Business-based contributions to peacebuilding and conflict prevention : identifying the Finnish private sector potential
Penttilä, Janne (2017)
2017
Master's Programme in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research
Johtamiskorkeakoulu - Faculty of Management
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2017-12-14
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:uta-201712293022
http://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:uta-201712293022
Tiivistelmä
Partnerships and cooperation with the private sector for peace and studying the economic preconditions for creating peaceful societies is a new trend in the practice of peacebuilding and conflict prevention. Few scholarly work exists on the role of business in peacebuilding that focuses on companies, not states, as primary actors.
This graduation thesis studies business-based peacebuilding and conflict prevention and seeks to identify undiscovered potential of the Finnish private sector to contribute to peacebuilding. Businesses can have a considerable contribution to create and foster peaceful societies, and thus, business-based peacebuilding is focusing on what those companies actually do which do make a positive contribution to peace.
This thesis applies an exploratory expert interview method to business-based peacebuilding and the potential of the Finnish private sector to contribute to peace. Senior experts are interviewed from Finnish peace organizations, Crisis Management Initiative and Safer Globe. Both organizations have experience and interest in value-adding private sector cooperation for the advancement of their work. Practical experiences and analytic reports of companies and business actors on the corporate engagement with peace and conflict constitute another part of the research material and complement the expert interviews.
Business-based peacebuilding is a pragmatic and strategic private sector activity which is sensitive to the conflict context and integrated to the peace constituency. Business-based peacebuilding is a present- and future-focused approach to conflict resolution and peacebuilding that concentrates more on present conditions and needs than on removing causes. Pragmatic business-based peacebuilding efforts as managed and implemented by companies and commercial actors should not, or can not, diverge from core business practices. Business-based peacebuilding is then an extension of doing business by other means.
Pragmatic and preventative peacebuilding efforts in which Finnish SMEs can contribute to could trigger intra-organizational learning and strategic response from the side of the Finnish private sector contrary to comprehensive cause-driven peacebuilding schemes. Tools for assessing business-based peacebuilding and its correlation to successful business are direly needed; nevertheless, forward-looking debate on Finland’s potential in peacetech innovations is already underway.
This graduation thesis studies business-based peacebuilding and conflict prevention and seeks to identify undiscovered potential of the Finnish private sector to contribute to peacebuilding. Businesses can have a considerable contribution to create and foster peaceful societies, and thus, business-based peacebuilding is focusing on what those companies actually do which do make a positive contribution to peace.
This thesis applies an exploratory expert interview method to business-based peacebuilding and the potential of the Finnish private sector to contribute to peace. Senior experts are interviewed from Finnish peace organizations, Crisis Management Initiative and Safer Globe. Both organizations have experience and interest in value-adding private sector cooperation for the advancement of their work. Practical experiences and analytic reports of companies and business actors on the corporate engagement with peace and conflict constitute another part of the research material and complement the expert interviews.
Business-based peacebuilding is a pragmatic and strategic private sector activity which is sensitive to the conflict context and integrated to the peace constituency. Business-based peacebuilding is a present- and future-focused approach to conflict resolution and peacebuilding that concentrates more on present conditions and needs than on removing causes. Pragmatic business-based peacebuilding efforts as managed and implemented by companies and commercial actors should not, or can not, diverge from core business practices. Business-based peacebuilding is then an extension of doing business by other means.
Pragmatic and preventative peacebuilding efforts in which Finnish SMEs can contribute to could trigger intra-organizational learning and strategic response from the side of the Finnish private sector contrary to comprehensive cause-driven peacebuilding schemes. Tools for assessing business-based peacebuilding and its correlation to successful business are direly needed; nevertheless, forward-looking debate on Finland’s potential in peacetech innovations is already underway.