Anna Lewicka-Strzalecka , OPPORTUNITIES AND LIMITATIONS OF CSR IN THE POSTCOMMUNIST COUNTRIES: POLISH CASE

Anna Lewicka-Strzalecka  
The concept of social corporate responsibility (CSR) is becoming increasingly popular in Poland, both in academic circles through researching its theoretical foundations , and among managers and businessmen who want to put these theories to use in everyday business practice. The way in which CSR is perceived has been a subject of opinion polls among the entire society as well as representatives of business . This interest is strongly encouraged by various initiatives of the European Commission promoting CSR as one of the instruments of the new EU economical strategy sanctioned during the Lisbon summit of March 2000.
The concept of CSR was formulated in the countries of stable market economy, and consequently focuses on these countries. The promotion of the idea in Poland and other CEE countries has to be thoroughly researched in terms of a specific strategy of implementation, because a simple transfer of standards from the developed countries may prove to be a serious problem, defined as asymmetry of rationality . The phenomenon of asymmetry of rationality means that the rational procedures and institutions that were developed for markets of different scale and different historical circumstances are imposed on the post-communist countries. It appears that when some of these countries attempted to implement the effective solutions transferred from developed economies, it did nothing to improve the situation, and, on the contrary, it increased poverty and even widened the social gaps that are tearing the society apart. Although the concept of CSR is promoted by the EU institutions, which is different from the way the programs of liberalisation, privatisation and stabilisation were once imposed on some countries by the IMF , it would be worthwhile to consider the opportunities and limitations of this idea in the post-communist countries, and specifically Poland. [more]