The business benefits of sustainability outweigh the costs

“Corporate responsibility doesn’t just lead to a willingness to buy and recommend products; it’s also a key factor in attracting good employees and investors,” notes Riku Ruokolahti, Head of Development at T-Media.

Corporate responsibility is becoming an increasingly important factor for Finnish companies, according to the Corporate Responsibility 2018 survey conducted by T-Media for FIBS and published last week. More than 80 percent of the companies that responded to the survey say that the business benefits gained from corporate responsibility outweigh the resources spent on it.

Corporate social responsibility is considered particularly important in larger companies. Among companies with annual revenue exceeding 200 million euros, 78 percent cited corporate social responsibility as a highly significant factor, while the corresponding figure for smaller companies was 57 percent.

Riku Ruokolahti , Head of Development at T-Media and the person responsible for developing the sustainability index published by FIBS, is not surprised by the results of the recent study:

“Using T-Media’s Reputation&Trust and nearly 21,000 individual sustainability assessments, we have also been able to verify the importance of sustainability in the stakeholder support companies receive. The average sustainability score has been on the rise over the past two years.”

IMPROVING REPUTATION AS A KEY OBJECTIVE

Two out of three organizations that responded to the survey cited reputation and brand development through corporate responsibility as a desired business benefit. Thirty-nine percent of companies reported that they aim to secure their future operating conditions through corporate responsibility.

“Corporate social responsibility is widely seen as a key driver of reputation building and brand strengthening,” says Sari Maunula, Research Director at T-Media .

“More and more companies have responded to growing consumer demands for sustainability and are striving to ensure that their operations meet not only legal requirements but also ethical criteria,” adds Siru Sihvonen, a leading expert at FIBS.

THE DOOR WON'T OPEN

As the benefits of corporate responsibility become increasingly apparent, the topic has begun to attract greater interest from top management as well. Nearly 80 percent of the companies that responded to the survey report that they discuss corporate responsibility issues at the executive level.

However, only about half of the executives or managers responsible for sustainability reported being part of the executive team, even though companies place great importance on the views of industry professionals.

“Despite the positive trend, sustainability still appears to be primarily a support function within companies,” notes Siru Sihvonen.

“The question is where corporate responsibility will ultimately find its place within organizations. Will we see even more influential sustainability leaders in the future, or will sustainability become integrated into the entire business and part of every manager’s work and mindset? This is one of the interesting developments to watch in the coming years,” Sihvonen muses.

For more information about the study, visit the FIBS website.

RESEARCH

The Corporate Responsibility 2018 survey, commissioned by FIBS from T-Media, is the most comprehensive survey of its kind in Finland. The survey provides a comprehensive overview of the corporate social responsibility practices, challenges, and future prospects of large and medium-sized Finnish companies. The survey has been conducted since 2013.

The 2018 survey included 185 CEOs, corporate responsibility managers, and experts from Finland’s 1,000 largest companies (based on the Suomen Asiakastieto Oy database and FIBS member companies). The interviews were conducted between January 16, 2018, and April 20, 2018.

Questions regarding the study:
Sari Maunula, Research Director
T-Media
Tel. 050 409 1543
sari.maunula(a)t-media.fi