Social Involvement of Polish Family Businesses

Abstract

Social involvement of enterprises, i.e., sharing wealth with those in need, can be spoken of only in the case of owner-managed family firms (FB). These companies account for two-thirds of all enterprises in the global economy; they contribute to the stability, development, and continuity of the existence of the economies of many countries. However, the sustainability of the existence of individual FBs is often threatened. Social engagement of owners and preparation of successors are the appropriate retort as they affect the transgenerational sustainability of these enterprises. The purpose of this study is to identify the causes, scope, forms, and beneficiaries of social engagement of Polish FBs. The study uses the Delphi method implemented in three stages: (1) selection of experts; (2) collection of information; and (3) development and interpretation of research results in the context of adopted research questions, research objective, and research hypothesis. The results of the study confirm that FBs make an important contribution to sustainable social development at the micro level. The social engagement of FBs brings benefits to both beneficiaries and donors, responds to genuinely existing needs, and supports the cross-generational sustainability of companies.

Socially Responsible Activity of Micro-, Small-, and Medium-Sized Enterprises—Benefits for the Enterprise

“…The idea of CSR is not a new concept. A large percentage of SMEs, even without knowing the name, have long been undertaking activities that could be called 'Corporate Social Responsibility' [9,10]. What is new is the growing interest in CSR from different stakeholder groups: customers, employees, contractors, local authorities, financial intermediaries, capital markets, European Commission (EC).…”

“…In the available literature, there is no known definition that explicitly recognizes CSR as a business objective. However, many studies indicate that any CSR activity should benefit not only the beneficiaries but also the companies [1,5,9,10]. CSR has become a complex issue and has generated controversy regarding the legitimacy and scope of its implementation.…”

“…Both Friedman [15] and Karnani [16] point out that the critical assessment of CSR does not apply to enterprises with unity of ownership and management, i.e., owner-managed enterprises. Unity of ownership and management is a distinguishing feature of family-owned (FB) businesses, which account for about 90 percent of enterprises belonging to the SME sector [9]. An owner-managed business can operate in a socially responsible manner because the owner is only liable to himself (and possibly to employees).…”

“…In Poland in 2019, according to the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development (PARP), there were 2.2 million active enterprises, of which SMEs accounted for more than 99.8 percent of all registered enterprises and employed 10 million people [32]. In quantitative terms, the Polish economy is dominated by small family businesses [9,33].…”

“…Entrepreneurs showed particularly strong social commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic. They generally tried to ensure the functioning of their businesses using methods other than laying off employees [9,34].…”