Analyzing the relationship between leadership style and corporate social responsibility in hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract

In recent decades, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an important issue in the global business world. The topic has been studied from many viewpoints, but due to its continuous development and constant change, it remains a special and interesting area of scientific life to this day. The essence of CSR is that in addition to economic aspects, companies take into account the interests of society in their business and economic behavior. These behaviors can have many segments, so they can take into account their business partners, suppliers, employees, and the surrounding environment. Despite the fact that CSR literature has grown significantly since the turn of the millennium, researchers are mostly focused on the CSR activities of multinational companies, and there is limited research on SMEs. The relevance of the research topic is undoubtedly proven by the fact that many domestic and international researchers refer to the role of the leadership in CSR. Practical implementation basically depends on the behavior of the organization, and ultimately the attitude of the leader to CSR. In developing this study, I aimed to get to know the motivations, views, and attitudes of examined Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprise leaders regarding CSR. In my opinion, the companies that want to be successful, now and in the future, need to integrate CSR into their business strategy.