Board members in Icelandic companies experience of stakeholders expectations towards sustainability ; Upplifun stjórnarmanna í íslenskum fyrirtækjum á væntingum haghafa um sjálfbærni fyrirtækja

The study explores how the boards of Icelandic companies approach environmental issues and sustainability in light of isomorphic pressure from stakeholders and regulations. Icelandic companies have increasingly had to adjust their strategies to meet new demands and expectations, both from domestic and international entities. By applying institutional theories focused on legitimacy and isomorphic pressure, along with stakeholder theory, this study analyzes corporate responses to the growing emphasis on sustainability and environmental issues, identifying factors that influence increased corporate responsibility in this area. Qualitative interviews were conducted with nine board members who have extensive experience serving on boards in various industries. Corporate boards represent shareholders, determine company strategy, and are responsible for ensuring compliance with laws and regulations. The semi-structured interviews shed light on their experiences of environmental issues. The findings reveal that attitudes of board members and corporate actions concerning environmental issues are varied. While participants perceived an increased societal emphasis on environmental issues, this emphasis had not directly impacted their companies. These results suggest that the need for corporate legitimacy in environmental matters is not urgent, and thus, the effects of normative and mimetic pressures are minimal. Social pressure, particularly from employees and consumers, was low, while pressure from stakeholders mainly appeared from those on whom the companies rely financially. Pressure from the value chain and investors could partly be attributed to coercive pressure from laws and regulations, particularly European ones. The study highlights the importance of boards being aware of the diverse pressures from stakeholders and ensuring that companies take genuine responsibility for their environmental impacts to maintain competitiveness and legitimacy in an international context. ; Rannsóknin fjallar um hvernig stjórnir ...