ANALYZING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

In the context of national and international developments, Corporate Social Responsibility is becoming an increasingly important element on national and transnational policy agendas. An ever more diverse range of businesses are adopting CSR strategies as a core part of their business model. Socially responsible business can contribute to restoring trust in the market in the post-crisis context. In last years European Commission encouraging international business development and in same time, CSR instruments development in all types of organizations for encourage responsible business conduct. In this paper our purpose was to analyse the current stage of CSR in the EU. For this, we divided our research in two parts: in first part we analyze the current stage of CSR reporting of the EU members and in the second part, we study the organizational sectors of company which fulfill their report of sustainability. Our results prove us that are a few factors that influence the current stage of reporting and in last years number of company that report their CSR activity is increasing in all sectors and in all countries. Given the fact that CSR activities are becoming more and more important in any successful business, and taking into account the legislative changes that took place in European Laws, we consider CSR reporting to be even more intense in the years to follow, in EU member states

THE ROLE OF COMPLIANCE IN AN ORGANIZATION. WAYS OF IMPLEMENTATION

In this paper we analyzed the importance of ethical and conduct codes in implementing the compliance programs in an organization. We presented the assumptions that were the basis for the forming of ethic and compliance programs, as well as their evolution in the last decades. In the first part of this paper we highlighted the legislation that outlined principles required for organizations to implement their compliance programs and business ethics. This legislation came as a response to corporate scandals relating to bribery, fraud and corruption in the 70s, and governments of the affected countries were forced to react in order to prevent, detect inappropriate behaviour, as well as improve corporate behaviour. After coming into force of the Federal Law "The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977" (FCPA, 1977), there was an increase in the number of codes of conduct and corporate involvement in adopting a conduct supported by consumers and stakeholders and to redefine the standards and values, to create a new image corresponding to the new market requirements. In the Guidelines 2002 basic principles are set out in order to efficiently implement a compliance and ethics program in business. The case study was materialized in the analysis of ethics and compliance codes, and the method used for implementing them in three Romanian companies. Analyzing the three ethics and conduct codes, we can conclude that the most important factor to successfully implement ethics and compliance within an organization is "tone from the top". CEO conduct is one that has a direct effect on members of the organization. Furthermore, we followed capturing developments in the rules governing the international business ethics and evaluated the legal framework regulating these issues. The primary aim was to assess how rules are implemented throughout business ethics compliance programs developed at company level and to identify ways to promote - at an organizational level – the culture of ethical business and compliance

ETHICS AND COMPLIANCE IN BUSINESS

In this paper, we have studied the evolution of the business ethics concept through the prism of definitions from some renowned authors in the field and through the approach model of the business ethics and by implementing it in the company level. We have found out that in the last 40 years this concept has evolved from a theoretical aspect, as well as a practical one. Companies are motivated to implement ethics and compliance programs in business so that they can manage the changes that come from society. If, until recently, all that mattered for a company was profit, in the last decades, the situation changed. In order to develop a durable business, it is essential to have a good reputation. Owning and implementing an ethics and compliance program in business has become an imperative for companies, regardless of their activity sector. The role of the compliance department becomes more pregnant in each company: the employees need safety, the existence of communication lines provides comfort. From the partners in business’ point of view, owning such a program is a necessity, a condition, and not conforming to the principles of business ethics can lead to the isolation of the company. The ethics and compliance programs in business are instruments that protect the company by implementing certain proactive identification mechanisms that ensure the development of an ethical organizational culture

THE EVOLUTION OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORTING IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Modern society is confronting with problems such as global warming, pollution, contamination of the soil. As a response to these problems, organizations are implementing corporate social responsibility programs, as a way of dealing with these new challenges. CSR reporting began in the 90’s in the USA, but in the last twenty years, EU companies have shown an increasing involvement to a point in which today European CSR reports ammount to 38% of the total reports worldwide. The Global Reporting Initiative is a nongovernmental organism that provides companies which wish to create CSR reports, a set of guidelines and databases what contain CSR reports from 1999 to the present day. As an answer to the need of companies to report their CSR activities, in November 2014, the European Union published Directive 2014/95/EU regarding the obligation of large companies to anually report a series of nonfinancial aspects and information. A priority of the European Comission is to align the CSR reporting method of the member states to the global methods. The comission has evaluated in 2013 the progress of member states and reached the conclusion that member states have chosen different pahts: some have taken only small impact decisions – such as informative and promotional actions for CSR – while other states have taken legislative measures to support corporate social responsibility

TAX EVASION IN CROSS BORDER TEXTILES OPERATIONS

We appreciated that the work can be divided into four chapters designed to enlighten, as far as possible the negative effects that evasion has, particularly the socio-economic phenomenon, faced by all countries. The negative effects generate an indisputable fraud phenomenon and tax evasion, which are felt directly on the level of tax revenue receipts, causing major distortions in the functioning of the mechanism of the market. Fiscal policy using the taxes generates psychological, financial, economic, social effects on a socio-economic environment. The public power that realizes the reality of the tax consequences of the action taken as solution changes of the tax system structure in order to modulate the effects according with the expected outcome. Therefore, the aimed pursued extent influences the technical characteristics of the taxes, and they influence the micro and macroeconomic effects. In this respect it has been proved that reducing tax evasion it allows the creation of budgetary resources necessary for allotting funds for economic growth. Developing and implementing a modern and predictable tax for a medium and long term, would be indispensable in the context of competition that occurs between the European states for attracting new investment and creating new jobs. The taxes do not have to shape the behavior of taxpayers, they must be the same regardless of the type of income, it should not include distortions. In order to be reasonable, the fiscal tax should be distributed as wide as possible

BUSINESS ETHICS IMPLEMENTATION IN ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE OF COMPANIES

Abstract: In this paper we have analysed the perception and implementation of the principles of business ethics for companies. This paper is a theoretical approach to ethical principles and the corresponding legislation, as well as an analysis of the degree of alignment of national legislation with the latest stipulations following the entry into force of the UK Bribery Act. This Act is currently recognized as a new and more comprehensive approach on the subject of ethics in international affairs. At the same time, this paper focuses on the study case regarding the comprisal of Business Ethics principles within the activity of Romanian companies. Therefore, a practical approach is achieved, with an applicability of the theoretical aspects, which are the subject of the first part of this paper. We analysed the need to implement Codes of Ethics and their advantages. Companies that do business with an organization that has implemented a Code of Ethics should be aware of its provisions and act accordingly, because it is a mandatory issue for all employees, and also in its relationships with the external stakeholders. A code of ethics is a tool, a means of transmitting the organizational culture to its members, conferring them a sense of common identity, like the membership of a team. The desire of any company is to improve ethical performance, and, in order to achieve this, they need to build up, day by day, protection and to introduce it into a daily routine activity. Both managers and employees need guidance on how to act in certain situations that raise ethical questions. The best way to solve these situations is through the existence of a code of ethics that both managers and employees can turn to for guidance at any time and reach the right directions. Completed in July 2010 and entering into force in 2011, the UK Bribery Act is the latest approach to corruption. This Act has been described as the toughest anti-corruption legislation in the world, blaming a behavior that is not acceptable in the global market. With the advent of this new law, many companies were forced to update their codes of ethics in order to meet the new challenges introduced by this law. In this context, our research is based on the study case of the way in which the best performing company in Romania, OMV Petrom, uses in its practice the ethical values that are compulsory at an international level

WAYS OF REPORTING CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSABILITY CASE STUDY: THE STATE OF REPORTING OF COMPANIES OPERATING IN THE FIELD OF TEXTILES AND APPAREL

In this paper we have analysed the current state of reporting CSR activity of companies activating in the textiles and apparel industry. Noticing that the number of companies that invest in CSR programs is increasing on a world-wide level and in the last years even in Romania, we wanted to analyse the situation of the companies from a field of activity less involved in CSR programs. The importance of CSR programs has increased more and more in recent times, from a reputation point of view but mostly of reasons of a stronger involvement of companies in the communities where they are present, but also in educating their own employees which become more motivated if they can participate in various actions undertaken through CSR programs. The implementation of such programs adds value to the businesses developed by the company, taking into account that more segments of consumers have expressed their availability to buy products made by companies that promote such programs. The visibility of CSR projects is made by presenting the programs that the company promotes in sustainability reports, by using means and indicators defined under the Global Reporting Initiative. Following the study we have made, we found out that although world-wide the number of companies that have CSR programs and make sustainability reports is increasing, the number of companies in the textiles and apparel industry that make such reports is very small

Assessment of Impact of Human Leukocyte Antigen-Type and Cytokine-Type Responses on Outcomes after Targeted Therapy Currently Used to Treat Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia

Tumor growth and metastasis are reliant on intricate interactions between the host immune system and various counter-regulatory immune escape mechanisms employed by the tumor. Tumors can resist immune surveillance by modifying the expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) molecules, which results in the impaired presentation of tumor-associated antigens, subsequently evading detection and destruction by the immune system. The management of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is based on symptom severity and includes various types of targeted therapies, including rituximab, obinutuzumab, ibrutinib, acalabrutinib, zanubrutinib, idelalisib, and venetoclax. These therapies rely on the recognition of specific peptides presented by HLAs on the surface of tumor cells by T cells, leading to an immune response. HLA class I molecules are found in most human cell types and interact with T-cell receptors (TCRs) to activate T cells, which play a vital role in inducing adaptive immune responses. However, tumor cells may evade T-cell attack by downregulating HLA expression, limiting the efficacy of HLA-dependent immunotherapy. The prognosis of CLL largely depends on the presence or absence of genetic abnormalities, such as del(17p), TP53 point mutations, and IGHV somatic hypermutation status. These oral targeted therapies alone or in combination with anti-CD20 antibodies have replaced chemoimmunotherapy as the primary treatment for CLL. In this review, we summarize the current clinical evidence on the impact of HLA- and cytokine-type responses on outcomes after targeted therapies currently used to treat CLL