Socially responsible entrepreneurship

Business social responsibility and controversial motives

So, corporate social responsibility is a concept whereby organizations take into account the interests of society, taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, local communities and other stakeholders, as well as on the environment. This obligation goes beyond the statutory obligation to comply with the law and requires organizations to voluntarily take additional measures to improve the quality of life of workers and their families, as well as the local community and society as a whole.

The practice of corporate social responsibility is the subject of much controversy and criticism. Defenders argue that there is a solid business case, and corporations reap numerous benefits from operating for a broader, longer-term perspective than their own short-term profit margins. Critics argue that social responsibility distracts from the fundamental economic role of business; some argue that this is nothing but an embellishment of reality; others say this is an attempt to replace the role of governments as overseer of powerful multinational corporations. A separate part of my work is devoted to this discussion.

Two approaches to studying social responsibility of business

There are two main approaches to studying the social responsibility of business. On the one hand, this is the concept of M. Friedman, which is based on formal (instrumental) rationality. On the other hand, the representatives of the second approach are researchers who rely on substantive rationality. They recognize that the social responsibility of business is complex and does not boil down to mere economic interests.

Before dwelling in more detail on these two opposing approaches to the study of corporate responsibility, I would like to note that leaders and managers of modern companies are increasingly aware of the positive impact of socially responsible behavior on the achievement of not only strategic, but also financial goals of their business.

Milton Friedman against social responsibility in business

Milton Friedman, Nobel laureate and supporter of the policy of monetarism, in one of his articles sets out the following view of business responsibility:

“When I hear businessmen expressively talk about the 'social responsibility of business in a market economy', I involuntarily recall a story about a Frenchman who, when he turned 70, suddenly discovered that he had been speaking prose all his life. Businessmen believe that they are defending the market economy when, not without pathos, they assert that business is connected not only with making a profit, but also with the achievement of certain social results, that business has a special "social conscience" and that it is responsible for providing employment, eliminating discrimination, preventing environmental pollution and anything else that is part of the vocabulary of the modern generation of reformers. They actually preach - or would preach, if they themselves, or anyone else, took it seriously - pure and undisguised socialism. Businessmen who reason in this way are puppets of the forces that have undermined the foundations of a free society over the past decades. ”

Then Friedman proceeds to define the very concept of "social responsibility". He reasons like this: “In a market economy based on private property, the manager of a corporation is an employee in relation to the owners of the business. He is directly responsible to the owners and their employers. This responsibility consists in conducting business in accordance with their desires, which, generally speaking, can be reduced to obtaining the maximum possible profit within the framework of accepted rules in society, enshrined in laws or ethical norms. Of course, it can happen that his employers do not share this goal. A group of individuals may start a company for a charitable cause, such as a hospital or school. The manager of such a corporation will have in the form of a goal not the receipt of monetary profits, but the provision of certain services.

In any case, the key point is that in his position as a manager of a corporation, he is the spokesman for the interests of those who own this corporation or founded it for charitable purposes, and his main responsibility is to them.

In each of these cases, the manager will spend someone else's money in the general public interest. As long as his actions, carried out for reasons of "social responsibility", reduce the income of shareholders, he spends their money. As soon as his actions lead to higher prices for consumers, he also spends consumer money. As soon as his actions reduce the salaries of some employees, he also spends their money.

Shareholders, consumers and employees could manage their own money as they wished. The manager acts more from considerations of "social responsibility" than acts as a spokesman for the interests of the same shareholders, consumers or employees, if he spends their money differently than they would have done it themselves. "

One cannot but agree that it is extremely difficult to choose the areas of manifestation of social responsibility of companies. In addition, according to Friedman, a corporate manager becomes a public employee, a servant of society, although formally he remains an employee of the private sector.

Milton Friedman's ideas may appeal to some entrepreneurs. But his arguments sometimes work against his own concept of a kind of social indifference. For example, the author himself advocates the observance of not only laws, but also ethical norms, but does not consider this to be a manifestation of social responsibility.

Most likely, Friedman means by the social responsibility of the company, first of all, charitable programs, which, in his opinion, should be implemented either by individuals or by public organizations.

Friedman also argues that a manager is not a public servant. As for serving the community, a prominent Japanese businessman, Kazuma Tateishi, has written about it well. He argues that the very growth of a company should be understood as an increase in the ability to contribute to the development of society.

It turns out that all the main groups of its stakeholders are interested in expanding the company's activities: its employees, and consumers of branded products, and shareholders, and the local population, and business partners, whose activities, other things being equal, will also successfully develop in parallel with the development of the key company. And Kazuma Tateishi writes that in a concentrated form the idea of service to society finds its expression in the following postulate: the one who best serves the society wins the most. If a company is not capable of serving society in the most perfect form, then it does not deserve the right to exist. And it would only be fair to liquidate this kind of company. On the other hand, those companies that serve society in the best possible way deserve "oxygen" for their growth and all possible encouragement.

Michael Porter: Why Social Responsibility Benefits

Not everyone agrees with the views of M. Friedman both among scientists and entrepreneurs themselves. In recent years, social responsibility in business has come to be called directly the "social advantage" of the company. This idea was first expressed by Michael Porter, a professor at the Harvard Business School and the author of the theory of competitive advantage, in his article in the Harvard Business Review "Philanthropy's New Challenge - Creating Value" in 1999.

Porter points out that social programs today are used by companies mainly as a form of "public relations" or for advertising purposes. For example, the tobacco company Philip Morris (USA) spent $ 75 million in 1999 on various donations, and then spent another $ 100 million on their advertising campaign.

According to the author, critics of the implementation of the principle of corporate social responsibility put forward two main arguments. First, the social and economic goals of the company are clearly different from each other, so spending on social programs is a cost from the point of view of achieving economic results. Second, companies that are engaged in social projects bring no more public benefit than individual donors. These statements are true if social corporate programs are fragmented and unfocused, which is typical for many more companies. However, there is another way to implement socially responsible business: companies can strengthen their competitive position by improving the quality of the business environment in the places where they operate. As M. Porter notes, the use of philanthropy as a competitive advantage of a company allows linking social and economic goals and improving the long-term prospects of its development.

The study of the practice of companies that implement their social projects in the context of competitiveness indicates that both economic and social goals are being achieved. In the long term, these goals do not contradict each other, but turn out to be closely interrelated. This does not mean that every investment made by the company will bring social benefits or that every social project will improve its competitiveness. Most of the investments have positive consequences only for business, and various kinds of donations - only for society. However, there is an area where "convergence of interests" is taking place. In this case, the company's social activities become truly strategic.

The problem of “strategic philanthropy,” as Porter called it, lies in the early nineteenth century. in determining in which areas you need to focus your social activities to improve the company's competitiveness and how to do it effectively.

Unfortunately, it should be noted that the management approaches of most modern corporations, including transnational ones, have so far changed little in accordance with new ideas.

An example of a social program implemented within the framework of old approaches is one of the projects of Avon Products (cosmetics production). In 2002, 400,000 people were involved in a door-to-door company (when company representatives go from house to house) to raise funds to fund a breast cancer prevention program. In total, $ 32 million was collected. Despite the social significance of this project, it did not lead to an increase in the company's competitiveness, although it was aimed at the main category of its consumers - women. Trying to help the health of all women, and not just certain categories of Avon consumers, seem to be attempts to solve a global problem, although it would be best to narrow the field of action and focus your social strategy.

A positive example is IBM, whose social activities are certainly strategically oriented. In particular, since 1994, an educational retraining program in the field of computer technologies, intended both for teachers and for schoolchildren and students, began to be implemented. Working closely with city schools, colleges and government education departments around the world, IBM employees provide teacher development and student training and retraining. An independent examination has shown that the level of computer training of schoolchildren and students has increased significantly.

Johnson & Johnson uses the same approach.

It is important to understand that new approaches to the manifestation of social responsibility in business are not easy to implement in practice, they should not be considered by management as some kind of short-term companies - they are designed for the long term and should gradually expand and develop. The more closely social responsibility in business is linked to the goals of achieving competitive advantages, the more social benefits the company's stakeholders will receive. Thus, the new business paradigm proposed by M. Porter, in my opinion, can become the basis for the strategic management of both national and transnational corporations in the 21st century!

Business is a definite positive and voluntary reaction of the company to social problems. There are two opinions about the level of participation at which an organization is considered to follow this principle. First, the social responsibility of the business is that the company conducts its activities aimed at increasing profits without breaking the law. Second: in addition to meeting the requirements of the economic plan, the organization must make a certain voluntary contribution to solving the problems of society and take into account how it affects employees, consumers, and the environment. It is certain that in recent years the second point of view has become more and more prevalent among companies and experts.

If we rely on it, then it should be understood that a socially responsible business should form a certain behavior oriented towards solving positive problems for society in all areas of the company's activity. All this should be reflected in the mission, goals, values, as well as in local documents regulating the organization's activities. Moreover, social responsibility is not only a certain behavior of the company's top management, but the principles that are observed at all levels of the organization. In practice, there are several of the most common manifestations of these principles.

The first is the formation of a so-called package of certain benefits for the company's employees (it includes various types of assistance in difficult situations, additional pensions, various recreational activities, free meals, summer vacations for employees' children). Basically, all this can be found in large companies.

The second manifestation of business in the location of the organization is the presence (since Soviet times) on various infrastructure that is not related to production activities: dispensaries, kindergartens, dormitories, engineering networks, sports complexes. At the same time, the maintenance of fixed assets requires the company to maintain a balance of interests between economic efficiency and the solution of social problems. True, when a company finds itself in a difficult financial situation, non-core real estate is often the first place where management seeks reserves to reduce costs.

Also, the social responsibility of business can be manifested in which it is carried out in relation to certain categories of citizens (veterans, newborns, disabled people, students, etc.), objects of cultural, historical value. In addition, it may consist in the financing of any events (sports, cultural, holidays).

Solving such problems, the company works to create a positive image and receives certain intangible dividends. In particular, the social responsibility of business strengthens trust on the part of partners, authorities, forms a "zone of well-being" around the organization, and attracts qualified and trained personnel.

Coursework for the course: Social insurance

On the subject: Socially Responsible Business

Introduction

By the end of the twentieth century, many countries approached the formation and development of an open civilized society, in which new forms of communication based on partnership and healthy competition are born, on legal and socially responsible foundations, business culture is improving in the sphere of production, everyday life, and leisure.

The relevance of the work lies in the fact that at present any large company is responsible to the society in which it operates. Therefore, its first responsibility is to remain powerful, efficient and cultural for the benefit of employees, shareholders and customers, making a tangible contribution to the economy, the well-being of the country and society. An integral part of the corporate culture should be the formation of the image of the company - a citizen who fulfills the prescribed social duties and cares about bringing the greatest possible benefit to the entire society.

The purpose of the work is to consider how the social responsibility of business is related to the public: with local residents, residents of the region, country, as well as with the world community. At what level does business contribute to the lives of local residents and public life through its main mission - efficient and ethical production of goods and services, direct and indirect job creation, ensuring fair wages and benefits, paying taxes to the budget.

Based on the goal, the following tasks are set:

Consider the essence of social responsibility of business. Interaction between business and government in social responsibility.

Examine the challenges that socially responsible businesses can face.

To highlight the criteria for socially responsible behavior and the mechanisms of its regulation.

Identify the levels of social responsibility of the business.

Consider social programs for socially responsible business.

Explore social and socially responsible investing.

Consider charitable and social activities using the example of one of the Russian companies.

The object of the research is companies engaged in socially oriented activities that understand what strategic advantage such activities give.

The subject of work is the internal and external social activities of companies, goals and objectives of social responsibility, social investment and other manifestations of social responsibility.

The following sources were used to highlight the problems of socially responsible business: books by A.N. Averina, M.M. Alekseeva, L.N. Koval, Yu.D. Krasovsnikiy, E.V. Ksenchuk; authors such as D. Mednikov, S. Simpson, S. Turkin, Sadkov V. and others also used the information on the official website of LUKOIL.

Chapter 1. Social responsibility of business

.1 The essence of social responsibility of business, business, government and social responsibility

One of the main trends in modern socio-economic development is the socialization of business, which has been clearly visible since the early 1990s. The International Conference on Sustainable Development, held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, became a turning point that recorded new demands on the part of the world community for corporations to increase their social responsibility. It served as a powerful impetus for the intensification of the study of the role of large companies in solving social problems, as well as the development of programmatic policy documents at the corporate, national and international levels that define the areas of social responsibility and social functions of business.

The actualization and priority of the problems of social responsibility of business are due to a number of circumstances, the main one of which is the increase in the importance of intangible factors of economic growth associated with the development of human potential. Today, the competitiveness of firms operating in the world market, and therefore of national economies, is largely determined by factors lying on the side of quality rather than price. The most significant of them is the ability to innovate and perceive the latest technological advances, which is based on human, intellectual, social capital, that is, the quality of the workforce and the motivation of workers. It is this circumstance that sets the economic imperatives of business socialization.

The main reason for the increased attention to the development of social functions of the entrepreneurial community was the revision of traditional views on the concept of social policy from the position of expanding the circle of its subjects. Until about the 1970s, business was primarily financially involved in solving social problems, paying taxes and facilitating the implementation of charitable programs. Specific mechanisms for meeting social needs remained the prerogative of the state and civil society institutions. In the last quarter of the last century, in the most developed countries, rather high standards of social protection of the population were developed, coupled with an equally high level of state social costs: today, GDP is redistributed through the state budget in most developed countries.

Such trends of demographic and socio-economic development as the aging of the population, destabilization of employment (due to the growth of its flexible and non-standard forms and a decrease in the share of stable employees in the state and corporate sectors), the decline in the prestige of qualified industrial labor, increase the differentiation of conditions and wages. different categories of workers, increase the dependent burden on the most active part of the population, exacerbate social exclusion. To maintain the existing level of social guarantees, further growth in the volume of investments is required, which can no longer be provided only at the expense of the state budget. The development of fundamentally new mechanisms for the development of the social sphere is required.

Many politicians and scientists cite the fact that it should become an equal partner of social development as another reason for the activation of the social functions of big business. How successfully firms manage to unite efforts with the state and public organizations in the formation of an active strategy of social development will largely depend on the cognizance and productivity of the business. If he does not take on part of the responsibility for solving the growing problems in the social and labor sphere, he will become their first victim. To prevent further social polarization and destabilization, large financial resources will be required, and it will be commercial structures that will be taxed in the first place. This will lead to a decrease in competitiveness, a worsening of the economic situation and a further exacerbation of social problems.

Finally, another reason for the need to develop and institutionalize the concept of social responsibility of business is associated with globalization, which enhances the influence of large companies on economic development. National states are gradually losing the ability to independently form their domestic socio-economic policies, giving way to transnational corporations. The social and environmental consequences of the activities of powerful transnational structures, detrimental to the sustainable development of territories, can be prevented only through internationally agreed actions aimed at the gradual formation of socially oriented models of their behavior, united by the concept of "corporate citizenship".

The result of these actions was the institutionalization of the concept of social responsibility both at the level of individual countries and at the scale of the global community. At the country level, its most striking examples are the introduction of the post of Minister of Corporate Social Responsibility in the UK, the adoption of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in the USA, the calculation of special indices of sustainable growth,

development of codes of corporate conduct, introduction of corporate social responsibility criteria in assessing investment ratings of companies, the use of socially responsible investment screening procedures. Some of the largest international initiatives include: the International Business Council for Sustainable Development, which unites more than a hundred of the largest transnational corporations; European Business Declaration against Social Exclusion; The Global Compact, developed under the leadership of the UN Secretary General K. Annan, whose members are hundreds of large companies, a number of leading trade union associations, human rights and environmental organizations; The global initiative of corporate citizenship of the World Economic Forum and other Russia, the inclusion of the problem of social responsibility of business in the number of priorities is due to similar reasons. The main ones are the lack of budget resources for carrying out a full-fledged social policy and the objectively high role of large corporations in the development of regions. There is also a political reason - the entry of relations between the state and large business structures into a new stage.

1.2 Problems of social responsibility of business

At the moment, Russia first of all needs to solve the problems of the basic level of social responsibility, a significant part of which relates to the sphere of wages. According to our surveys, the level of wages of key production workers, which is insufficient for the normal reproduction of the labor force, is the most acute problem of the social and labor sphere at most Russian enterprises, including those in the fuel and energy complex. Among the related problems are the unjustified differentiation of wages, the irregularity and unpredictability of the process of its indexation, and the lack of transparency of the remuneration system.

The improvement of the economic situation in the country led to a significant decrease in the total volume of wage arrears, but today it still exists in front of 2.1 million people. In this regard, local hotbeds of tension are formed, in which debt to workers is steadily reproduced and growing.

Other tasks of the basic level of social responsibility that require urgent solutions include:

tax evasion, including social taxes (through shadow payments), undermining the social security of employees;

deviations from the norms of labor legislation, including those related to the procedure for engaging in overtime work and their payment, the regime for granting regular and educational leaves;

low guarantees of job preservation.

The tasks of the next level of socially responsible behavior are related to the fact that paternalistic relations between employers and employees prevail over partnerships. Here it should be noted, first of all, the lack of control over the quality and structure of in-house social programs by their consumers (employees), subjectivity in the distribution of non-financial benefits and benefits, inequality in the coverage of various categories of personnel by social programs.

Demands to expand the sphere of socially responsible behavior beyond the basic level, and even more so to take it outside the corporation in the current situation, cause protest moods on the part of both workers and entrepreneurs. The former believe that the degree of their social protection today is not high enough to implement social programs that are not directly focused on the personnel of enterprises. The latter, when choosing areas of social investment, prefer those that, having a pronounced demonstration effect, can bring public resonance.

The formation of the social responsibility of entrepreneurship is a long-term process, which proceeds contradictory even in the most developed and prosperous economies. At the same time, the external attributes of corporate citizenship are assimilated and disseminated much easier than there is a real restructuring of the motivation and behavior of business structures. The formation of socially responsible behavior in an entrepreneurial environment is possible only with targeted support from the state and its active participation in solving social problems. At the same time, the mechanism of socially responsible entrepreneurship cannot be considered as the main (and even more so the only) way to mitigate social contradictions, ensure social protection of the population and sustainable development. This is just one of the levers in the system, in which a consistent social policy of the state should play a leading role.

1.3 Criteria of socially responsible behavior and mechanisms of its stimulation

The problem of social responsibility of entrepreneurship is attracting increased attention of Russian researchers, entrepreneurs and politicians. However, the overwhelming majority of discussions are focused on the question of whether the social responsibility of a business can be limited only to the timely payment of taxes and the payment of decent wages, or it should assume additional social obligations, primarily in the development and implementation of various charitable programs. I would like to emphasize this connection. , firstly, that the observance of laws and norms prevailing in society is nothing more than a necessary condition for doing business in a civilized economy. "Secondly, the charitable activities of entrepreneurs were widely practiced long before the question of the social responsibility of business was raised, therefore, the concept of "socially responsible behavior" cannot be reduced to classical charity and honest observance by entrepreneurs of the established rules of the game. not yet widespread even in the Western world, but objectively necessary in modern conditions. In our opinion, the criterion of socially responsible business behavior is the presence of non-market elements in the reproduction behavior of a firm associated with the formation of partnerships. It allows you to distinguish between modern interpretations of corporate social responsibility and traditional philanthropy. Charity is dictated by ethical considerations, does not affect the strategic goals of the company, does not shape its behavior as a subject of the reproductive process.

Social responsibility presupposes changes in the behavior of a firm in the actual economic sphere, that is, when building relationships with all parties involved in its activities, employees, consumers and suppliers, local authorities, and the state. Using the terminology of the "mainstream", we can say: when making decisions about what to produce, how to produce, for whom to produce, a socially responsible entrepreneur (corporation-citizen) is guided not only by the criterion of market expediency, profitability, but also by criteria that take into account the interests of the parties. In the classical market scheme, the "failures" of the market are compensated by the state. In the new concept, a socially responsible entrepreneur (in a more mature model, a socially responsible business community) seeks, at least to some extent, to make up for these "failures" on its own.

Thus, business is gradually moving from a one-dimensional scale of values determined exclusively by the criterion of market rationality to a multidimensional scale that takes into account the economic, social and ethical aspects of its activities. This process proceeds in line with the general trend of socialization of economic development.

By creating the preconditions for sustainable development, socially responsible behavior in the long term is capable of providing tangible economic benefits to both the individual firm and the economy as a whole. For example, in 1999, a survey of the 500 largest American corporations found that the added value of companies that publicly made commitments to an ethical nature was twice as high as that of the rest. According to a survey of the largest companies by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index Group, those that were focused on social, environmental and ethical priorities in their activities performed better than others.

Nevertheless, in the short term, social investments mean additional costs and, accordingly, a slight decrease in competitiveness. Two important conclusions follow from this:

socially responsible behavior can be afforded primarily by the most powerful corporations that have a large margin of safety and serious competitive advantages;

in order to spread socially responsible behavior in the business environment, it must be stimulated by both the state and civil society.

On the part of the state, incentives, as a rule, take the form of tax benefits and, which is most important in modern Russian conditions, counter financing of socially significant projects, private-state partnership.

Incentives from civil society are carried out through Regulatory Enforcement. It is formed as a result of the preferences of a significant part of the population:

purchases of goods from socially responsible manufacturers (according to surveys, in developed countries 80-90% of consumers make a choice in favor of companies that are involved in socially significant projects;

investing money in shares of socially responsible companies;

linking your work career with a socially responsible employer.

Thus, socially responsible business entities receive significant economic benefits due to an increase in the competitiveness of a trademark and an increase in the investment attractiveness of a company, expanding opportunities for attracting qualified personnel (increasing competitiveness in the labor market). Individual entrepreneurs and the business community as a whole receive the following benefits: reduced risk of loss of reputation; strengthening loyalty and constructive collaboration with staff, investors, consumers, suppliers, government departments, local communities and civil society organizations. At the same time, companies that deviate from declared ethical standards face serious problems. Empirical studies show that in developed market economies, the benefits of socially responsible behavior are sufficient to "encourage any company thinking about its future to consider corporate citizenship as an organic part of its business." Under these conditions, an increase in the company's economic interest in acquiring a "socially responsible person" is inevitable. As the circle of socially responsible entrepreneurs expands, the risks and economic costs of socially responsible behavior gradually decrease.

1.4 Levels of social responsibility of entrepreneurship

Analysis of the development of socially responsible behavior allows us to distinguish several levels of social responsibility of entrepreneurship.

The first, the basic level, reflects the "company of owners" model that has become widespread in the Anglo-Saxon countries. More precisely, it should be viewed as a prerequisite, a starting condition for socially responsible behavior. His demands are only in the conscientious fulfillment of his direct obligations to society and the state in accordance with the established rules of the game:

regularly pay wages, the amount of which should ensure the normal reproduction of labor of various qualifications;

comply with labor laws;

pay all applicable taxes on time and in full;

to ensure the established standards of product quality. For a number of reasons that will be discussed below, not only business entities, but also many analysts, representatives of government agencies, who adhere to different points of view on socio-economic policy in general, consider it expedient to limit the social responsibility of corporations this level.

The second level is associated with the development of partnerships within the firm and involves the direct consideration of the interests of employees on the basis of the negotiation process. In addition to compliance with the above basic obligations, this level guarantees the provision of a certain set of benefits and social services to employees, that is, the implementation of targeted social investments, which, with a certain degree of convention, can be divided into two types:

investments in human capital, including in professional training, retraining and advanced training of personnel, in improving the organization and enriching the content of labor, as well as in labor protection and health of workers;

social investments, the return on which is predominantly indirect and difficult to account for, such as improving pension and housing security, programs aimed not at the employee himself, but at his family members.

Despite the fact that almost all successful companies declare an increase in investments in specific human capital as a strategic priority, when determining the target volume of investments of the second type, they strive in one way or another to calculate their optimal (or minimum acceptable) level. In Russia, the fairly widespread distribution of programs of this type is partly due to the traditions of the Soviet period, when all large enterprises had a developed social infrastructure. Its purposeful dismantling in the crisis 1990s and the transfer of social facilities of enterprises to the balance of municipalities are currently regarded by many representatives of the business community as a wrong decision. According to a survey of participants in the conference "Corporate Social Policy" (2002), more than 80% were in favor of restoring the social infrastructure of enterprises, and only 15% were against. " reduction of programs of the second type as workers' wages rise (in accordance with the logic of the "company of owners" model).

The third level, external to the individual corporation, but not to the business community as a whole, encompasses programs and activities that extend beyond the enterprise. In this case, the object of social investment is the population of the territories or its individual categories, where the corporation's activities unfold. This includes all charitable programs and partially programs initially aimed at creating favorable conditions for the company's activities, giving a "spill-over effect", for example, investments in the transport infrastructure of the region, landscaping, street lighting. In contrast to the impersonal deduction of taxes, this form allows you to track the appropriate use of funds and get a specific end result in the form of improving the quality of life and improving the living environment.

For such an expansion of the sphere of social responsibility of entrepreneurship, it is necessary to form partnerships with the state at all levels - from municipal to federal authorities, as well as within the business community. Social responsibility in the broadest sense presupposes the participation of the latter in the development and implementation of state socio - economic policies aimed at sustainable development.

The chapter examined such criteria of socially responsible business, essence, problems and levels.

Chapter 2. Implementation of social responsibility of business

.1 Social programs of socially responsible business

To clarify the essence of social responsibility, it is advisable to present the phenomenon under consideration "as an integral system of various sides, trends, connections, relationships and components."

Of all the variety of existing approaches to determining the company's social responsibility, three of the most common can be distinguished.

The theory of corporate selfishness is based on the assertion that the sole responsibility of a business is to increase the profits of all its shareholders. M. Friedman, argued that "there is only one social responsibility of the business world - to use its resources and engage in activities aimed at increasing profits, subject to the rules of the game, that is, engage in open free competition without deception and fraud."

The theory of “enlightened self-interest” insists that socially responsible business is simply “good business” because it reduces long-term profit loss. By spending money on social and philanthropic programs, the corporation reduces its current profits, but in the long term creates a favorable social environment and, thus, sustainable profits in the future. The manifestation of social responsibility helps to improve the image of the corporation, relations in the team, attract new customers, increase the sales of its products (services), as a result of which the value of the corporation's shares on the market grows. Consequently, socially responsible behavior is an opportunity for a corporation to fulfill its basic needs for survival, safety and resilience.

Corporate social responsibility is a regularly revised and dynamically changing set of commitments that are consistent with the specifics and level of development of the corporation, voluntarily and consistently developed with the participation of key stakeholders, taken by the company's management, taking into account the opinions of staff and shareholders, carried out mainly at the expense of the corporation and aimed at implementation of significant internal and external social programs, the results of which contribute to the development of the company (increase in production volumes, improve the quality of products and services, etc.), improve its reputation and image, establish corporate identity, develop corporate brands, as well as expand constructive partnerships with the state , business partners, local communities and civic organizations.

Social responsibility implies some kind of voluntary response to something that is outside of the requirements set by law or regulatory authorities, or beyond these requirements. It is a voluntary duty of entrepreneurs to pursue such a policy, make such decisions and follow such directions of activity, which are desirable from the point of view of the goals and values of society.

Among the most common areas of companies' social programs, one can single out such as: personnel development, health protection and safe working conditions, socially responsible restructuring, environmental protection and resource conservation, local community development and good business practices.

The first direction - personnel development - is the direction of the company's social programs, which are carried out as part of the personnel development strategy, with the aim of attracting and retaining talented employees.

Among the social programs for the development of the company's personnel, the following areas of activity can be used: training and professional development, the use of motivational remuneration schemes, the provision of a social package to employees, the creation of conditions for rest and leisure, the maintenance of internal communications in the organization, the participation of employees in making managerial decisions, and etc.

The second direction - health protection and safe working conditions - is the direction of the company's social programs, which ensure the creation and maintenance of additional health protection and safety conditions at workplaces in relation to the legally enshrined ones.

Programs within this area of the company's social activity, as a rule, cover the following areas of activity: occupational health and safety, medical care of personnel at the enterprise, maintaining sanitary and hygienic working conditions, maintaining motherhood and childhood, creating ergonomic workplaces, preventing occupational diseases and etc.

The third direction - socially responsible restructuring - is the direction of the company's social programs, which are designed to ensure that the restructuring is carried out in a socially responsible way, primarily in the interests of the company's personnel payments to employees who have been laid off, etc.).

The fourth area - environmental protection and resource conservation - is carried out at the initiative of the company in order to reduce the harmful impact on the environment. Programs are being carried out to economically consume natural resources, reuse and recycle waste, prevent environmental pollution, organize an environmentally friendly production process, organize environmentally friendly transportation, carry out greening campaigns and company clean-ups, etc.

The fifth area - the development of the local community - is carried out on a voluntary basis, contributing to the development of the local community. Companies are involved in the life of the local community through the implementation of various social programs and actions to support socially unprotected segments of the population, providing support to children and youth, supporting the preservation and development of housing and communal services and objects of cultural and historical significance, sponsoring local cultural, educational and sports organizations, and events, support for socially significant research and campaigns, participation in charity events, etc.

The sixth pillar, fair business practice, aims to promote the adoption and dissemination of good business practices among suppliers, business partners and company customers. This is information openness in relation to owners, suppliers, business partners, customers and stakeholders, in the organization of programs to help small businesses by large companies, in programs to voluntarily restrict the scope of doing business - for example, the dissemination by tobacco companies of a policy of not selling cigarettes to minors, as well as cooperation with government bodies, consumer associations, professional associations and other public organizations.

An effective social policy enables a company to fulfill its basic needs for survival, safety and resilience. In turn, this increases the confidence of society, investors and shareholders in the company, and thereby increases the competitiveness of the business. A socially responsible business contributes to the creation of a favorable social environment and more stable development for the company in the long term.

Business social responsibility allows you to:

Increase profits, accelerate growth rates;

Companies - to gain access to socially responsible investments, in the distribution of which investors take into account the indicators characterizing the company's activities in the social and ethical spheres, in the field of environmental protection. There are several indices that allow assessing the degree of social responsibility of organizations - these are FTSE4Good, Dow Jones Sustainable Index, etc.

Possibly reduce operating costs, for example by reducing production or recycling waste, increasing energy efficiency, or selling recycled materials;

... “Improve” the brand and reputation, which will help develop and open up new markets and business areas;

Increase sales, customer loyalty (consumers want to know that products are manufactured with an understanding of environmental responsibility and other social aspects, some consumers are even willing to pay more for “responsible” products);

Increase the productivity and quality of the product (service);

Get more opportunities to attract and retain employees (people prefer to work in companies whose values coincide with their own);

Reduce claims from regulatory authorities;

Make risk management more efficient;

Improve competitiveness.

The current situation in Russia is characterized by the need to develop and disseminate practical systems and methods for the development of corporate ethics and social responsibility both at the company level and at the level of the business community as a whole. At the same time, the main priorities are ensuring mutually beneficial interests for business and society, using leading international standards. Accordingly, the main goals of business in a social context are to ensure sustainable development, both for enterprises and for the whole society as a whole, as well as increase its attractiveness to society. In this case, the social function is minimally implemented - due, in particular, to the creation of material and intangible values, the preservation or increase of the number of jobs, good business practices within the framework of the obligations prescribed by society.

2.2 Social and socially responsible investment

social entrepreneurship corporate responsibility

Now in strategic planning, it has become fashionable to form ethically oriented missions that focus on the contribution of business to social development. However, the main goal of the firm, company, enterprise, and regardless of their size, was, is and will be profit. And this is not a vice of selfish entrepreneurs, but paradoxical as it may sound, a factor in the development of business and the evolution of the capitalist market economic system as a whole.

Modern business is a system capable of self-development that depends on external influences and internal impulses. At the same time, the creation of such conditions under which profit-making will be associated with social and ethical values is the prerogative of the first and third sectors of any society - that is, the authorities and public non-profit organizations. Consequently, the issue of social responsibility of business should be addressed not only and not so much to the business community, but to the state and society as a whole.

Currently, innovations in the social sphere make it possible to form and use social technologies that contribute to finding an optimal position acceptable for society between the desire of business to make a profit and the social, environmental and ethical requirements of public morality. These technologies include social and socially responsible investment. In Russian practice, these two strategies are often confused, although the difference between them is quite tangible, if not fundamental.

Social investments are material, technological, managerial and other resources, as well as financial resources of companies allocated for the implementation of social programs developed taking into account the interests of internal and external stakeholders. Based on the foregoing, it can be assumed that, strategically, the company will receive a certain (although not always calculated) social and economic effect.

Socially Responsible Investing is the process of investing funds of investors, taking into account factors of a social, environmental and ethical nature, along with traditional financial analysis.

Thus, the fundamental difference between these technologies lies in the fact that social investments are directly aimed at improving corporate policies and practices, relations with external and internal stakeholders, the so-called stakeholders (eng. Stakeholder) of the company, and socially responsible investments lead the company to the need to improve policies and practices, that is, they act in an indirect way. The subject of the social investment strategy is the enterprise itself, or, to be precise, its top management and leading shareholders, socially responsible investment is the sphere of action of investors, their groups and associations.

The main goal of socially responsible investment is to combine the economic efficiency of investments with the ethical values of the investor. Thus, in the United States, where the largest segment of the world market for socially responsible investments is represented - $ 2.29 trillion, or 81.8% of the world market, the practice of socially responsible investment has a fairly long history, mainly associated with religious organizations and sects. In the American colonies, Quakers refused to invest in projects that could support the slave trade; the first formalized ethically oriented investment policy ignored the so-called "sinful goods" - alcohol, tobacco, gambling.

Social investment is focused on the development of the company and its relationships with external and internal stakeholders. The following groups stand out among the stakeholders:

business stakeholders (staff, customers, suppliers, partners, competitors, investors, etc.);

public stakeholders (non-profit organizations, local communities, media, etc.).

It is characteristic that both of these technologies are associated with the social responsibility of business before society. However, social investments are a means or a mechanism for realizing business responsibility to stakeholders in practice, and socially responsible investments are a way to motivate a corporation to pursue socially responsible policies.

In world practice, there are three strategies for socially responsible investment.

The selection of companies, or "screening", is a policy of evaluating enterprises according to the criteria for conducting socially responsible business on the basis of either their compliance (positive - negative or avoidance screening).

The total size of assets managed under the sifting strategy was $ 1,685 billion in the United States in 2005, a tenfold increase over the previous decade. The share of this strategy in total funds managed according to the principles of socially responsible investment is estimated at 68 percent. The main players in the market using this technology are mutual funds, whose assets are estimated at $ 179 billion, and separate accounts (socially screened separate accounts), managed for both individual and institutional investors, their assets are 1506 billion dollars. The main institutional investors are public pension funds (80.9%), corporations (9.2%), religious organizations (3.6%).

The actions of shareholders in defense of public interests (advocacy shareholders) are to bring issues of business social responsibility and corporate governance to the vote of the general meeting of shareholders, dialogue with the management of enterprises. Thus, in 2005 in the United States, 348 proposals were put forward by shareholders on the topics of social responsibility, corporate governance and mixed issues, the percentage of support averaged 10.3. In this case, the proposed proposal may be withdrawn if the company's management begins actions to implement it. In 2005, there were 177 such reviews. Of particular importance in this strategy is the activity of institutional investors representing their investors, for example, mutual funds, their policies and open voting.

Community investing is not aimed at improving corporate policies and practices, but at developing and solving specific problems. Their share in the total volume of socially responsible investments in the United States is about 1 percent, the size of assets in 2005 is estimated at 19.6 billion dollars, while in 1995 their volume was only 4 billion. Community Development Banks, which provide low- to moderate-income communities with conventional financial service opportunities previously unavailable to them, with assets valued at $ 10.1 billion, are the main investors in local communities; Community Development Credit Unions with $ 5.1 billion in assets; Community Development Loan Funds, with assets of 3.4 billion, provide credit and loan programs; Community Development Venture Capital Funds, $ 870 million.

The community investment infrastructure also includes a variety of programs and community investment support centers. For example, the Community Investment Center (www.communityinvest.org) provides access to information, databases, major news and events, allowing investors to navigate the community investment market. The Community Development Financial Institutions Assessment and Rating System, the Opportunity Finance Network project, should also be mentioned here; Certificate of Deposit Account Registry Service - Promontory Interfinancial Network program, and so on.

Thus, the possibility of socially responsible investment in the United States is conditioned by the level of development of the financial market and corporate governance.

In Russia, a clear system of social investment mechanisms has not yet developed, each enterprise acts in this area in its own way, looking for its own path. The Russian Managers Association presents the social policy of corporations in the following sequence:

determination of the priorities of social policy, enshrined in the philosophy of the organization of the enterprise, the corporate code, and other internal documents, including social reporting;

creation of a special structure in the area of social responsibility, for example, a committee under the board of directors;

conducting employee training;

implementation of social programs, including in partnership with authorities, non-profit organizations, or their transfer to outsourcing;

evaluation of the effectiveness of social programs and delivery of information to a wide range of users.

At the same time, the following main technologies for the implementation of social projects and programs are distinguished: corporate funds, socially responsible marketing, donations from employees and customers, grant competitions, etc.

According to the Association of Russian Managers, which conducted a survey of the country's leading enterprises, the specific value of social investments per employee in 2003 was 28,330 rubles, the share in gross sales - 1.96 percent, in balance sheet profit - 11.25 percent. This level of investment continued in subsequent years.

Areas of social and socially responsible investment are not similar in many ways. In Russia, the main areas of social investment are: personnel development (44.4%), resource conservation (21%), health care (9.3%), development of local communities (9.1%), good business practices (5.1% ). The main criteria for selecting companies for socially responsible investment (screening) are the so-called sinful goods (among which tobacco is in the lead), relations with local communities, compliance with environmental requirements and standards of labor organization and recruitment, human rights. Most (64%) of mutual funds use more than 5 sifting criteria, 11 percent - 2-4 criteria, 25 percent - one parameter. Shareholders' activity mainly affects corporate governance issues (organization of shareholder meetings, dividend policy, composition of the board of directors), corporate social responsibility (environment, health, safety, labor standards, openness of policy and practice, equal employment opportunities, etc.).

So, the main stakeholder of social investment in Russia is personnel, while socially responsible investment affects society as a whole (screening), the development of the company and relations with society (shareholders advocacy), local communities (community investing).

In motivating socially responsible investment, an important role is played by the influence of investors on companies, their ability to directly, through financial market instruments or as shareholders, influence the value and development of the corporation, as well as the importance of public opinion, awareness of business stakeholders through the publication of social reporting, social audit findings and assigning a rating to the company. Social reports can be presented in three forms: in free form; according to the Triple Bottom-Line method or other similar method, which evaluates the three sides of the company's activities - economic, social and environmental; in standardized forms used in world practice (AA1000, SA8000, GRI, etc.).

The rating of companies is carried out according to the parameter of social responsibility - technologies that turn public opinion into a real force capable of influencing decision-making. So, there are stock indices (Domini Social Index (DSI) 400, Nasdaq Social Index, FTSE4Good, Dow Jones Sustainability Index), capitalization-weighted indices of companies selected using social and environmental criteria; non-stock indices used for comparative positioning by interested organizations (eg Social Index of the Danish Ministry of Social Policy).

In Russia, the main incentives for implementing the strategy of socially responsible investment in practice are the convictions of entrepreneurs themselves, the need to enter the world market, government pressure, the influence of competitors, and similar factors.

The effectiveness of socially responsible investment is primarily associated with the achievement of its main goal - the realization of the possibility of combining the receipt of financial profit and the ethical values of the investor. Social investment provides the following effects for the company:

financial efficiency (risk insurance, improving HR efficiency, marketing and sales, reducing operating costs and transactions, etc.);

non-financial performance (brand image and reputation, customer and staff loyalty);

the effectiveness of influencing the situation in the territory of presence.

2.3 Charitable and social activities of LUKOIL

Social and charitable programs are a component of the corporate strategy for the Company and help constructive cooperation with the state, business community and society. Corporate programs are targeted in nature and rely on the professional experience and human potential available in the regions. At the same time, the Company has developed a clear understanding that charitable activities should not generate social dependency. Therefore, LUKOIL uses, along with traditional forms of charity, programs of strategic charity and social investment, which imply the interconnection of methods of solving social problems with the strategic goals of the Company. The joint activity of the commercial, non-profit and government sectors to address pressing socio-economic problems of local communities is a necessary attribute of this approach.

The company builds its activities in two strategic directions:

social investments,

sponsorship and traditional philanthropy programs.

The Company considers helping children to be its main priority, which is present in all implemented programs: charitable, sponsorship, programs for the development of children's and youth sports, culture. Social investments in human capital seem to be the most reasonable in modern conditions. The company strives for a balanced approach, supporting both children who, due to unfavorable family conditions or health, found themselves in worse conditions than their peers, and children from quite prosperous families, helping them develop natural abilities and talents.

Thanks to this program, inmates of 60 orphanages, boarding schools, as well as organizations of disabled children receive assistance from the Company, its subsidiaries and the LUKOIL Charitable Foundation. The company helps their graduates to get an education, improve their health, find a profession and find their place in life.

Every year the LUKOIL Charitable Foundation organizes summer vacations for children from sponsored orphanages in Kirov, St. Petersburg, Staraya Ladoga, the Astrakhan Region and the Perm Territory. In addition, inmates of children's institutions make excursion trips around the country. So, the best students of orphanages in the Perm Territory, Astrakhan Region, Kstovo, Langepas, Kirov, St. Petersburg and St. Ladogi spent winter school holidays in Moscow in January 2009 and 2010. Since 2006, the LUKOIL Charitable Foundation has been paying personalized LUKOIL scholarships to graduates of sponsored orphanages who study at higher and secondary educational institutions. Experience has shown that receiving a "LUKOIL" scholarship increases the level of performance of graduates of orphanages.

The company welcomes the manifestation among sponsored organizations of new professional approaches to solving the problems of orphans. Thus, in the Center for Assistance to Children Left without Parental Care, "Belchonok" in Langepas, thanks to the use of an advanced model for the development of family forms of placement and family support, most of the children are taken to family education. Similar forms of arrangement of children are also used in the orphanage No. 1 "Nadezhda" in the city of Kirov. The fate of graduates is the best proof of the correctness of the chosen approach. For example, in 2008. a graduate of the Squirrel Center in Langepasa graduated from high school with a gold medal. Many graduates of sponsored orphanages continue their studies in higher educational institutions and secondary vocational educational institutions. Moreover, they choose very different directions for their further education: a law academy, a technical university, an agricultural academy, a pedagogical university, a conservatory, an oil and gas university, an art school.

The Company pays special attention to children in need of medical care. For several years, within the framework of the "Illustrated Books for Little Blind Children" program, the project "For every blind child - a book as a gift" has been carried out. In 2008-2010 such publications were received by specialized children's institutions of the Astrakhan and Rostov regions, Perm region.

The company maintains a rehabilitation center for disabled children, unique for Western Siberia, located in Langepas. This institution is a pilot site for the TACIS project. The end result of the work was the creation of an optimal version of a rehabilitation center and the development of proposals for improving the regulatory framework for the provision of services for disabled children by three departments (education, health and social protection). The center was given the status of a regional experimental site for the further development of innovative activities.

Since 2008, the LUKOIL Charitable Foundation and enterprises of the LUKOIL Group in the Astrakhan Region have embarked on a project to educate young personnel from orphanages and children from low-income families in the region. In connection with the start of a large business project in the region, an acute shortage of technical specialists was revealed. In order to solve this problem, 30 children from orphanages and children from low-income families were able to study at secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of the Astrakhan region at the expense of the Company. Upon completion of the training, they will start working at LUKOIL enterprises in the region.

The priority area of the Company's activity is caring for the younger generation and training young qualified specialists for the Russian oil industry. LUKOIL provides support to a number of higher educational institutions that train oil and gas specialists, including the Russian State University of Oil and Gas named after V.I. THEM. Gubkina, St. Petersburg State Mining Institute, Perm State Technical University, Ukhta State Technical University, Tyumen State Oil and Gas University, Ufa State Oil Technical University, Volgograd State University, Volgograd State Technical University, Astrakhan State Technical University, Arkhangelsk State Technical University, Moscow Institute of Fine Chemical Technology named after M.V. Lomonosov, Russian University of Chemical Technology. D.M. Mendeleev, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

In addition to specialized universities, the Company provides financial support to the Russian Academy of Civil Service under the President of the Russian Federation, the State University - Higher School of Economics, the Financial Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation, the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the V. AV Khrulev, as well as institutions of secondary education - the Kstovo technical school and the Moscow school-gymnasium number 45.

Since 2000, to support the most talented university students, the Company has established personal scholarships, which are paid to students of oil and technical universities. Currently, 206 students in different cities of the country receive corporate "Lukoil" scholarships in the amount of 2500 and 3000 rubles per month.

Within the framework of the grant program to support young teachers, 90 gifted young teachers from the country's leading universities receive personal grants.

Helping universities in improving the educational and material base allows the educational process to be kept up to date. In particular, in 2008-2010. significant funds were allocated for the development of the material and technical base and the repair of premises of the Tyumen State Oil and Gas University, Ukhta State Technical University, Ufa State Oil Technical University, Perm State Technical University, Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Moscow School-Gymnasium No. 45, Russian State University of Oil and Gas them. THEM. Gubkin, Azerbaijan State Oil Academy.

One of the important areas of cooperation in improving the educational process is the Company's assistance in providing students with modern educational literature. Thus, several years ago, the publication of new textbooks for the Russian State University of Oil and Gas named after V.I. THEM. Gubkin and Tyumen State Oil and Gas University.

LUKOIL supports a number of major specialized medical research centers: Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology named after V.I. Academician V.I. Kulakova, Hematology Research Center, Russian Cardiology Research and Production Complex.

The company contributes to the development of a system of medical services in the regions of its presence. In particular, in 2008-2010. The company helped to purchase expensive equipment for the Limanskaya (Astrakhan region) central regional hospital, Astrakhan children's city clinical hospital No. 1, Ust-Tsilemskaya (Komi Republic) central regional hospital, Penza regional clinical hospital, Saratov 1st city clinical hospital named after V.I. Yu.A. Gordeev, Novoburassk central regional hospital of the Saratov region, Bolshemurashkinskaya (Nizhny Novgorod region) central regional hospital, Children's city hospital No. 1 in St. Petersburg.

Social programs of socially responsible business, socially responsible investment, as well as social and charitable activities of LUKOIL were considered.

Conclusion

In the course of solving the problems, the literature was studied in which the problems of socially responsible business were considered. The socially oriented activities of LUKOIL were reviewed.

In the course of work, the question arises of what is primary for Russia - the technology of social or socially responsible investment. There are no prerequisites for the development of socially responsible investment in our country yet. This is manifested, first of all, in the weakness of the financial market, underdevelopment of corporate law, low awareness of the population, complete absence of the appropriate infrastructure, as well as in the distrust of potential investors and the absence of traditions. However, there is a basis for the development of social investment in business, which is largely due to the social overload of enterprises in the Soviet era, and the state policy in this area. Thus, in Russia the question of creating a motivating infrastructure and institutions for social responsibility of business is being raised, one of which in the world is socially responsible investment.

List of sources used

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.http://www.lukoil.ru/static_6_5id_263_.html

Of all the variety of existing approaches to determining the company's social responsibility, three of the most common can be distinguished.

1. The theory of corporate selfishness is based on the assertion that the sole responsibility of a business is to increase the profits of all its shareholders. M. Friedman, argued that "there is only one social responsibility of the business world - to use its resources and engage in activities aimed at increasing profits, subject to the rules of the game, that is, engage in open free competition without deception and fraud."

2. The theory of corporate altruism appeared simultaneously with the publication of Friedman's article in the New York Times and belonged to the Committee for Economic Development. The committee's recommendations emphasized that "corporations have a responsibility to make a significant contribution to improving the quality of American life."

3. The theory of “enlightened self-interest” insists that socially responsible business is simply “good business” because it reduces long-term profit loss. By spending money on social and philanthropic programs, the corporation reduces its current profits, but in the long term creates a favorable social environment and, thus, sustainable profits in the future. The manifestation of social responsibility helps to improve the image of the corporation, relations in the team, attract new customers, increase the sales of its products (services), as a result of which the value of the corporation's shares on the market grows. Consequently, socially responsible behavior is an opportunity for a corporation to fulfill its basic needs for survival, safety and resilience.

Business social responsibility allows you to:

1. to increase profits, accelerate the growth rate;

2. for companies - to gain access to socially responsible investments, in the distribution of which investors take into account the indicators characterizing the company's activities in the social and ethical spheres, in the field of environmental protection. There are several indices that allow assessing the degree of social responsibility of organizations - these are FTSE4Good, Dow Jones Sustainable Index, etc.

3. Possibly reduce operating costs, for example by reducing production or recycling waste, increasing energy efficiency, or selling recycled materials;

4. “improve” the brand and reputation, which will help develop and open up new markets and business areas;

5. increase sales, customer loyalty (consumers want to know that products are produced with an understanding of environmental responsibility, as well as other social aspects, some consumers are even willing to pay more for “responsible” products);

6. increase the productivity and quality of the product (service);

7. get more opportunities to attract and retain employees (people prefer to work in companies whose values coincide with their own);

8. reduce claims from regulatory authorities;

9. make risk management more effective;

10. improve competitiveness.

Topic: Social responsibility of business in Russia: opportunities and prospects

University: Financial University

Year and city: Kaluga 2014

What is social responsibility? In my understanding, these are obligations given to society (by someone) in this or that issue of improving the life of the people. To begin with, I would like to consider the state of social responsibility of private enterprises in our country. Everyone understands perfectly well that any enterprise, any company, any business is created first of all to make a profit, because this business is the main source of income for its owner. Our country has a flexible, not fully developed, taxation system. This suggests that it is very tough in relation to taxpayers, primarily for enterprises. We all know that a lot of enterprises go into the “shadow” economy in order to avoid taxation and keep as much profit as possible. It is useless for the state to fight this. In my opinion, the situation can only be influenced by changing tax policy and increasing benefits for small businesses, since they have two threats of closure at once: these are stronger competitors in the form of medium and large enterprises and high taxes. What am I leading all this to, the fact is that at present about 80% of all enterprises in our country run a "shadow" economy and evade taxation in various ways, with only one goal - not to work at a loss. If these enterprises start paying taxes regularly, they will simply go bankrupt over time, instead of developing and producing more and more social benefits. Based on this, we can conclude that the concept of social responsibility in Russia will refer only to enterprises that "stand firmly on their feet", since social responsibility does not correspond to one of the most important principles of doing business - it is profit maximization.

So, we have decided on the so-called investors in the social sphere, now it is necessary to determine their capabilities. To our great regret, the state does not cope with social responsibility and there are a very large number of unresolved social problems (this also has its own factors, such as corruption, poor-quality work, etc., but we will not consider this). For example, the same famous Russian roads that everyone is so unhappy with. Every year, the authorities try to put them in order, however, due to poor-quality asphalt masonry and low-quality materials, they are in a deplorable state the next year. There are many such examples. Currently, all social work of private enterprises is carried out mainly for their advertising and attracting new consumers. This also applies to charity. For example, let's take the well-known McDonald's, which has hung posters everywhere that you help orphans when buying this or that burger. This leads to an increase in sales of that very "burger of help" and, naturally, an increase in the profits of McDonald's in general, but I think it's not worth scolding the company, despite their selfish intentions, they help children and this is also a plus for the company's image. It follows from this that Russian enterprises contribute to social benefits only if they derive any benefit for themselves. There are also just gratuitous donations, but their share is too small. In addition, there is a varying degree of importance of social benefits, for example, the repair and construction of kindergartens, schools, clinics will be more needed by society than the construction of additional parking lots.

What are the prospects for the development of social responsibility in Russian business? In my opinion, everything depends on economic growth in our country and business development. Also, the state needs to develop incentives for private enterprises to invest in social facilities. In our country, there is a very small share of the middle stratum of society, although it should be the largest. Why is this happening, you ask? Well, to a large extent, this is due to the tax system that has not been fully developed, in our country almost all tax rates are proportional, although if you look at developed countries with a strong economy, they have most of the taxes with a progressive tax rate. Why are progressive taxes good? They levy the people with the lowest income at the minimum rate, thereby receiving the opportunity from the state to accumulate the money earned. And people with higher earnings are taxed at a higher rate, and the more you earn, the more taxes you pay. Why is such a system good? The fact that she compares strata of the population and people with higher wages provide, subsequently after the redistribution of taxes, people with much lower incomes. In my opinion, this is social assistance, and as we know most of the taxes are paid by enterprises and if we follow such a taxation policy, small enterprises will receive a certain "bonus" from enterprises that are much larger for future development. However, there is one but. The system is very good, why then is it not used in our country? The fact is that large enterprises, in the event of an increase in taxes, will hide their income and go into the shadow economy. Thus, the state will receive colossal losses and everything will return to the previous taxation system. For this system to work, it is necessary to develop a number of methods for its implementation and to carry out a number of measures to increase the loyalty of large enterprises to this system of events. Perhaps this is the scenario that awaits our country in the future and our society will level out, there will be free public transport, wonderful clinics, kindergartens and schools that do not need to be repaired and donated to parents every year for a thousand rubles for their repair.