Internationalization of a Key Industry: Implications for a Business and Society Relationship's Development-Case Finland‪.‬

ABSTRACT This paper analyzes evolutionary process by which a major industry of a small and open economy gradually became more international. It presents a historical analysis of the development of a business and society relationship between the Finnish forest industry and Finnish society. A special emphasis is placed on the impacts that the internationalization of the key industry has had on the evolution of the business and society relationship and on Finnish society at large. Some key findings of the paper on the effects of internationalization of a key industry on a society include: 1) although internationally oriented early on, the Finnish forest industry's major internationalization took place relatively recently, 2) the inter-war period had a decisive role in deepening the interdependence of the industry and society, 3) the importance of Finnish private forest owners has declined as a result of the internationalization of the industry, nevertheless, they remain an important stakeholder group, and 4) the deep embeddedness of the industry in Finnish society requires a holistic approach in the analysis. The paper suggest a holistic approach may be useful in analyzing the effects of globalization on existing business and society relationships.