Lithuania the roadmap: From confrontation to consensus

Abstract

Lithuania is a new participant in the European community. Many social economic processes, which are peculiar to most Western countries, are just evolving here. Though private business, a free market and all features of modern enterprises testify to the progress of Lithuania, many global initiatives and advanced social innovations are rather late in arriving here. The idea of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has not emerged in Lithuanian public discourse yet. It is still a new paradigm of social economical development. In the country where the civic society has not fully formed, there is no clear comprehension of the idea of business social responsibility and most companies do not actively express readiness to meet the expectations of society. On the other hand, the expectations of various social groups towards business are just forming and are not properly articulated. The communitys expectations of business enterprises are often reduced to the creation of new workplaces. In turn, companies regard all social problems (unemployment, social security, healthcare etc.) as entirely a concern and responsibility only of the Ministry of Social Security and Labour. Their understanding of responsibility is bound to the creation of jobs for the community and tax payment to the state. In many cases philanthropy is emphasised as the essence of CSR. Some elements of CSR can be traced in management practices of certain companies. However, CSR issues are not officially put on the public agenda in all their completeness. Ethical issues and social consequences of companies downsizing, hiring and dismissal practices, career planning are still not considered. Though certain forms of discrimination (e.g. on the basis of sex, age, ethnic origin, etc.) are discussed in the public arena, they are not reflected in companies policies and the necessity to reflect these issues has not reached them yet. Taken as a definite quality option of business activity, CSR constitutes a process of "achieving commercial success in ways that honour ethical values and respect people, communities, and the natural environment" (www.bsr.org). To a great extent CSR can be regarded as a substantial parameter of business performance and an efficient means for economics humanisation and sustainable development. It can be practically realised through the tools provided by business ethics (ethics programmes, codes of conduct, ethics officers, ethics committees/commissions, social audits, round tables, "hotlines", etc.). Its constructive, rational and goaloriented options in aggregate with enhanced moral competence and ethical sensitivity enable companies to implement CSR principles and establish them as an indispensable and advanced remedy for performance improvement, as an essential contribution to sustainable development.