The world is not on track to achieve Agenda 2030-the approach chosen in 2015 by all UN member states to engage multiple stakeholders for the common goal of sustainable development. The creation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) arguably offered a new take on sustainable development by adopting hybrid and principle-based governance approaches, where public, private, not for profit and knowledge-institutions were invited to engage around achieving common medium-term targets. Cross-sector partnerships and multi-stakeholder engagement for sustainability have consequently taken shape. But the call for collaboration has also come with fundamental challenges to meaningful engagement strategies-when private enterprises try to establish elaborate multi-stakeholder configurations. How can the purpose of businesses be mitigated through multi-stakeholder principle-based partnerships to effectively serve the purpose of a common sustainability agenda? In selecting nine scholarly contributions, this special issue aims at advancing this discourse. To stimulate further progress in business studies, this introductory essay, furthermore, identifies three pathways for research on multi-stakeholder engagement processes in support of the Decade of Action along three coupling lines: multi-sector alignment (relational coupling), operational perception alignment (cognitive coupling) and goal and strategic alignment (material coupling).

This story is about two professors, of Management and Marketing respectively, who helped their students learn about sustainability and responsible leadership, and developed the appropriate mindset to innovate for a better world. In 2015, the authors of this chapter decided to join the pioneering AIM2Flourish initiative hosted by Case Western Reserve University and supported by the Principles for Responsible Management Education, the Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. The authors discovered the inspiring impact of this program on students and began to share their experiences with other educators. AIM2Flourish has had powerful beneficial impacts on business curricula and their learning outcomes in that it helps connect students with business innovators using Appreciative Inquiry to celebrate business innovations aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the actions taken by firms to reduce waste across the food supply chain. More specifically, this paper categorises and contextualises the usage of food waste reduction activities (FWRAs) by analysing the FWRAs that have been communicated to stakeholders via press releases.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was based on an inductive content analysis of press releases. Examples of FWRAs were identified via PR Newswire and the data was analysed to develop categories of objectives, organisation types, supply chain stages, and international context.

Findings

Firms typically engage in FWRAs that provide a win-win outcome. FWRAs are more commonly initiated by firms in industrialised nations and at the consumer end of the supply chain, and the benefits of these activities generally apply to local stakeholders, rather than impacting the broader supply chain.

Research limitations/implications

The interpretivist nature of the research method inherently includes researcher bias, however, an established research method was followed to minimise the impact of bias. Future research can test the research propositions through detailed empirical examination.

Practical implications

The paper has provided insights into the types of FWRAs in which firms typically engage and communicate to the public. Although there has been progress towards more responsible management of the food supply chain, a focus on win-win scenarios may limit the application of truly sustainable practices.

Contribution

Food waste is an increasingly important topic in industrialised and developing countries, and this is the first study to investigate the usage of FWRAs throughout the supply chain on a large scale.