Projects

Ongoing projects: Political Action of Corporate Social Responsibility (PAROL) / Funding: Academy Project FundingProject start: 2019Status: FundedPI: Prof. Frank den HondDescription: The project Political Action of Corporate Social Responsibility (PAROL) advances knowledge of how disparate actors organize collectively in multi-stakeholder networks that seek to induce regulatory change for sustainability. The proposed research focuses in particular on collective action and managerial decision-making in engaging with corporate political activity (CPA, the direct efforts by firms to shape government policy). We approach this phenomenon from two main perspectives: 1) firms’ non-market strategies and the organization of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as political activity, and 2) the role of temporality in organizing collective action. Our overall aim is to investigate how disparate actors organize collective action in a multi-stakeholder initiative to mobilize support for regulatory change and how organizational actors form perceptions and take decisions with regards to engaging with political activity. The proposed project makes scientific contributions to the political CSR literature and to the emerging literature on temporality and institutions in the neoinstitutional stream of management research.contact: for more information contact CCR's director Nikodemus Solitander at solitander@hanken.fiChile - Finland Network on Socioenvironmental Studies for Forested TerritoriesFunding: CONICYT (Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica)Project start: 2018Status: FundedDescription: An academic collaboration network between CCR and NIES Centre (Chile) focused on the approach and discussion on socio-environmental conflicts and policies in the forest sector. The network seeks to strengthen scientific exchanges between both Centres linked by the specific experience in the forest policies, specially focused in specific programmes of the forest companies and communities. We  explore research topics related to the following themes: - Forms and characteristics of socio-environmental conflict in forest environments. - Governance of corporate community relations in the form of policies and strategies developed by forestry companies for their insertion and establishment of links with the community. - Effects and consequences of this kind of actions in local territories.
 Contact: For more information contact Dr Maria Ehrnström-Fuentes at maria.ehrnstrom@hanken.fiSUSMINO - Sustainability challenges of mining in the Nordic countries: the business, politics and society Funding: Ekon. dr Peter Wallenbergs Stiftelse för Ekonomi och TeknikProject started: 2017 Status: Application processParticipants: The project is a cooperation between Centre for Corporate Responsibility (CCR) at Hanken, Finland; Centre for Sami Studies at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway and the Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SwedenAbout the project: Sweden and Finland are currently experiencing a renewed mining boom in their northern territories. Many local communities in these areas are economically and culturally dependent on reindeer herding and other land-based livelihoods. While mining operations may boost rural economies, they may also have an adverse impact on the environment and regional livelihoods. This creates a risk of social and political conflicts, which can question the sustainability of mining, affect the companies’ performance and reputation negatively, and produce cross-border political instability. There have been various research projects on the complex social, cultural and political drivers, contexts and impacts of mining in the Nordic countries. By organizing three research workshops in 2018-19, the SUSMINO project seeks to build a synthesis on the research findings of previous projects to identify the key sustainability challenges and ways to tackle them in Nordic mining. The project promotes networking between Nordic scholars in social sciences, humanities and business studies as well as with business practitioners and stakeholders. One of the workshops is dedicated for connecting Nordic junior researchers with broader international research networks and key stakeholders of Nordic mining, facilitating interdisciplinary and cross-border collaboration in doctoral supervision, and identifying further research opportunities especially for junior researchers.Contact: For more information contact consortia leader Dr. Ville-Pekka Sorsa at ville-pekka.sorsa@hanken.fi