Abstract
Research background: The social and environmental problems of the current globalised world are primarily targeted on the South and Southeast Asian business environment. However, according to the idea “think global, act local”, practices of Czech local business also contribute to the global environment. Purpose of the article: The Czech Republic is classified as a small open economy in the final stage of a transformation into a market economy, and on the top of that, it is also a member of the European Union. Thus, the Czech Republic is very dependent on the global market. Firstly, this paper is focused on analysing the Czech businesses’ attitude to competitiveness with special emphasis on corporate social responsibility. Secondly, there is predicated the future approach of the Czech managers to CSR. Methods: Primary research is based on individual structured interviews with Czech managers on the top and middle level (n=15). The interviews were conducted from February to May 2020 via a combination of face to face and distance communication. Findings & Value added: The results indicate that the Czech business mostly does not perceive CSR as a key factor of corporate competitiveness. However, the significant part of the interviewees considers CSR as moderately important and what is more, they predicate the upward trend of this factor. In addition, corporate social responsibility is often associated with other factors of competitiveness – more precisely to customer loyalty and innovation capability. Moreover, all the corporations stated that they apply at least some of the CSR principles in their ordinary course of business.
Highlights
Some of modern civilization’s most serious problems include the gradual exhaustion of natural resources, insufficient energy and water, as well as the degradation of biosphere quality along with the quality of the environment for society, among other things
Most relevant authors who have helped define the concept of company competitiveness – Porter [1] and Kotler and Keller [2] – agree that the basic element of competitiveness lies in obtaining a competitive advantage with which a business can distinguish itself from the competition and create both long-term profit and favorable market positioning
The results show that Czech enterprises view qualified, loyal employees as a key factor in competitiveness – regardless of their size or market orientation
Summary
Some of modern civilization’s most serious problems include the gradual exhaustion of natural resources, insufficient energy and water, as well as the degradation of biosphere quality along with the quality of the environment for society, among other things. A new developmental trend called sustainable development has emerged, which takes the ecological aspect of business activities into account. It is a complex and substantial concept that links three mutually dependent areas of progress and development – the environment, societal evolution, and economic development. Competitive advantage can be obtained and maintained primarily by a company satisfying customer needs in an entirely new way or aiming to perfectly adapt its products to client demands by customizing product traits or minimizing prices and streamlining the use of production resources
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