Browsing by Subject "organisaatiokulttuuri"

This thesis aims to find out what are the challenges in the implementation of corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy in a large labour-intensive company in the service business. Companies have an essential role in sustainable development and they are seen as important actors in spreading awareness of sustainability (Simas et al., 2013). While CSR is a concept that is playing an important part in the modern business world and has been involved in companies’ strategies for years now, there is still a gap between the CSR strategy formulation and implementation (Engert & Baumgartner, 2016). The research presented in this thesis is based on a literature review of CSR strategy implementation and on a single case study in a service business company, SOL Group, with high employee turnover, low wage levels and physical and intense working conditions. The objective of this thesis is to identify potential challenges in the CSR strategy implementation in large companies in service business, and based on the findings, structure hypotheses for further research. The case study data collection included four group interviews with several participants in each, as well as direct observation in the field, and it is supported by documents from the case company and literature. From the literature review, two models were identified: the five levers model by Lacy et al. (2009) and the success factor model by Engert & Baumgartner (2016). These two models were used as theoretical frameworks for analysing the challenges in the successful implementation of CSR strategy in the case company. The main finding was that the major challenge in the successful implementation of CSR strategy is to commit and engage the employees to the strategy implementation. This thesis proposes hypotheses for the future, to continue this research as an attempt to bridge the gap between CSR strategy formulation and implementation. It is hoped that the insight from this thesis helps companies to identify their challenges in the CSR strategy implementation and provides some guidelines on how to proceed if wanting to achieve a full implementation of CSR strategy.