Corporate Social Responsibility and Biotechnology Identifying social aspects for European biotechnology companies

Abstract: The biotechnology industry is an evolving sector of this century having potential to significantly influence our lives. It has unidentified potentials to contribute to sustainable development, but is also feared by society for its possible known and unknown impacts. Amplified transparency brought about by media, new concerns and expectations of society towards business as well as social criteria are evermore influencing people's investment decisions, making corporate social responsibility of increasing importance to companies. The author of this thesis has worked to clarify the link between biotechnology and corporate social responsibility to address the need of this industry to develop while responding to societal concerns. The objective of this thesis is to determine the relevance of social aspects for European biotechnology companies. As the main outcome, the five aspects health & safety, training & education, diversity & opportunity, community (public), and customer health & safety were identified to be of significant relevance. Recommendations given to biotechnology companies include stakeholder involvement to address social considerations and increased information dissemination and transparency. Finally, general suggestions include intensifying research in this area to tackle the hitherto existing information gap.