Wärtsilä takes active care of its relations with stakeholders by engaging with them in an open and constructive dialogue. Wärtsilä believes that such an approach is essential when developing operations, products, and services. At the corporate level, Wärtsilä has defined its most important stakeholders to be its customers, owners, suppliers, employees, and society in general. Wärtsilä's subsidiaries define their own primary stakeholders which, in addition to the ones mentioned above, include local residents close to production plants, educational institutes, and public authorities. Wärtsilä’s Code of Conduct provides the foundation for the management of stakeholder relations. The priorities in managing stakeholder relations vary within Wärtsilä from one subsidiary to another.
Stakeholder relations
In order to facilitate this active dialogue with customers, Wärtsilä arranges customer days for existing and potential customers at locations in various parts of the world. During these customer days, subjects of topical interest from both local and global perspectives are reviewed, and existing and future needs and challenges are discussed.
In addition to customer days, the Marine Solutions and Energy Solutions businesses arranged or participated in 191 industry-related events globally during 2015, including international and national seminars, exhibitions, and conferences. These events were attended by customers, potential customers, and other stakeholders, such as investors, consultants, suppliers, students, and other interested parties.
Long-term research programmes are an important means of enhancing open dialogue and cooperation with key industry players and important research institutions. Wärtsilä has actively initiated and participated in the development and work of common research programmes, both locally and internationally.
Dialogue with employees takes place in many formats. More information about the procedures and processes to support active and engaging dialogue with Wärtsilä employees is described in the section covering Consultation and information procedures in Group companies.
The open dialogue and discussions with local and international public authorities and officials is aimed at sharing information and supporting authorities so as to improve the quality of regulation. Wärtsilä participates in public consultations in areas that are of importance to the company.
Channels of dialogue
| Stakeholder | Channel of dialogue | Assessments (Frequency) |
| Customers | Regular contact with customers, lifecycle support for products, customer events and seminars, customer days, customer magazines, the internet, conferences and exhibitions, product documentation, customer feedback system | System for measuring customer satisfaction and quality (Continual) |
| Employees | Open and continuous communication between management and employees, annual development discussions, information meetings and internal communications (intranet), employee magazines, training events, national statutory employee bodies and European Works Council, occupational health and safety committees, suggestion system, continuous improvement process (CIP), Technology and Innovation Award, Customer Care Award | Employee satisfaction surveys - MyVoice (Biennial) |
| Owners, investors | Management meetings with investors, financiers, and analysts, stakeholder magazines, general meetings, information meetings, stock exchange and press releases, annual and interim reports, capital markets days, the internet, investor relations surveys, sustainability questionnaires | Investor relations surveys, sustainability surveys and indices (Annual) |
| Suppliers | Open and active dialogue between the sourcing organisation and suppliers, supplier portal, supplier development, supplier management system, Supplier Days, Supplier Award | Supplier assessments (Continual) |
| Society | Reporting to, and co-operation with, public officials on issues such as the environment and occupational health and safety, meetings with decision makers, position papers, Open Doors days, sustainability report, corporate presentations, local communications, the internet | Stakeholder feedback (Continual), corporate image surveys (Annual) |
| Organisations | Membership, regular contact, participation in activities of local trade and industrial organisations, active role in working groups, contact with various public bodies, for example through ministries, reports | |
| Universities | Opportunities for practical training and degrees, R&D projects, participation in recruitment fairs and seminars, sponsorship of student activities, lectures | Preferred employer surveys (Annual) |
| Media | National and international business media and journals, trade publications, interviews and press releases, main annual publications, meetings, visits, factory tours | Surveys conducted among business journalists, media surveys, reporting comparisons (Annual) |
Activities in organisations
In 2015, Wärtsilä participated in several relevant activities organised by various national and international organisations and associations. The key organisations for Wärtsilä and the nature of Wärtsilä's activities are shown in the table below.
| Stakeholder | Organisation | Nature of activity |
| Interest groups | Association for Finnish Work, Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK), Finland Chamber of Commerce (ICC Finland), The Federation of Finnish Technology Industries | Membership and participation in activities. |
| Industrial organisations |
Association of Singapore Marine Industries, Brazilian Institute of Oil and Gas (IBP), Brazilian Thermoelectric Generators Association (ABRAGET), Cogen Europe, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), EnergyVaasa, Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA), EURELECTRIC, European Association of Engine Manufacturers (Euromot), European Cruise Council (ECC), European Engine Power Plants association (EUGINE), Exhaust Gas Cleaning System Association (EGCSA), Hong Kong Shipowner Association, Indian diesel engine manufacturers association (IDEMA), International Council on Combustion Engines (CIMAC), International shipping association (BIMCO), Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau (VDMA), WaterBorne TP, SolarPower Europe | Board membership and participation in activities of specific working groups (CIMAC, EMA, Euromot, EUGINE). Membership and participation in activities (ABRAGET, Association of Singapore Marine Industries, BIMCO, CII, CLIA, Cogen Europe, ECC, EGCSA, EURELECTRIC, EnergyVaasa, Hong Kong Shipowner Association, IBP, IDEMA, WaterBorne TP, VDMA), SolarPower Europe. |
| Standardisation organisations | European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) | Participation in activities. |
| International organisations |
European Sustainable Shipping Forum (ESSF), International Maritime Organisation (IMO), UN Global Compact Nordic Network, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) | Participation in activities through national delegations (IMO). Participation in activities (ESSF, UNECE, UN Global Compact Nordic Network). |
| Other | Cleantech Finland, Finnish Business & Society (FIBS), European Energy Forum (EEF), European Federation for Quality Management (EFQM), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) | Participation in activities. |
Wärtsilä is included in the following sustainability indices:
FTSE4Good Index
MSCI Global Sustainability Index Series
Ethibel Sustainability Index (ESI) Excellence Europe
OMX GES Sustainability Nordic Index &
OMX GES Sustainability Finland Index
ECPI Global Carbon Equity Index &
ECPI Global ESG Best in Class Equity index
Other recognitions:
Wärtsilä is included in the Ethibel Excellence Investment Register
Wärtsilä has been rated a Prime company by oekom research
Wärtsilä has also been included in the RobecoSAM Sustainability Yearbook 2015
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