Share:


Corporate social responsibility in business practices of multinational companies: study of differences between Czech and Slovak

Abstract

Purpose – find differences in the core principles of implementation of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) practices in subsidiaries of foreign multinationals in Slovak and Czech Republic, two similar yet different countries.


Research methodology – the questionnaire was distributed to local daughter companies of foreign multinational enterprises selected on the basis of stratified randomization. The sample: 360 enterprises (180 from each country). Mann‐Whitney U Test was used for the analysis (non-normally distributed data) of the differences between Slovak and Czech companies in their CSR implementation.


Findings – differences among the two countries in the implementation of CSR exist in few factors due to their joint history.


Research limitations – the representativeness of companies connected with foreign mother companies in the two countries cannot be computed: no data are available. To overcome this issue, the same number of monitored entities was analysed to so as to make further statistical analysis possible.


Practical implications – the results can be used by business entities, which may benefit from comparing themselves against other players on the market or against the average situation on the monitored markets. Moreover, teaching future managers and promoters CSR is of significant importance.


Originality/Value – the work sheds lights on CSR practices in Czechia and Slovakia, two countries in which there is a lack of studies on the topic of CSR.

Keyword : multinational corporations, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Corporate Social Responsibility, difference

How to Cite
Skýpalová, R., Kozáková, J., Urbánová, M., & Di Sabato, V. (2023). Corporate social responsibility in business practices of multinational companies: study of differences between Czech and Slovak. Business, Management and Economics Engineering, 21(1), 106–123. https://doi.org/10.3846/bmee.2023.18942
Published in Issue
May 29, 2023
Abstract Views
604
PDF Downloads
590
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Aguinis, H., & Glavas, A. (2012). What we know and don’t know about corporate social responsibility: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 38(4), 932–968. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311436079

Ahi, P., & Searcy, C. (2013). A comparative literature analysis of definitions for green and sustainable supply chain management. Journal of Cleaner Production, 52, 329–341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.02.018

Ashby, A., Leat, M., & Hudson-Smith, M. (2012). Making connections: A review of supply chain management and sustainability literature. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 17(5), 497–516. https://doi.org/10.1108/13598541211258573

Bansal, P., & Song, H. C. (2017). Similar but not the same: Differentiating corporate sustainability from corporate responsibility. Academy of Management Annals, 11(1), 105–149. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2015.0095

Batten, J., Hettihewa, S., & Mellor, R. (1999). Factors affecting ethical management: Comparing a developed and a developing economy. Journal of Business Ethics, 19, 51–59. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006197821926

Belas, J., Gavurova, B., Čepel, M., & Kubák, M. (2020). Evaluation of economic potential of business environment development by comparing sector differences: Perspective of SMEs in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Oeconomia Copernicana, 11(1), 135–159. https://doi.org/10.24136/oc.2020.006

Brammer, S., & Millington, A. (2006). Firm size, organizational visibility and corporate philanthropy: An empirical analysis. Business Ethics: A European Review, 15(1), 6–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8608.2006.00424.x

Bryson, P. J. (2008). “State administration” vs. self-government in the Slovak and Czech Republics. Communist and Post-Communist Studies, 41(3), 339–358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postcomstud.2008.06.003

Çera, G., Belas, J., Maroušek, J., & Çera, E. (2020). Do size and age of small and medium-sized enterprises matter in corporate social responsibility? Journal of Scientific Papers, 13(2), 86–99. https://doi.org/10.14254/2071-789X.2020/13-2/6

Chen, Y. C., Hung, M., & Wang, Y. (2018). The effect of mandatory CSR disclosure on firm profitability and social externalities: Evidence from China. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 65(1), 169–190. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacceco.2017.11.009

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Erlbaum, Hillsdale.

Crane, A., Matten, D., & Spence, L. J. (2014). Corporate social responsibility: Readings and cases in a global context. Routledge.

Dias, A., Rodrigues, L. L., Craig, R., & Neves, M. E. (2018). Corporate social responsibility disclosure in small and medium-sized entities and large companies. Social Responsibility Journal, 15(2), 137–154. https://doi.org/10.1108/SRJ-05-2017-0090

Du, S., Bhattacharya, C. B., & Sen, S. (2010). Maximalizacenávratů podniků ke společenské odpovědnosti firem (CSR): Role CSR komunikace. International Journal of Management Reviews, 12(1), 8–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00276.x

European Commission. (2023). Directive (EU) 2022/2464 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2022 amending Regulation (EU) No 537/2014, Directive 2004/109/EC, Directive 2006/43/EC and Directive 2013/34/EU, as regards corporate sustainability reporting (Text with EEA relevance).

European Union. (2014). Directive 2014/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 amending Directive 2013/34/EU as regards disclosure of non-financial and diversity information by certain large undertakings and groups Text with EEA relevance. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32014L0095

European Union. (2013). Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, amending Directive 2006/43/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directives 78/660/EEC and 83/349/EEC Text with EEA relevance. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32013L0034

Elkington, J. (1997). Cannibals with forks: the triple bottom line of 21st century business. Capstone.

Fogel, D. S. (2019). Managing in emerging market economies: Cases from the Czech and Slovak Republics. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429037580

Formánková, S., & Mikusová, J. (2014). Companies’ decision making about CSR. In New trends in management in the 21st century. Sekcja Wydawnictw Wydzialu Zarzadzania Politechniki Czestochowskiej.

Gavurova, B., Schönfeld, J., Bilan, Y., & Dudáš, T. (2022). Study of the differences in the perception of the use of the principles of corporate social responsibility in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the V4 countries. Journal of Competitiveness, 14(2), 23–40. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2022.02.02

Gray, R. (2007). Taking a long view on what we now know about social and environmental accountability and reporting. Issues in Social & Environmental Accounting, 1(2), 169–198. https://doi.org/10.22164/isea.v1i2.13

Grimstad, S. M. F., Glavee-Geo, R., & Fjørtoft, B. E. (2020). SMEs motivations for CSR: An exploratory study. European Business Review, 32(4), 553–572. https://doi.org/10.1108/EBR-01-2019-0014

Hąbek, P. (2017). CSR reporting practices in Visegrad group countries and the quality of disclosure. Sustainability, 9(12), 2322. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9122322

Hahn, R., & Kuhnen, M. (2013). Determinants of sustainability reporting: A review of results, trends, theory, and opportunities in an expanding field of research. Journal of Cleaner Production, 59, 5–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.07.005

Hahn, T., Pinkse, J., Preuss, L., & Figge, F. (2015). Tensions in corporate sustainability: Towards an integrative framework. Journal of Business Ethics, 127, 297–316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-014-2047-5

Hinčica, V., Maliková, M., & Řezanková, H. (2021). Logistics social responsibility: Understanding and development of the concept in the Slovak Republic. Management: Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, 26(1), 111–128. https://doi.org/10.30924/mjcmi.26.1.7

Hohnen, P., & Potts, J. (2007). Společenská odpovědnost podniků: Průvodce implementací pro podniky. http://www.iisd.org

IPSOS. (2019). IPSOS CSR & reputation research. Retrieved February 10, 2019, from https://www.ipsos.com/cs-cz/ipsos-csr-reputation-research

Janas, K., & Jánošková, B. (2022). Comparison of 20 years of regional selfgovernment in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Journal of Comparative Politics, 15(2), 56–71.

Khan, Z., Amankwah-Amoah, J., Lew, Y. K., Puthusserry, P., & Czinkota, M. (2022). Strategic ambidexterity and its performance implications for emerging economies multinationals. International Business Review, 31(3), 101762. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2020.101762

Kim, H., & Lee, T. H. (2018). Strategic CSR communication: A moderating role of transparency in trust building. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 12(2), 107–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2018.1425692

Kim, J., & Shin, W. (2014). How to do random allocation (randomization). Clinics in Orthopedic Surgery, 6(1), 103–109. https://doi.org/10.4055/cios.2014.6.1.103

Kolman, L., Noorderhaven, N. G., Hofstede, G., & Dienes, E. (2003). Cross‐cultural differences in Central Europe. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 18(1), 76–88. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940310459600

Kozáková, J., Hudáková, M., & Filová, A. (2021). International management and entrepreneurship in multicultural environment. (1. Vyd). Slovenská poľnohospodárska univerzita.

KPMG. (2017). The road ahead: The KPMG Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2017. https://assets.kpmg/content/dam/kpmg/xx/pdf/2017/10/kpmg-survey-of-corporate-responsibility-reporting2017.pdf

Krajnakova, E., Navickas, V., & Kontautienė, R. (2018). Effect of macroeconomic business environment on the development of corporate social responsibility in Baltic Countries and Slovakia. Oeconomia Copernicana, 9(3), 477–492. https://doi.org/10.24136/oc.2018.024

Lee, E. M., Park, S. Y., Rapert, M. I., & Newman, C. L. (2012). Does perceived consumer fit matter in corporate social responsibility issues? Journal of Business Research, 65(11), 1558–1564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.02.040

Lentner, C., & Nagy, V. (2020). New dimensions of commercial banks’ corporate social responsibility in the Visegrád Group countries. Banks and Bank Systems, 15(2), 138. https://doi.org/10.21511/bbs.15(2).2020.13

Lind, C. H., Kang, O., Ljung, A., & Rosenbaum, P. (2022). Involvement of multinational corporations in social innovation: Exploring an emerging phenomenon. Journal of Business Research, 151, 207–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.07.003

Maj, J. (2018). Embedding diversity in sustainability reporting. Sustainability, 10(7), 18. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072487

McKnight, P. E., & Najab, J. (2010). Mann‐Whitney U Test. In The Corsini encyclopedia of psychology. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470479216.corpsy0524

McLafferty, S. L. (2003). Conducting questionnaire surveys. Key Methods in Geography, 1(2), 87–100.

Mercadé-Melé, P., Molinillo, S., Fernández-Morales, A., & Porcu, L. (2018). CSR activities and consumer loyalty: The effect of the type of publicizing medium. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 19(3), 431–455. https://doi.org/10.3846/jbem.2018.5203

Munk, M. (2011). Počítačová analýza dát. UKF.

Nadanyiova, M., Majerova, J., & Gajanova, L. (2021). The usage of the CSR concept and its communication in Slovak companies in the process of globalization. SHS Web of Conferences, 91, 01024. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20219101024

Pawliczek, A. (2015). Lifecycle of enterprises and its dynamics: using fractal analogy model in empirical study of Czech and Slovak enterprises. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 181, 331–341. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.895

Petera, P., Wagner, J., Pakšiová, R., & Křehnáčová, A. (2019). Sustainability information in annual reports of companies domiciled in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. Engineering Economics, 30(4), 483–495. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.30.4.22481

Przytuła, S., Formánková, S., Ubrežiová, I., & Dunay, A. (2019). Corporate social responsibility in Visegrad countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) overall landscape. In A. Długopolska-Mikonowicz, S. Przytuła, & C. Stehr (Eds.), Corporate social responsibility in Poland. CSR, sustainability, ethics & governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00440-8_20

Raišienė, A. G., Bilan, S., Smalskys, V., & Gečienė, J. (2019). Emerging changes in attitudes to inter-institutional collaboration: The case of organizations providing social services in communities. Administratie si Management Public, (33), 34–56. https://doi.org/10.24818/amp/2019.33-03.

Redžić, E., & Everett, J. (2020). Cleavages in the post-communist countries of Europe: A review. Politics in Central Europe, 16(1), 231–258. https://doi.org/10.2478/pce-2020-0011

Reja, U., Manfreda, K. L., Hlebec, V., & Vehovar, V. (2003). Open-ended vs. close-ended questions in web questionnaires. Developments in Applied Statistics, 19(1), 159–177.

Rim, H., Kim, J., & Dong, C. (2019). A cross‐national comparison of transparency signaling in corporate social responsibility reporting: The United States, South Korea, and China cases. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 26(6), 1517–1529. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1766

Roca, L. C., & Searcy, C. (2012). An analysis of indicators disclosed in corporate sustainability reports. Journal of Cleaner Production, 20(1), 103–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2011.08.002

Roopa, S., & Rani, M. S. (2012). Questionnaire designing for a survey. Journal of Indian Orthodontic Society, 46(4_suppl 1), 273–277. https://doi.org/10.1177/0974909820120509S

Searcy, C., & Buslovich, R. (2014). Corporate perspectives on the development and use of sustainability reports. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(2), 149–169. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-013-1701-7

Shapiro, S. S., & Wilk, M. B. (1972). An analysis of variance test for the exponential distribution (complete samples). Technometrics, 14(2), 355–370. https://doi.org/10.1080/00401706.1972.10488921

Skácelík, P. (2010). Společenská odpovědnost organizací. Grada.

Teplická, K., Hurná, S., & Kádárová, J. (2019). Comparison of using managerial instruments in industry companies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. TEM Journal, 8(4), 1191.

Tetrevova, L., Patak, M., & Kyrylenko, I. (2019). Web-based CSR communication in post-communist countries. Applied Economics Letters, 26(10), 866–871. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2018.1508866

Titko, J., Skvarciany, V., & Tambovceva, T. (2021). Corporate social responsibility perceived by employees: Latvian survey results. Central European Business Review, 10(3), 37–50. https://doi.org/10.18267/j.cebr.258

Waluyo, W. (2017). Firm size, firm age, and firm growth on corporate social responsibility in Indonesia: The case of real estate companies. European Research Studies Journal, XX, 360–369. https://doi.org/10.35808/ersj/840

Watson, G. S., & Durbin, J. (1951). Exact tests of serial correlation using noncircular statistics. The Annals of Mathematical Statistics, 22(3), 446–451. https://doi.org/10.1214/aoms/1177729592

Williams, A., Kennedy, S., Philipp, F., & Whiteman, G. (2017). Systems thinking: A review of sustainability management research. Journal of Cleaner Production, 148, 866–881. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.02.002

Zbuchea, A. (2017). Tailoring CSR strategy to company size https://doi.org/10.25019/MDKE/5.3.06

Zhao, S., Liu, X., Andersson, U., & Shenkar, O. (2022). Knowledge management of emerging economy multinationals. Journal of World Business, 57(1), 101255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2021.101255