The scope of sustainability work in the purchasing process

Context: The knowledge about sustainability has increased during recent years, which has had a large impact on organizations overall concern and involvement in how their own organization affects environment and society. This has led to an increased effort regarding organizations work in their purchasing process where there are many opportunities for improvement within the environmental, social and economic dimension. The sustainability work in the organization’s purchasing processes also involves the organization’s suppliers as they play a key role in the purchasing process. Purpose: This study aims to analyze and understand how Swedish pharmacies manage with sustainability in their purchasing process considering the three sustainability dimensions. Also, how the pharmacies sustainability work is reflected on their suppliers. Method: This study applies a qualitative research method with a deductive approach and aims to answer the two problem formulas and the purpose. The empirical material was primarily collected with qualitative telephone interviews from three different Swedish owned pharmacies and was completed with secondary data that was collected from the pharmacies websites. The theoretical reference frame lies as the base for this study’s results and analysis where comparisons are made to see similarities and differences between the pharmacies. Results: The main finding is that the pharmacies that were studied all performed a sustainability work regarding environmental-, social- and economic dimensions but with varying degrees. Furthermore, all three pharmacies focused on the environmental dimension mostly. Key words: Swedish pharmacies, Sustainability, Purchasing process, Suppliers, Supplier requirements