Table Of ContentCSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance
Series Editors: Samuel O. Idowu · René Schmidpeter
Aneta Długopolska-Mikonowicz
Sylwia Przytuła
Christopher Stehr E ditors
Corporate
Social
Responsibility
in Poland
Strategies, Opportunities and
Challenges
CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance
Serieseditors
SamuelO.Idowu,LondonMetropolitanUniversity,London,UnitedKingdom
RenéSchmidpeter,CologneBusinessSchool,Germany
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/11565
ł (cid:129)
Aneta D ugopolska-Mikonowicz
ł (cid:129)
Sylwia Przytu a Christopher Stehr
Editors
Corporate Social
Responsibility in Poland
Strategies, Opportunities and Challenges
Editors
AnetaDługopolska-Mikonowicz SylwiaPrzytuła
WropenUpFoundation HumanResourceManagement
Wrocław,Poland WroclawUniversityofEconomics
Wrocław,Poland
ChristopherStehr
GermanGraduateSchoolofManagement
andLawandPOLYMUNDO
Heilbronn,Baden-Württemberg,Germany
ISSN2196-7075 ISSN2196-7083 (electronic)
CSR,Sustainability,Ethics&Governance
ISBN978-3-030-00439-2 ISBN978-3-030-00440-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00440-8
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Preface
Corporatesocialresponsibility(CSR)ingeneralinvolvesmultipleareas,levelsand
actors such as stakeholders in each organisation. Responsibility itself is a broad
conceptframingtheethicalcodeofconductofaperson,astate,(non-)governmental
institutionsororganisations.Themostimportantquestionsstillremain—evenaftera
long tradition of public and scientific discussion—how to deal with this responsi-
bilityonaninstitutionalandentrepreneurialaswellasonanindividuallevel?Howis
itpossibletoincorporatetheecological,thesocialandtheeconomicresponsibility
within societies and enterprises in daily business to create win-win-winsituations?
Thesewiderquestionsleadtowideranswers.
Therefore, the following publication presents a really broad and fascinating
spectrum of various aspects of CSR in Poland. It includes social and political
perspectives,socialmediaandcorporatecommunication,financialaspects(financial
sustainability,corporatefinancialperformance,sociallyresponsibleinvesting),legal
perceptions, ecological dimensions (green economy) as well as intercultural and
individualissues(personalsocialresponsibility).
ThesubjectofCSRinPolandisshownnotonlyinvariousdimensionsofsocial
responsibility, but also through the prism of the specific nature of the activities of
various entities. Presented here are public administration institutions, NGOs
(e.g. sports organisations), companies from the SME sector, international corpora-
tionsandmultinationalenterprises(MNEs)representingvariousindustries—witha
specific focus of CSR as a strategic factor of competitive advantage in business
operations.
The publication opens the introductory part of a general, historical nature con-
cerning research on CSR, the legal status, the perspective of public administration
and business in the field of socially responsible activities. Introduction closes the
essay, which provokes critical analysis and reflection of each of the proposed
chaptersonthestateofCSRinPoland.
v
vi Preface
Part I. Introduction
Introduction is launched by Bolesław Rok, who presents the integrated approach
from CSR to corporate sustainability. Against the background of the historical
overviewofdevelopingCSRtopicinPoland,theauthorpresentstheachievements
ofbusinesspractice,whichcomesfromsocialandethicalactivitiestotreatingCSR
asastrategicfactorofcompetitiveadvantageinbusinessoperations.BolesławRok
lists barriers and limitations regarding the sustainable strategic management
approachforthreegroupsofcompanies.Heoutlinesthekeychallengesandoppor-
tunities for business practice, which are mostly used by international corporations
operating on the Polish market. He points out the need to actively engage and
involve all actors and stakeholders in developing sustainable activities. B. Rok
presentedamodelofthematerialitymatrix,asausefultoolforintroducingpossible
changesinthebusinessstrategyofcompaniesoperatinginPoland.
InthestudyofJacquelineKacprzak,fourstagesofCSRdevelopmentinPoland
wereidentified:theinitialstage(1998–2009),thestageofproactivemeasuresinthe
areaofCSRundertakenbyawiderangeofstakeholders(2009–2013),thestageof
research and development (2014–2015) and the stage of mature decisions and
activities (2016—up till now). The author describes very preciously various activ-
itiescarriedoutbypublicadministrationintheareaofCSRandunderlinesthekey
role of CSR advisory boards in implementing CSR standards in Poland. She
concluded that the role of public administration in this area is not only in the
regulatoryfield,butalsotoinformandeducate,disseminatestandardsandmonitor
theimplementationoftheresponsiblebusinessconduct.Severalexamplesofeffec-
tive cooperation between government administration and business in the area of
CSRinPolandwerepresented.
Sławonmir Magala, in an essayistic tone, conducts a discourse on socially
responsible activities in the context of political changes in many countries of the
world [Stalinism, the fall of communism in the countries of Central and Eastern
Europe, the significance of inclusion and unity in the structures of the European
Union,thegrowingimportanceofpopulistandright-wingmovementsinthepolit-
ical scene, separatist tendencies in many countries (Brexit, Catalonia)]. The author
presents examples of various “socially irresponsible” actions, but politically moti-
vated,e.g.concerningtheArabSpringrefugees,civilwarsandgenocideinRwanda
andCambodia,whichareamanifestationofthemoralcollapseofpoliticalelites,but
also failure in implementing the principles of CSR in the political, economic,
cultural, religious and ethical dimensions. Slawomir Magala also places Poland
against the background of these changes, indicating that one should draw on the
historicalexperienceofhisowncountryandothers.CSRrequirestransparency,trust
and the involvement of many local and global market actors in building a holistic
awarenessofsociallyandpoliticallyresponsibleactions.
Preface vii
Part II. Financial Aspects of CSR
Part II is devoted to the analysis of socially responsible activities in relation to
financialaspects.
Anna Witek-Crabb discussed the relationship between corporate social res-
ponsibility and corporate financial performance. She proposed a model based on
correlation between CSR maturity levels (process, strategic, formal maturity) and
financialsustainabilityconstructincompaniesrepresenting9sectors.Shefoundthat
in the examined sample these two categories remain independent. The author
concludes that Polish companies have implemented CSR at different levels; how-
ever, it does not impact their financial performance. In spite of the fact that Polish
capitalism is relatively young, the dynamics of developing CSR concept is rather
slowandPolishbusinessesandsocietyarestillontheCSRlearningcurve.
KarolinaDaszyńska-ŻygadłocontinuesthetopicofinfluenceofCSRactivities
onfinancialperformance.Thepurposeofthisstudywastorecogniseimprovement
orworseningofoperatingfinancialresultsofcompaniesundertakingCSRactivities.
The research objective was to have all companies included in sustainability index
RESPECTonWarsawStockExchange.Resultsshowthatfinancialperformanceof
companiesimprovessignificantlyafterinclusioninsustainabilityindex.Performed
researchdoesnotanswerthedilemmawhetherfinancialperformanceofacompany
is being improved thanks to introducing CSR strategy, running CSR activities and
getting verified by RESPECT index procedure or maybe that CSR strategy can be
introducedduetofinancialperformanceimprovement.
Łukasz Sułkowski and Justyna Fijałkowska present the issue of the global
financial crisis, which significantly damaged the reputation and credibility of most
financial institutions, including banks operating in Poland. CSR activities have
becomearemedyforimprovingtheimageandrebuildingtrustinclients.Theauthors
analyse various CSR activities carried out by several banks operating in Poland in
recentyears.Theseincludedsavingresources,financingpro-ecologicalorganisations,
offeringspecialfinancialproducts,activelyparticipatinginlocalsociallyappreciated
initiatives and programmes and showing that they do care about their clients,
employees, environment and local communities. It would seem that the effects of
thebankingcrisiswillbeawarningfortheseinstitutionsformanyyears.However,the
authors cite another example of socially irresponsible activities of banks in Poland,
whichconcernedcreditagreementsinCHDthatregards500thousandagreements.It
turnedoutthat95%ofthecasescontainillegalclauses.Itmaybeconcludedthatinthe
areaofethicalbankingandresponsibleinvestmentthereisstillmuchtodoinPoland.
PartIII.Legal,FinancialandEnvironmentalAspectsofCSR
The chapter of Tomasz Słoński and Magdalena Ligus is a “theme bridge”
between the legal, financial and environmental aspects of CSR. The authors
present the legal regulations developed by the European Commission (Impact
viii Preface
Assessment Guidelines), which are the reference point for the Polish legal frame-
workregulatingtheactivitiesofcompaniesintherenewableenergysector(RES).
Ecological activities in this sector are not free from price risk (prices are deter-
mined administratively) and also risk of volume component. These legal and
administrative constraints cause perturbations in other sectors closely related to
RES—companiesintegratedinthesupplychain,customers,banksandotherfinancial
intermediaries.
BożenaRyszawskainherchaptercontinuesthesubjectofsustainabledevelop-
mentand,inparticular,raisestheroleandplaceofgreeneconomyinCSR2.0.The
author presents the transition of green economy through the prism of developing
regulationsandproceduresregulatingbusinessactivitiesinthisareaintheEuropean
Union. However, in real activities, the green economy in Poland has not gained
visiblerecognitionsofarandcomparedtotheEUcountriesisquiteunfavourablein
thisrespect.Nevertheless,since2015ingovernmentalandindustryplanningstudies
such activities have been undertaken to fill the legal gap and provide financial
instruments supporting the implementation of elements of the green economy in
Poland.
Part IV. Practical Aspects of CSR
Part IV presents practical aspects of CSR activity in Poland in the dynamics of
systemic transformation and from the perspective of different types of organisa-
tions like small enterprises, multinational corporations and sports organisations
which can act as limited liability companies but also as foundations, associations
orevenstudentsportsclubs.ThispartalsopresentstheCSRreportingpracticein
Poland.
Rojek-Nowosielska presents the results of her empirical research of the CSR
levelofenterprisesinPoland—beforeandafterthetransitionof1989.Shepresents
the socially responsible activities of organisations created before the transition as
obligationsofthestatewhichwereshiftedonenterprisestobeperformedunderthe
then applicable provisions of law. The economic and social reforms of the new
system resulted in a systemic change. The author claims that the character of the
community-oriented activities of an enterprise was reactive, whereas CSR is
proactive.Theauthorproposesananalysisoftheenterprisesinthecorporatesocial
responsibility continuum model which corresponds with the models of potential
performance perspective. Thefive general areashavebeenidentified: employees,
customers,suppliers,naturalenvironmentandlocalcommunity.
AgnieszkaSokołowska-Durkalecattemptstoclarifytheinstrumentaldimension
of social responsibility concept in small enterprises and presents the results of her
research—selected problems, best practices and recommendations. She underlines
theroleofownersinbuildingtrustbysharingtheirvalueswiththestakeholdersand
byinstitutionalisingthevaluesandtheroleoftheowner/owners’expertiseinoverall
CSR implementation and results. She discusses further that most entrepreneurs
Preface ix
in the researched group recognise the existence of organisational culture in their
enterprises, but they do not declare that it is based on universal ethical values, but
rathermoreoftenonthepragmatism.
BożenaDancewiczandFranziskaStruvediscussintheirchaptertheinfluence
of MNEs on CSR in Poland and the evolution of CSR in Poland based on the
countries’ specific historical background. They examine the role of MNEs, NGOs
andthesocial societywithinthedevelopmentprocessofCSRandethical business
behaviourinPoland. As anexample,they take thedevelopment stages ofthefood
retail branch and show based on the consumption industry the impact of ethical
behaviourofMNEsintheirlocalbranches.Thepracticalperspectiveiscoveredby
theexamplesofMarsandAvon,whichgetevaluatedbasedonqualitativeinterviews
aswellasbasedontheirpubliccommunication.
Paweł Kuźbik presents in his chapter the results of his study on the current
relationship between sport and social responsibility in its real, strategic dimension
and analyses how the CSR concept is understood and implemented in sports
organisationsinPoland.Theauthoranalyses85sportsclubsofprofessionalnature
and shows a broad perspective oftheir environment, function and changing condi-
tions during the transformation in Poland. The cases presented reveal two ways of
CSR in sports clubs: CSR through sport, where sport itself is supported, and CSR
withinsport,wheresportsorganisationsaresociallyresponsible.Theauthorclaims
thatalthoughtheuseofCSRinpolishsportsorganisationshasnostrategicdimen-
sion, and its understanding is mainly focused on charitable activities, it is still
possible to point out recurring procedures that allow to create an up-to-date model
ofactivitiesinthearea:sportsclubs—CSR.
Part V. CSR Reporting
Justyna Fijałkowska and Małgorzata Macuda present the results of their
empiricalstudiesonvoluntaryCSRreportingpracticesinPolandamongcompanies
(including listed in the RESPECT Index), NGOs, associations, foundations and
public institutions in the period of 2005–2017. The analysis embraces 357 CSR
reportspreparedby109organisationsfrom29sectorsinthelast13years.Theresults
oftheresearchindicatethatCSRdisclosuresarenotverywidespreadinPolandand,
even though evolving, are still in their early stage of development. This chapter
concludes recommendations on how to improve the credibility and utility of CSR
reportspublishedbyPolishcompanies.
Maria Aluchna and Maria Roszkowska-Menkes introduce the non-financial
reporting inconceptualframework ofCSR and stakeholder theory.Authorsofthis
chapter underline that non-financial reporting has developed from CSR and envi-
ronmentalcommunicationtosustainabilitydisclosuretowardsintegratedreporting.
Based on the analysis of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, they
concluded that non-financial reporting is slowly becoming a mainstream practice
