Tue, 18 Mar, 2014 12:01:45 AM FTimes-STT Report, March 18  File picture of Stora Enso's headquarters in Helsinki. Photo – Lehtikuva. Only a few companies in the country regard the issue of human rights as an important theme in social responsibility, a study revealed on Monday.
The survey was commissioned by the Corporate Responsibility Network (FIBS), with one of the themes of the survey centring on the essentiality of human rights.
Only 15% of the total surveyed responded to the human rights theme.
The survey, conducted by TNS Gallup, interviewed representatives of several hundred companies between January and February.
Mikko Routti, the head of the FIBS, said the fact that only 15% of the respondents recognised the theme, showed that companies do not necessarily comprehend the issues that are related to human rights.
File Photo of Kati Ihamäki. Photo – Lehtikuva. There has been a debate recently about claims that alleged a supplier of Stora Enso, a Finnish forest product firm, was using child labour.
Tom Selänniemi from UNICEF Finland pointed out that the issue of human rights was not only the privileges of citizens in the developing nations. "Human rights issues are also related to employment practices and consumer issues," he said at an FIBS press conference in Helsinki.
The FIBS examined the issue of corporate social responsibility for the first time last year. Routti said at that time, corporate responsibility was seen in one way that is to manage your brand and reputation.
Nearly half of the respondents felt that it was necessary to invest in corporate responsibility in order to build reputation.
"[Corporate social responsibility] is not something we do as an extra or what makes one stand separately. It is part of the normal business,” pointed out Kati Ihamäki, Finnair's vice president of sustainable development.
Routti observed that social responsibility was not perceived as a performance factor, even if it helped save costs and increase sales.
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