based on the theory part of this thesis. The chart consisted of general CSR issues, environmental, social and economical issues. To see how the informa-tion on the websites differs from, or links to the theory part of this thesis, the answers from the website analysis were used. The company with most ‘yes’
answers, has the most similarities with the theory, hence the member with most
‘no’ answers has the most differences with the theory.
In the chart can be seen that the member with the most ‘yes’ answers is Kesko.
There were all in all 43 statements, of which Kesko got 35 yes answers. That is 81.4 per cent. SOK was a close second with 33 ‘yes’ answers, 76.7 per cent.
Stockmann was the third with 30 ‘yes’ answers, 69.8 per cent. The fourth was Tokmanni with 24 ‘yes’ answers, 55.8 per cent. In the last place is Suomen
Lähikauppa with only 20 ‘yes’ answers, 46.5 per cent, which is less than half of the statements. Suomen Lähikauppa is also the only member with more ‘no’
than ‘yes’ answers. They got 23 ‘no’ answers out of 43 statements which is 53.5 per cent. The final results of how many ‘yes’ and how many ‘no’ answers the companies had all together, can be seen in chart 5 below:
Final results
Chart 5. Final results of the study
Based on the answers acquired from the website analysis the companies have been put in order, in the first place the member of FGTA who provided the most thorough and trustworthy information.
All companies had CSR information on their websites but Kesko had clearly focused the most on the subject’s every aspect and it really showed in the study. Kesko was also the member who had had CSR as part of their business the longest. SOK came as a close second with only two points separating these
companies.
6 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The purpose of this thesis was to find out the differences and similarities in the websites of FGTA member’s. There are eleven members in FGTA but only those members with CSR information on their websites were taken a part of this thesis. In the theoretical part qualitative data was used and the information was acquired from articles, books and Internet sources. In the theoretical part corporate social responsibility, CSR, and communication and their sub-catego-ries were explained. CSR’s consists of environmental, social and economical aspects. From communication, online communication, communicating CSR and green washing were taken a part of this thesis and explained in the theory part.
The empirical part of the thesis was based on the information found on the members’ websites. The websites were analyzed with a chart that included statements of every aspect of CSR; general issues, environmental, social and economical. The answers were marked with ‘yes’ or ‘no’, depending on whether or not the websites provided information on that exact subject. The results were compared to each other as well as to the theory. The findings of the study show that corporate social responsibility is becoming a very important aspect of Finnish companies’ business strategies. There is always room for improvement but results of the FGTA members’ current CSR activities show that in a small country like Finland, CSR can still be done very thoroughly.
Kesko’s websites provided the most thorough and also the most precise information. SOK and Stockmann’s websites were also very good and all these three companies had very well done CSR reports provided on their websites.
Tokmanni and Suomen Lähikauppa had some information on CSR, neither having CSR report.
The results of the study show that from the members taken a part of the thesis, Kesko was clearly the member who provided the most thorough and precise information. In every section of the study, general CSR issues, environmental,
social and economical issues, Kesko had the best score alone or with another member. There were all in all 43 statements of which Kesko got 35 ‘yes’
answers. Other members’ results were: SOK with 33 ‘yes’ answers, Stockmann with 30 ‘yes’ answers, Tokmanni with 24 ‘yes’ answers, and in the last place Suomen Lähikauppa with only 20 ‘yes’ answers. Suomen Lähikauppa was also the only member who had more ‘no’ than ‘yes’ answers.
In conclusion CSR is an important aspect of companies’ business strategies and in the future it is possible that CSR’s role will grow. Especially environ-mental issues are already very current and many companies are already measuring their environmental impact, surely the other aspects of CSR will follow close behind.
All in all this thesis process was very interesting and it gave an interesting perspective of CSR and also about the retailing business to the writer.
7 DISCUSSION
In addition to this study there is still a lot of ground to cover concerning CSR. In this study only the CSR section of the pages was taken into consideration. One possibility is to study the entire pages of the FGTA members and maybe take those members into the study as well, who do not have responsibility infor-mation on their websites and concentrate only on the visual aspects of the websites. Another possibility is to study the websites as they are and concen-trate on the websites from green wash point of view.
The reliability of the results is quite good. The study concentrated only on the CSR issues on the websites. So even though the company may have some activity on a subject that wasn’t informed on their websites, it was not taken a part of this study. So the results of the study are strictly based on the information found on the FGTA members’ websites.
There are a lot of literature on CSR in books, articles and the Internet. Most of the Internet sources were big organizations’ so the information found there can
be assumed reliable. Also the books and articles used for the theory part of this thesis are reliable. To make a wider study of this topic, there are a lot of books that concentrate on this exact topic and those could be taken a part of a new study. All in all, the sources were reliable and also provided very useful infor-mation for this thesis.
FIGURES
Figure 1. Carroll’s CSR Pyramid p. 10
TABLES
Table 1. Ages and stages of CSR p. 12
Table 2. The grocery chain p. 19
CHARTS
Chart 1. Results on general CSR issues p. 32
Chart 2. Results on Environmental issues p. 36
Chart 3. Results on Social issues p. 39
Chart 4. Results on Economical issues p. 42
Chart 5. Final results of the study p. 47
REFERENCES
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Vol. 22, No. 1. pp. 82-101. National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE), Mumbai, India
Burchell, J. 2008. The Corporate Cocial Responsibility Reader. Abingdon, Oxon, UK: Routledge
Ebner, D. & Baumgartner, R. 2006. The Relationship between Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporate Responsibility Re search Conference 2006, 4th-5th September, Dublin, Ireland
Gottschalk, P. 2010. Corporate Social Responsibility, Governance and Corporate Reputation. River Edge, NJ, USA: WSPC
Joutsenvirta, M.; Halme, M.; Jalas, M.; Mäkinen, J. 2011. Vastuullinen Liiketoiminta. Helsinki: Gaudeamus Helsinki University Press
Lotila, P. 2004. Communicating Corporate Cocial Responsibility; Reporting Practice in Retailing. Publications of the Turku School of Economics and Business Administration. Raisio
Minakakis, G. 2012. Retailers Need Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy.
The Vancouver Sun, May 25.
Pitelis, C.N.; Keenan, J.; Pryce,V. 2011. Green Business, Green Values, and Sustainability. New York, NY, USA: Routledge
Rai, U. & Rai, S.M. 2009. Effective Communication. Mumbai: Global Media Rayudu, C.S. 2010. Communication. Mumbai: Global Media
Tolhurst, N. & Pohl, M. 2011. Responsible Business : How to Manage a CSR Strategy Successfully. Hoboken, NJ, USA: Wiley
Urip, Sri. 2010. CSR Strategies: Corporate Social Responsibility for a Competitive Edge in Emerging Markets. Hoboken, NJ, USA: Wiley Internet sources:
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Appendices
Appendix 1: Website analysis SOK Appendix 2: Website analysis Kesko
Appendix 3: Website analysis Suomen Lähikauppa Appendix 4: Website analysis Stockmann
Appendix 5: Website analysis Tokmanni
Appendix 1 – Website analysis SOK
Guaranteeing a wide range of products x
Guaranteeing domestic raw materials x
Maintaining good reputation x
Increasing the ethicalness of products x
Economical
Complying with collective labor agreement on salaries x
Community investments x
Investing on environmental programmes x
Economic report x
Complying with taxation laws x
Employee benefits (health care, insurance, maternity leave
etc.) x
Plans for the future
Reduce costs x
Increasing turnover x
Minimizing financial risks x
Increase employee investment (retirement plans, welfare etc.) x
Appendix 2 – Website analysis Kesko
Guaranteeing a wide range of products x
Guaranteeing domestic raw materials x
Maintaining good reputation x
Increasing the ethicalness of products x
Economical
Complying with collective labor agreement on salaries x
Community investments x
Investing on environmental programmes x
Economic report x
Complying with taxation laws x
Employee benefits (health care, insurance, maternity leave
etc.) x
Plans for the future
Reduce costs x
Increasing turnover x
Minimizing financial risks x
Increase employee investment (retirement plans, welfare etc.) x
Appendix 3 – Website analysis Suomen Lähikauppa
Guaranteeing a wide range of products x
Guaranteeing domestic raw materials x
Maintaining good reputation x
Increasing the ethicalness of products x
Economical
Complying with collective labor agreement on salaries x
Community investments x
Investing on environmental programmes x
Economic report x
Complying with taxation laws x
Employee benefits (health care, insurance, maternity leave
etc.) x
Plans for the future
Reduce costs x
Increasing turnover x
Minimizing financial risks x
Investing on environmental programmes x
Increase employee investment (retirement plans, welfare etc.) x
Appendix 4 – Website analysis Stockmann
Guaranteeing a wide range of products x
Guaranteeing domestic raw materials x
Maintaining good reputation x
Increasing the ethicalness of products x
Economical
Complying with collective labor agreement on salaries x
Community investments x
Investing on environmental programmes x
Economic report x
Complying with taxation laws x
Employee benefits (health care, insurance, maternity leave
etc.) x
Plans for the future
Reduce costs x
Increasing turnover x
Minimizing financial risks x
Increase employee investment (retirement plans, welfare etc.) x
Appendix 5 – Website analysis Tokmanni
Guaranteeing a wide range of products x
Guaranteeing domestic raw materials x
Maintaining good reputation x
Increasing the ethicalness of products x
Economical
Complying with collective labor agreement on salaries x
Community investments x
Investing on environmental programmes x
Economic report x
Complying with taxation laws x
Employee benefits (health care, insurance, maternity leave
etc.) x
Reduce costs x
Increasing turnover x
Minimizing financial risks x
Increase employee investment (retirement plans, welfare etc.) x