Corporate social responsibility in the banking sector : A comparative case study of CSR activities in Bangladesh and Finland

Abstract

The purpose of the thesis was to compare the corporate social responsibility activities of organizations in developed and developing nations. To reach the purpose, the following objectives were set. The first objective is to describe CSR and its related concepts using relevant literature. Secondly, to describe the banking sector in the two countries, Finland and Bangladesh, respectively, designated as developed and developing countries. Thirdly, to compare the CSR practises of selected banks in the two countries using a qualitative case study method and public documents as a data source. This study can give the reader a thorough understanding of corporate social responsibility, as well as a broad overview of Bangladesh and Finland's corporate social responsibility activities in the banking sector. The thesis also demonstrated the comparative performance of Corporate Social Responsibility reporting in Finnish and Bangladeshi banks.

The theoretical part of the study relied mostly on published books, journals, web sites, and publications from various organizations. In the research part, the qualitative method was used. To develop an understanding of Finnish and Bangladeshi enterprises' corporate social responsibility practices, three banking institutions from both countries were chosen and their corporate social responsibility were studied. The thesis conducted single-case and cross-case analysis on the Corporate Social Responsibility practices of the chosen banking firms using the published sustainability reports from 2019 to 2021 and the websites of the selected banks. This thesis also provided general information related to the Corporate Social Responsibility practices of two countries.

The study's findings indicated that the primary variations in Corporate Social Responsibility reporting between the two countries were the usage of guidelines, the responsible authority for Corporate Social Responsibility operations and prioritized factors of ESG. Several topics concerning Corporate Social Responsibility procedures and the reporting style of Corporate Social Responsibility were examined throughout the thesis.