University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

industries (energy, utilities, oil & gas, food, telecommunication, banking,
manufacturing), with not all of the multinationals operating in developing countries
The main characteristics of the companies in the final sample are summarized in
Table 1 (in the interests of confidentiality, the firms are referred to using letters
rather than by name).
Company Sector Revenues
(ml n€)
Geographical
Market
Methodology
The methodology chosen was the business case study, because it offers the scope for
analyzing in depth some qualitative aspects of companies’ approaches to CSR which
would have been difficult to summarize using closed-question surveys. The empirical
research was conducted in two stages:
• An initial analysis of the companies' websites and of their Sustainability
Reports for the previous two years (2007-2008), aimed at gaining a basic
understanding of each firm's approach to CSR, and in particular of the
managerial tools and documents dedicated to CSR. These formal and
structural aspects were found to be always well described in the companies'
sustainability reports.
• An ensuing series of face-to-face interviews with the companies' CSR
managers, or other professional roles assigned to handle CSR. The interviews
were preceded by email contacts to explain the aim of the research and to
provide the interviewees with a draft of the main questions.
The interviews took an average of about one and half hours each, and were first
recorded and then listened to again. At the time of reviewing the case studies, if any
information was found to be missing or unclear, the respondents were contacted
again by phone or by e-mail.
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