The impact of corporate social responsibility on business competitiveness

University of Pardubice, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Department of Business Economics and Management, Studentská 84, 532 10 Pardubice 2, Czech Republic

^* Corresponding author: marcela.kozena@upce.cz

Abstract

Research background: The social and environmental problems of the current globalised world are primarily targeted on the South and Southeast Asian business environment. However, according to the idea “think global, act local”, practices of Czech local business also contribute to the global environment.

Purpose of the article: The Czech Republic is classified as a small open economy in the final stage of a transformation into a market economy, and on the top of that, it is also a member of the European Union. Thus, the Czech Republic is very dependent on the global market. Firstly, this paper is focused on analysing the Czech businesses’ attitude to competitiveness with special emphasis on corporate social responsibility. Secondly, there is predicated the future approach of the Czech managers to CSR.

Methods: Primary research is based on individual structured interviews with Czech managers on the top and middle level (n=15). The interviews were conducted from February to May 2020 via a combination of face to face and distance communication.

Findings & Value added: The results indicate that the Czech business mostly does not perceive CSR as a key factor of corporate competitiveness. However, the significant part of the interviewees considers CSR as moderately important and what is more, they predicate the upward trend of this factor. In addition, corporate social responsibility is often associated with other factors of competitiveness – more precisely to customer loyalty and innovation capability. Moreover, all the corporations stated that they apply at least some of the CSR principles in their ordinary course of business.