Industry-Driven ESG: Human Resources-Specific Strategy for Development and Localization

How do multinational HR firms create sector-specific ESG strategies-and adapt them across diverse local markets? This thesis investigates that question through an in-depth case study of Randstad, a leading multinational in the human resources sector. Despite ESG's growing role in corporate governance, its application in labor-driven service sectors remains underexplored. This study addresses that gap by analyzing how Randstad constructs its ESG priorities and implements them across different national settings. Drawing on expert interviews and longitudinal document analysis-including Randstad's annual and local sustainability initiative reports from 2010 to 2024-the research uses a mixed-methods approach supported by qualitative coding and co-occurrence analysis with Atlas.ti. The findings reveal that ESG is not a static checklist, but a dynamic and iterative process shaped by negotiation, learning, and organizational adaptation. Strategy formation is driven by internal values-such as people-centricity and talent development-as well as external pressures like CSRD compliance and investor expectations. Localization is achieved through a hybrid governance model that empowers national teams to adapt global themes to regulatory, cultural, and infrastructural contexts, while feeding local innovations back into global ESG evolution. Ultimately, this thesis positions ESG as more than a compliance exercise: it is a strategic framework through which firms align internal purpose with external accountability to generate meaningful, context-sensitive social value.