Corporate Social Responsibility: Understanding the Concept

Abstract

The concept that organisations consider social and environmental interests and relationships at the strategy-building stage has been around for many years. The first definition of CSR dates back to the 1970s. It was created by the American economist Archie Carroll. His theory was presented as a pyramid of CSR, with economic responsibility as the base and legal, ethical and philanthropic responsibility as the next tiers. The foundations of modern CSR are the principles formalised in 2010 as the ISO 26000 standard. The dynamic development of the concept has gone beyond the level of good practice and has become an obligation for many businesses as reflected in mandatory non-financial reports. In order for the CSR strategy to benefit companies and society, knowledge about it should be widely known The purpose of the article is to show what is the level of understanding of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in society. Corporate social responsibility is a management strategy designed for society. It is a concept analyzed in many academic centers around the world. The assumptions of this strategy are also familiar to most managers of organizations. The word society is repeated many times in its definition. The basis of this concept is concern for people. Many organizations take on the challenge of making profits while respecting human resources and the environment, for social and economic sustainability. The strategy is aimed at employees, local communities and the environment in which people live. Therefore, it is necessary to ask how the state of knowledge about CSR among the main addressees of the strategy. The article will present the results of the research of the first stage of testing the understanding of the concept. Understanding of the concept of CSR in society will be carried out using a survey conducted among a group of students at Częstochowa University of Technology. In the next stages, it is planned to extend the survey to larger social groups. People as the starting points of the entire CSR concept should be aware of what this rapidly growing economic trend is. But, are they? What is their knowledge in this area? Without an understanding of the concept in society, it will remain only an element of the scientific community's discourses or an element of companies' PR.