STRATEGIES OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

The present paper emphasizes the corporate social responsibility (CSR) state and development strategies in the European Union and at the level of the Romanian business environment. The aim of the paper is to present the similarities and differences in theCorporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Strategy, Vision – Mission – Values System

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES FOR SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENTS IN ROMANIA

Socially responsible investments (SRI) are one of the main instruments of corporate social responsibility (CSR) used by companies for complying with their economic, environmental, social and governance criteria. In general terms, SRI refers to an investments strategy which focuses on both maximizing financial returns and social goods. The aim of the present paper is to offer a general framework of the SRI process at the European level, but, especially, for the Romanian business environment, taking into account the corresponding opportunities and challenges associated with SRI and emphasizing the rising role of SRI for increasing competitiveness. The intended contribution of the research envisages the delineation of a set of strategic priorities for SRI in Romania, as part of CSR policies, in the context of the post-accession to the EU. In analysing the concept of SRI two main approaches should be taken into account: the corporate and the governmental one. For the corporate approach of SRI, an empirical analysis will be conducted by taking into account the business activities of the Romanian investment companies. Although CSR in Romania begins to come closer to the European requirements and to copy the social involvement models of the European companies, this is not available also for the SRI, that still are a less known and applied concept in the Romanian business environment. The aim of the paper is to identify the causes of the problem and to offer a set of strategic recommendations.competitive advantage, corporate social responsibility (CSR), socially responsible investments (SRI), strategic approach, sustainability.

Financial Investment Management: Testing the Market Model on the Romanian Capital Market during the Post Financial Crisis

This article presents an analysis of the decision of investing in the capital market in Romania during 2009-2010, in the context of overcoming the global financial crisis. In the first part of the paper, we have made a brief presentation of the simplified model of market analysis introduced in the specialized literature by William Sharpe, the respective model representing the starting point in our study. The purpose of the present study is to emphasize how the evolutions of the financial securities rates listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange could be explained based on the evolution of BET Romanian capital market index. Although the study over this phenomenon has begun in the middle of the last century, every day new studies appear that are either coming in addition to the already existing ones or are bringing a new approach regarding the financial theory. The novelty of the present study conducted by us resides in the highlighting of the evolutions of the financial securities rates during July 2009 – December 2010 periods. The second part of the paper presents the results of a study conducted on the Romanian capital market, emphasizing the correlations between the most important securities on the Romanian capital market, as parts of BET index and market index. The aim is to check whether during this period the evolution of the financial securities’ return can be explained more or less by the return of the capital market.financial market model, return of financial securities, security-market correlation.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DURING THE ECONOMIC CRISIS. THE CASE OF THE ROMANIAN COMPANIES

The aim of the present paper is to identify and comment on the existing relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the current economic crisis, by focusing on the experience of the Romanian companies. After briefly defining the concept of CSR, the article presents the above mentioned relationship from a triple perspective: the lack of ethics as a cause of the economic crisis, the threat of CSR in periods of crisis and the opportunity of CSR in periods of crisis, considering that the last perspective could be maximized if companies are going to approach CSR from a strategic point of view. Finally, the second part of the paper presents what Romanian companies really do, but, more important, what they should do in order to increase their effectiveness in terms of CSR implementation when social budgets seem to remain constant or even decrease.Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic Crisis, Stakeholders, Risk Management

Corporate social responsibility–analysing social and financial performance, the case of Romania

Our paper emphasizes the strategic importance of CSR both for companies and society as well. A comprehensive literature review reflects the challenges mainly associated with two different approaches: CSR as a profitable business practice that consolidates a good corporate image, or CSR as an inefficient way of using corporate resources, negatively correlated with financial performance. Our paper brings theoretical and practical evidence proving that CSR improves the business commercial and financial performance; certain correlations should be established between social and financial indicators. As a case study, we analyze an international company on the Romanian market that has increased its business performance by adopting different CSR measures.peer-reviewe

Instruments for Evaluating the Performance of Corporate Social Responsibility.The Romanian Case

The demand for greater corporate accountability, transparency and credibility determined businesses to take into account their social and environmental impacts, but also to report on their performances in these areas. The idea of the present paper is to emphasize the role of different corporate social responsibility (CSR) instruments in forging the general strategy that a company should apply in order to respond to the community requirements and to benefit from its social performance. First part of the paper briefly analyses the main CSR instruments: codes of conduct, management standards, corporate sustainability reporting, social and environmental labels, socially responsible investments, surveys on sustainability performance, award schemes, benchmarking. The second part of the paper presents the situation of the companies acting on the Romanian market considering the transparency and credibility of the CSR actions carried out by them, as well as the instruments used in order to reinforce their community involvement. Last part of the paper comprises conclusions and recommendations on the topic.corporate social responsibility (CSR), codes of conduct, management standards, corporate sustainability reporting, social and environmental labels, socially responsible investments