70% business leaders find social duty is often overlooked

About 68% of Finnish business decision-makers considered that that businesses often overlook social responsibility, according to a survey.

The survey carried out by Neste said that the vast majority (87%) of business leaders considered sustainability as an essential part of their company strategy while only 6% of respondents claim that sustainability is not a competitive advantage, said a Neste press release.

“Many companies appear to consider sustainability a central part of their business. Despite this, less than half (38%) of the respondents say that their company is currently engaged in sustainability-related cooperation. We at Neste want to encourage companies to embrace a more sustainable future, in Finland as well as globally," said Salla Ahonen, Vice President of Sustainability at Neste.

The survey also looked into how business decision-makers see social responsibility: what issues businesses are addressing, which areas they need help with, and what sustainability-related phenomena are seen as the biggest threats to Finland’s future.

Based on the responses, business strategies emphasize environmental responsibility the most (84%), followed by financial aspects (61%) and social responsibility (58%). Nearly 68% of respondents find that businesses often overlook social responsibility.

“What is great about the concept of sustainability is that it is continuously developing. Today, it is not just about the environment or climate, but people as well. In reality, achieving change comes down to the actions people take. It is somewhat troubling that almost 70% of business decision-makers in Finland feel that social issues are overlooked. Also companies should participate in different societal discussions,” Ahonen added.

According to the survey, the social exclusion of young people (51%) is seen as the biggest threat to Finland’s future. Negative economic development (35%) and global warming (34%) came in as second and third.

The survey was sent out to 3,649 Finnish business decision-makers between 15–21 November 2019.

The sample size was 2.7%, or 94 decision-makers representing companies of different sizes. The survey was conducted via email.