Only one of Finland’s large retailers is showing a firm public commitment to corporate social responsibility, a study suggests.
Kesko, which sells mainly food and clothes, was the only one of six large Finnish retailers to have a visible commitment to CSR, according to the study. One other firm – SOK Corporation – was ‘active’, but the others – Wihuri, Tradeka, Elanto, and Spar Finland – were ‘inactive’.
The study, by Piia Nurmi, a research associate at the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration in Finland, was based on companies’ public documents and websites.
Kesko, which is Finland’s biggest general retailer, scored well for being the only company to produce a stand-alone CSR report, while SOK Corporation is to publish its first CSR report next year. Both were also credited for being members of Finnish Business in Society.
While Nurmi found little or no evidence of CSR activity at the other firms, all have joined the Finnish Central Chamber of Commerce’s Responsible Import Trade initiative, which aims to encourage companies to take account of ethical issues in their supply chains.