eHealth in Corporate Social Responsibility : Explorative Study on Extended Stakeholder Value for Health
Luosta, Jutta (2015)
Luosta, Jutta
Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulu
2015
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015120819931
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2015120819931
Tiivistelmä
The role of health as a CSR stakeholder is relatively new perception and in research rather un-explored. Still, in addition to traditional health and safety, there are signs of CSR efforts in literature on supporting physical and nutritional health and of further extended health initiatives for wider society, often linked with combined collaborative efforts with privatepublic partners, NGO’s and expert organizations. CSR in business is increasingly becoming a norm. Companies are seeking ways to implement CSR cost-effectively. Meanwhile NGO’s, UN’s Global Compact and WHO are calling for actions to tackle global economic, environmental and social challenges, and are promoting responsible business practices, public-private co-operation and technology innovations to help in achieving UN’s Millennium Development Goals.
This study contributes to the literature of CSR. It is driven by interest to explore the companies’perception of Health as CSR stakeholder, its extent in CSR activities and the ability of companies to utilize new technologies in these efforts. The material used in this study was the published CSR, sustainability and citizenship reports, which were evaluated qualitatively.
The study found that the new technology usage was relatively broad and not rarity. The fast spread of mobile phones and the maturing infrastructure have opened new opportunities to support employee and supplier health, human rights, and charity initiatives, as well as to improve access to healthcare and to enable better quality, specialized healthcare. 5 companies of 17 used eHealth and mHealth by definition in health creation and disease prevention. 7 companies used mobile applications in employee and supplier health promotion and health education and 3 companies in disaster response and human rights surveillance. In addition 3 companies had used their assets in computing power and cloud applications in big data analysis for researchers, and in clinical decision support to aid clinicians and policy makers. In addition to direct benefits in society, the companies taking part in collaborative initiatives reported added value in terms of added stakeholder value, increased employee satisfaction, decreased employee turnover, improved governmental relations and increased company intellectual property.
This study contributes to the literature of CSR. It is driven by interest to explore the companies’perception of Health as CSR stakeholder, its extent in CSR activities and the ability of companies to utilize new technologies in these efforts. The material used in this study was the published CSR, sustainability and citizenship reports, which were evaluated qualitatively.
The study found that the new technology usage was relatively broad and not rarity. The fast spread of mobile phones and the maturing infrastructure have opened new opportunities to support employee and supplier health, human rights, and charity initiatives, as well as to improve access to healthcare and to enable better quality, specialized healthcare. 5 companies of 17 used eHealth and mHealth by definition in health creation and disease prevention. 7 companies used mobile applications in employee and supplier health promotion and health education and 3 companies in disaster response and human rights surveillance. In addition 3 companies had used their assets in computing power and cloud applications in big data analysis for researchers, and in clinical decision support to aid clinicians and policy makers. In addition to direct benefits in society, the companies taking part in collaborative initiatives reported added value in terms of added stakeholder value, increased employee satisfaction, decreased employee turnover, improved governmental relations and increased company intellectual property.