How Multinational Corporation Can Promote Sustainability with CSR and SHE in Purchasing

Purchasing by private large corporations put forth significant environmental impact in their investments of supplies and services. An increasing number of private large firms are adopting and implementing CSR (social responsibility) framework and a number of underlying policies and principles, such as SHE (safety, health, and environment). The purpose of this thesis is to examine how private multinational corporations could implement CSR and SHE considerations in their purchasing process. The research has been conducted at a large pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca R&D site in Lund, Sweden, to obtain the objective for this thesis. The findings suggest actions such as further training of buyers in regards to CSR/SHE, introduction of CSR/SHE clauses in contracts, increased focus on strategic sourcing of key suppliers including CSR/SHE criteria, and the development of an integrated purchasing-supply management system added by CSR and SHE requirements, which is monitored by the purchasing department in close collaboration with specialized assistance from SHE management. This thesis also discusses the issue of that large firms of the private sector are promoting sustainable development through “greening” the market, by introducing CSR and SHE into their purchasing activities, and it discussed the business benefits the private sector large firms are gaining, in terms of financial savings, market opportunities, brand image improvement, etc, by implementing these concerns into their businesses. Sofia Haider, Lund, Sweden 11/19/02