Small and medium-sized enterprises achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: the Finnish perspective

This research is one of the first ones to concentrate on studying Finnish small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) perspectives on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs). Established in 2015 the universal SDGs provide a framework for sustainable development, and they aim to improve all peoples’ lives everywhere by protecting the environment, ending poverty, and tackling unsustainable economic growth by 2030. The partner organization of this research is the United Nations Global Compact Network Finland. The thesis was carried out from summer 2020 to summer 2022. The objective of this research was to formulate practical suggestions that could be used to increase SMEs’ engagement with the SDGs. The main research problem is: How SMEs could be supported to implement the SDGs? The theoretical framework of this research defines the relevant concepts and discusses the characteristics of SMEs in the field of corporate sustainability and how it can be championed in the companies concerned. In addition, former studies’ knowledge about Finnish companies and corporate sustainability are presented. The SDGs and their implementation in SMEs are also studied. This research is generalized qualitative research and interview was used as a research method. Five Finnish SMEs were interviewed in-depth between December 2021 and March 2022. The findings indicate that three elements nourish the engagement of SMEs with the SDGs. The elements are strong sustainability values and leaders’ engagement, employees’ participation, and the understanding of all three dimensions (environmental, social, economic) of sustainability. The research also found out that companies are in the early stages of their implementation of the SDGs and that they connect them with the company’s business ambitions. The most important Goal according to the research is SDG 13 Climate Action and the most challenging part for the companies is all the different concepts of sustainability. Moreover, the research indicates that companies find their sector as well as a variety of different networks to be the most important supporting elements. Based on the findings and existing literature, four practical suggestions were formulated to support SMEs’ implementation of the SDGs. Firstly, the basic concepts need to be clarified for companies and establish tangible business benefits that the SDGs generate. Thirdly, it is beneficial to engage both SMEs’ leaders and employees in training as well as work in partnership with other supporting organizations and multi-sector coalitions. Both SMEs and corporate sustainability-related organizations can benefit from the findings and recommendations of this research