Corporate Social Responsibility in Poland: Businesses’ Self-Presentations

Purpose.The main purpose of the paper is to present the extent and content of businesses’ communication about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Poland. In particular, the study investigates the CSR actions and issues displayed on 24 companieś official websites.Methodology.A procedure to seek information about CSR on the web pages was defined. 24 companies (from the Energy and ICT sectors) from The Fortune 100 2014 ranking of businesses in Poland were used as a sample frame. The search was limited to those website areas which referred directly to the responsibilities and commitment of the company either to the society, the environment or the economy. Links to the relevant areas were searched for either on the home page of the company or in a section providing general company information.Results.The results show that the biggest businesses in Poland (Energy and ICT sectors) do not display the same eagerness to appear as socially responsible and employ diverse means to convey social responsibility images.The theoretical contribution.Over the past few years, businesses and academic researchers alike have displayed increased interest for Corporate Social Responsibility. In particular, the recent research suggests that CSR may be an excellent instrument to enhance the legitimacy of the firm among its stakeholders and to develop positive social responsibility images. The value of the paper is in the coding scheme which was developed based on an analysis of 100 companieś web pages. The coding scheme employed was based on the conceptualization of CSR as three logics – social, economical and environmental.Practical implications.Some studies have started to investigate how businesses use communications to highlight their commitment to CSR (e.g., Esrock & Leichty, 1998; Hooghiemstra, 2000). Against this backdrop, the present study examines how businesses in Poland communicate about CSR on their official web pages. The research findings can be used to show the best practices regarding CSR communication.Paper type: Research paper.