Corporate Social Responsibility and Enterprises’ Success in Serbia

Abstract

In recent years, an increasing number of scientific papers have explained that the firm efficiency is associated with corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, only a few empirical studies confirm these claims, or these studies have some limitations. Therefore, in this paper some investigation will be made to see if there is a link between CSR and business performance, i.e. whether companies that have better business performance are also characterized by a higher degree of CSR. Considering that the relationship between corporate social responsibility and business performance of enterprises is largely caused by the number of factors, this study examines this relationship in circumstances specific to the business environment of the Republic of Serbia. The aim of this paper is to examine whether there is a link between CSR and business performance in Serbia. The analysis was conducted by interviewing managers in 184 Serbian companies. In data processing a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and correlation analysis were used. The hypothesis that there is a statistically significant relationship between business performance and their CSR is confirmed, based on empirical data.

Attitudes and Perceptions of Employees toward Corporate Social Responsibility in Western Balkan Countries: Importance and Relevance for Sustainable Development

“…Krstic, et al state that there is a high awareness of the part of Serbian managers and business executives about the concept and importance of CSR, but limited understanding of how CSR could be applied more strategically to reinforce the core activity [95]. Research from Serbia also shows that there is a positive relationship between business performance and CSR in companies [98]. Furthermore, CSR is developing in various ways depending on the sector, geographical area, and legal system, due to which every country, as well as every company, is unique [101].…”

“…This is mostly because in developing countries research on CSR is still neither mainstreamed nor found relevant [91]. However, the numerous positive effects of CSR on companies in developed countries, especially improvement of financial performance and attraction and engagement of employees [92] have influenced companies/organizations in developing countries to follow their footsteps [93,94], which is of great importance for the Western Balkan countries in which more and more business organizations introduce the practice of CSR [47,[95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103]. Studies pertaining to CSR in the Western Balkan countries are mainly descriptive or qualitative.…”

“…Additionally, when it comes to application of the concept of social responsibility in the Western Balkan countries, more common elements may be found, but there are also some differences in the experience and application of CSR practices. As common elements which represent the basis for the development of social responsibility in the Western Balkan countries, it should point out voluntary implementation of the concept, i.e., activities and measures that include statutory standards and obligations [47,[95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103]. The Western Balkan countries are trying to implement the CSR practices that exist in the EU.…”

“…As previously mentioned, the measures taken by governments in these countries are important for employees' perceptions of CSR practices, whether in the private or public sector. However, considering the fact that in most of the cases the implementation of CSR standards is voluntary, the development of CSR practices and initiatives is still not at satisfactory level, despite the existence of legislation and a number of undertaken activities regarding the concept of CSR [47,90,[95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103]. In other words, although there are significant government initiatives in the analyzed countries, as well as adopted policies and strategies, the issue of social responsibility is still perceived as declaratory, i.e., voluntary, rather than obligatory, i.e., imperative [90,94].…”

Modelling of Social Key Performance Indicators of Corporate Sustainability Performance

“…It should lead to increase in labour productivity and thereby to growth of economic performance (Kocmanová et al, 2013). A large number of studies on the relationship between social and financial performance were published, however the results are mixed (Ivanovic-Djukic, Lepojevic, 2015). It seems that there is more likely an indirect impact of corporate social responsibility to business performance.…”