Stakeholder thinking in sustainability management: the case of Novozymes

Abstract

Purpose

The objective of the paper is to describe and discuss how the biotech company Novozymes integrates stakeholder thinking into everyday sustainability practices.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on first-hand experiences as well as secondary information from Novozymes' stakeholder-oriented sustainability activities.

Findings

The paper illustrates how a company is striving to transform the general stakeholder principles into concrete, manageable actions. Moreover, the paper describes some of the needs, challenges, and paradoxes experienced by an organisation that is trying to make sense of stakeholder thinking.

Originality/value

The contribution of this paper is to provide a detailed analysis of how various stakeholder relations management methods can be used in practice to integrate sustainability in an organisation.

Citation

Rahbek Gjerdrum Pedersen, E., Hove Henriksen, M., Frier, C., Søby, J. and Jennings, V. (2013), "Stakeholder thinking in sustainability management: the case of Novozymes", Social Responsibility Journal, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 500-515. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-08-2012-0101