Chapter 9. Sustainable business in a stakeholder society– a relational leadership approach

In this chapter, Ingalill Holmberg and Pernilla Petrelius Karlberg give an in-depth case account of leadership in a large Swedish telecom company attempting to reestablish their reputation and practices as a responsible busi- ness. Strategies for dealing with competing demands, including decoupling, coupling, and contingent coupling, are described, with a focus on instances in which the roles of the CEO and Chair of the Board towards stakeholders were distinctly decoupled when first taking charge in developing trust after a crisis, and then coupled or re-coupled in messaging and actions, as well as in situations where past, present, and future were molded together. Their chapter is a rich qualitative study of how the Chair of the Board and the CEO divided their work and responsibilities in order to address sustainability from two different platforms: anti-corruption and ethical behavior on the one hand, innovation and digitalization on the other.