The role of corporate social responsibility in modern business in the republic of serbia

Abstract

In a research done with 50 randomly chosen Serbian companies, their managers have expressed their views and shared their thoughts on implementation of CSR in their working environment (in terms of social community, workforce and the environment). Around 77% of the respondents claim to have encountered an example of corporate social responsibility in their business activities, and the remaining 23% replied negative. Majority of the respondents (81%) find that the elements of the concept are applied in their companies, while 49% think that it is applied when needed. This analysis confirms that Serbia, like most countries in the region, considers CSR to be a voluntary supplement to the basic corporate activity and is usually connected to the sponsorship (2.1%) and philanthropy (9.4%). However, corporate responsible practice is the most applied of all social responsibility initiatives (37.7%). Few companies, primarily multinational ones, have acknowledged the significance of CSR aimed at managing risks and developing quality relationship with shareholders. Thus, only a bit over 1/3 of companies have some sort of long-term projects and programs, precisely defined and having a clear goal. In view of corporate engagements, majority of respondents (66.7%) stated that their co-workers went to a training over the past year, while others (33.3%) replied negative. Researches show that matters of environmental protection gain increasing attention, since most companies operate in line with the standards of environmental protection. The purpose of the paper was to present the evolution of corporate social responsibility concept applied in modern business in the Republic of Serbia. In addition, the idea was to point to prospective development of socially responsible corporate governance by using experience and sound business practice of developed countries.