Sustainability as a strategic imperative?

Abstract

This thesis investigates how a company creates itself as a sustainability actor and the strategic implications thereof. The study is an empirical investigation of A.P. Moller - Maersk in relation to how they communicate their position as a sustainability actor while also being subject to demands and expectations from the outside world and how this creates different power relations.

To conduct a contemporary analysis of their sustainability communication, the investigation relies on Maersk's sustainability reports from 2020, 2021, and 2022. The theoretical perspective of the study is poststructuralism, which means that the world is not seen as a static entity but rather as something that constantly changes and arises in the observation process itself.

The analysis includes an open adaptive approach and an eclectic integration of Niklas Luhmann's systems theory and semantic analysis, and Michel Foucault's governmentality concept. By applying these theoretical perspectives, we enable ourselves to uncover how Maersk employs two contrasting communication strategies while simultaneously exercising and subordinating itself to power, and how this manifests as strategic implications.

The results show that Maersk communicates with both a first-order strategy and a secondorder strategy. The first-order strategy of the company is focused on self-leadership by meeting the expectations of its external environment. The second-order strategy of Maersk aims to foster self-leadership among other actors by developing a strategy for their strategies. Maersk thus creates a double identity as both legal actor and political actor in its communication. As a result, everything else is also doubled. Furthermore, the findings reveal that the strategic implications of Maersk's hybrid identity. On the one hand, they offer the company opportunities to establish a favorable position regarding the fulfillment of sustainability requirements. On the other hand, these implications may also constrain Maersk's ability to differentiate itself from other actors in the industry.