Corporate social responsibility seen through codes of conduct in czech companies

Abstract

The paper discusses the relation between social welfare and business profit. Based on the review of relevant literature, it proceeds to a brief history of corporate social responsibility (CSR), which sees profit as one of several—i.e., not the only one—important business values, grouped under three P-terms, namely profit, people, and planet. Then, the paper questions whether the commitment to CSR is voluntary. The code of conduct can be an instrumental gauge of the company’s commitment. Especially, whether and how they have created, implemented, and enforced their codes of conduct. The paper includes different theoretical approaches to creating them. In a pilot study, authors carried out a text analysis of tens of different company codes of conduct in order to assess the position of CSR and business ethics in Czech companies. Although results did not correspond fully with the authors’ hypotheses, they helped them specify the direction of further research.