Approaching CSR in Romania: An empirical Analysis

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become a key factor for every large company that wants to keep the attention of the general public (customers, community, business partners, local authorities etc.). Even if CSR is not a binding mechanism, neglecting its importance may harm not only company's perception on the market, but also its strategic market approach. CSR approaches are undoubtedly influenced by the values, motivations, decisions, of those with management roles within companies, so it is important to identify the reasons underlying social involvement in terms of positive and negative aspects that follow out of this range of initiatives. Through this article the authors underline the Romanian context where companies must implement and develop CSR practices using secondary data analyses, and as well they present an empirical qualitative research based on 87 questionnaires. The research instrument used is a questionnaire developed by the authors and the respondents were top managers, HR managers and heads of CSR departments within large companies that operate in Romania. Being a research in progress, relevant discussions and conclusions can be drawn from this paper, providing a detailed image not only about the research process developed but also about the reasons that might determine companies to invest in CSR. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.