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THE MOST IMPORTANT DIMENSIONS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL

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 International May Conference on Strategic Management – IMKSM17
May 19 – 21, 2017, Bor, Serbia

THE MOST IMPORTANT DIMENSIONS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL

RESPONSIBILITY

Sanela Arsić, Anđelka Stojanović, Ivan Mihajlović

University of Belgrade, Technical Faculty in Bor, Serbia

Abstract: Modern companies are increasingly becoming involved in society and show a
growing interest in corporate social responsibility. Social responsibility represents the
obligation of management to undertake certain activities that contribute to improving the
welfare of the company and whole society. The paper points to the influence of the most
important dimension of the corporate social responsibility (CSR): economic, social,
environmental dimensions, stakeholder and voluntariness dimension. The aim of this research
is that by consolidating the current literature point out the importance of implementation of
this concept in different areas of society. Since this review is starting point for further
research with the purpose to develop CSR business model of successful companies, listed
literature review has goal to analyze models used by other authors. The influence of the five
most important dimensions of CSR was compared by analyzing content of various authors.
The programs of corporate social responsibility initiate and undertake activities which are
desirable for society and in accordance with social values and goals. Some of the benefits that
can thus be accomplished are: creating and maintaining a positive opinion on the company;
strengthening the relation with stakeholders; creating a better, safer and more stimulating
working environment; improving the efficiency of business management; facilitating access
to financing.

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility, dimensions of CSR

1. INTRODUCTION

Entrepreneurial scandals regarding the wrong implementation of doing socially

responsible tasks have provoked the emergence of cooperative initiatives by the stakeholders
(entrepreneurs, consumers, politicians, the media) in order to establish a common pattern for
social responsibility practices (Kolka and van Tulder, 2010; Gonzalez-Rodrıguez et al., 2015).
In modern business conditions are increasingly pointing to the responsibility of the companies
that with their activities are involved in social life. None of the company was not conducting
its business in an isolated area, already a work of the company became an important part of
society as a whole. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an important research
topic in business studies (Sweeney, 2009).
In recent decades there has been increasing attention to the social and environmental
impacts of business (Fontaine, 2013). Stakeholders are ever more concerned and responsible
about environmental and social issues and linked to this (Rosati, 2015). In order to establish a
long-lasting relationship with their stakeholders in general and customers in particular,
companies need to consider and manage their increasing awareness and concerns, aligning
business activities accordingly (Calabrese et al., 2015). Traditionally, companies have one

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responsibility: to make a profit. But the concept of corporate social responsibility holds that
companies should be responsible for more than just their owners. Corporate social
responsibility consists of several dimensions which have an impact on the activities of some
companies (Carroll and Shabana, 2010).
For these reasons, companies must strive to improve their CSR through appropriate
actions regarding social, environmental and economic sustainability (European Commission,
2011) and through the avoidance of “corporate social irresponsibility” (CSI). On the other
hand, in order to achieve benefits for the company (such as customer loyalty, company
reputation - creating and maintaining a positive opinion on the company, and creating a better
working environment), companies must continuously be dedicated to activities that
contributing to this benefit (Ubrežiová et al., 2015). This was one of the reasons why
companies have begun to report to stakeholders about their commitment to CSR activities
through reports, published on websites and other CSR communication activities.
People want to work for companies that are responsible, according citizens in their
communities. Employees that have a favorable view of an organization's CSR tend to have
positive views about the organization in other areas, such as senior management's integrity,
senior management's leadership and the organization's competitiveness in the marketplace
(Lee et al., 2013). Firms are under increasing pressure to pursue socially responsible behavior
from a variety of stakeholder groups. According to academic and practical researchers,
several factors affect the strategic application of CSR, such as alignment with business and
corporate culture as well as with social needs and sincerity (Porter and Kramer, 2006; Lee et
al., 2013).
The history of corporate social responsibility (CSR) dates back to as early as the
1950s, when businesses and academic researchers start exploring the relationship between
business and society (Palihawadana et al., 2016). Scholars considered that CSR represents a
commitment from the company which with their activities contribute to the society in which
the company operates. That implies maintaining an equitable and workable societal balance
among the company and various stakeholders (Carroll and Shabana, 2010).
The concept of CSR emerges in developed countries as a result of the concerns of
investors, companies, and campaigners. One aspect of CSR helps in the fight against poverty
and acting reasonably in developing countries. Due to the lack of constituencies and
institutions providing social goods in general, CSR seems more important for developing
countries than for their richer counterparts. In fact, Lund-Thomsen, Lindgreen and
Vanhamme (2016) confirm that the lack of institutionalization of CSR occurs as a result
socially irresponsible behavior in developing countries. Socially irresponsible behavior
generates numerous negative moral responses toward companies (Palihawadana et al., 2016).
Despite the growing emphasis on CSR in developing countries, national initiatives in
the less developed countries are sparse (Dobers and Halme, 2009). In fact, the extant research
on CSR focuses mostly on the context of developed countries, with only a few empirical
studies on the developing countries (Pham, 2011).
When we talk about the definition of CSR is still no unified opinion about a universal
comprehensive definition. The reason may be rooted in its interchangeable and overlapping
character with other terminologies such as ‘corporate citizenship’, ‘the ethical corporation’,
‘corporate governance’, ‘corporate sustainability’, ‘social responsible investment’, and
‘corporate accountability’. The reason may also lie in the fact that the contemporary CSR
agenda essentially involves the concept of stakeholders and development as an integral issue
of business operation in the present context (Nasrullah and Rahim, 2014).

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Another reason for the lack of an agreed definition may lie in the ever-changing and
dynamic character of the concept of CSR itself and the expansion of its practices aligning
with the increased demands of the society and pressing development issues. From that point
of view CSR so far historically can be referred to as a sequence of three approaches, each
having a different perspective in terms of definition and boundary of responsibility
(Marrewijk, 2003).
For the above reasons, there is no universally agreed upon or recognized definition of
CSR. This does not mean that CSR is not defined. Numerous definitions have been proposed
at various time intervals, taking into account the different approach to understanding of the
concept, its nature and aim (Nasrullah and Rahim, 2014).
Carroll 1999. described the development of definitions CSR beginning from the 1950s to the
1990s. He defines the1950s as the modern era of CSR in terms of its emergence, the 1960s as
a time of expansion and the 1970s as a time of proliferation (Cited in Nasrullah and Rahim,
2014).
Some additional theoretical issues were starting to discus about the concept of CSR in
the 1980s, which included corporate social performance, business ethics theory and
stakeholder theory (Nasrullah and Rahim, 2014). In 1990s, these mentioned alternative
themes took center stage in the manifestation of CSR. Thereupon all subsequent definitions of
CSR were included social, economic, and environmental issues as the basic components of
responsibility. As a result later was appeared numerous definitions by the different
researchers, scientists, professors, governmental, intergovernmental, and development
organizations (Dahlsrud, 2006).
The contribution of this study is based on a unifying theoretical framework of the five
most important dimensions of corporate social responsibility: economic, social,
environmental, stakeholder dimensions and volunteering dimension. Chronological
comparison of the basic principles provides an overview of the relevant developments in this
field in the world. A large number of authors investigated the influence of the most important
dimension of CSR on the operations of different companies.

2. THE RESEARCH MYTHOLOGY

This research relates to the analysis and integration of literature that includes CSR
represents an introductory phase in the extensive research that relates to an examination of the
most important dimensions of CSR and the formation of the business model of companies
with successful CSR practices. The authors conducted a content analysis, which is a scientific
and systematic method for observing and analyzing information (Wang, 2015). The initial
search focused on journal articles, but was not restricted to single journals. In order to identify
the literature that focuses on the topic under our consideration, following Dahlsrud's
dimensions (2006), we applied different keyword combinations that included: “corporate
social responsibility” and which were combined with the phrases “dimensions”, “economic”,
“social”, “stakeholders”, “environmental” and “voluntariness”. Then we focused on recently
published journals and books in the last 10 years with aim to show the most recent findings in
this field which can confirm the positive trend of growth in this area and its significance in the
future. Papers related to the above mentioned dimensions are chronologically presented in the
tables from T1 to T5 in the sequel. Papers were selected based on association with key
dimensions in which it was carried out a quantitative analysis of the most important factors

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that have an influence on the above mentioned dimensions. Further, in this paper were
presented respectively the following dimensions: economic, social, environmental,
stakeholder and voluntariness dimension.

3. THE DIMENSIONS OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

According to the analysis of the content of current definitions of CSR what most
authors adopted are the three main dimensions of corporate social responsibility and those are:
environmental, social and economic dimensions (Nikolau et al., 2013; Gonzalez-Rodrıguez et
al., 2015). While, in the recent literature appear two new dimensions: volunteering
dimensions and stakeholders dimensions (Slack, 2013). Although there are so many
definitions of CSR, according to Alexander Dahlsrud of the Norwegian University of Science
and Technology almost all of them involve five “dimensions” of CSR (Dahlsrud, 2006). In
the review paper of Dahlsrud, 2006, 37 different definitions of CSR are analyzed, and
accordingly, above defined five dimensions selected as the most important ones, appearing in
most of referring literature. Regarding these dimensions, numerous controversies appeared
concerning their relevant priorities and how are they related to each other in terms of
integration, communication and synergy between the goals achieved21. Today, development
and implementation of social responsibility is strategically necessary for the public good for a
company.

3.1. THE ECONOMIC DIMENSION

The impact on the company’s finances is achieved through the economic dimension of
corporate social responsibility.22 Companies should be motivated by profit and put the
company's business in hand of consumers, investors and other stakeholders. From the
aforementioned, it follows that the only business world and the community can work together
for the benefit of society and the environment from altruistic motives. Enterprises are aware
that their survival in today’s market depends on sacrifice short-term profits due to the positive
effects in the future, which satisfy the owners and managers, not just as they used to
maximize profits (Slavić, 2015). A corporation has to meet its economic responsibilities
referring to returning money to investors, achievement of leadership position in the market,
obtaining maximum possible profits, guaranteeing the customer’s satisfaction and loyalty,
gives fair compensation to employees, gives goods at fair prices to customers, promotions
their products/services through costly advertising campaigns (Gonzalez-Rodrıguez, 2015).
Economic value assumes responsibility of the company that it will strive for long-term
sustainable business, to adequately respond to business risks and to create the necessary
security, how to its shareholders, investors and workers, and thus society in general.
This dimension provides follow economic indicators including, most importantly23:
direct and indirect economic impact on communities through spending power and geographic,

21
http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/
22
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-dimensions corporate-social-responsibility-54700.html
23
file:///E:/Preuzimanje/9783319023496-c2%20(6).pdf

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economic impact; economic impact through business process; outsourcing, knowledge,

innovation, social investments in employees and consumers; and taxes, tax incentives, wages,
pensions and other benefits paid to employees (Cited in Nasrullah and Rahim, 2014).
Review of some researchers conducted across the world is presented in Table 1.

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Table 1. Papers that dealt with the Economic dimension of CSR
Author(s) Headline
Gonzalez-Rodrıguez, R., The social, economic and
Dıaz-Fernandez, C., environmental dimensions
Simonetti, B. of corporate social
responsibility: The role
played by consumers and
potential entrepreneurs
Reverte, C., G_omez- The influence of
Melero, E., Cegarra- corporate social
Navarro, J.G. responsibility practices on
organizational
performance: evidence
from Eco-Responsible
Spanish
firms
Saeidi, S.P., Sofian, S., How does corporate
Saeidi, P., Saeidi, S.P., social responsibility
Saaeidi, S.A. contribute to firm
financial performance?
The mediating role of
competitive advantage,
reputation,
and customer satisfaction
Rusmanto, T., Williams, Compliance Evaluation
C. on CSR Activities
Disclosure
in Indonesian Publicly
Listed Companies
Fifka, M., Pobizhan, M. An institutional approach
to corporate social
responsibility in Russia
Waworuntu, S.R., CSR and financial
Wantah, M.D., Rusmanto, performance analysis:
T. evidence from top
ASEAN listed companies
Tsoutsoura, M. Corporate Social
Responsibility and
Financial Performance
441
Theme Year
In this paper is developed a research model
to examine the drivers which influence
consumers and entrepreneurs perceptions of
2015
corporate social responsibility (CSR).
This study fills in an important gap by
analyzing the impact of corporate social
responsibility practices on a measure of
organizational performance encompassing
2015
both financial and non-financial indicators,
and by studying the potential mediating role
of innovation in the corporate social
responsibility performance relationship.
This study considers sustainable competitive
advantage, reputation, and customer
satisfaction as three probable mediators in
the relationship between CSR and firm
2015
performance. The final findings show that
only reputation and competitive advantage
mediate the relationship between CSR and
firm performance.
The objective of this research is to evaluate
disclosure compliance of CSR activities,
including policies, programs and cost for 2015
sustainable development of the companies.
The objective of our study is to analyze to
what degree the national political and socio-
economic institutions determine CSR
practice, and how it is influenced by 2014
international factors, such as CSR standards,
frameworks, and foreign stakeholder
expectations.
The purpose of this research is to investigate
whether the commitment of companies to
their stakeholders has a relationship with
better financial results and also to establish 2014
the extent and pattern of corporate disclosure
in the top listed companies in the
ASEAN region.
Using extensive data over a period of five
years, this study explores and tests the sign
of the relationship between corporate social
responsibility and financial performance.
2004
The dataset includes most of the S&P 500
firms and covers the years 1996-2000. The
relationship is tested by using empirical
methods.
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May 19 – 21, 2017, Bor, Serbia

Based on the results presented in Table 1, we can conclude that economic parameters
which affecting on social responsibility are numerous. The researches in Table 1 show only
some of them, which relating to: examination of the financial and nonfinancial impact on the
company's operations as a result of CSR activities; competitive advantage and reputation as
the effects of CSR; costs of sustainable development and compliance with the costs that the
company set aside for CSR; investigate the impact of national policies and socioeconomic
institutions and stakeholders influence on the financial results of CSR activities. Based on the
above facts, it can be seen the impact of the economic dimension with the various aspects
which were studied by the aforementioned authors.

3.2. THE SOCIAL DIMENSION

The social dimension of the CSR is the key factor in setting up the relationships
between the business and society. Social responsibility means being accountable for the social
effects the company has on people - even indirectly. The basic objective of social dimension
is that corporations should work for building up a better society as a whole and integrate
social concerns in their business operations and consider the full scope of their impacts on
communities (Nasrullah and Rahim, 2014).
A company as a social actor, being itself a part of the human community, should pay
its attention to serving the purpose of the internal and external human communities (Szczuka,
2015). It should realize and accordingly respond to their needs, expectations, rights, and
demands for the wellbeing of their social life. When addressing the social dimension, you
should aim to use your business to benefit society as a whole. This could involve sourcing fair
trade products, for example, or agreeing to pay your employees a livable wage. It could also
involve taking on endeavors that benefit society, for instance using your resources to organize
charitable fundraisers (Sharma and Gupta, 2003).
Review of some researchers conducted across the world is presented in Table 2.

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Table 2. Papers that dealt with the Social dimension of CSR

Author(s) Headline Theme Year

Duff, A. Corporate social This paper examines the corporate social

responsibility reporting responsibility (CSR) reporting undertaken
on professional by the 20 largest professional accounting
accounting firms firms in the United Kingdom. These social
2014
evaluations (prestige) allow them to
enhance their intellectual capital and
consequently charge premium fees and,
effectively increasing partner wealth.
Bonsón, E., Bednárová, CSR reporting practices Communication of social and
M. of Eurozone companies environmental dimensions of the company
plays a key role in the sustainable
development of organizations. The aim of 2014
this empirical study is to analyze the
extent to which Eurozone companies
report on CSR indicators.
Bakos, L. Decision-making and This paper presents the preliminary results
managerial behavior of a study on Corporate Social
regarding Corporate Responsibility (CSR) in Small and
Social Responsibility in Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in
the case of Small and Romania. The study focuses mostly on 2014
Middle-Sized Companies decisions regarding the responsibility
related to employees, more particularly on
occupational illnesses and health
conditions.
Jonikas, D. Value created through This paper present a conceptual
CSR measurement framework for measurement of value
possibilities created through CSR. Development of this
framework would allow to measure all 2014
value created through CSR independently
who has received it - company,
stakeholders or society.
Mousiolis, D.T., The Corporate Identity The purpose of this paper is about how the
Bourletidis, K. through the CSR’s Paths policies, which have been adopted by
CSR’s factors, affect the identity of a
corporation, the sensitivities of the 2014
organizations upon social matters, the
critical decisions of the management
regarding social matters.
Kim, S., Lee, Y.-J. The complex attribution This study examines how consumers
process of CSR motives reconcile two possibly contradictory
motives (public-serving and firm-serving)
2012
to the corporate social responsibility
(CSR) initiatives of companies in socially
stigmatized industries.

Conducted research presented in Table 2 includes important aspects of the social

dimension. The company reports about CSR indicators is a current topic in recent years in the
world and a growing number of researchers are dealing with this matter. On the other hand, in
the context of this dimension is carried out and assessment society in order to improve

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intellectual capital. Responsible for employees, their needs and state of health is another
important factor of this dimension, as well as the value which is generated through the
activities of the CSR. Also, through the CSR policy in effect on the identity of the company
and on a numerous social issues dealing with researchers in recent years.

3.3. THE STAKEHOLDER DIMENSION

The idea of stakeholders has its roots in the tradition that sees the business as an
integral part of society and not just an isolated element for making profits for shareholders.
Stakeholders are the key parts of the system that influence corporate decision making in the
way of bringing all sides of business in balance through fulfilling everyone needs without
harm to other parts of the system. Mahoney (2012) defines stakeholders as“…those persons
and groups who contribute to the wealth-creating potential of the firm and are its potential
beneficiaries and/or those who voluntarily or involuntarily become exposed to risk from the
activities of a firm… Thus, stakeholders include shareholders, holders of options issued by the
firm, debt holders, employees (especially those investing firm specific human capital), local
communities, environment as latent stakeholders, regulatory authorities, the government,
inter-organizational alliance partners, customers and suppliers”. (Mahoney, 2012)
There are several categorizations of stakeholders inter alia one of them focus on
attributes: power, legitimacy and urgency. By combining these attributes managers can
generate groups of stakeholders that must be paid attention to- definitive and expectant
stakeholders and latent stakeholders whose existence is only mentioned (Mitchell et al.,
1997).
Managing all stakeholders’ needs is almost impossible because there are a lot of
opposites in their requests and understanding of purpose of business, so managers
permanently seek for balances and trade-offs. The goal has become minimizing conflicts
between stakeholders and prevention of all unethical behaviors. The companies adopt
different understanding of CSR practice because of different cultural elements in their
countries, different levels of socially accepted rules, business standards and policies.
Companies implement SCR activities in order to improve their relationships with
stakeholders. However, many researchers pointed out that organization must carry out cultural
change when moving toward CSR organizations.
Sustainability is very important part in stakeholder dimension of CSR due to need of
companies to take responsibility for wider group of direct and indirect collaborators. They
must take in account whole supply chain and establish such level of collaboration that all
unsustainable or socially irresponsible practices are detected and prevented. If join global
market many companies have faced barriers imposed by industrialized countries because they
failed to meet environment, human rights, and safety requirements. To participate in
international trade and gain a competitive advantage, companies began to strategically
consider the adoption of CSR (Yua and Choi, 2014).
The research field about stakeholder dimension of CSR is very wide due to various
groups of stakeholders and aspects have been investigated.
Review of some researchers conducted across the world is presented in Table 3.

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Table 3. Papers that dealt with the Stakeholder dimension of CSR

Author(s) Headline Theme Year

Scandelius, C., Achieving collaboration This paper seeks to explore how the concept of
Cohen, G. with diverse strategic ambiguity could have a role in CSR
stakeholders-The role of communication to stimulate collaboration with 2016
strategic ambiguity in diverse stakeholders.
CSR communication
Jo, H., Song, M.H., Corporate social In this paper, it is examined the impact of
Tsang, A. responsibility and stakeholder governance on corporate social
stakeholder governance responsibility (CSR) around the world to
around the world determine whether CSR is employed as a 2015
mechanism to mitigate conflicts of interest
between managers and diverse stakeholders, or
used as managerial perquisites.
Fitrijanti, T. Index of the Company's This article proposes a quantitative
Stakeholders Welfare measurement approach with fundamental
principle of the attainment of the most minimal
2015
discrepancy between the welfare of the debt
holder and shareholder, and the welfare of other
stakeholders besides those two parties.
Calabrese, A., A feedback-based This paper proposes a CSR model that
Costa, R., Rosati, F. model for CSR classifies customers on the basis of their
2015
assessment and CSR feedback, measuring both their
materiality analysis perceptions and expectations.
Farooq, M., Farooq, Employees response to This study explores how individual employee
O., Jasimuddin, S.J. corporate social differences moderate the influence of CSR on
responsibility: employee behavior. Three of the four
Exploring the role of components (i.e., community, employees, and 2014
employees’ collectivist consumers) of CSR positively affect employees’
orientation organizational identification and knowledge-
sharing behavior.
Yua, Y., Choi, Y. Stakeholder pressure This empirical study investigates the driving
and CSR adoption: The factors in the adoption of corporate social
mediating role of responsibility (CSR) practices by Chinese firms.
organizational culture Following the stakeholder theory, the hypothesis 2014
for Chinese companies of this study is that stakeholder pressures
positively impact Chinese firms’ adoption of
CSR practices.
Öberseder, M., CSR practices and This paper explores corporate practices and
Schlegelmilch, B.B., consumer perceptions consumer perceptions related to CSR. Based on
Murphy, P.E. literature and qualitative data from interviews
2013
with managers and consumers, a
conceptualization of corporate practice and
consumers' perceptions of CSR is developed.

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Bauman, C.W., Corporate social Understanding employee reactions to corporate

Skitka, L.J. responsibility as a social responsibility may help answer lingering
source of employee questions about the potential effects of corporate
2012
satisfaction social responsibility on firms as well as
illuminate some of the processes responsible for
them.
Steurer, R. The role of The present paper is concerned with the political
Governments in side of the management approach. By
Corporate Social systematically characterizing the public policies
Responsibility: on CSR throughout Europe, it complements the 2010
Characterizing Public existing, often unsystematic, accounts of how
Policies on CSR in governments address CSR and it brings the issue
Europe closer to political science.

Papers concerning stakeholder dimension, presented in Table 3, mostly investigate

connections between CSR activities done by companies, motives for implementing CSR
activities and perception of different stakeholders about those activities. Results show that
CSR activities have positive impact on most of stakeholders like consumers, employees and
society, while shareholders and investors don’t always recognize benefits of CSR.
Governments and other organizations with interest in CSR can make bootstrapping impact on
companies to implement CSR through legislation and rewarding but those actions give only
partial results. On the other side, results suggest that external stakeholder’s perception
significantly affects the company valuation.

3.4. THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION

In recent years companies have been viewed as major cause of social, environmental
and economic problems so as a result of external pressures companies have started to consider
their influence on surroundings and advantages and disadvantages of their actions. Aside from
pollution prevention, companies must think about energy savings, labor improvements and
efficiency in the use of raw materials as well as control and reduction of waste.
Implementation of the environmental CSR depends on different formal, legal and
administrative conditions set by governments. The interests of different groups regarding
environmental CSR are with significant level of variation. The companies itself, have own
interests in implementation of environmental protection activities. They are trying to gain
positive public opinion and support of society but achieving those goals will not be possible
only by fulfilling legal requirements and avoiding incidents, yet companies should have more
proactive approach. Business strategies should consider environmental protection and also
investments in CSR and environmental reporting should be above mandatory. Thinking about
sustainable development gives numerous opportunities for enrich the way of influence on the
surrounding through: resource efficiency, sustainable economy, the development of new
processes and technologies, green technologies, reinforcing the competitive advantages of
businesses, building consciousness among costumers about the value of resources and energy
efficiency, pursuing the reduction of CO2 emissions, preventing biodiversity harm and climate
resilient economy.
Environmental CSR activities cause additional expenses for companies and financial
benefits of them are not immediately visible and easy measurable. A large number of
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researches have a goal to investigate connections between environmental CSR activities and
their economic performance and public opinion (Friedman, 1970). Some results show that
business-environment trade-offs have positive impact on economical results in companies
(Waddock and Graves, 1997). Other authors criticize these results because they find that
companies do not sacrifice their profit for environment protection on voluntary basis, because
there is no positive connection between present expenses and later gains (Wagner et al.,
2002). Porter and Linde suggest that in a broader sense, CSR environmental activities can
trigger innovation, reduce costs, save resources thus making competitive advantage and loyal
consumers (Porter and van der Linde, 1995).
Review of some researchers conducted across the world is presented in Table 4.
Table 4. Papers that dealt with the Environmental dimension of CSR

Author(s) Headline Theme Year

Graafland, J., Smid, Reconsidering the relevance
H. of social license pressure and
government regulation for
environmental performance of
European SMEs
Whereas social license pressure is held as a
strong motive for the corporate social
performance (CSP) of large enterprises, it is
argued in literature that it will not
sufficiently motivate small and medium- 2017
sized enterprises (SMEs). In this view,
government regulation is the most effective
way to improve the environmental
performance of SMEs.

Searcy, C., Dixon, The use of work environment
S.M., Neumann, W.P. performance indicators in
corporate social responsibility
reporting
Cho, C.H., Patten, Green accounting: Reflections
D.M. from a CSR and
environmental disclosure
perspective
Work environment issues refer to all aspects
of the design and management of the work
2015
system that affect employees' interactions
with the workplace.
The paper questions Thornton’s narrow
focus on environmental accounting as it
relates to the debits and credits of financial
reporting, and it attempts to illustrate the
2013
problems that voluntary environmental
disclosure creates with respect to reduced
incentives for companies to improve
environmental performance.

Bönte, W., Dienes, C. Environmental Innovations
and Strategies for the
Development of New
Production Technologies:
Empirical Evidence from
Europe
This study empirically investigates whether
firms’ improvements in energy and material
efficiency are related to the extent to which
2013
external partners are involved in the
development of process innovations,
covering 14 European countries.

Flammer, C. Corporate Social This study examines whether shareholders

Responsibility and are sensitive to corporations’ environmental
Shareholder Reaction: The footprint. 2013
Environmental Awareness of
Investors

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May 19 – 21, 2017, Bor, Serbia

Babiak, K., CSR and Environmental
Trendafilova, S. Responsibility: Motives and
Pressures to Adopt Green
Management Practices
This paper examines the diffusion of
environmental management initiatives in
business and the motives and pressures 2011
reported by senior executives to adopt these
practices in one industry.

Jindrichovska, I., CSR and Environmental
Purcarea, I. Reporting in the Czech
Republic and Romania:
Country Comparison of Rules
and Practices
The article analyses the short tradition of
Corporate Social Responsibility reporting
in both countries and the current state of 2011
development, as well as its future
perspectives .

Wahba, H. Does the Market Value
Corporate Environmental
Responsibility? An Empirical
Examination
The aim of this research was to present
empirical evidence regarding the influence
2008
of engaging in environmental responsibility
on corporate market value

Dam, L., Scholtens, Environmental regulation and
B. MNEs location: Does CSR
matter?
The study investigates whether firms with
relatively low environmental standards are
more often located in countries that are 2008
poor, corrupt or have weak environmental
regulations.

Papers concerning environmental dimension, presented in Table 4, mostly investigate

connections between investments in environmental CSR activities and economical results of
those activities, legal rules and obligatory environmental reporting. There are two groups that
follow two main flows of researches: one group of findings confirms hypothesis that
implementing of CSR cause costs and economical results are not visible and do not increase
value of company, others present results which show positive influence of ecological
activities on companies income, innovations and positive image of companies.

3.5. THE VOLUNTARINESS DIMENSION

Voluntariness assumes discretionary right to make decisions that are not imposed by
the duty to fulfill certain conditions. Voluntariness is largely associated with the proactivity
that transcends the imposed standards and rules. Voluntariness dimension means overcoming
the minimum of prescribed standards related to product quality or safety, community support,
support to charitable institutions, support to employees in social projects engagement through
volunteering and establish corporate foundations.
To understand voluntariness in CSR business ethics must be understood. One concept
understands corporation as an entity with the power to own, buy, and sell property, to enter
into contracts, to sue and be sued and with certain rights over people: financial influence,
power to cause physical and psychical injuries to employees, consumers and environment
(Nisberg, 1988). Corporations have the responsibility for avoiding bad actions in order to
prevent corporate social irresponsibility. This dimension focuses on ethical responsibilities
and philanthropic responsibilities.
Review of some researchers conducted across the world is presented in Table 4

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Table 5. Papers that dealt with the Voluntariness dimension of CSR

Author(s) Headline Theme Year

Ortas, E., Alvarez, I., The impact of Using a Neo-institutional framework, this
Jaussaud, J., Garayar, institutional and social paper discusses the role of national-specific
A. context on corporate social, cultural, legal, regulatory and economic
environmental, social differences when determining the way that
and governance companies committed to legal, regulatory and
2015
performance of economic differences when determining the
companies committed to way that companies committed to a specific
voluntary corporate voluntary corporate social responsibility
social responsibility (CSR) initiative operate in different
initiatives sustainability dimensions.
Lin-Hi, N., Müller, K. The CSR bottom line: The study here elaborates on the relevance of
Preventing corporate “avoiding bad” for the perceived social
social irresponsibility responsibility of corporations and provides a
2013
framework which captures the relationship
between CSR (“doing good” and “avoiding
bad”), CSI, and perceived CSR (CSR).
Aslan, Ş., Şendoğdu, A. The Mediating Role of In this study, the correlation between ethical
Corporate Social leadership, corporate ethical values, ethical
Responsibility in behavior and corporate social responsibility is
2012
Ethical Leader's Effect investigated.
on Corporate Ethical
Values and Behavior
Maloni, M.J., Brown, Corporate Social The food industry faces many significant risks
M.E. Responsibility in the from public criticism of corporate social
Supply Chain: An responsibility (CSR) issues in the supply
Application in the Food chain. This paper draws upon previous 2006
Industry research and emerging industry trends to
develop a comprehensive framework of supply
chain CSR in the industry
Kilcullen, M., At least do no harm: The research indicates that, although some
Kooistra, J.O. sources on the changing corporations are still practicing unethical
role of business ethics behavior, many more indicated that they have 1999
and corporate social a social responsibility to their stakeholders
responsibility

Scientific literature regarding voluntariness dimension of CSR, presented in Table 5,

deal with questions of overcoming obligations imposed by rules and regulations and issues
like should CSR involve a dilemma if companies are only “doing good” or “avoiding bad”
and should they be rewarded for it.

4. CONCLUSION

CSR concept is widespread in the world and it is applied in a number of successful

companies. In order to evaluate the current scientific achievements in this field, this paper
gives an overview of the most important dimensions with emphasis on scientific contribution.

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The findings of prior research do not give an explicit model for research on CSR
dimensions. Moreover, the ambiguous and partially contradictory theoretical assumptions
and empirical findings indicate the need to use more comprehensive model in order to
understand relationship between CSR activities and other business activities.
There is variety of suggestions in the academic literature relate to number and names
of CSR dimensions. This article examined literature that has addressed corporate social
responsibility issues through 5 dimensions, in this case Dahlsrud concept was been followed
(Dahlsrud, 2006; Slack, 2013), highlighting papers connected with each dimension and
developed through review of new researches.
Through the dimensions of CSR enables a better understanding of the potential
benefits to society, the environment, economy and stakeholders.
Generally speaking, this work can be used as good theoretical base for further
researches that are based on the dimensions of corporate social responsibility. The main
motive for the implementation of CSR in the company through an understanding of the
dimensions, can have positive influence on better corporate image (Maignan and Ferrell,
2004), better competitive position in the market, the increasing of the economic value of
company, the well-being of society and preservation of ecology. The ultimate goal of further
research, which will present the continuation of this work, is the formation of a business
model of companies that have a successful CSR practices. The model defined in this way, will
be proposed to the companies without expressed CSR practice but have potential to do so.

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