Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics in Controversial Sectors : Analysis of Research Results

• Autorzy: Włodzimierz Sroka , Richard Szántó
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

Until recently, in business practice, there was a belief that companies were operating solely for the profit of their owners. Few companies have recognized the need to combine their activities with ethics, and in particular with their obligations toward society or the environment. However, the perception of ethical issues has changed radically in business over the last 20 years. If a company wants to be perceived as a reliable business partner and a respected member of the business sector, it should demonstrate a high level of institutionalization of business ethics principles and practices, and it must practice outstanding ethical behavior. This is exceptionally true in some controversial industries. The purpose of our study is to identify the scale and scope of the use of these principles and practices in two Central European countries, i.e., Poland and Hungary, in three controversial sectors of the economy, i.e., pharmaceutical, tobacco and alcohol. The data were achieved on the basis of data gathered through survey methodology. The target subjects included a group of 48 companies (25 Hungarian and 23 Polish ones). Our survey mainly focused on the degree of institutionalization of business ethics (such as the presence of a code of conduct, an employee appointed to deal with ethical issues, ethical training, and so on), the perceived ethical behavior of the firms, and their relationship with their key stakeholders. Our study confirmed that business ethics is regarded as a significant factor which has an influence on business success and the corporate image of companies from the sectors in question. However, it is necessary to emphasize that the scale of this phenomenon varies, across both sectors and countries. The level of institutionalization is somewhat higher at Hungarian firms while preventing and handling corruption cases are more at the forefront of Polish companies. Although it seems that stakeholders from Polish firms have greater ethical expectations, we did not observe significant differences between perceived ethical behavior in the two countries. The originality of the paper is the result of the presentation of unique qualitative research related to business ethics in sensitive sectors of the economy in two Central European countries. To the best of our knowledge, such research is relatively rare (due to the sensitive nature of the sectors analyzed) not only in these two countries but also on an international scale. (original abstract)

Do niedawna w biznesie panowało przekonanie, że firmy działają wyłącznie dla zysku ich właścicieli. Niewiele firm uznawało potrzebę łączenia swoich działań z etyką, w szczególności z obowiązkami wobec społeczeństwa lub środowiska. Jednak postrzeganie kwestii etycznych zmieniło się radykalnie w biznesie w ciągu ostatnich 20 lat. Jeśli firma chce być postrzegana jako wiarygodny partner biznesowy i szanowany członek sektora biznesowego, powinna wykazywać wysoki poziom instytucjonalizacji zasad i praktyk w zakresie etyki biznesowej i musi praktykować wybitne zachowania etyczne. Jest to szczególnie istotne w niektórych kontrowersyjnych sektorach gospodarki. Celem naszego artykułu jest określenie skali i zakresu stosowania tych zasad i praktyk w dwóch krajach Europy Środkowej, tj. Polsce i na Węgrzech, w trzech kontrowersyjnych sektorach: farmaceutycznym, tytoniowym i alkoholowym. Dane zostały uzyskane na podstawie badań bezpośrednich. Próba badawcza liczyła 48 firm (25 węgierskich i 23 polskich). Badanie koncentrowało się głównie na stopniu instytucjonalizacji etyki biznesu (np. posiadanie kodeksu postępowania, pracownika wyznaczonego do zajmowania się kwestiami etycznymi, szkoleń z zakresu etyki itp.), postrzegania etycznego zachowania firm i ich relacji z kluczowymi interesariuszami. Uzyskane wyniki potwierdziły, że etyka biznesu jest uznawana za istotny czynnik, który ma wpływ na sukces biznesowy i wizerunek firmy w danych sektorach. Należy jednak podkreślić, że skala tego zjawiska jest różna w obu sektorach i krajach. Poziom instytucjonalizacji jest nieco wyższy w firmach węgierskich, natomiast w polskich firmach na czoło wysuwa się zapobieganie korupcji i postępowanie w sprawach korupcyjnych. Chociaż wydaje się, że interesariusze polskich firm mają większe oczekiwania etyczne, nie zaobserwowaliśmy istotnych różnic między postrzeganymi zachowaniami etycznymi w obu krajach. Oryginalność artykułu jest wynikiem prezentacji unikatowych badań jakościowych dotyczących etyki biznesu we wrażliwych sektorach gospodarki w dwóch krajach Europy Środkowej. Zgodnie z naszą najlepszą wiedzą takie badania są stosunkowo rzadkie (ze względu na wrażliwy charakter analizowanych sektorów) nie tylko w tych dwóch krajach, ale również w skali międzynarodowej. (abstrakt oryginalny)

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); Business ethics; Ethics; Economy

PL

Społeczna odpowiedzialność biznesu; Etyka biznesu; Etyka; Gospodarka

• Czasopismo: Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation (JEMI)
• Rocznik: 2018
• Tom: 14
• Numer: nr 3 Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Organizations' Business Performance
• Strony: 111--126

Twórcy

autor

Włodzimierz Sroka

• University of Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland

autor

Richard Szántó

• Corvinus University of Budapest

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Identyfikatory

DOI

https://doi.org/10.7341/20181435