceisacityof54,500residentsandreceives30millionvisitorsayear,

ofwhommanyaregrab-and-goday-trippers. Illustrativeforthisdevelopment isthat

40

touristsoftenregardVeniceassomethinglikeDisneyland.Further,it´scriticalthatmore

andmoretouristsarrivebycruiseshipsasstatisticsprovethatcruiseshipsemitalmost

twiceasmuchcarbondioxideasairplanes.(TheGuardian,2017g)

- DeteriorationatKilimandscharo:Inthepasttenyears,thenumberofclimbersonthe

highestmountainofAfricahasnearlydoubled-from28,000touristsin2003to52,000

tourists in2012. (PR)TheNationalParkofKilimanjarowascreated in1972andwas

declaredaWorldHeritageSitein1989.EversincethelocalChaggacommunityislosing

graduallytheircontrolovertheirnaturalhabit,forexampleduetounauthorizedzones

for the local populations but with opened roads for tourists or due to the

institutionalizationofprivatepropertyregimesforwaterusers.Meanwhile,industrial

- deforestation goesonbecause intensive agriculture is subsidized.As a result of the

heavy use of theMarangu route a number of impacts from tourism are becoming

apparentincludinglitter,graffitionthehutwalls,impropersewagedisposal,trampling

of alpine vegetation, trail erosion, and firewood collection. Moreover, the climb is

dangerousforvisitorsandtourguides:therearearound8to10deathsreportedper

yearcausedbyaltitudesicknessbuttheguideservicebelievesthattheactualnumber

ofdeathsistwotothreetimeshigher.(Welch&Symmons,2013)

- Conservation alarm for Great Barrier Reef: Although the world's largest coral reef

ecosystem is protected as aWorld Heritage area since 1981, pollution,mining and

tourismallhavedetrimentaleffectsoncoralreefs.Morethantwomillionpeoplevisit

thereefeachyear.Tourism´snegativeimpacts(therearepositiveimpactstoo)include:

fragile coralsbreakingby reefwalkingordroppedanchors,boatsdropping fuel and

othersortsofpollution.Eventhenumberofpeopleinthewaterwiththeassociated

run-offofsweatandsuntanlotionsmaywellhaveanegativeimpactonthefragilereef

environment.SinceDecember2015,theGreatBarrierReefhasbeenexposedtoabove

averageseasurfacetemperatures,duetothecombinedeffectsofclimatechangeand

astrongElNiño.Theseconditionstriggeredmasscoralbleachinginlatesummer2016

andledtoanestimated29%lossofshallowwatercoralReef-wide,accordingtofindings

bytheGreatBarrierReefMarineParkAuthority.Itisestimatedapproximately28%of

the total reef area in theMarine Park was within the ‘catastrophic damage zone’.

(AustralianGovernment,2016)

41

5.1.5 Impactofpoliticalevents

Airlinesoperateandcompeteinaverycomplexenvironmentthatisalsoverymuchaffectby

politicaleventsasterror,governmentsandlegislationsasIexplainnext:

- Terror – Terrorism´s relationshipwith tourism is complex andmultifacetedbecause

terrorismcanleadtoItcanleadtounemployment,homelessness,deflation,andmany

othersocialandeconomicills(McBaker,2014).9/11,forexample,hittheindustryhard.

SoonaftertwoplanescrashedintothetowersoftheWorldTradeCenterinNewYork,

USairlinesannouncedemployment cutbacksup to20percent. Especially after fatal

terrorist attacks or terrorist attacks of targets such as airports, transportation or

tourists,terrorcausesincreasingpsychologicaldistressforpassengers(Mitra,Pham,&

Bandyopadhyay,2017).Therecentattack inBarcelonashowsoncemorehowterror

makestravelstockstumble.Onthe18thofAugustat8.40a.m.,onedayaftertheattack,

airlinestocksaresufferingandnotonlymajorbudgetairlinesasRyanairwere losing

more than 2% in early trading but also the International AirlinesGroup, the parent

companyofBritishAirways,hasdroppedmorethan2%.ButoneoftheUNWTO’sbasics

hasbeenconfirmedthattourismrecoversevenafterfatalcrisesandthatitrecovers

soonerthanotherindustries.Thus,goingonholidayisconsideredtobealmostcrisis

resistant(Conrady,2011).(BusinessInsiderDeutschland,2017)

- Brexit-EUchiefshavewarnedairlinesthattheywillneedtorelocatetheirheadquarters

orselloffsharestoEuropeannationals if theywanttocontinueflyingrouteswithin

continentalEuropeafterBrexit.ARyanairspokesmansaid:“Whileitappearsthatwe

areheading forahardBrexit, there is still significantuncertainty in relation towhat

exactlythiswillentail.”AfterBrexit,itisnotclearwhethertheUKwouldcontinuetobe

partofthe“open-skies”agreement.ABritishgovernmentspokespersonsaidthatitwill

clearlybeintheinterestsofbothsidestomaintaincloselyintegratedaviationmarkets

becausetheUKaviationindustryisthelargestinEurope.However,MichaelO’Learyhas

warnedofthehugedangerstotheindustryofa“cliff-edge”Brexit,andcriticizedthe

“mildlylunaticoptimism”oftheBritishgovernment.(TheGuardian,2017f)

- USPresidentTrump-DonaldTrumpisgoodforsurpriseswiththefollowingeffectson

the travel industry: First, Trump confirms that the US, the World’s second largest

greenhousegasemitter,willquittheParisAgreementbecauseitwillharmAmerican

jobs. Trump’s decision risks destabilizing the Paris deal, with remaining participants

42

facedwiththechoiceoftryingtomakeuptheshortfallinemissionscutsorfollowing

theUS’sleadandabandoningtheagreement.Alsoin2017,PresidentDonaldTrump’s

orderedtosuspendedtheentryofpeoplefromIran,Iraq,Libya,Somalia,Sudan,Syria

and Yemen throwing airports into chaos. The decision caught airlines off guard,

accordingtoIATA,andbringsamixofadministrativeconfusion,uncertaintyformany

travelers and practical operational complexities for airlines in planning their flight

programs,accordingtoanindependentaviationconsultant.Furthermore,theUSforbid

passengers from carrying larger electronic devices (laptops, iPads, Kindles) on some

flightsfromeightcountriesintheMiddleEastaffectingforexampleSaudiArabia’sSaudi

AirlinesandRoyalJordanianairlines.(TheGuardian,2017c,2017i)

5.2 ConsequencesforSocialAspects

Fromthetrendsoutlinesabove,Iconcludethattheairlineindustryhasseenfewfundamental

challengestobusinessmodelsoverthepast30years,exceptforthearrivalofLCCsandthe

introductionofalliances.Asgovernmentspassnewlegislationsandconsumersexpectmore

personalized solutions, stakeholders gain bargaining power while airlines themselves lose

control.At the same time the airlines themselves lose control and struggle todifferentiate

themselves, competing on network availability and to some extent on pricing and service.

(InternationalAirTransportAssociation(IATA),2017)

ToelaborateinmoredetailonhowthesetrendshaveaffectedthesocialdimensionofCSin

the air travel industry, I summarize themain findings from a survey concerning the social

developmentsinemployment,wagesandworkingconditionsintheEUairtransportmarketin

theperiodfrom1997to2007.DuetothelackofothersourcesavailableatEUlevel,thissection

reliesheavilyonthisstudybyECORYSNetherlands(EuropeanCommission,2007).Ingeneral,

thesocialdevelopmentsarerelatedtotheeconomictrendsandtheincreaseinemployment

inthepasttenyears,aawellasthefinancialcrisisthatthesectorexperiencedbetween1999

and2004.Thesurveybringsforwardthatthemainissueofworkingconditionsistheincreasing

operational pressure, exerted to foster productivity. It is plausible that the increased

competition(andlowerfares)ontheshorthaulmarkethavemadeitnecessaryforairlinesto

increase productivity. Looking more detailed to changes in these social issues concerning

43

governanceandresponsibilitytowardsemployeesonefindsthatinterviewedemployeesand

tradeunionshaveoftendifferentopinions,whichwasexpectedbytheresearchers(Appendix

1,d).

Concerninggeneralglobalsafetyinthefutureofairtravel,ithasbeenindicatedthatastable

fatalaccidentratecannotbeguaranteedanymorebecauseofanexpected5%growthincrease

until2030(thenumberofcommercialaircraftinoperationisanticipatedtodoubleby2031).

Instead,thenumberofaccidentsareexpectedtoincreaseasaby-productofsteadilyincreasing

traffic volumes (European Commission, 2015b). However, one need to consider that the

numberof lives lostworldwidefromEUoperatorshasalmosthalvedintheperiodof2010-

2015(averageof78liveslostperyear)comparedtotheperiodof2000-2009(averageof46

liveslostperyear)(EuropeanCommission,2016).Anothersafetyissuewhenflyingwasrecently

revealedbyIATA:Almost50.000unrulypassengerincidentswerereportedonaircraftsin-flight

between2007and2015.Theseincidentsincludeviolenceagainstcrewandotherpassengers,

harassment and failure to follow safety instructions. Not only does

unrulybehaviorthreatenpassengersafety,italsodisruptsoperationalproceduresandburdens

airlineswithadditionalcosts.(InternationalAirTransportAssociation(IATA),2016)

5.3SustainabilityReporting

KPMGestimatesthat60%oftheworld’slargestcompaniesareproducingsustainabilityreports.

Althoughthenumberofreportsisincreasing,onemustrealizethatreportingcompaniesstill

constituteonlyasmallshareofglobalbusiness(Knopfetal.,2010).Hahnassessesin2013,that

a wide span of labels for recent reports exists including: Corporate Citizenship Report,

Corporate(Social)ResponsibilityReport,SustainableDevelopmentReport,SustainableValue

Report,andSustainabilityReportwhichunderscorestheumbrellaconceptofsustainabilityand

CSRmentionedabove (R.Hahn&Kühnen,2013).Next to isolatedone-dimensional reports

(e.g., Environment Reports, Financial Reports), there is an increasing trend towards

multidimensionalreporting(reportsincludingtwosustainabilitydimensions)andrecentlyeven

integratedreporting(integratessocialandenvironmentalsustainabilityinformationtogether

withfinancialinformationinasinglereport).Nevertheless,toprovideaholisticpictureofvalue

creation over time the company must report simultaneously all three dimensions of

44

sustainability.(ibid)Thegoalisforcompaniestocommunicatetheirsustainabilitypracticesand

impactsinwayswhichmakesenseforshareholders.But“Itisnotuntiltheystartgatheringdata

thattheycanunderstand,becauseyoucan’tmanagewhatyoudon’tmeasure,”saysoneBoard

memberoftheGRI’sGlobalSustainabilityStandards.(Colquhoun,2016)

Figure6-DifferentreportingstylesasdefinedbyHahn&Kühnen(2013)

5.2.1 Newreportingframeworksandgoals

Current sustainability-related reporting practice is primarily of voluntary nature so that

companiesareflexibleinexperimentingwithdisclosinginformation(R.Hahn&Kühnen,2013).

“Thereisatrendtowardsthedevelopmentofregulationsthatintegrateexistinginternational

reportingframeworkssuchastheGRIortheUNGlobalCompactCommunicationonProgress,

andrequiretheintegrationofrelevantstakeholderssoastoreflectchangeandtofacilitatethe

continuousimprovementofregulations”(Knopfetal.,2010,p.31).

Establishedin1998,theGRIframeworkwasasignificantsteptowardscodifyingCSreporting

standardsenablingthirdpartiestoassesssocialandenvironmentalactivitiesofthecompany

and its supply chain. The guidelines from the world´s most used sustainability reporting

standardGRI used to focusedon the impacts on the environment. But theGRI committee

committedquicklyextendedtheguidelinesforamorecomprehensivescopeincludingsocial,

economic, and governance information. (Bradford et al., 2016) Now, The GRI suggests

reportingonnearly80sustainabilityactivities,called‘‘indicators,’’insixdifferentcategoriesor

‘‘dimensions’’Thesedimensionsarelaboranddecentwork,economic,environment,human

rights (Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), n.d.). New standards, such as theG4 Sustainability

ReportingGuidelinesissuedbytheGRI,gofurtherintoquantitativeissuesinthesupplychain

tocreatereportswhichdon’tjusttickthecomplianceboxbutarecreatedfromadeeperview.

Deloitte’s lead partner in the Sustainability Team Paul Dobson argues, “Companies now

45

understandtheyhavetotakeresponsibilityandmakesuretheirproductsarebeingproduced

inanappropriateway,andthatmeansunderstandingbusinesspartnersandwhattheydo”.

(Colquhoun,2016)

In2015, the17SustainableDevelopmentGoals (SDGs)of the2030Agenda for Sustainable

DevelopmentwereadoptedbyworldleadersinSeptember2015atanhistoricUNSummitand

in2016,theycameofficiallyintoforce.TheSDGsprovidearoadmapforendingallformsof

poverty, fighting inequalitiesand tacklingclimatechange,whileensuring thatnoone is left

behindoverthenext15years.(ProducedbytheEnvironmentBranchoftheInternationalCivil

AviationOrganization (ICAO),2016)UNGlobalCompactprovides the tools tohelpbusiness

transforming these17global goals into concreteactions. TheUNGlobalCompact supports

businesses to commit to, assess, define, implement, measure and communicate the

sustainabilitystrategy.IntheUNGlobalCompactCommunicationinProgress(COP)participate

approximately9,000companiesand4,000non-businesses.Allparticipantshavetoimplement

theGlobalCompact´stenprinciplesaspartofstrategy,cultureandday-to-dayoperations,and

annually report this implementationalongwithefforts tosupportsocietalpriorities totheir

stakeholders. If participants fail to disclose they will be expelled from the Compact (7208

companiesdelistedsofar).(TheUnitedNationsGlobalCompact,n.d.)Thenew17GlobalGoals

result froma process that has beenmore inclusive than ever,withGovernments involving

business,civilsocietyandcitizensfromtheoutset.

Figure7-ThebroadscopeofSDGsdeterminesglobalactionforpeopleandplanet

Inthesameyear,in2015,theEuropeanCommissionpublishedacomprehensivestrategyfor

theEuropeanaviationsector.TheroadmapforamorecompetitiveEUaviationsectorcallsfor

coordinatedeffortsofallthestakeholdersinvolved.TheCommissionhasidentifiedthreekey

priorities:1)Tappingintogrowthmarkets,2)Tackling limitstogrowthintheairandonthe

46

ground, and 3)Maintaining high EU safety and security standards. (European Commission,

2015a)Nexttoeconomicgoalsthethirdpriorityaddressessocialandenvironmentalissuesfor

asustainabletravelindustry.MaintaininghighEUsafetyandsecuritystandardsinlcudestasks

asreinforcingthesocialagendaandcreatinghighqualityjobsinaviationaswellasprotecting

passengers'rights.InApril2014,theEuropeanParliamentvotedontheproposalforadirective

onthedisclosureofnon-financialinformation:Startingnowfrom2017,largecompanies(with

more than500employeesandabalance sheet totalofmore than20millionEuroor sales

revenuesofmorethan40millionEuro)intheEUareobligedtodiscloseallinformtionabout

thesocialandecologicalaspectsoftheirbusinessasforcedbytheCSR-Guideline2014/95/EU.

(Nachhaltigkeitsrat,2016)

5.2.2 Reportingprofilesanddimensions

“Sustainabilityreportingbecomesanimportanttooltogiveaclearimageofacompanyand

alsotomakeitcomparablewithothers”(Elkington,1997,p.9).Toppinen(2012)examinesthe

levelofvoluntarydiscloseddata(GRIindicators)from66forestindustryfirmsandclustered

the 66 firms according to their reporting profiles: 38 firms were considered defensively

reporting CS and 12 proactively reporting, while the rest was stuck in the middle. I have

includedavariationofToppinenfindingsintable6becauseitshowshowmuchlessdeveloped

thesustainabilityaspectsofthesocialdimensionarecomparedtotheenvironmentalaspects,

especiallyforthesefirmswithinanenvironmental-sensitiveindustryastheforestindustryis.

(Toppinen et al., 2012) Moreover, I aim to highlight in table 6 that, despite a crucial

improvement for reporting on

Environmental and Product & Service

issues,proactivelyreportingcompanies

still lack a commitment to report on

HumanRightsandSocial issues.While

companies keep highly proactively

reportonenvironmentalinitiatives,the

issuesconcerningthesocialdimension

ofCSarerelativelyviolated.

CSaspectsbyToppinen

Defensivereportingprofile

Proactivereportingprofile

Economic 12,88 20,89

Environmental 43,65 89,13

Labor&Employment 18,62 30,20

HumanRights 10,00 13,80

Social 9,12 14,79

Product&Services 9,12 23,44

Table6-Reportingdisconnect:socialissueslessimportantthanenvironmentalissues

47

Which dimensions are more important, Bradford (2016) tries to reveal: He finds out that

customers of the reports find different sustainability dimensions important than the

dimensions put forth by the GRI framework. According to his results, the customers are

interestedinthereportingofRisk&Complianceactivitieswhiletheyarelessinterestedinthe

economicdimensionofreports.Additionally,thenewdimensionofSocialJusticeisthemost

important to consumer stakeholders. In contrast to the interests of customers, companies

proactivelyreportmostlyonenvironmentalissues.Altogethermyconclusioniscongruentwith

Bradford´s:thereisadisconnectbetweencorporatesustainabilityreportingandstakeholder

viewsandinterests.(Bradfordetal.,2016)

5.2.3 CSCertificationsDifferent stakeholders are increasingly relying on sustainability ratings to help inform their

decisions(toinvest,purchase,worketc.).Moreover,companiesthemselvesrelyonsuchratings

to validate their sustainability efforts, with “some even linking management performance

evaluationandcompensationtoexternalratings”(JohannaKleinMSc(adelphi),2011,p.20)

International sustainability ratings that are related to stock exchanges are the Dow Jones

Sustainability Indexes (launched in 1999) and the FTSE4Good Index Series (Financial Times

Stock Exchange Index) on the London Stock Exchange. DJSI assesses the sustainability

performanceofthelargest2,500companieslistedontheDowJonesGlobalTotalStockMarket

Indexbasedontheirlong-termeconomic,socialandenvironmentalassetmanagementplans.

Foreachindustry,DJSIliststhetop10%,butnotthe“top10”.Introducedin2001,FTSE4Good

lists only those companies thatmeet the internationally accepted standards for corporate

responsibilityandgiveseachcompanyascoreof1-100basedonitsperformanceacrossthree

areas,environmentalmanagement,climatechange,humanandlaborrightsalongthesupply

chain,corporategovernance,andanti-corruptionefforts.(JohannaKleinMSc(adelphi),2011)

Rating agencies usually use the information from sustainability reports or send their own

questionnairestothecompanieswiththeaimtocontributetothetransparencyintheactivities

andstrategiesofcompanies.Oftencriticizedisthattheseagenciesusedifferentratingcriteria

andoftenthecriteriaarenotcleartothecompanies.Moreover,itevenhasbeenarguedthat

these ratings could incite companies to disclose false data or held back ambiguous data

48

(JohannaKleinMSc(adelphi),2011).Alsointerestingforthisresearch,ittheCSRHubLLC,the

first one (by own information) to aggregate environmental, employee, community and

governancedatacovering15,000companiesacross135industriesand130countriesintoan

accessible database platformmaking it possible to directly compare CSR and Sustainability

performanceamongcompetitorsandacrosssupplychains,industries,andregions.(CSRHub,

n.d.)ForreputationreasonsacompanythatislistedintheDJSIorawardedbyanotherrating

systemhardlymissesoutonlistingitontheirwebsitesorreports.

6 EmpiricalFindings

Thischaptercontainsthefindingsfromthecontentanalysisofthethesis. It isstructured in

accordancewiththeanalyticalframeworkfromBaumgartnerandMarrewijkaspresentedin

chapter3,table3and4.Foreachofthefourairlines,initiativesintheeightaspectsofthesocial

dimensionofCSareanalyzed.Beforepresentingexamplesofthesocialinitiatives,table7gives

anoverviewofthereportingstandardsusedbytheairlinesaswellascertificationsandrating

theyreceivedfortheirsustainabilityperformancein2016.Table7givesafirstimpressionof

theairline´sdifferentreportingstylesandtheircommitmentleveltowardsCS.

Reportframeworkandratingfor2016

UNSDG/principlesofUNGC

GRI DJSI FTSE4GoodCSRHub*

CS-reportingsince

LufthansaGroup

Committed Used(G4)

Notincludedanymore

listedsince2001

56 1994

AirFrance–KLMGroup

Committed Used leaderofAirlinecategorysince2005

Listed 68 1999

IAGCommitted Not

usedNotincludedanymore

Notlisted 59 2011

RyanairPlc

Signedsince2003

Notused

Notincluded Notlisted 49 -

Table7–Europeanairlines´reportingframeworksandsustainabilitycertifications

*seeAppendix3

49

6.1 LufthansaGroup

6.1.1 SocialinitiativesreportedCorporateGovernance

TheExecutiveBoardandSupervisoryBoardhaveacloseandtrustingworkingrelationship.The

commonaimoftheExecutiveBoardandtheSupervisoryBoardistoachievelastingincreases

in the value of the Company. The Supervisory Board is made up of equal numbers of

shareholderandemployeerepresentatives.TheExecutiveBoardinformstheSupervisoryBoard

atleastfourtimesayearonbusinessdevelopmentsattheGroup.Also,theLufthansa´sBoard

declaredcompliancewiththeGermanCorporateGovernanceCode(withoneexception).And

themanagementoftheLufthansaGroupisvalue-basedandanintegralpartofallplanning,

managementandcontrollingprocessessince1999.

HealthandSafety:

Health protection and occupational safety have been central action areas at the Lufthansa

Group formany years. The Group assessed both aspects as being “very important” in the

materialitymatrixdevelopedin2016.AnOccupationalSafetyCommittee(OSC)wasestablished

as thecentral steeringbody forall issuesconcerningwork-relatedsafetywithin theGroup.

Furthermore,theLufthansaGroupoffersitsemployeesandmanagersaccesstotheservicesof

thePsychosocialCenterasavoluntarysocialbenefit.In2016,thedivisionorganizedatotalof

184workshops,trainingsessionsandinformationevents.

Workingenvironment:

Lufthansa asked an expert the question of what effects Digitalization has on the Work

Environment4.0andlearned“itisimportanttocreatejobsthatallowforfuturechanges.The

50

broaderthedefinitionoftasksandthemorequalifiedtheemployeesthegreateracompany´s

abilitytoinnovateinthefuture.”Consequently,theLufthansaGroupCAMPUSoffersformats

for developing individual (leadership) competencies as well as those to support team

developmentandorganizationalchangesincetheendof2016.TheLufthansaGroupCAMPUS

thustakesaroleincontinuousandhigh-qualitypersonneldevelopmentaswellasinalong-

term dialogue between employees andmanagers across the entire company. Shaping the

actionarea“Cultureandleadership”wastransferredtotheLufthansaSchoolofBusinessduring

thereportingyear,whichatthesametimeevolvedintotheLufthansaGroupCAMPUS.Against

thisbackground,thealignmenthaschangedfroman interdisciplinaryeducationproviderto

driverofculturechangesattheGroup.

Humancapitaldevelopment/Diversity:

TheLufthansaGroupisoneofthebiggestemployersinGermanywitha3%increaseoftotal

employeeslastyear.Outoftotal124,306employees,56,125employeesworkin85countries

outside of Germany (previous year: 53,732) which makes Lufthansa Group a truly global

company.In2017,theyearofDigitalizationatLufthansa,itistheirgoaltobeoneofthemost

attractive employers for “digital natives”. Furthermore, the Company has explicitly defined

Diversityasastrategicelementthatsecuresandexpandseconomicsuccess.Theworkingforce

represents 144 nationalities. Additionally, the Lufthansa Group launched the project

“Promotingwomeninmanagement”during2016becausethenumberoffemalemanagersin

upper-levelmanagementpositionshaschangedtoolittleoverthelastfewyears,astheystate.

DespiteincreasedawarenesswithintheCompany,atthemoment,85percentofthemanagers

are male (Leadership Circle 1-3). They also report clear targets: At the end of 2016, the

proportionofwomenontheGroup’sfirstmanagementlevelcameto9.7percent(target:10.5

percent),andonthesecondmanagementlevelto17.3percent(target:17.9percent).

Ethics/Humanrights:

51

TheLufthansaGroupisamemberoftheUNGlobalCompact,TransparencyInternational,the

German Network for Business Ethics and of institutions that support individual aspects of

humanrights.Inthisway,theGroupexplicitlyacknowledgesitsadherencetotherespective

standardsandcommitstoaligningtheirbusinessactivitiesandstrategieswiththetenprinciples

oftheUNthatarerecognizedaroundtheworld(includingtorespecthumanrightsandtofight

againstcorruption).Duringthereportingyear,theLufthansaGroupworkedintensivelyonthe

topicofhumanrights.OnetaskwasthedevelopmentofariskmapfortheGroupthatshows

thenumberofemployeesbygeographicregionandthecompaniesactivelocally.Intheevent

ofcomplaintsconcerninghumanrightsissues,themaphelpstreatingthemindecentralized

formatandwithappropriatecountermeasuresbasedoncurrentlaw.

Nocorruption:

LufthansahasbeenamemberofTransparencyInternational,anAnti-corruptionorganization,

since1999.AfurtherbasiccomponentoftheLufthansaComplianceProgramistheglobally

implemented and proven ombudsman system, which also allows anonymous information

concerning possible breaches of compliance. It serves as an additional preventivemeasure

againsteconomiccrimes.Relevantinformationcanbegivenbyemployeesorbythirdparties

toanombudsmanoutsidetheCompany,bytelephone,inwritingorinperson.

Consumers/Suppliers:

Orientation in line with customers’ wishes and needs, includes for example appropriate

informationaboutenvironmentalandsocialeffectsofproductsandservices.Since2014the

LufthansaGrouphasbeenworkingintheprojectSMILE,adigitalinnovationwiththepurpose

ofmaking communicationswith customers along theentire travel chain aspersonalized as

possibleandtoofferaddedvalueinthisway.ThankstoSMILE,passengersreceivetailor-made

flightoffers,travelinformationaswellasoffersforadditionalservicesandoptions–allinreal-

timeviadigitalcommunicationchannels.Suppliersmusttakethestandardsandprinciplesof

UnitedNations’UniversalDeclarationofHumanRightsandthefourcoreworkstandardsofthe

InternationalLaborOrganizationintoaccount.

Corporatecitizenship:

52

TheresourcestheGrouphasmadeavailableforvariousactivitiesforsocialcauseshaveoverall

notshownthedesiredresultsduetoahighdegreeofdivisionintoindividualprojects.Forthis

reason,theLufthansaGrouphastheplantobundletheircorporatecitizenshipactivities.Now,

theyplantofocusmoreandmoreonsocialandhumanitarianissues.That´swhyin2016,the

LufthansaGrouptookalong,hardlookathowtokeepdevelopingitssocialcommitment.A

prerequisiteforthiswasthetransformationoftheHelpAlliancee.V.employeeinitiativeintoa

non-profitGmbH (limited liability company)at thebeginningof2017enablingLufthansa to

concentrateentirelyon the coreareasofeducation/enablingand life/healthandgiveeven

moreaidfoundations.In2016,thehelpalliancesupportedabout40projectsindevelopment

cooperationwith a total volume of nearly 1.5million euros. Help alliance project portfolio

comprises numerous education and integration programs for refugees as for example the

Düsseldorf-based learning-and-coaching project for children and youths with a migration

backgroundand fromeducationallyalienated families. Lufthansa’shumanitarianaidproject

calledCargoHumanCare(CHC)focusesonKenyaandprovidesdirectmedicalsupportforpoor,

illanddestitutepeople–freeofchargeandunbureaucratically.Throughthehelpofapoolof

50Germanmedicaldoctorswithdifferentspecializations.All treatmentsaregivenatCHC’s

ownmedicalcenterinNairobi.Thecenteralsoprovidesfreemedicalcaretoneedypeoplefrom

thesurroundingareaandto120orphanslivingatMothers’MercyHomeinKianjogu,

6.1.2 Commitmentlevel

LufthansaGrouphasaproactivereportingprofilebecausetheyareeagertohighlightimportant

figures and facts as well as differentiate between approach and goals of sustainability

initiatives.TheGroupalsomanagestogaincredibilitybystayingcriticaltowardstheirownCS

strategy. (see example of corporate citizenship in thesis and interview about “promoting

womeninmanagement”,reportp.66)

CommitmentlevelofCS Beginning Elementary Satisfying Sophisticated,Outstanding

Corporategovernance L Health&Safety LWorkingenvironment LHumanCapital/Diversity L Ethics/HumanRights L

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Nocorruption LConsumers/Suppliers L Corporatecitizenship L Table8–TheCSstrategyofLufthansareachesaverysatisfyinglevelofcommitment

Conclusion:

LufthansaGroupreachesaverysatisfying levelofcommitment towards thesocial issuesof

corporatesustainability.Notallactivitiesaremorethansatisfyingbutsomeareoutstanding.

Theircorporategovernanceseemseagertocomplywithseveralframeworkstocreatevalue

forthecompany,buttheydonotreporthowtheyenhancetransparencyorparticipationof

employees.TheirHealthandSafetystrategyseemsproactiveandtheiractivitieseveninclude

the socio-psychological dimension. Lufthansa´s commitment towards a good working

environment is also sophisticated as they seek to give non-monetary incentives through

qualification and recognize the importance of innovation and change of behavior for a

sustainable competitive strategy. AlthoughGermany biggest employee Lufthansa admits to

theyhavenotreacheditsgoalsyetwithinHumanCapitalDevelopmentandDiversity,theyhave

sophisticatedpolicies for emancipationofwomen to improve in this field. Regarding social

issuesexternally, theairlineactsproactivelywhenapplyinghumanrightsandmeasurehow

theyfightcorruption. Inbothareas,consumers/suppliersandcorporatecitizenshipthefirm

showsgreatambitionandoutlineconcreteplanstoimprovecreatingvalueforconsumersand

communities.

6.2 InternationalAirlinesGroup(IAG)

6.2.1 SocialinitiativesCorporateGovernance:

BAhasextendedthescopeofsustainabilitygovernancetoincludealltheoperatingcompanies

andbusinessunitswithintheGroup.TheIAGManagementCommitteeandBoardhavealso

approvedtheestablishmentofanewSustainabilityCommitteebringingsustainability in line

with other governance models. The IAG Sustainability Committee reports regularly to the

ManagementCommitteeandatleastonceayeartotheIAGBoardonsustainabilityrisks,in

linewiththerequirementsofourSpanishCorporateGovernanceCode.

54

HealthandSafety:

BAassistscolleaguesintakingaholisticapproachtobuildingtheirphysical,mentalandsocial

health:Anextensivehealth surveillanceprogramhelps tomonitorcolleagueswhosehealth

maybeadverselyaffectedbyhazardsatwork.AnEarlyActiveRehabilitationprogramscheme

assistscolleagueswhoareunabletoaccesstimelymedicaltreatmentfromotherresources.

Andaccess toanEmployeeAssistanceProgram,available365daysa year,24hoursaday,

providesfreecounselling,information,andsupport.BritishAirwaysprovidescertainadditional

post-retirementhealthcarebenefitstoeligibleemployeesintheUS.

Workingenvironment:

BAensuresaninclusiveculture:thereareemployeenetworksintheareasofethnicity,LGBT,

gender,workingcareandfaith.BritishAirwaysrecognizesthevaluethesenetworkgroups.IAG

reports that on average, the annual hours of training per employee have increased 1,7%

comparedtolastyearandreached36,7hoursin2016.

Humancapitaldevelopment/Diversity:

Asoneofthelargestairlinegroupsintheworld,IAGcontributestoglobaleconomicprosperity

bytransportinggoods(5,454milliontonsofcargokilometers)andconnectingpeople,places,

communitiesandcultures.TheGroupcontractedalmost2500newemployeesin2016implying

agrowthrateof4.1%.

55

Genderequalityhasbeenakeyconsiderationinplanningthelong-termcompositionoftheIAG

Boarditselfandfurtherstrategiesare inplaceacrosstheorganizationtoencouragegreater

genderequality.TheGroupreportsa44%percentrateoffemales intheGroup,27&inthe

seniormanagementand25%intheBoard.FromtheUNSDG´stheGroupconsidersGoal5:

Gender equality, and Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth, as relevant for their

sustainabilitystrategywithinthesocialdimension.

Ethics/Humanrights:

BAiscommittedtoupholdlocalandinternationallawsonanti-discriminationandexpectboth

colleagues and customers. Furthermore, IAG is part of the UKModern Slavery Act, which

requiresthemtopublishaGroupwidestatementoutliningactivitiesinthisimportantarea.IAG

havemadeeffortsinthepasttoensurethattherearenoexamplesofmodernslaverywithin

theirbusiness.Theyconductauditsandinspectionstoreduceanylikelihoodofactivitywithin

oursupplychainsaswellason-boardoftheaircrafts,particularlyinrelationtohumantracking.

In2017,IAGwillpublishastatementoutliningourcommitmenttoreducingmodernslaveryon

theirwebsite.

Nocorruption:

In 2016, IAG received significant monetary fines for non-compliances with laws and

regulations.Thetotalfineswere1,2millionEuros,whichreflectsanincreaseof158%compared

tothepreviousyear.

56

Consumers/Suppliers:

British Airways states that all colleagues receive training on diversity and inclusion to be

equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to provide a uniquely personal service to

customers.BritishAirwaysfocusesoncustomerexperienceinacost-efficientmannerandaims

to improvetheirservicesandproductsas follows:Prior to travel,customershaveaccess to

travelhealthadviceonba.comand intheHighlifemagazine, installationofWiFionaircraft,

renovatethepremiumcustomerloungesatkeyairports.Regardingtheirsupplychain,British

Airwaysalwaysseekstobuildrelationshipswithsupplierswhosharetheirvalues.Theairlineis

proudtobemembersofSedex(SupplierEthicalDataExchange),anotforprofitmembership

organizationthatstrivestoimprovesupplychainstandards.IAGalsoengageswithsupplierson

standardsofquality, safety,environmental responsibilityandhuman rights. Supplier audit

priority is based on annual expenditure, factories located in high-risk geographies, and the

supplier strategic importance. In 2016, IAG continued progress on health, safety and

environmentbyexecutingauditsandworkingonmitigationactions togetherwithsuppliers

throughafocusonsafetyleadership,trainingandlocalprograms.

Corporatecitizenship:

IAG´s total direct and in-kind donations to charity from IAG´s customers and colleagues

decreased since 2012 and only in 2016 it decreased by 18,7%. Still, the total amount of

donationswas9,3millionEurosin2016.In2017,IAGwillcontinuetoengageininternational

discussionsaboutputtingacostoncarbontobuildfurtheronacarbonemissionsglobalmarket

basedmeasure.ItisreportedaboutFlyingStartwhichistheglobalcharitypartnershipbetween

British Airways and Comic Relief. British Airways wants to help giving children in the

communitieswhichtheyflytothechancetohaveabrighterfuture.Thatiswhy100%ofmoney

raisedbyFlyingStartfromdonationsfromcolleaguesandcustomersgoesdirectlytoComic

Relief.ThelaunchofBigCharityChoicein2016enabledthat£200,000wasallocatedacrossfive

youthcharities.Intotal,FlyingStartfundraised3millionPoundsin2016.

6.2.2 Commitmentlevel

BritishAirways´ reportingprofile is neitherproactivenordefensive.On theonehand,BA´s

annualreportmostlyreportsonfinancialissues,andbarleyincludessustainabilitydimensions.

Ontheotherhand,theBritishAirways´parentcompanyIAGreportsinaholisticwayonthe

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economic,environmentalandsocialissuesintheirannualreport.Also,importanttonoticeis

thattheGroupreportsrelevantdatainnumericalformwhichmakesiteasiertointerpretand

comparetheirperformances.Atthismoment,BAseemstostuck-in-the-middleregardingtheir

reportingstyle.

CommitmentleveltowardsCS

Beginning Elementary Satisfying Sophisticated,Outstanding

Corporategovernance IAGHealth&Safety IAG Workingenvironment IAG HumanCapital/Diversity IAG Ethics/HumanRights IAG Nocorruption IAG Consumers/Suppliers IAG Corporatecitizenship IAG Table9-TheCSstrategyofIAGshowsalmostasatisfyinglevelofcommitment

Conclusion:

For now, IAG just failed to reach a satisfying level of commitment towards social issues of

sustainability.Myargumentsforthisjudgmentisasfollows:IAGhasanoutstandinggovernance

regarding sustainability issues due to their new sustainability committees. However, the

corporation´s responsibility towards employees are just on an elementary level. Social

programsexistbuttoanextendthatdoesrathersignalaprofit-drivenmotivationbehindCS

than a caring motivation for CS. The Group´s intention to improve various social aspects

underline its development stages. Further, the firm´s responsibility towards external

stakeholders seem not satisfying yet, mainly because of fees for corruptive behavior and

decreasingdonations.Onagoodlevelistheirmodernunderstandingofhumanrightsaswell

ascompany-alignedcommunitysupportthroughasignificantamountofdonations.Moreover,

IAG´sChairmanstatement“SustainabilityisnowhighlightedasacentralpartofIAG’sbusiness

model”couldimplythattherewasnofocusonsustainabilityissuesbefore2016.However,the

promisefromIAGBoardofDirectors“thebestisyettocome”seemscrediblewhenconsidering

thesophisticatedstructureofcorporategovernance.

58

6.3 AirFrance–KLMGroup

6.3.1 SocialinitiativesCorporateGovernance/PeopleManagement:

2016wasmarked by an active and regular ongoingworkplace dialogue to accompany the

strategicplansbothways, across theCompanyandwithin the frameworkof theEmployee

RepresentativeBodiesduringthevariousnegotiationperiods.Theproject iscalled“Trusted

Together”andestablishesguidingprinciplesforthenewHRambition:thepromotionofanin-

depthworkplace dialogue (both inside teams andwithin the framework of social relations

betweenthemanagementandtheunions),prioritizingthebusinesschallengesandcustomers.

HealthandSafety:

Evaluatingandanalyzingtherisksthendeployingtheappropriatepreventionmeasuresenables

the“TrustTogether”projecttobeaccompaniedbypro-activemeasuresinthisarea.

In 2016, atAir France, therewere28occupationalphysicians and60nurses toensure the

clinicalandpsychologicalscreeningoftheCompany’semployees,advisedonhealthylifestyles

and the prevention of vocational risks, and provided emergency medical care. Additional

supportmeasuresforemployeesfacingtemporaryorlong-termpersonaldifficultiesandthe

deployment of the appropriate training (“Managing by Quality of Life in the Workplace”,

“PreventingandManagingViolenceand Incivility”, “Awareness-raisingon thePreventionof

SuicidalBehavior”,etc.).ForKLM,thetotalnumberofworkplaceaccidentsleadingtotimeoff

work slightly increased toabove theCompany’s target. In2016, three seriousoccupational

accidentswererecorded.Moreover,withintheframeworkoftheimplementationoftheHigh-

PerformanceOrganization,theHumanResourcesdepartmentoptedtoreplacethenetworkof

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divisional health and safety managers with a specialized and centralized Center of Health

Expertise.Thus,sinceOctober2016,anewgroupofhealthexpertshasbeenworkingonhealth-

relatedissues.

Workingenvironment:

The Air France – KLM Group reports that the number of Full Time Equivalent employees

decreased by 2.17% relative to the

previous financial year to an average of

82.175 employees. However, the

recruiting under permanent contract

increasedby45,1%whiletherecruitment

for fixed-term contracts decreased by

14,5%in2016.AlsobeneficialforAirFrance´semployeesisaprotocolthatnotablyestablished

thepaymentofanexceptional€300bonustoGroundStaffandCabinCrew,with€400fornon-

executivestaff,inrespectoftherealizationofthemeasuresinthe“Transform2015”planin

2016.Abudgeted1.4%ofthepayroll, identicalforbothexecutivesandnon-executivestaff,

wasearmarkedfor individualsalary increasespursuanttothenewprovisionsoftheground

staffcollectiveagreement.Theseindividualsalaryincreaseswereinrespectofperformance,

promotion, exceptional adjustments, exceptional bonuses and seniority (for non-executive

staff).AnotherpointtomentionisthattheKLM´sTransformationOfficewassetupin2015,to

contribute to constructing thenewKLM, in close cooperationwith all thedivisions, and to

establish an innovative organization which is constantly improving and learning. Part-time

workingisverywidespread,particularlyamongstwomen,althoughthisisalsoincreasinglythe

caseformen.

Humancapitaldevelopment/Diversity:

OneoftheAirFrance–KLMGroup´smainpriorityistopromotearesponsiblesocialpolicyand

encouragingpersonaldevelopmenttoensurethemotivationandhighprofessionalstandards

ofstaff.ThetrainingatAirFranceensuresahighandstablerateofaccess:94.5%ofGround

Staffreceivedtrainingin2016(45%ine-learningform)

60

ForthetrainingatKLMaLearning&Developmenttoolwaslaunchedin2016toraiseawareness

withinKLMoftheCompany’snewcorporatepurpose,“MovingYourWorld”andtherelated

KLM Compass. Around 1,400 KLM employees enrolled in the immersion sessions. Further,

youngprofessionals(<35yearsofage)areofferedasix-monthself-directedprogramfor60

participantsandfocusesonpersonaldevelopment.Theyoungprofessionalscollectivelydecide

thethemesonwhichtheywillworkandplanthedifferentsessions.Withregardtodiversity,

AirFrancehasreaffirmedprofessionalgenderandwageequalitybetweenmenandwomenas

amajorpriorityformorethanadecadealreadybutisstillambitioustomakeprogressinthis

area. Following that direction, human resources management signed an agreement with

FrenchMinistryofWomenRight´s(2015-17AgreementonProfessionalEqualitybetweenMen

andWomen).Ingeneral,thepercentageofwomenwas44,1%ofthetotalstafffromtheAir

France–KLMGroupwhichisequivalenttoa0,4%increaseofwomen.AtDecember31,2016,

theBoardofDirectorsnumberedfivewomenBoarddirectors,i.e.aproportionof35.7%.With

regards to diversity at KLM, the airline continues to offer an employment guarantee to

individualswhosedisability rate isassessedatbelow35%,meaningthat theyeitherremain

employed by KLM or receive support in securing employment outside the Company. For

employeeswithdisabilitiesmakingthemincapableofwork,andwhoarewithinsevenyearsof

thelegalretirementage,KLMoffersprotectionfromlawyers.Employeesaffectedbydisability

andreturningtoworkreceivepro-activesupportfromcasemanagerswithinKLM.

Ethics/Humanrights:

In the Corporate Social Responsibility Statement and Social Rights and Ethics Charter, the

AFKLMGroupaffirmsitscommitmenttofosteringaclimateoftrustandmutualrespectina

workingenvironmentwherenoformofdiscriminationorharassmentistoleratedandoppose

allformsofchildandforcedlabor.However,differencesinemploymentlegislationbetween

FranceandtheNetherlandsrequireAirFranceandKLM’sHRpolicestoremainseparate.Air

61

France-KLM’sCorporateSocialResponsibilitystrategyenshrinestherespectoffundamental

rightsasdefinedintheleadinginternationalprinciples:TheUniversalDeclarationofHuman

Rights,theInternationalLaborOrganization’s(ILO)DeclarationonFundamentalPrinciplesand

RightsatWork,andtheOrganization forEconomicCooperationandDevelopment’s (OECD)

guidingprinciples.AirFrance-KLMhasbeenasignatoryoftheUnitedNationsGlobalCompact

since2003and is committed to respectingandpromoting its tenprinciples in theareasof

humanrights,labor,theenvironmentandanti-corruption.

Nocorruption:

The Manual to prevent the risks of corruptionaffirms the Air France - KLM Group’s

commitmenttoexercisingitsactivitiesfairly,equitably,honestlyandwithintegrity,andinthe

strict respect of anti-corruption lawswherever its companies or subsidiaries exercise their

activities. In 2016, Air France established a “Reminder of the compliance regulations for

relationswithsuppliers/serviceproviders”memorandum,signedbytheChiefExecutiveOfficer.

ThisdocumentoutlinesthecomplianceprinciplesandrulesinforcewithinAirFrance(Internal

Regulation)and,morewidely,withintheAirFrance-KLMGroup(AirFranceandKLMManual

forthePreventionofCorruptPractices).

Consumers/Suppliers:

Oneof themainpriorityofAFKLMGroup is toembed sustainabledevelopmentacross the

entirevaluechaintooffercustomerssustainableand innovativeproductsandservices.The

airlinesoftheGrouphaveacommonfrequentflyerprogram“FlyingBlue”.Specialaboutthe

programisthat“FlyingBlue”memberscandonatetheir“miles”tothesestart-upstohelpthem

with theirdevelopmentprojects. TheCSRperception surveyof “FlyingBlue” for customers

enablesabetterunderstandingofcustomerexpectationsandtheidentificationofissuesthey

deemtobepriorities.Morethan1,900customersrepliedtotheCSRMonitorsurveyrealized

inMay2016,expressingtheirviewsontheissuesandactionstheyconsiderkey,andranking

thedevelopmentofrenewableenergiesinfirstplace.theKLMTakesCarewebsitepostsarticles

andvideos,andofferscustomerstheopportunitytosharetheirviewsonsustainabilitytopics.

Forseveralyears,theAirFrance-KLMhasaimedtoincorporateCorporateSocialResponsibility

principles into relations with suppliers by reinforcing control over ethical, social and

environmentalrisks.Also,inadditiontosharingtheGroup’sCSRcommitments,theAirFrance

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-KLMbuyersareencouragedtosignaCodeofEthicsoutliningtheethicalrulestobefollowed

whendealingwithsuppliers.

Corporatecitizenship:

One of the AFKLM Group´s main propriety is to contribute to the economic and social

development of the territories where the Group operates. Air France works to help

disadvantaged children through its Corporate Foundation which is involved in 84 projects

across38countries.TheAirFranceHumanitarianAiddepartment issued428ticketsforthe

transportationofmedicalteamsandtherepatriationofsickchildrenthroughmorethan42

partnershipswithNGOsprovidingmedicalassistancetochildrenin2016.Freeexcessbaggage

wasalsodonatedtomorethan60NGOs, for thetransportationofmedicalandemergency

public health equipment. Besides that, the KLM Takes Care program partners UNICEF

Netherlands and five other organizations: Close the Gap, Doctor2Doctor, AviationWithout

Borders,WingsofSupportandSHO.In2016,KLMalsodonatedticketsandexcessbaggageto

charitableorganizationsand, following theApril16earthquake,carried tonsof reliefgoods

fromtheNetherlandstoEcuadorfreeofcharge.

6.3.2 Commitmentlevel

Air France–KLMGrouphasestablishedaproactive reportingprofilewith a long reporting

history. The Group understands to report relevant details in numeric form and respects

multiple forms of coding to increase credibility ofwhat has been said and done. Hence, it

becomeseasyforthereadertoformhisorherownopinion.

CommitmentlevelofCS Beginning Elementary Satisfying Sophisticated,Outstanding

Corporategovernance AFKLMHealth&Safety AFKLM Workingenvironment AFKLMHumanCapital/Diversity AFKLM Ethics/HumanRights AFKLMNocorruption AFKLM Consumers/Suppliers AFKLMCorporatecitizenship ARKLM

63

Table10–TheCSstrategyofAFKLMshowsasophisticatedlevelofcommitment

Conclusion:

AirFrance–KLMGrouphasreachedasophisticatedlevelofcommitmenttowardssocialissues

ofsustainability(table9).Thecorporationwasabletoestablishapermanentdialoguewithin

the firm bottom-up and top-bottom but also with their external stakeholders. All internal

responsibilities fulfillat leastasatisfying levelofcommitmentwhichreflectshowmuchthe

Groupcaresforitsemployees.OutstandingaretheeffortstoaligntheGroupsethicalvalues

andbeliefswithitsstakeholdersalongtheentirevaluechain.Also,itfitsthecultureoftheAir

France–KLMGroupthattheyfocusonHumanitarianAidandcrisishelpwhenitcomestoshow

corporatecitizenship.

6.4 Ryanair

6.4.1 SocialinitiativesCorporateGovernance/PeopleManagement:

TheDirectorsarecommittedtomaintainingthehigheststandardsofcorporategovernance.

ThisstatementdescribeshowRyanairhasappliedthemainandsupportingprinciplesofthe

2014U.K.CorporateGovernanceCode (the“2014Code”), theversionof theCode in force

duringtheyearendedMarch31,2017.WithintheBoardofDirectors,thereisacleardivision

ofresponsibilitiesbetweentheChairmanandtheCEO.TheBoardmeetsatleastonaquarterly

basisandintheyeartoMarch31,2017theBoardconvenedmeetingsontenoccasions.The

MSCIResearch“GovernanceMetricsReport” June2016noted thatRyanair “falls into

the highest scoring range for all the companies we assess relative to global peers

indicatingthatthecompany’scorporategovernancepracticesaregenerallywellaligned

withshareholderinterests”.

HealthandSafety:

TheBoardofDirectorsestablishedtheAirSafetyCommitteein1997toreviewanddiscussair

safetyand related issues.TheSafetyCommittee reports to the fullBoardofDirectorseach

quarter.Ryanairisproudofitsindustryleading32-yearsafetyrecord.SafetyisRyanair’sNo.1

priorityandweinvestheavilyinsafety-relatedequipment,trainingandinternal(confidential)

reportingsystems.FatigueManagement(“FM”)isasharedresponsibilitybetweenRyanairand

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itsCrews.Ryanair implementsascientifically-basedand independentlyverified,datadriven,

flexible approach to fatiguemanagement that forms an integral part of the Ryanair Safety

ManagementSystem.

Workingenvironment:

Ryanair negotiateswith all its people, including pilots and cabin crew at all bases, through

EmployeeRepresentationCommittees(ERCs)regardingpay,workpracticesandconditionsof

employment,includingconductingformalnegotiationswiththeseinternalcollectivebargaining

units. Ryanair’s seniormanagementmeets regularlywith thedifferent ERCs to consult and

discussallaspectsofthebusiness.

Humancapitaldevelopment/Diversity:

Last year over 900 of Ryanair´s peoplewere promoted and Ryanair created approximately

1,500newjobs.Ryanairhasalsocreatedover90,000indirect jobsbasedonAirportCouncil

International figures. Our people remain one of theirmost important assets, and theywill

continue to invest heavily in recruitment and training. Training, career development and

promotion opportunities are available and encouraged for all of Ryanair’s people. Ryanair

remains a committed equal opportunities employer regardless of nationality, race, gender,

maritalstatus,disability,age,sexualorientation,religiousorpoliticalbeliefs.Ryanairselects

andpromotes itspeoplebasedonmeritandcapability,providing themosteffectiveuseof

resources.

Ethicalbehavior/Humanrights:

Ryanair’sCodeofBusinessConductandEthics (“Code”) setsout standardsof integrity and

ethicalvaluesthatconstituteRyanair’swayofdoingbusinessandisapplicabletoallRyanair

employees.Ryanair iscommittedtoconductingbusiness inanethical fashionthatcomplies

withalllawsandregulationsinallthecountriesinwhichRyanairoperates.Ryanairdoesnot

tolerateanyinfringementofhumanrights,includingtheuseofforced,compulsoryortrafficked

labor,oranyoneheld inslaveryorservitude(whetheradultsorchildren) inanypartofour

businessorsupplychain.Thereareestablishedchannelsforreportingcodeviolationsorother

concernsinaconfidentialmanner.ThePersonnelDepartmentinvestigatesanyinstancesand

theHeadofInternalAuditreportsfindingsdirectlytotheAuditCommittee.

65

Nocorruption:

The Irish rules generally prohibit anti-competitive arrangements among businesses and

prohibittheabuseofadominantposition,alsoapplyingtotheairlinesector.Ryanairhasbeen

subjecttoanabuse-of-dominanceinvestigationbytheCompetitionandConsumerProtection

CommissioninrelationtoservicebetweenDublinandCork.TheCompetitionandConsumer

ProtectionCommission(thenknownastheCompetitionAuthority)closeditsinvestigationin

July2009withafindinginfavorofRyanair.

Consumers/Suppliers:

ThelaunchoftheAlwaysGettingBetter(“AGB”)CustomerCharterin2014,andincreasedfocus

ondigitaltechnologythroughthereleaseofthenewwebsiteandapp,hasimprovedRyanair’s

interactionwithcustomers,providingthemwiththeservicesandinformationrequiredtomake

their travel more productive and comfortable. Ryanair is fundamentally opposed to the

introductionofanyaviationtaxes,includinganyenvironmentaltaxes,fueltaxesoremissions

levies.Ryanairhas,andcontinuestooffer,thelowestfaresinEurope,tomakepassengerair

travelaffordableandaccessibletoEuropeanconsumers.Further,Ryanairendeavorstoonly

use suppliers thatadhere to theprinciplesofRyanair’sEthicsCodeandprovidea safeand

healthyworkingenvironmentfortheiremployees.

Corporatecitizenship(Communitydevelopment):

In2017, theCompanyestablished theRyanair Foundation toworkwith selectedcharitable

partners and educational projects across Europe. The foundation recently announced its

sponsorship(€1.5mover5-years)forthenewRyanairProfessorofEntrepreneurshipposition

at Trinity College Dublin’s Business School. Between 2008 and 2014, the Ryanair charity

calendarcontributed€100,000perannum(€700,000inthe7yearsthatitwasproduced)to

designatedcharitiesacrossEurope.

6.4.2 Commitmentlevel

ThereportingprofileofRyanairisclearlydefensive.Theairlinedoesnothaveasustainability

report or includes sustainability information in their annual report. One cannot find any

reportednumbersthatgivecredibilitytowhattheystate.

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CommitmentlevelofCS Beginning Elementary Satisfying Sophisticated,Outstanding

Corporategovernance RY Health&Safety RYWorkingenvironment RY HumanCapital/Diversity RY Ethics/HumanRights RY Nocorruption RY Consumers/Suppliers RY Corporatecitizenship RY Table11–TheCSstrategyofRyanairshowsanelementarylevelofcommitment

Conclusion:

Ryanairmissedtoreachasatisfyinglevelofcommitmenttowardssocialissuesofsustainability

becausetheyaregrowth-andconsumer-oriented,butdonotshowextraeffortsinternallywith

regards to theirgovernanceoremployees. Itbecomesclear that corporateculture isnota

majortheme.Instead,monetaryincentivesaresettomotivateemployees.AlthoughRyanair

continues to create jobs and invests in training Ryanair does not fulfill a satisfying level of

commitmenttowardshumancapitaldevelopmentbecausetheiraimistocreatemoreefficient

(human) resources. Further, therearenotpolicies foremancipationofminorities reported.

Regardingexternalresponsibilities,Ryanair´sethicalcodeseemsatadevelopedstage,butthe

airlinedoesnotreporthowitdealswiththeanti-competitivelegislation.Lastly,theircorporate

citizeneffortsare limited tomonetary supportsandemployeesarenot integrated into the

process.

6.5 QuestioningFindingsduetoBadPress´

Thefollowingparagraphsareextractsfromarticles inTheGuardianconcerningtherelevant

airlines. The Guardian is a British daily newspaper, founded in 1821 and has been named

Newspaper of the Year four times at the annual British Press Awards. I shortly reproduce

negative aspects about the airlines´ social responsibilities with the purpose of reflecting

criticallyonthepreciousself-presentationoftheEuropeanairlinesintheirreports.

Lufthansa:Strikesandrecruitingfreeze

67

Germany’s flagship carrier Lufthansa said itwould cancel nearly 900 flights onWednesday

becauseofastrikebypilots,causingtraveldisruptionfortensofthousandsofpassengersin

thelatestescalationofalong-runningpaydispute.Itisthe14thstrikesinceApril2014started

byVerdiinarowoverpayandworkingconditions.Theunionsayspilotshaveenduredawage

freezeoverthattimeandsuffereda“significant lossofpurchasingpower”dueto inflation,

whileLufthansahasmadebillionsinprofits.Sincethebeginningof2014,theLufthansacore

companyhad imposed a recruitment freezeof their owneducatedpilots because the cost

structureoftheGrouptariffagreementistooexpensiveforthecompany.Nowmanyyoung

pilotssueLufthansafortheirrighttowork.(TheGuardian,2016b)

GermanWings(LufthansaGroup):Suicidalpilotretainslicense

GermanwingspilotLubitzlockedtheflightcaptainoutofthecockpitandputtheplaneintoa

controlleddescentovertheFrenchAlps,killingall150peopleonboard.Relativesofthepeople

killed when the German pilot Andreas Lubitz crashed a passenger jet into a French

mountainsidesayLufthansashouldhavedonemoretostophimflyingafterhewasdiagnosed

withmentalhealthproblems.JürgenFischenich,whosesonSven,33,diedinthecrash,saidhe

andotherfamilieswerestillwaitingforanapologyfromLufthansaforfailingtokeepapilot

withahistoryofmentalhealthproblemsoutofthecockpit.Headds“Withoutthenegligence

onLufthansa’spart,mysonwouldn’thavediedlikethis.Itwasn’tjustanaccident.Thiswasa

crashwhereLufthansa’ssafetymechanismsfailed.”(TheGuardian,2016a)

AirFrance–KLMGroup:French-Dutchcultureclashrevealed

FrenchstaffsayKLMcolleaguesthinkonlyofmoney,whileDutchseeAirFranceworkersas

aloof, report says. A clash of national cultures and an inability to understand each other’s

languages threatens tomake themerged Air France-KLM group of airlines unmanageable,

accordingtoaleakedinternalcompanyreport.Amongthepettygrievances,thereisirritation

thataKLMemployeeworking inParis ischarged€10for lunch inthecanteen,whileanAir

Francecolleaguepaysonly€4.Suchisthestateofrelations,accordingtothe100-pagereport,

compiledbyunionsactingforstaffwithinthegroup,thattherearefearsforthecompany’s

future.(TheGuardian,2017h)

AirFrance:Violentfightagainstmanagement

68

AirFranceworkersripshirtsfromexecutivesafterairlinecuts2,900jobs.StafffromAirFrance

wasstrikingduetoacontroversial“restructuringplan”involving2,900redundanciesbetween

2015and2017.Theproposedjoblossesinvolve1,700groundstaff,900cabincrewand300

pilots.SeveralhundredairlineemployeeshadgatheredtodemonstrateoutsideAirFrance’s

headofficeandmembersofseniormanagementweregreetedbyanangrycrowdshoutingand

waving flags and placards featuring the company chiefs portrayed as criminals in police

mugshots.Theairlinefiledacriminalcomplaintaboutthis“scandalous”outbreakofviolence.

(TheGuardian,2015)

BritishAirways:Povertywagestocabincrew

BritishAirwayscabincrewhaveannouncedfourmoredaysofstrikes.Sincethestartoftheyear

therehavebeen11daysofstrikeaction.Basicpayinthemixedfleet,whichallnewrecruitsto

BAjoin,startsataround£12,000,thoughtheairlinesayscrewearnaminimumof£21,000after

allowancesandbonuses.Unitesayscabincrewearn£16,000ayearonaverage.WillieWalsh,

chief executive of BA’s parent company, IAG, said: “The offer’s on the table. There are no

negotiations.Thestrikeshavehadnoeffect,thepassengersareflyingandflightsareoperating.

(TheGuardian,2017a)

BritishAirways:MajorITmeltdowncausesturmoil

Disruption from a major IT failure that affected more than 1,000 flights on Saturday has

continuedintoasecondday,leavingmorepassengersstranded.Airportstaffhadhandedout

themats,aswellasthinblankets,forpeoplewhowerestuckthereovernight.Theexperience

ofmanypassengerswhohavewrittentotheGuardian’sconsumerchampion’scolumntellus

claims are often protracted and frequently unsuccessful. Our consumer champs say that if

airlinecounterstaffmakeyouapromise,videoitonyourphone–itmaybeyouronlychance

ofenforcingaclaim.BA’sexplanations“Itwasnotan IT failure. Itwasa failureofelectrical

powertoourITsystems”havebeenmetwithskepticismandmorequestions.(TheGuardian,

2017e)

Ryanair:Onlyairlinethatputspassengersinwheelchairsonlast

Ryanairflighttakesoffwithoutpassenger,StudentNiamhHerbert,whorequiresawheelchair

whentravelling.Normallyairlinesputpassengersinwheelchairsatfirst,butthistimeNiamh

wastoldattheboardinggateshewouldhavetowait15minutestobehelpedontotheplane

69

inherwheelchair.Atalaterpointamemberofstaffapproachedherandaskedifshewouldbe

abletoclimbthestairstotheplane“foreasiness’sake”.Whatadisgrace–Herberttweets.

HerbertsaidsheinformedRyanairshewouldbetravellinginherwheelchairwhenshebooked

aninitialflight,butdecidedtochangeherflighttoFriday.Apparently,Ryanairdoesn’tpassthe

informationonandHerbertwasleftaloneatthegate.(TheGuardian,2017d)

Ryanair:MichaelO’Learyhopestoofferzerofares

Ryanair chief executiveMichael O’Leary plans tomakemoney from sharing revenueswith

airportswhereithadattractedpassengersinsteadfrompassenger´sflightfares.Hesaid:“The

challengeforusinthefutureistokeepdrivingairfaresdown.Ihavethisvisionthatinthenext

fiveto10yearsthattheairfaresonRyanairwillbefree,inwhichcasetheflightswillbefull,

andwewillbemakingourmoneyoutofsharingtheairportrevenues;ofallthepeoplewho

willberunningthroughairports,andgettingashareoftheshoppingandtheretailrevenuesat

airports.”(TheGuardian,2016c)

After considering these recent negative headlines about social responsibilities towards

employees,customersandcommunitiesoftherelevantairlinesIadjustthefollowingscores:

- Lufthansa:TheGermanairlineseemstohavecommunicationproblemsfrombottomto

top.Thetwoexamplesshowhowthegovernancedidnottakeresponsibilityfortheir

mentallyillpilotnorfortheirstrikingandsuingpilots.Therefore,Ilowerthescorein

Corporate Governance from initial three points to two points as well as the

Health/Safetyscorefrominitialfourtothreepoints.

- AirFrance–KLMGroup:Culturaldifficultiescouldnotbesolvedafterthemergerorthe

French andDutch airline so far. Grief lies behind the curtains of this union so that

employees become violent towards theirmanagers. Thus, I lowerAir France – KLM

Group´sscoreinWorkingEnvironmentfrominitialfourpointstothreepoints.

- British Airways (IAG): The examples from British Airways show that the working

conditionsarenotpromising.WagesareperceivedtobelowandITsystemsseemto

beinneedforrenewal.Hence,IlowerthescoreofWorkingEnvironmentfrominitial

threetotwopoints.

- Ryanair:Ryanair´s customer service lacksprofessionalism,apparentlyespeciallywith

disabledpassengers.Also,Ryanair´sCEOmakesclearthatheonlycaresaboutprofit

and not about communities and environment when he says to aim for zero fares,

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fosteringmasstourismevenfurther.Thus,IlowertheirscoreinCustomers/Suppliers

frominitialthreetotwoaswellastheirCorporateCitizenshipfrominitialtwopointsto

onepoint.

Whencomparing theadjustmentof scores,onemustnote that threeairlineshavea lower

commitmentleveltowardsCSduetointernalissuesandonlyoneairlinesduetoexternalissues.

Atthispoint,Iwouldliketopointoutthattheworkingenvironmentattwoairlinesseemtobe

notaspromisingasreflectedintheirannualreports.

6.6 SynthesisofEmpiricalFindings

Aftertheevaluationofcommitmentlevelsbasedonthecontentanalysisoftheairline´sown

reportsandtheadjustedscoresduetotheairlines´scandalsrevealedinthepress,Icanpresent

nowafinalrankingoftheairlines´scoresinissuesconcerningthesocialdimensionofCS.The

diagraminfigureXshowsthateachairlineputsemphasizesondifferentaspectsofthesocial

dimensionofsustainability.OnecouldarguethatLufthansaGroupandAirFrance–KLMGroup

havesimilarsocialperformancescores,sameasRyanairandIAG.

Figure8-TotalscoreofeachairlinewithinthesocialdimensionofCS

Themaximumscore foranairline toachieve in thisassessment is32points.Noairlinehas

reached this score. The reason for this is as follows: Ryanair´s social initiatives aremainly

compliance- and profit-drive and therefore, their CS strategy is not mature but rather

elementary.IAGtakeseconomicandsometimesethicalresponsibilityforitsstakeholderswhich

42 2

4

23 4

32 4 2

323

2

33

4

3

41

4

1

3

3

3

2

4

3

3

1

4

BA- IAG LH RY AFKLM

Corporatecitizenship

Consumers/Suppliers

Nocorruption

Ethics/HumanRights

HumanCapital/Diversity

Workingenvironment

Health&Safety

Corporategovernance

20

26

17

28

71

isthereasonfortheairlinealmostfulfillingthecriteriaforasatisfyinglevelofCScommitment.

Then,Lufthansahasreachedaverysatisfyingcommitment level,becausetheyexpresshow

muchtheycareabouttheirstakeholdergroups.ItseemsthatAirFrance–KLMGrouphasthe

mostmatureCSstrategybecausetheyareabletotakeonethicalresponsibilitiestowardsall

stakeholdersandrecognizethatdrivingsustainabilitymeansdrivingprogress.Finally,intable

12itbecomesobviousthatnoairlinehasreachedanoutstandingcommitmentleveltowards

CS which means that none of the four corporations is commitment to philanthropic

responsibilities. This holistic interpretation of CSwould be necessary to bring business and

societyclosertogether.

InterpretationofCSbyMarrewijk

BusinessresponsibilitiesbyCarroll

CSmaturitylevelbyBaumgartner

RankingofthefourlargestairlinesinEuropeaccordingtothisresearch

Compliance-drivenCS

Legalresponsibilities

Beginning

Profit-drivenCS

Economicresponsibilities

Elementary

CaringCSEthicalresponsibilities

Satisfying

SynergisticCSEthicalresponsibilities

Sophisticated

HolisticCS

Philanthropicresponsibilities

Outstanding

Table12-RankingtheairlinesaccordingtotheirCSstrategy

7 DiscussionandLimitations

Table 13 provides an overview of the thesis’ main theoretical and empirical findings. By

emphasizingthesefindings,Igivegroundsforthefollowingdiscussiononimplications.

Chapter MainConclusions/Findings

Chapter1

1.1 As traveling, and especially aviation, harms the environment, to me,travelingandsustainabilityseemlikeacontroversy.However,…1.2 …stakeholder theory suggest that sustainability is an opportunity forcompetitiveadvantage forcompanies.Thus, Iaimto findout:WhyandhowhaveEuropeanairlinesintegratedsustainabilityintotheircorestrategy?

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Chapter2

2.1 Understanding CS as nothing else than the concept to incorporatesustainabilitybytheorganizationcontainingthethreeinterdepend,interactingpillars:economic,ecologic,andsocial.2.2 The motivation for CS is based on Stakeholder theory: businesses areresponsiblefortheirfirmsinternalandexternalstakeholders-includingsociety.2.3AccordingtotheRBV,CScanbesourceofvaluecreationforbusinessandsociety when it´s integrated into all levels of management and plannedstrategically.

Chapter3

3.1ThesocialdimensionofCS implies the ideaof treatingpeoplewithinthecompany,withinthesupplychain,andinthecommunityofthecompanywithrespect and attention. Its effects are hard to quantify due to its intangiblenature.3.2 Levels of commitment towards social issues showhowmuch businessescontribute to society. As business and society are interdependent beingcommittedtoCSbecomesaninevitablecondition.3.3BestpracticeexamplesshowhowitpaysoffthatsomecorporationsmanagetointegratesocialaspectsofCSintotheircorestrategy.

Chapter5

5.1Theairlineindustryishighlycompetitive(e.g.duetotheentryoflowcostcarriers),constantlygrowing(e.g.masstourismdamagesworldheritagesites),andinvolvesmanyuncertainties(disruptionsbyterrorandnewregulations).5.2 Regarding social aspects, the airline industry bears difficulties becauseoperationalpressurehasincreased,especiallyforemployees.5.3Moreandmorecorporationsdisclosetheirdataonsustainability.ReportingframeworksasGRIaimtostandardizereportsbutsofardifferentframeworksandlocalregulationsmakeithardtoassessandcomparethereports.

Chapter6

6.1Lufthansareachesaverysatisfyingcommitmentlevelbecausetheycrediblyexpresshowmuchtheycareabouttheirstakeholdergroups.6.2 Air France – KLMGroup has themostmature CS strategy because theypreciselyreportonhowtheyassumeethicalresponsibilitiesforallstakeholdersandrecognizethatdrivingsustainabilitymeansdrivingprogress.6.3IAGreachesasatisfyinglevelofCStakingmostlyeconomicandsometimesethicalresponsibilityforitsstakeholders.6.4 Ryanair´s CS strategy is notmature but rather elementary because theirsocialinitiativesaremainlycompliance-andprofit-driven.6.5Thecredibilityoftheairlines´sustainabilityreportsseemdebatablewhenconsideringnegativeheadlinesabouttheairlinesinthepress.6.6NoairlinehasreachedanoutstandingcommitmentleveltowardsCS.Thus,noneofthefourcorporationsiscommittedtobringbusinessandsocietycloserbyinterpretingCSholistically

Table13-Mainfindingsofeachchapterasbasisfordiscussion

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Keeping inmindthattheknowledgegainedfromtheempiricaldata isnot ’puretruths’but

subjectivejudgmentsIrecallthemeaningsoftheempiricalfindings:AlthoughCShasemerged

asamegatrendandevenCSreportinghasevolvedasmainstream,itisstillnotclearinwhich

development stageCS is asmanagershave limitedunderstandingof how to implementCS

practically.Thus,Iwaswonderingwhethertruly“good”corporationsreallyexist.Astheairline

industry fulfillsmostcharacteristics thatpositively influenceCSstrategiesandEurope is the

leadingregionwhenitcomestoCS,thecasestudyofthelargestEuropeanairlineshelpedto

answerthisquestion.Thepreviouschapterscanbethoughtofasanassessmentorprogress

reportoncorporate´scommitmenttowardsCS.

There are some interesting findings to highlight when looking at the empirical data:

Unexpectedly,IfoundimmensedifferenceswithintheairlinesCSstrategiesandtheirreporting

styles. In thepast,multiplestandardizing frameworks forsustainability reportinghavebeen

establishedbutremainvoluntarysothatitisdifficulttocomparethereportsandevaluatetheir

quality. Very interesting to see are the contrasting strategies of Ryanair and AFKLM:

Surprisingly,ahugecorporationasRyanairwithdirecteffectsontheenvironmentseemsnot

tohaveanypressurefromthegovernmentnortheconsumersorotherstakeholderstoshow

efforts implementing CS initiatives beyond compliance or profit-orientation. In contrast to

Ryanair,AirFrance–KLMGroupissophisticallycommittedtoimproveandreportontheirCS

strategywhichthey integrate intotheircorebusinessstrategyonall levelsofthecompany.

Althoughthese two leadingairlineshaveverydifferentunderstandingsofCS, their strategy

seems straight forward. Similar straight forward, but on a lower commitment level, seems

Lufthansa´sCSstrategy.Lufthansacommunicatescrediblyhowdigitalizationandbundlingof

their competencies as in education and humanitarian aid will improve their responsibility

towardsinternalandexternalstakeholder.NotstraightforwardatallseemstheCSstrategyof

IAGeventhoughtheyoutlinetofocusonsustainabilityfromnowon.Butsofar,theirefforts

donotcreatevalueforeitheremployeesorcustomerswhichcanbeemphasizedthroughtheir

recentbadpress.Thus, I interpreted IAG´sCSstrategyasasymptomofbeing ‘stuck-in-the-

middle’withafocusonenhancingoperationalefficiencyandwithparticularattentiontonot

makinganymistakes.Afteroutliningthemeaningofthecommitmentlevelsofeachairlinethe

followingquestionremains:

74

IscorporatesustainabilityacompetitivestrategyintheEuropeanairline-industry,andwhatare

theargumentsforfurtherintegratingcorporatesustainabilityintothestrategiesofairlines?

Toanswerthisresearchquestion,Ineedtorecallthetheoreticalframeworkofthisthesisin

the contextof theairline industry´s characteristics. It only seems logical to anchorCSonto

stakeholdertheory.Creatingvalueforeachoftheinternalandexternalstakeholdergroupsis

a more sustainable and more social business process than generating maximal profit for

shareholders only. This organizational capability is directly linked to the desired result of

generatinginnovation-orientationwhichfinallyincreasesprofitandperformancelevels.From

astakeholderperspective,thecompetitiveadvantagesgeneratedbycreatingvalueforeach

stakeholdergroupvarieswiththestabilityof thebusinesssurroundings.Sincetheair travel

industryisespeciallydynamicandunpredictable,sustainableresourcesandcompetencesare

key.Toillustratetheindustry´sdynamicsIutilizeIATA´soutlook‘FutureoftheAirlineIndustry

2035’ which clearly demonstrates the dynamics of the airline industry by proposing four

contrastingscenariosforthefuture(Appendix1,i).Thesescenariosemphasizetheairline´sloss

of control due to the strong bargaining power of stakeholder groups. Hart includes the

environment in the traditional resource-based view (1995). Consequently, a developed CS

strategy requires to implement initiatives in each of the three dimensions, economic,

environmental and social: The economic dimension ensures the survival of the firm, the

environmentaldimensionhelpstoimproveefficientuseofresourcesintheshort-andmedium-

termandfinallythesocialdimensioncreatesvalueforstakeholdersforalong-termcompetitive

advantage. But there are more arguments for integrating CS into the core strategy of

corporations from the resource-based view. Following this understanding of resources and

organizationalcapability,itisthebeliefthatacompanygainscompetitiveadvantageasitbuilds

a brand that is different from its competitors. A strong brand can signal customers or

stakeholdersthefirm´svalues,normsandbeliefs.Ifthebrandstrategyisperceivedascredible

and authentic the firm can be rewardedwith a good reputation. And corporations with a

favorablereputationforsustainabilityaremoreattractivebusinesspartnersenablingthefirm

to enter new markets and attracting and retaining top talent. Furthermore, a credible

corporatereputationislikelytoinfluencecustomers’loyaltybehaviorsthroughdifferentiation.

Thus,itisupfordiscussionifCShasthepotentialofreconcilingthetwogenericstrategiesby

75

Porter,DifferentiationandCost-Leadership,withoutbeingstick-in-the-middle. (Grant,2016,

p.223).

SimilarfindingsintheliteratureaboutCSasacompetitivestrategyaresuggestedbyConrady,

Parmar and Porter & Kramer. Conrady states that a “strategic stakeholder model of

engagementwiththebusinessenvironmentmeansthatthepotentialforavoidingdisastersand

increasingsuccessandinnovation”(Conrady,2011,p.269).AsCSstrategiesbecomemoreand

more important todistinguishbrands, it is a real advantage to include sustainability to the

brand-andcommunicationstrategy.Themainchallengeforthemanagementistoconvince

the stakeholders of the authenticity of sustainable engagement. For that purpose and to

increase transparency,global sustainabilitycertificatesofperformanceneedtobeprovided

andcommunicated.Parmarpointsoutthat“Globalwarming,globalfinancialcrises,andglobal

terrorismthreatentodestabilizeourworld”(Parmaretal.,2010,p.267).Itismoreimperative

thanevertostudycarefullyandunderstandthepowerofmarketsandcapitalism.Hethinks

aboutthe“constructionofanewnarrativeabouthowcapitalismcanbeaforceforgoodinthe

world” (ibid, p.267).By this ‘newcapitalism’Parmar implies: If stakeholder theory is in the

centerofthinkingforallbusinessdisciplines,wecanaddresstheproblemsofvaluecreation

andavoidspoilingshareholdersattheexpenseofotherstakeholders,whichultimatelydestroys

thevalueofbothgroups.Additionally,PorterandKramerarguethat“WhileresponsiveCSR

depends on being a good corporate citizen and addressing every social harm the business

creates, strategic CSR is far more selective.” (Porter & Kramer, 2006, p.14) The

interdependencebetweenbusinessandsocietytakestwoforms:“inside-outlinkages”where

companyoperations impactsocietyand“outside-in linkages”whereexternalsocietal forces

impactcompanies.(Porter&Kramer,2006,p.8)Becausecompaniescannotaddresshundreds

ofsocialissues,theymustselectonlyafewopportunitiestomakearealdifferencetosociety

andgainacompetitiveadvantage,theybelieve.

Toroundupthediscussion,Iproposethepracticalimplicationsforthesustainabilitymanagers

of Ryanair and Air France – KLM Group according to the theoretical framework and its

discussioninthecontextoftheairlineindustry:

• Concretely,IwouldnotrecommendRyanair´sCEOMichaelO´Learytoturnhisclearly

profit-orientatedsustainabilitystrategyintoacaringsustainabilitystrategybecauseit

76

wouldrequiretakingethicalresponsibilitiestowardsallstakeholders.Andasdiscussed,

this sustainability strategy should come from inside requiring implementationon all

management levelstobeauthentic.ByasuddenchangeofstrategyRyanair´sbrand

couldrundangertobeaccusedofgreenwashingandmightfacelossofreputation.In

thefuture,itremainscriticalthoughhowlongRyanair´semployeescanwithstandthe

enormousoperationalpressuresasconstantstrivingmakesthemmiserable.Further,it

remainsquestionableiftheorganizationissufficientinnovation-orientatedtocopewith

rapiddynamicsintheindustry.

• Contrarily,IwouldrecommendtheAirFrance–KLMGrouptoturntheirsophisticated

levelofcommitmenttowardsCSintoanoutstandingone,toliterallystandout.Focusing

onthesocialdimensionofCS,thefollowingskillsarerequiredwhenAirFrance–KLM

Groupwantstoachieveanoutstandingcommitmentlevel:Culturalcompetencemeans

treatingallpeoplerespectfullyappropriatetotheircultureandbehaviorsofdominant

culturesareanalyzedinrelationtoothercultures.Thus,AFKLMcouldovercometheir

internal issues by reflecting on their values and working attitudes from its double

culturalbackgroundtoensureclarityaboutacommongoal.Further,asthefutureof

thetravel industrycan'tbepredicted,andsystemscan'tbecontrolled,AFKLMmust

ensure todesignand redesignhowtheyenvisionwhichchanges the futurepossibly

holds.Only then, is itpossible for themto learnaccordingly. Finally,AFKLM´smust

consider that life-enhancing resources and services cannot be assigned amonetary

value.That´swhyafocusonvoluntary,non-monetaryaidisessentialtobringbusiness

andsocietyfurthertogether.Sustainabilitymanagersmustrealize:Astheirfirmshapes

thesociety,thesocietyshapesthefirm.

Atlast,somelimitationintermsofthechosenmethodologicalqualitativeapproacharegiven.

Asthefindingsarebasedondatainterpretation,theyare,despitetestingthefindingthrough

scandalsinthepress,stillsubjectivelyinfluenced.Also,anobjectiveassessmentofcommitment

levelsbyanotherresearcherisnotgivenbecauseIconductedthestudyindividually.Remaining

truetotheinterpretivistapproach,thedatautilizedmaybeinterpreteddifferently,especially

ifguidedbyalternativeassumptionsandtheories.Furthermore,thecasestudyimpliesstudying

alotofcontentintheairlinesreportswhichcannotbeconsideredtotally.Takingintoaccount

moresourcesofinformationabouttheairline´ssocialinitiativesoffersafoundationforfurther

77

investigations.Additionally,somelimitationsintermsofgeneralizabilityhavebeenmentioned

already.Thus,forfurtherresearchIrecommendextendingthestudyintomultipledirections:

First,moreairlinesshouldbeassessed,forexampleintheAsianmarketorAmericanmarket

because the significance of sustainability´s varies between cultures. Other industry´smight

showasignificantlymoreorlessdevelopedstageofimplementingandreportingCS.Secondly,

notonlythesocialdimensionofCSshouldbeassessedisolatedbutinrelationtotheeconomic

andenvironmentaldimension.AssessingallthreedimensionsofCSwouldgiveamuchclearer

picture of how developed CS strategies are today. Third, future research could consider a

longitudinalstudyformultipleyearstotesthowairlines´overallperformancedependsontheir

(improvementof)sustainabilitystrategy.Thisextensionofresearchwouldhelptorevealmore

argumentsforfurtherintegratingcorporatesustainabilityintothestrategiesofcorporations.

8 ConclusionandOutlook

Asthefutureoftravelingdependsonresolvingitsnegativeeffectssuchasclimatechangethe

aviationindustryisinneedofdisruptiveinnovation.Whenfurtheranalyzingthecomplexityof

theairlineindustry,IagreewithIATAthatAirlinesstruggletodifferentiatethemselves.Inspired

bythisoverallsituationthisthesisanswerstheresearchquestion:Iscorporatesustainabilitya

competitivestrategyintheEuropeanairline-industry,andwhataretheargumentsforfurther

integratingcorporatesustainabilityintothestrategiesofairlines?

The research isdesigned toanswer thisquestion theoreticallyandempirically,by inductive

reasoning and deductive reasoning. Theoretically, I outline how treating stakeholders with

respect and engage them proactively bears the opportunity for a long-term competitive

advantage.FromtheRBV,IarguethatstrategicCScanbeseenasaninvestmentinthefirm’s

competenciesandinagoodreputation.Theintegrationofsustainabilityintothecorestrategy

ofcompaniescancreatevalueforboth,businessandsociety.Empirically,thisdescriptivethesis

attemptstospecifyhowairlineshaveimplementedsocialinitiativesin2016byanalyzingthe

contentoftheirannualsustainabilityreportsinaqualitativemanner.Bycategorizingairlines

initiativesintocommitmentlevelstowardsCS,IintendtodetectthedevelopmentstageofCS

inthishighlyvisibleandpoliticallysensitiveindustry.

78

In general, I notice that the boundaries between ‘social’, ‘environmental’ and ‘economic’

aspects are oftenoverlapping.My findings show that especially the social dimensionof CS

presentsamajorobstacleformanagersinpracticewhenfacingthechallengeofimplementing

few targeted social initiatives that fit the corporate´s culture. Overall, there has been less

debateonthesocialthanontheenvironmentalmanagement.Evaluatingtheairline´sannual

andsustainabilityreports,IfindoutthatallfourairlineshaveadoptedCStoacertainextent

butnoairlineiscommittedtoCSonanoutstandinglevel.Thismeansthat30yearsafterthe

implementationoftheinternationalGRIthereisstillmuchroomtoimproveCSstrategies.With

regardstothecommunicationofCS,itiskeytoputtransparencyandcredibilityatthecenter

oftheCSstrategy.Further,Irecognizedalackofconsistencyinsustainabilityreportingfrom

these large international companies, which makes it almost impossible to compare one

company’s sustainability strategy with another. That is why my evaluation of the airline´s

commitmentlevelstowardsCSisverysubjectively.

Myfirstconclusionherebyisthatitisnecessarytostrengthenglobalframeworksfordeveloping

sustainability reportingandmake it a toppriority task for corporations. Secondly, I suggest

shiftingthefocusfrom‘greentraveling’(environmentalinitiatives)to‘fairtraveling’(socialand

environmental initiatives) as a broad holistically view on CS bears long-term competitive

advantageinmultipledirections.Overall,IconcludethatCSisnotonlyanecessarystrategic

assetfortheairlineswhen integratedtobuildcapabilities inallbusinessareastocopewith

fiercecompetitionbutmoreover,CSwillbecomeanecessaryabilitytosustaintravelingitself

in the future. These are unambiguous arguments to further integrating CS into the core

strategies of airlines. In the future, not only governments but also customers should force

airlinestotakealeadingroleintermsofcorporatesustainability.Futureresearchcouldextend

thescopeofcasesandsourcestobeanalyzedaswellasdetectthelimitsofthebenefitsfrom

CS.IbelievethisthesiscanenhancethecurrentunderstandingofCSaswellasguidemanagers

toexploitthefullpotentialofCS.

79

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10 Appendix

Appendix1–Tablesandfigures

a) Carroll´s‘CSRPyramid’showsthateachtypeofresponsibilityplaysavitalroleintheoverall

strategyforCS(Carroll,2016)

b) Residual (nonstrategic) and integrated (strategic) CS (CSR) according to Parmar; the

relativelynew‘integratedview’seesCSaspartofcoremanagementprocessesandincluded

inthebusinessdecision-makingframework(Parmaretal.,2010)

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c) Throughthedevelopmentofdatacategories,qualitativedatacanprovidewell-grounded

conclusionseventhoughdataisinterpretedsubjectively(Corbin&Strauss,2008)

d) The survey brings forward that the main issue of working conditions is the increasing

operationalpressure,exertedtofosterproductivity(EuropeanCommission,2015b)

Internalsocialresponsibilities

Employeesstatementonsocialdevelopment

TradeUnionstatementonsocialdevelopment

Wages Increasedinpacewithorabovethedevelopmentofthenationalaveragepayincrease

Increaselacksbehindwagedevelopmentsincomparableprofessions

Contracts Moreflexibilityincontracts;TheestablishmentofmultiplebasesacrossEuroperaisesthequestionwhichlaborlawsapplyandlimitsthecollectivebargainingpower.

Workingconditions Improved DeterioratedHealth&Safety Positive NegativeOperationalpressure

Theincreaseofoperationalpressureforflightandcabincrewseemstoresultoutofatighterschedulingofflights,anincreaseofresponsibilitiesofthecrew,andofanincreaseofdutiesbetweenshiftsanddutyhours

Working/resttimes Positive NegativeTrainings ThenewMulti-CrewPilotLicenseallowstoperformco-pilottasksin

multicrewsituationswithsubstantiallylesstraininghours;employersoftendemandthatpilotsfinance(partsof)theirowntraining

• Categories:Categoriesaresometimesreferredtoasthemes.Theyrepresentrelevantphenomenaandenabletheanalysttoreduceandcombinedata.àInthisthesis,Ilimitmydatacollectiontothecategory“socialaspects”ofCS(table1)

• Coding:Extractingconceptsfromrawdataanddevelopingthemintermsoftheir properties and dimensions. à In this thesis, coding criteria areidentifiedbyBaumgartner´sandMarrewijk´s(table3and4)

• Concepts: Words that stand for ideas contained in data. Concepts areinterpretations, the products of analysis.à In this thesis, I differentiateairline´sreporteddatabyassigningcommitmentlevelstowardsCS(table2and8-11)

• Dimensions:Variationswithincharacteristicsofconceptsthatgivespecificityand range to concepts. à In this thesis, I specify the concepts (orcommitments levels) by assigning scores and range reported data byassigningreportingstylesforeachairline

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e) BaumgartnerandEbner´sprofilingofsustainabilitystrategiesrevealingmaturitylevelsfrom

ppartosophisticatedforeachaspectofCS(p.86)

f) Creatingvalueforstakeholders:definitionandprioritizationoftheprimaryandsecondary

stakeholders;FigurefromFreemanin‘StakeholderTheory:StateoftheArt’(Parmaretal.,

2010,p.24)

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g) TheconceptualmodelofinnovationorientationbyVaradarajan(2017)showsdriversand

outcomesofSustainableInnovationsOrientation(SIO)

h) The10principlesoftheUnitedNationsGlobalCompact;Sevenoutoftenprinciplesrelate

tothesocialdimensionofCS

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i) Fourscenariosfortheairlinesindustryin2035(InternationalAirTransportAssociation

(IATA),2017)

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j) ListofInstitutionsenforcingsustinabletravelingthatarerelevantinthisthesis;information

fromeachcorporate´swebsites

Name Institution About/Purpose

EC EuropeanCommission

Formulatesand implementscost-effectivepolicies for theEUtomeetitsclimatetargetsfor2020,2030andbeyond

EUET EU EmissionsTradingSystem

ThecornerstoneoftheEuropeanUnion’sdrivetoreduceitsemissionsofman-madegreenhousegaseswhicharelargelyresponsible for warming the planet and causing climatechange.TheEUETSalsocoversemissionsfromaviation.

UNFCCC United NationsFrameworkConvention onClimateChange

Overall framework for intergovernmentalefforts to tacklethe challenge posed by climate change. The Conventionenjoysnearuniversalmembership.

UNGC United NationsGlobalCompact

The world’s largest voluntary corporate sustainabilityinitiative, Action Platform on Reporting on the SDGs(sustainabilitydevelopmentgoals)

COP Conference ofParties

TheUNClimate Change Conferences serve as the formalmeetingoftheUNFCCCParties(COP)toassessprogressindealingwithclimatechange

ICAO InternationalCivil AviationOrganization

ICAOworkswiththeConvention’s191MemberStatesandindustry groups to reach consensus on international civilaviation Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs)and policies in support of a safe, efficient, secure,economicallysustainableandenvironmentally responsiblecivilaviationsector.

IATA InternationalAir TransportAssociation

Tradeassociationoftheworld’sairlines,consistingof268airlines,representing117countries.TheIATAglobalcarbonoffsetprogramofferstheadvantagesofastandardcarboncalculatorandsettlementthroughIATA’sfinancialsystems

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Appendix2–Evaluationframeworks

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Appendix3–Airline´sCSassessmentbyCSRHub

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Appendix3–TranscribedPilotInterviews

QUESTIONNAIRE1Respondents:Thethreestudentsaremaleandbetween20to24yearsold.Sincetheyallhavevolunteeredin a children’shome inAfricawhere resourceswere limitedand thus, a certain amountof responsibilitytowardspeopleandplanetisassumed.TwostudentsareGerman,oneisDutch.Sincetheyanswervoluntarily,onlytheoneortwopersonsthatshoutsoutananswerisreflected.

1. Howmuchdoyouliketraveling?-Sayingitonascalefrom1to10,Iliketraveling11.Thehighestforsure!

2. Howmanytimesdidyougoonweekendtripsandvacationlastyear?-Ohno,inoneyear–that´salot.IfIhadtocountit-maybe10times,maybeabitmore.

3. Doyoumostlygobycar,bus,trainorplane?-Whynotbike?Haha.Igobycarorbus.-Iusuallydonotgobythetraineitherbecauseitistooexpensive.

4. Pleasedescribe:doyouplantoflytofardistantplacesthisyearornextyear?(fardistancemeans1500kmandmore,likefromBerlintoNewYork)-Iwillprobablydoit.Ihaveplanneditalreadyforsure.Idon´thaveconcreteplan,butIamprettysureIwilldoit.-DoesRussiacountasafardistantplace?

5. Doyouhaveafavoriteairlineoraleastfavoriteairline,whyisthat?-KLM.IlikeStaralliancealot.ButIdon’tknowwhy.TheyalwayshavegoodfoodatAustrianAirlines.-IlikeAirFrance.Idon´tlikeBritishAirways.AndEmiratesisagoodone.Also,VirginAirlinesseemscool.AndIlikeLufthansatoo.

6. Whydoyouthinkairlinesare„good“companiesorwhy„bad“companies?-Dependsontheairlines.Ryanairseemsbad,therestIhaveaneutralopinionabout.

7. Haveyouheardofanyinitiativesfromairlinessofarthatshowscorporatesustainability,whichones?-Nonotreally.Whatdoyoumean?

8. Haveyouseenorusedcarboncalculatorsbefore?-Awhat?Whatisit?Isawone,onawebsiteonce.Butit´salongtimeago,ayearorso.

9. Areyouawareofcarbonoffsetting?-Yeahyeahsure,isn´tthattheemissiontradingschemeintheEuropeanUnion.Theywerestrugglingwiththeagreementhowtoincludetheaviationsectorinit.LikewhichplanesarejustflyingoverEuropeorlandingthere.

10. Ifyouhavenotusedoffsettingbefore,howmuchextrayouwouldpayforaflightfromFrankfurttoPeruasadonationtoprotecttheAmazonrainforest?-Itdependsontheprice.Forexample,ifIpay100euroforaticketthen10euroisalotMaybeIwouldpay5EUR.IfIpay500EUR,10%iswaytoomuch.Iwouldn´tpay50EUR.

11. Canyouimaginepayingforthesesustainableinitiativesinthefutureforeverytrip?-Yes,Ithinkso.Whynot.

12. Discusstheultimateholidays!Whatmakesyourtraveltripperfect?(becreative)-IwouldliketogotoCanadaonce,ormaybetoIceland.Iwouldliketotraveltomanyweirdanimals.-IthinkSouthAmerica,Peru–Chile.Or,IwouldliketogotoMadagascar!

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QUESTIONNAIRE2Respondents:TwofemalestudentsfromGermany,20and23yearsold.Bothhavevolunteeredinachildren’shomeinAfricawhereresourceswerelimitedandthus,acertainamountofresponsibilitytowardspeopleandplanetisassumed.

1. Howmuchdoyouliketraveling?-Actually,IliketravelingbestinEurope.IwasonlyonceinSouthAfricaandonceinNewYork.-Iliketravelingsupermuch.IfIcouldIwouldtravelALLthetime,butofcoursethatsnotpossible.

2. Howmanytimesdidyougoonweekendtripsandvacationlastyear?-Ithink,onceamonthIhaveaweekendtrip.-Iagree,approximatelyonceamonthisrealisticforsmallertrip.ButIalsowenttoSouthAfricalastyearandMorocco,andtoFrance/Spain,sothreetimeslastyearIdidalongertrip.

3. Doyoumostlygobycar,bus,trainorplane?-IthinkIgomostlybytrain.EspeciallywhentravelingthroughGermany.It´sthefastestandmostofthetimethecheapestoption.IalmostnevergobycarbecauseIdon’thaveoneandmyfriendsdon'thaveoneeither.-IalsogobytrainorifIfindacheapticketbyplaneIwouldtakethat.Sometimestheplanecanbealsoveryexpensivethough.Ivisitmyboyfriendeitherbytrainorplane–dependingontheprice,thetimeconsumingisthesameanyways.

4. Pleasedescribe:doyouplantoflytofardistantplacesthisyearornextyear?(fardistancemeans1500kmandmore,likefromBerlintoNewYork)-No,notsuchalongtripisplannedbecauseIjustwenttoSouthAfrica.Therefore,mylimitisfull.ButIwillstudyinNorwaythisyearandwewillgotherebycarIdecided,eventhoughitsfartodrivethere.OnecouldflybutIdecidednotto.Iwillcomebackbytrain.WhenIwillvisitmyfamilyIprobablywon’tgobyplaneeither.-IwilldosomesmallertriptoFranceandSpainandonelongtriptoSouthAfricawithmymom.Iwillstaythere3weeks.

5. Doyouhaveafavoriteairlineoraleastfavoriteairline,whyisthat?-No,Iamnotverydemandingwithregardstheserviceoftheairlines.Actually,Idon’treallyseethedifferences.Andreally,IhavenotexperienceasupergoodserviceanywayssofarbecauseIbookwhat’scheapest.-IratherhavemadesomebadexperienceswiththecheapairlineslikeRyanairwhenwedidn´tprintouttheticketbeforeandhadtopayextraattheairportforit.

6. Whydoyouthinkairlinesare„good”companiesorwhy„bad”companies?Itdepends,whenIbookedbyflighttoLondonIwasfrustratedbecausetherewasnottherightconnectionthatIlookedfor.ButIlikethemwhentheyhavegoodoffers.Ithinktheyarenotdoingsomethinggood.EspeciallyIamconfusedwiththepricediscriminationoftheairlines,it’stotallynotunderstandablewhopaywhatfeeforthe sameconnection.-It´srathernecessarythatthealternativetransportliketrainoffercheaperticketsthanplanes.ButIrealizedthatIdon’treallyhaveaninfluenceonthepricepolicies.ButIknowthedemanditthereforcheapflights.

7. Haveyouheardofanyinitiativesfromairlinessofarthatshowscorporatesustainability,whichones?-Yesandno.SomeairlinesoffertopayCO2taxestotheairlinesafterbookingyourtripandthatmoneygoestosustainabilityprojects.Ontheonehand,itseemslikeagoodprojectbutontheotherhanditwouldnotworkifeveryonejustdoesitlikethat.

8. Haveyouseenorusedcarboncalculatorsbefore?-Yes,wesawthesecalculatorsbefore.Butnotattheairlineswebsitebutweprivatelylookeditup

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online.9. Areyouawareofcarbonoffsetting?

-Doyoumeanthatairlinesvoluntarysetupsomeprojectsordoyoumeanthegovernmentsrestrictemissionswithsellingcertificatesforit?-Isawthatthebushassustainableinitiativeslikethat.

10. Ifyouhavenotusedoffsettingbefore,howmuchextrayouwouldpayforabusticketfromZurichtoAmsterdam?-Well,Idon´tknowbutmaybe5%-10%-sofora40€Ticket,Iwoulddonate4€.-Iknowit´sactuallymuchcheaper,maybe1-2%.Butthat’sgoodsomanypeopledecidetoparticipatemoreeasily.ButIhavetostress,thatIthinkthatisnotthesolutiontotheproblem.Imeanyoucan’tstoptravelingandstoptakingpartinthesociety.Butwemustfindanothersolution.

11. Canyouimaginepayingforthesesustainableinitiativesinthefutureforeverytrip?-Yes,forsureIcanimaginepayingforitallthetimeswetravel.-Sure,ifithelps,Iwoulddonatesomemoneyforeachtrip.

12. Discusstheultimateholidays!Whatmakesyourtraveltripperfect?(imaginaryorreal)-Forsure,Iwantwaterinholidays,liketheseaoralakethatdoesn’tmatter.Itdoesn’thavetobethecoastfromFlorida.InormallygototheMediterraneanSea.AndIalsolikeitwarm:Aclassicbeachholidaywouldbebest.ButIalsoliketogotoacity.(laughs)Iwantitall.-Ithinkyoushoulddifferentiatebetweenrelaxingholidaysandtraveling.Forgettingoutofthedailyroutineandrelax,Iwouldlovetogoclimbingwithfriends,andwithgoodmusic–maybeintheSchwarzWald.FortravelingIwouldstartrightfrommyhomeanddrivetowardsAfrica.MydreamwouldbetodrivespontaneouslyfromEthiopiatoCapeTownandmeetmanypeopleonthewayandlearnabouttheircultures.

QUESTIONNAIRE3Respondents:Two femalestudents,bothare25yearsold.TheybothstudyatCBSandareawareof theimportanceofsustainabilitywithinbusiness.AsbothstudentsareGermanandtheyanswerinGermantofeelmorecomfortable.

1. Howmuchdoyouliketravelling?-IchkönntenichtohneReisenleben.Abereskannmanchmalsehranstrengendwerden.(lacht)

2. Howmanytimesdidyougoonweekendtripsandvacationlastyear?-15-malmindestens,weilich5-malimUrlaubwarunddannnocheineFernbeziehungführe.-Stimmt,dankmeinerFernbeziehungbinichauchständigunterwegs.

3. Doyoumostlygobycar,bus,trainorplane?-MeistensmitdemZug,niemitdemAuto-FastimmermitdemFlugzeugodermanchmalmitdemZug

4. Pleasedescribe:doyouplantoflytofardistantplacesthisyearornextyear?(fardistantmeans1500kmandmore,likefromBerlintoNewYork)-JadiesesJahr.NachdemMaster,willicherstmalverreisen.AmliebstennachAsien.

5. Doyouhaveafavoriteairlineoraleastfavoriteairline,whyisthat?-Nein,diesindmirvölligegal,-IchentschiedeauchnachPreiswelcheAirlineichnehme.AberQantasmagichtrotzdem!

6. Whydoyouthinkairlinesare„good”companiesorwhy„bad”companies?-Fluggesellschaftenhabenesnichtleicht.EsisteinhartesBusiness.-DerKonkurrenzkampfzwischendenAirlinesverhärtetdieFronten.

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7. Haveyouheardofanyinitiativesfromairlinesthatshowscorporatesustainability,whichones?-Wartemal.Dafälltmirgeradewenigzuein.Abervielleichtfälltesmirwiederein,wenndumirsagstwelcheInitiativendumeinst.-Klar,dumeinstdenAufpreisumseineReiseklimaneutralzumachen,oder?

8. Haveyouseenorusedcarboncalculatorsbefore?-Nichtwirklich.Eigentlichschade.ManredetsovielüberKlimawandel,aberhatdennochnurHalbwissenübersolcheFaktoren.

9. Areyouawareofwhatcarbonoffsettingis?-DieAblass-Briefevonheute!SoeinWitz,dassmananbedürftigeKinderspendetwährendmaneinLuxusgutwieReisenkonsumiert.Ichhabeesmalgesehen,aberdachtesofort,dasseseineFalleoderFakeist,umnochmehrGeldeinzunehmen.-Ichbintotaluninformiert.AbereinmalhabeichbereitsbeieinemFlugmitRyanairanUNICEFgespendetundwarichrichtigstolz!IchwolltealsgutesBeispielfürdasbewusstereLebenunsereGenerationvorangeben.

10. Ifyouhavenotusedoffsettingbefore,howmuchextrayouwouldpayforaflightfromFrankfurttoPeruasadonationtoprotecttheAmazonrainforest?-Einbisschenwassolltemanschondafürzahlen,insolchetollenLänderzufliegen.-Klar,jederderfliegt,kannauchetwasspenden.NurmussesebenimRahmensein,alsonichtüber20€bitte.

11. Canyouimaginepayingforthesesustainableinitiativesinthefutureforeverytrip?-Kommtdasnichtehbald?Umweltsteuerundso?-Jaichbindabei.WennjedereinbisschenGeldzahlt,kommtbestimmtvielzusammen.

12. Discusstheultimateholidays!Whatmakesyourtraveltripperfect?(imaginaryorreal)- IchwillunbedingteineWeltreisemachenumeinmaldieganzeWeltzusehen.ZumBeispielmitZug,dannmalSegeln,oderebenweitereStreckenmitdemFlugzeug.

- MeinTraumwäreesinGriechenlandvonInselzuInselzusegeln.