PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
By referring to recent academic discussion on corporate social responsibility and its communication,
business to business (B2B) relationship marketing as well as public purchasing and contemporary
policy development, this thesis aspires to provide an understanding about the possibilities that exist
for industrial companies to enhance collaborative relationship management through strategic CSR
management and communication in the business-to-government (B2G) context.
DATA
The data for the study consists of qualitative interviews. Included in the study are key executives
from the case company operating in the safety and security markets in Finland and the EU (2),
directors from key public organizations (3) one semi-independent public organization (1) and a
competitor (1). Additional data was derived from an EU-wide marketing workshop at the case
company´s premises in Germany. Secondary data from governmental publications and other
relevant publicly available documents were used to complement the primary interview data. The data
was analyzed using methodology derived from interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA).
The case context provided a good venue for conducting the empirical study since many of the
relationships between the case company and key governmental institutions and decision makers
have existed for a long time, some spanning over many decades.
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS
Firms serving public institutions have recently become to identify the growing business opportunities
that increasing public outsourcing and downsizing of public activities have created. Simultaneously,
public institutions have recently tried to find ways to coordinate the activities of privately held firms to
better reflect the needs of the society in general. Concerns of opportunism and mismanagement
have grown as more and more activities are operated under private ownership. In the conceptual
framework developed for this thesis, an institutional gap related to the aforementioned issues is
identified. The framework argues that strategic CSR management and its proper integration to
relationship marketing strategies will aid B2G companies to enhance their competitive position in the
shifting institutional environments. To do so, firms have to first understand contemporary
developments, such as the Europe 2020 strategy, which aim to align societal and business goals in
the EU and individual member countries.
By having the ability to create and maintain more interactive two-way communication channels with
key public partners, firms are better equipped to understand and contribute to the needs and goals
of individual public projects in a longer time-frame as well as identify new follow-up business
opportunities. Strategic CSR management works as a mediating factor in finding a common ground
for profitable public-private collaboration. Public institutions are intrinsically risk averse and value
partners that are trustworthy and show interest and concern in the overall national welfare in a
specific context.
In essence, integrating CSR into relationship communication and the overall business strategy in the
B2G context is less about encouraging "green management" than understanding the social role of
the firm and its actions in the contemporary institutional environment. Academics can be in the
forefront in steering the discussion and turning managerial attention towards strategic CSR in the
B2G context by highlighting the economic benefits that this strategic long-term orientation has in the
changing institutional environments. Yet, it is not within the academia, but in the actions taken by
political decision makers and executives in private organizations to step away from a quartile
economy and embrace sustainable long-term oriented business practices.
KEYWORDS: corporate social responsibility (CSR), interactive communication, relationship
marketing,
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