Corporate Social Responsibility: Communication about social and environmental disclosure by large and small copper mining companies

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is now well known concept which is widely used in practice by mining companies, both large and small. The main role of CSR for mining companies is to ensure a responsible business venture to reduce potential risks arising from safety issues and a potential negative environmental footprint and to attract better employees and gain acceptance among local society. However the scope and function of CSR activities depend not only on the profile and size of companies, but also on the area where they conduct their mining operations (value to society), so sometimes it could be unclear what function CSR plays in developing economies. Therefore the aim of the paper is to discuss how multinational corporations have developed their CSR policies, and to what extent they have adopted these policies in developing countries. Moreover the goal of this article is to compare their activities with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in different regions of the world. It was shown that large copper producers have a long term policy on CSR and conduct a wide scope of CSR activities which depend on local needs, whereas SMEs are focused on solving ad-hoc issues rather than developing long-term strategic relations. SMEs have already recognised the need to strengthen their social policies on engaging with communities in order to protect their human rights and avoid negative outcomes, mostly in more remote locations. At the same time the companies analysed recognise the fact that as demand for resources increases, the potential for a negative impact on communities and social conflicts also rises.