Corporate social responsibility in transport and logistics sector

Abstract

The specific features of corporate social responsibility development process in the Russian small and medium-sized business are researched in the article. The research objectives are to identify the drivers and expected outcomes of responsible behaviors in the Russian small business in transport and logistics sector and to understand the patterns of evolution of entrepreneurs’ attitudes towards social responsibility. The two-step methodological approach is chosen to reach these objectives. In the first step, causal layered analysis methodology is applied, which helped to reveal the deficits in small business social responsibility perception. In the second step, case study of a Russian small company allowed to trace the evolution of the entrepreneurs’ ethical perception and explore the reasons behind this evolution. In the Russian business environment, there is a tendency to treat corporate social responsibility as a unique feature of large transport companies such as railways, airlines and ports; the prospects of social responsibility of smaller businesses are excluded from the discussion. The article challenges the established academic view of the limited existence of social responsibility in Russian small and medium-sized transport enterprises. The wish to manage good relationships with the stakeholders, perceived needs of the stakeholders and values of owners are identified as the drivers for small business responsible behavior. The evolution of the attitudes to corporate social responsibility follows the way to the dominance of internal motives of responsible behavior: the feeling of the ability and desire to contribute to the community’s wellbeing.