SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF BUSINESS IN GEORGIA: DEVELOPMENT AND PROBLEMS

Abstract

Recently the problems of the social responsibility of business and its part in the socio-economic development of the countries have been widely discussed all over the world. Currently international conferences, forums and numerous other public events dealing with the issues of the social responsibility of business have been held in all the corners of the world (Beliyeva, Eskindarova, 2008; Peregudov & Semenenko, 2008). The goal of the research is to evaluate how far this tendency has been reflected in the business practice of the Georgian companies. Nowadays, in Georgia, all efforts have been made in order to create an attractive and desirable business environment. Accordingly, it is crucial and represents the key element that all these efforts made about the ethical principles and the social responsibilities to be adopted and implemented into the practice of the business relations. In the article is discussed numerous issues concerning the participation into the different businesses programmes for the corporate social responsibility, trends in order to develop the partnerships among the business sector, State and the NGOs. Many Georgian companies are engaged in the charitable activities; they are sponsoring significant social projects as well as publishing the social reports. In December 2006, in Georgia, was launched the UN Global Compact and under its support the network of the socially oriented Georgian companies were created. Many companies have adopted the ethic code during the business conducting. They describe that the ethic principles and norms providing based on the activities of all employees of their companies - from the specialists to the top managers. As a result, during the research three key factors limiting SRB development in Georgia have been identified: high taxes, absence of benefits and soft loans for the socially responsible organizations; lack of understanding of the significance of the social responsibility. In Georgia, there is no legislative framework for the charitable activities. The government's policy about charity remains unclear. In reality, the companies during their charitable work frequently come across to the significant bureaucratic obstacles. It worth mentioning that the State is obliged to do its best to stimulate development of SRB in Georgia - tax exemptions, low credits for social projects, etc. The support of the State in order to develop the social responsibility of business in Georgia, represents an important means for the sustainable development of the companies in the long run, also it will assist to activate the social investments from the companies, will enlarge the ground for the partnership between the State and business and also will make significant contribution into the attracting new sources for the sustainable growth of economics and finally, it will facilitate achievement of one of the key priorities of Georgia - integration into the European structures and its market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]