Corporate Social Responsibility inom banksektorn : En fallstudie av Nordeas CSR-strategier

Abstract Title: Corporate Social Responsibility within the banking-sector – A case study of the CSR-strategies of Nordea. Seminar date: 130108State University: Mälardalen University – Västerås Institution: School of Sustainable Development of Society and Technology Level: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration – FÖA300Authors: Samir Ghaddab, Josefine Jonsson, Sam Lindfors Examinor: Cecilia Lindh Thillenius Supervisor: Magnus Linderström Pages: 35 Attachments: 1 Key words: CSR, bank, sustainability, communication, awareness Research questions:- What is the nature of CSR-related work in Nordea, and how do they practice CSR? - How can Nordea raise awareness about CSR among employees and other stakeholders? Purpose: The purpose with this thesis was to get an increased understanding about how Nordea interprets CSR and how they work with CSR. Finally with relevant theories in mind, this thesis presents suggestions on possible changes and opportunities within Nordea’s CSR-activities and how they can co-operate with NGO’s like CSR Sweden. Methodology: A qualitative study with deductive methods. A case study has been done with semi-structured interviews at a company and a nonprofit organization. Conclusion: The reality in which Nordea operates conforms to the theories presented in the thesis when we look at the driving forces behind working with CSR and the demands on the company that stakeholders have. Nordea meets the requirements for “totally liable business” in the theory provided by Carroll, and thus they are working with an extended CSR-programme which includes actively supplying services that takes the stakeholders’ demands and needs into consideration. Since Nordea is active in multiple countries, their CSR-initiatives become complex which means taking multiple factors into consideration when working with those initiatives. This, among other things, means following standardized guidelines which helps clarifying their business values. Since the demands vary depending on the market and country in which they operate, their adaptability has to be high. The identification of these needs should be done through cooperation with national interest groups that carries members from different trades, which could lead to a higher rate of knowledge. There is also lack of awareness about the CSR-initiatives. This awareness needs tending to. Nordea should communicate more with their stakeholders about CSR and also host workshops and other means of education for the employees. This should result in a higher rate of awareness about CSR within the whole organization which leads to all parts of the company being able to help with communicating and spreading awareness to a greater span of stakeholders