The Alignment of Sustainable Procurement to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals In Seven Multinational Companies

Abstract

[DBA Thesis] This thesis investigates how the stakeholder relationships impact sustainable procurement (SP) and their alignment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in seven multinational companies. Currently, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of the influences of stakeholders on SP practices and how those contribute towards the UN SDGs. Specifically, this research examined how global procurement managers were influenced by their key stakeholders, and how the resulting decisions to adopt SP initiatives in multinational companies aligned with the UN SDGs. This thesis addresses the gaps in extant literature through a case study approach using a qualitative methodology combining primary and secondary data. An interesting trend that emerged from this research is that the activities of the global procurement managers either consciously or unconsciously align with UN SDGs related to ESGs, namely in the areas of consumption (UN SDG12), environment (UN SDGs13,14,15), regulations (UN SDG16) and partnerships (UN SDG17), rather than those related to societal issues. This research conducted through the Stakeholder theory lens reveals that while the pressures are similar, the industry will drive whether the pressure is through the power attribute (for example, specialty chemicals industry) or urgency attribute (for example, healthcare industry), to stay abreast with their competitors. The findings show that stakeholder pressures are not always stagnant as they can transition from one attribute to another. Adhering to normative stakeholder pressures helps organisations maintain their legitimacy and social acceptance. Looking through the lens of SP best practices conducted by the global procurement managers, they are told to focus more on their ESG reporting rather than the UN SDGs. This study also provides a novel perspective of how the global procurement managers’ roles across different industries and geographies have changed from buying agents to value creating units. The contributions of this thesis are beneficial to both practitioners and scholars.