Corporate social responsibility in modern transnational corporations

Abstract

Since the beginning of 2015, corporate social responsibility (CSR) models have been changing in connection with the trend towards the transition of joint value creation of corporate activities and consideration of stakeholders’ interests. The purpose of the academic paper lies in empirically studying the current practice of social responsibility of transnational corporations (TNCs). The research methodology has combined the method of qualitative analysis, the method of cases of agricultural holdings in emerging markets within the framework of resource theory, institutional theory and stakeholders’ theory. The results show that the practice of CSR is integrated into the strategy of sustainable development of TNCs, which determine the methods, techniques and forms of communication, as well as areas of stakeholders’ responsibility. The internal practice of CSR is aimed at developing norms and standards of moral behaviour with stakeholders in order to maximize economic and social goals. Economic goals are focused not only on making a profit, but also on minimizing costs due to the potential risks of corruption, fraud, conflict of interest. The system of corporate social responsibility of modern TNCs is clearly regulated by internal documents that define the list of interested parties and stakeholders, their areas of responsibility, greatly simplifying the processes of cooperation and responsibility. As a result, corporations form their own internal institutional environment. Ethical norms help to avoid the risks of opportunistic behaviour of personnel, conflicts of interest, cases of bribery, corruption, and fraud. The theoretical value of the research lies in supplementing the theory of CSR in the context of the importance of a complex, systematic approach to integrating the theory of resources, institutional theory, theory of stakeholders in the development of strategies for sustainable development of TNCs, the practice of corporate governance and social responsibility.