Global Reporting Initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility: a case study of three multinationals in the forest industry

We examine recent evolution in corporate responsibility in the forest industry, an important natural‐resource‐based industry which is under rapid internationalisation and structural change under challenging financial pressures. We address two recent trends in corporate communication: corporate discl...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Toppinen, A., Korhonen-Kurki, Kaisa
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95754
_version_ 1855515748794892288
author Toppinen, A.
Korhonen-Kurki, Kaisa
author_browse Korhonen-Kurki, Kaisa
Toppinen, A.
author_facet Toppinen, A.
Korhonen-Kurki, Kaisa
author_sort Toppinen, A.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description We examine recent evolution in corporate responsibility in the forest industry, an important natural‐resource‐based industry which is under rapid internationalisation and structural change under challenging financial pressures. We address two recent trends in corporate communication: corporate disclosure, that is the adoption of consistent external reporting standards [namely the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) ], and the growing awareness of engagement with and impact on local communities through philanthropy, generation of prosperity, communication and the social impact of core activities. This study uses a comparative qualitative case approach to forest industry multinational enterprises (MNEs) based on a combination of secondary (reporting, company newsletters and other documentation) and interview data. Three large‐scale multinational forest industry firms, all pursuing different strategies in terms of internationalisation and geographical and product diversification, were chosen for the study: Stora Enso, SCA and Sappi Ltd. Our results show that the overall quality of sustainability reporting has improved in these companies from 2005 to 2009 with the adoption of GRI. However, based on our fourfold categorisation of social impact, the core social impact indicator in GRI (SO1) has been interpreted very differently in these MNEs, and the adoption of GRI has not actually much improved the comparability of the reports or transparency of practices.
format Journal Article
id CGSpace95754
institution CGIAR Consortium
language Inglés
publishDate 2013
publishDateRange 2013
publishDateSort 2013
publisher Wiley
publisherStr Wiley
record_format dspace
spelling CGSpace957542025-06-17T08:23:20Z Global Reporting Initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility: a case study of three multinationals in the forest industry Toppinen, A. Korhonen-Kurki, Kaisa forest management forest product industries sustainability liabilities We examine recent evolution in corporate responsibility in the forest industry, an important natural‐resource‐based industry which is under rapid internationalisation and structural change under challenging financial pressures. We address two recent trends in corporate communication: corporate disclosure, that is the adoption of consistent external reporting standards [namely the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) ], and the growing awareness of engagement with and impact on local communities through philanthropy, generation of prosperity, communication and the social impact of core activities. This study uses a comparative qualitative case approach to forest industry multinational enterprises (MNEs) based on a combination of secondary (reporting, company newsletters and other documentation) and interview data. Three large‐scale multinational forest industry firms, all pursuing different strategies in terms of internationalisation and geographical and product diversification, were chosen for the study: Stora Enso, SCA and Sappi Ltd. Our results show that the overall quality of sustainability reporting has improved in these companies from 2005 to 2009 with the adoption of GRI. However, based on our fourfold categorisation of social impact, the core social impact indicator in GRI (SO1) has been interpreted very differently in these MNEs, and the adoption of GRI has not actually much improved the comparability of the reports or transparency of practices. 2013-04 2018-07-03T11:03:32Z 2018-07-03T11:03:32Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95754 en Limited Access Wiley Toppinen, A., Korhonen-Kurki, K. . 2013. Global Reporting Initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility : a case study of three multinationals in the forest industry. Business Ethics: A European Review, 22 (2) : 202–217. https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12016
spellingShingle forest management
forest product industries
sustainability
liabilities
Toppinen, A.
Korhonen-Kurki, Kaisa
Global Reporting Initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility: a case study of three multinationals in the forest industry
title Global Reporting Initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility: a case study of three multinationals in the forest industry
title_full Global Reporting Initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility: a case study of three multinationals in the forest industry
title_fullStr Global Reporting Initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility: a case study of three multinationals in the forest industry
title_full_unstemmed Global Reporting Initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility: a case study of three multinationals in the forest industry
title_short Global Reporting Initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility: a case study of three multinationals in the forest industry
title_sort global reporting initiative and social impact in managing corporate responsibility a case study of three multinationals in the forest industry
topic forest management
forest product industries
sustainability
liabilities
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/95754
work_keys_str_mv AT toppinena globalreportinginitiativeandsocialimpactinmanagingcorporateresponsibilityacasestudyofthreemultinationalsintheforestindustry
AT korhonenkurkikaisa globalreportinginitiativeandsocialimpactinmanagingcorporateresponsibilityacasestudyofthreemultinationalsintheforestindustry