Browsing by Subject "puuraaka-ainehuolto"

Decision-making regarding forests struggles with several partly overlapping and conflicting goals. Globally, expectations for forests as carbon sinks, renewable raw materials and maintainers of biodiversity pose challenges for sustainable development decisions that should take the effects of activities into account. Forest-related decisions are made considering a rotation period of almost a hundred years, but today, the correctness of decisions affecting forests does not always meet current goals and requirements due to rapid societal changes. Systematic change is needed to ensure a sustainable future, which also requires consideration of sustainable development goals at the corporate level. The multifaceted nature of sustainability means that sustainability is not a straightforward concept, but the associated practices must be examined in different situations and contexts. An open and continuous culture of discussion helps to understand what sustainability means in different situations, what matters in assessing sustainability, and how sustainability can be practically implemented in different industries and organizations. Companies are increasingly responsible to their stakeholders, which obliges them to pay attention to the broader impacts of their business beyond just the company level. Therefore, corporate responsibility no longer applies only to the company's own operations, but the entire value chain is being scrutinized. The aim of this master's thesis is to examine specialist groups' views on the sustainability of wood raw material and its procurement at the company level. The aim is to identify the elements and features associated with responsible timber and its procurement. The background to the research is the idea of the acceptability of the use of forest and wood raw material. The research was conducted as a qualitative study and the empirical data of the thesis consists of ten expert interviews. The interviews were conducted during February and March 2023. The interviewees were selected from groups of sustainability specialists and purchasing specialists. The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of stakeholder theory, which is reflected in sustainable supply chain and sustainable procurement theories. Although the requirements set by legislation were seen as the minimum requirements for sustainability, complying with the law alone is not enough to achieve an acceptable level of sustainability. In the interviews, the identification of the origin of the wood was identified as the most important factor in identifying the responsibility of wood raw material and its procurement. The importance of forest certifications as evidence of sustainable wood raw material was also emphasized in the study. In sustainable supply chain management, transparency, openness, information sharing and collaboration were highlighted in this study. The responsibility of forest professionals is emphasized when reconciling the goals of forest owners and forest industry companies. The research results present the actions identified in the study and examine their strategic features, including the characteristics of the measures appearing in the research. Based on the results, the company aims to be a leader in implementing sustainability by adopting a proactive approach through developing metrics, conducting research and allocating resources to improve the sustainability of its own operations but also its entire supply chain.