Society’s interest for environmental issues was reinforced in the 1960:s when the book by
Rachel Carson, “Silent Spring”, came out. She described a picture of a world without birds
singing and this got the environmental debate going. Today, this debate has reached the
corporate world since stakeholders are putting pressure on companies to show greater
environmental awareness. Many companies show uncertainty when they are faced with these
new market demands. It is no longer enough with being profitable; they also have to take
environmental responsibility for their actions in order to be competitive. This has led to a development of different kinds of environmental management systems, eco-labels and
certificates. They all have the purpose of structuring and communicating environmental
management efforts.
In order to be successful in their environmental work it is important for companies to develop strategies for handling environmental issues. There are many ways and methods for doing this and the focus should be on finding the method that suits the company the best. The aim with this master thesis is to describe how four morning papers have decided to manage their environmental work. By conducting case studies we have examined what path each company has chosen, what driving forces are behind these decisions and what each company think about their future environmental work.
The first two companies, Eskilstuna-Kuriren and Norrtelje Tidning, are both certified by ISO 14001. Since they have been certified for a few years they both have a rather mature
environmental management system. One of the reasons for the certification was to “keep their backyards clean” since they are checking up on other companies. The third company, Upsala Nya Tidning, has got a licence to print Svanen-labelled products. Yet they have chosen not to label their own product. This decision was made on believes that they wouldn’t sell more papers or sell more ads because of an eco-label. Nya Wermlands Tidningen is the fourth company in this study. This company practise their environmental work in their own way. They do not follow a specific environmental management system or have a license to print Svanen-labelled products. Still, their printing office became the first in Sweden that didn’t need a specific permit from the authorities to pursue business.
Eskilstuna-Kuriren and Upsala Nya Tidning, who both have documented environmental work,
also have printing offices that take orders from external clients. These customers have shown to be one of the reasons for pursuing the environmental work within these two companies. Norrtelje Tidning also has a documented environmental work but they print their paper in a former subsidiary company, which is also certified by ISO 14001. Nya Wermlands Tidningen does not perceive the same demand from external customers as the other companies are since this paper is not doing printing jobs for external customers. Consumers do not demand an environmental friendly product when purchasing a paper. Therefore these four companies are able to have four, totally different, environmental strategies and still be successful.
Major changes within the companies make the future of their environ...
