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This study of environment management systems implementation in Swedish universities contributes to the dialogue about the role of management systems as tools in developing sustainability in higher education.

The empirical study is based on Government directives that make environmental management systems implementation compulsory for all public organisations in Sweden, annual environmental reports of Swedish universities for the years 1997‐2002, their internet home pages, and a survey.

Many universities focus only on direct environmental aspects like paper use and waste handling, even though the main tasks of the universities, namely education, research and co‐operation with the surrounding society, that is the indirect aspects, are likely to have a considerable environmental impact. The organisation of the environmental work and the placement of the environmental coordinator also vary. Two main patterns appear; the coordinator has a function in the service department or an administrative function in the president's office. The goal of certification increases the likelihood of the environmental coordinator being placed in the president's office.

The aim is to increase the understanding of why and how a concept that was first introduced in industry is applied to institutions of higher education.

Abstract Since1996, all Swedish public authorities, which includes most universities, have been made responsible for contributing to the sustainable development of the society. Swedish universities are thus required to submit annual environmental reports about their policies, structures and actions. This study provides a review of the activities that Swedish universities have undertaken so far. Reports from the year 2000 show that all 25 participating universities conducted the first environmental review. Most universities stopped there, although one – Mälardalen University – has gone all the way to ISO 14001 certification. The findings of the study suggest that universities, which have been participating for some years in the project, are further along the line than those that joined recently. There is also some indication that environmental‐management‐system (EMS) work is easier for the smaller universities, which can mobilise around a single goal.

Introduces the special issue on “Stories of transformation” in higher education (HE). Highlights that transformation in HE involves multi‐disciplinary and applied orientations to curriculum change, which break down the modernist dichotomy of theory and practice. Also highlights the significance of change processes that are value‐based and require the involvement of committed individuals and groups that are prepared to engage the often rhetorical nature of declarations and institutionalized commitments to sustainable development. Also highlights the absence of theorizing about change and action in institutional contexts amongst academics involved in transformation towards sustainable development in HE institutions.

The purpose of this paper is to apply a capability perspective to investigate the shift from relationship lending to transaction lending in a bank’s corporate segment. The authors investigate the impact of three operational capabilities: assisting corporate clients in funding and business operations, management of customer relationships and internal cooperation on performance in relationship and transaction lending.

The primarily empirical material comprises longitudinal survey data, collected on three occasions during the period 1998 throughout 2001 from one of Sweden’s largest banks. Data are analyzed using factor analysis and OLS regression.

Results show that the effects of the three capabilities are contingent on the type of lending strategy: In relationship lending, assisting corporate clients has no significant direct effect on performance; however, it has an indirect effect on performance via the management of customer relationships. In transaction lending, assisting corporate clients has a direct effect on performance, and this effect becomes stronger as the transaction strategy is further implemented. The results also show that the direct effect of the management of customer relationships and cooperation on performance is significant in both strategies; however, the relation is stronger in relationship lending compared with transaction lending.

The findings indicate that the choice of lending strategy is more complex than a choice between a strict relationship strategy and a strict transaction strategy and that a strategy that leads to competitive advantage includes elements of both strategies.

This study aims to uncover in-depth examples of how emergent media affects parents’ views and socialization efforts. The study examines these views and efforts in the context of violent commercials.

The authors collected data for this paper using two studies. In Study 1, they collected data from the internet. Comments related to “violent ads” or “violent commercials” were collated and analyzed. For Study 2, they conducted in-depth interviews with mothers on their views on parental mediation and impact of media on their children.

The internet data helped develop a parental definition of violent ads and identify that parents lie on a continuum regarding their concerns about violent commercials. Further in-depth questioning of parents on the above finding led to the identification of four clusters of parents. “Media managers” attempt to control and restrict their child’s media environment while educating their child about the effects of violent commercials. “Enablers” spend abundant time co-viewing primetime TV while engaging their child in conversations on violence, but not on violent ads. To maintain harmony in the household, “Harmonizers” merely restrict viewing of violent commercials without educating their child about its effects. Finally, “Agent evaluators” are likely to co-view violent commercials, without discussing them with their child.

First, several of the parental segments (media managers, enablers and harmonizers) tend to note some concerns with violence in advertising. Importantly, this concern for violence appears to be limited to gore and use of physical weapon. Second, while parents do not have homogenous views on violent ads, those who are concerned also have differing roots of concern. This influences their mediation efforts. Third, socialization is bi-directional at times.

Many parents do not approve are the use of physical violence, use of weapons and depiction of blood/gore even in ads for movies or videogames. Advertisers might be wise to avoid such content in ads directed to children. Second, if media and marketing managers could plan to sponsor TV shows (vs placing violent ads) that offer ad-free program time, parents might respond positively. Third, as socialization is bi-directional, advertisers could consider using ad scenarios where parents and children engage with the pros and cons of a certain product or content, thus enabling parent-child conversations to make an informed decision.

Many parents notice violence in ads; policymakers could consider developing ratings for ads that consider the amount and type of violence while rating an ad. Second, a focus on increasing parental awareness on the harms of constantly exposing children to violent commercials might change the views of some parents who currently believe that a few or no violent commercials are being aired during children’s programs. Finally, parents envisage a greater role for media in their lives, and policymakers will have to suggest ways to effectively integrate media content in one’s lives rather than just suggest bans or restrictions.

The contributions of this paper include viewers’ (vs researchers’) definition of violent commercials, showcasing that parents are likely to manage media using new media options such as Netflix, and some parents are likely to co-create rules with their children.