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Knowing the Corporate Social Responsibility concept Source: Authors' computation 

Knowing the Corporate Social Responsibility concept Source: Authors' computation 

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The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of awareness of corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept and to identify how CSR activities are planned and organised in Romania – Centre Development Region. Presented results are based on a complex research conducted in order to get information of whether the CSR practice has been imp...

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... any guidance on how to manage the challenges within this phenomenon. Therefore, the challenge for business is not so much to define CSR, as it is to understand how CSR is socially constructed in a specific context and how to take this into account when business strategies are developed. The purpose of research is to study the knowledge and development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Centre Development Region of Romania. The research objectives. Among the objectives set by the research, we highlight three that are directly related to this paper: • O1. Determining the knowledge level regarding the concept of CSR. • O2. Identifying ways of planning and organizing CSR activities. • O3. Drawing relevant conclusions and recommendations. The Development Region Center of Romania lies in Transylvania and consists of six counties (Alba, Bra ov, Covasna, Harghita, Mure and Sibiu). Together they cover 14.3 % of the Romanian territory. For this study there were surveyed managers and employees aged 25-65 in the organisations from all six counties. To establish an appropriate survey basis for the conducted survey, there were used data from Employment Agencies in those counties. Of the 2745 questionnaires sent 98 were returned, which represents a response rate of 3,6% and of these, 78 questionnaires were valid. A questionnaire to study the knowledge and development of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Centre Development Region of Romania was used for the research. Information collection was conducted online, via the computer application support provided by the platform Freeonlinesurveys.com. In conducting this work we aimed to minimize errors due to non-response, inadequate samples and incorrect answers of the respondents. Data collection for the survey of CSR took place in June 2013 in all participating counties. In order to facilitate achieving the targets, in the developed questionnaires open questions, closed questions and mixed were used. The survey was unconcealed, the aim being known from the beginning by the respondents. Before sending the questionnaire to the respondents it was tested in a panel of eight people (4 representatives from firms - large, medium, small and micro; 2 NGO representative; 2 representatives of public institutions) to detect any errors and to determine the perception and clarity of questions. After testing the suggestions and recommendations were taken into consideration and incorporated. For data processing and analysis, the IBM SPSS Statistics 19 for Windows and Microsoft Office 2010 was used. We believe that the most important limitation of the conducted research is due to the sample size (78 respondents). Another limitation derives from the choice made in order to complete the sample size – the option for the disproportionate variant and an availability sample. In this regard, we would like to argue that even if using the disproportionate variant, the subjects from the sample do not correspond to their statistical reality in terms of their percentage in total employers from all Central Region counties, it was started from the hypothesis that for the theme and context of the research, certain groups, namely that of the large, medium and small employers, show greater importance than the group of microenterprises. As a result, greater weight was given to these groups, reflected in a greater number of selected components, without eliminating the microenterprises. The presented results cannot be extrapolated beyond the universe of the population. These results should be considered in the light of the case study, even if they can help build a critical indicator in defining the core values. The population universe is represented by public companies and public institutions in Centre Development Region (Alba, Brasov, Covasna, Harghita, Mures, Sibiu). In the research there has been considered the organizations’ classification according to different criteria: size (microenterprise, small and medium enterprises, large enterprises); ownership (public, private, mixed) ; form of capital (Romanian capital, foreign capital, mixed) ; experience (working for more than 15 years, 13-15 years, 9-12 years, 6-9 years, 3-6 years, under 3 years). Data regarding the profile of the studied organizations have helped us form a more complete picture on the sample, understand the environment from where we collect the information from all sections of the questionnaire and confirm the respondents’ diversity by ensuring that information will not be reported to a narrow niche of the companies obtained and that the results of this study will be relevant. A. Understanding the concept of Corporate social responsibility (CSR) After processing the data obtained from the questionnaires, it was found that 45% of respondents have very poor and poor knowledge regarding this concept (24% respectively 21%), and 32% at a moderate level. Only 23% have good knowledge. No respondent knows very well this concept (figure 1). The score is 2.52 on a Likert scale from 1 to 5 (1 -”Very poor”, 5 - ”Very good”). This indicates a relatively low level of knowledge on this subject (between poor and moderate). B. Source of information on the concept For those aware of the concept of CSR, the personal interest in documentation and information can be noticed – even if it was not addressed in its full complexity, but only in certain segments of it. Therefore, the majority of respondents (63%) informed themselves on the CSR concept from publications, websites, blogs, articles addressing it, and 19% have found this information from media sources. The CSR concept was addressed also in projects undertaken by organizations (7%). Training centres and higher education institutions in Romania also addresses the concept - as modules in the different subjects conducted in training programs, undergraduate or master's programs (e.g. within the subject: Business Ethics), representing a source of information and knowledge of the concept (10%). Unfortunately, for only 1% of respondents CSR the information was obtained directly from the organizations in which they work (Figure 2). C. What do respondents understand by CSR? Respondents were asked to indicate to what extent they think the following statements characterize the CSR concept (1 – „very little”, 5 – „very much”). It is noted that they identify quite well the breadth of applicability of CSR actions (Figure ...

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هدفت إلى البحث في العلاقة الارتباطية، والتأثير بين المسؤولية المجتمعية، ومكافحة جرائم البيئة في المملكة العربية السعودية، ولتحقيق ذلك اعتمدت الدراسة على منهج المسح الاجتماعي، واستخدمت أدوات الدراسة كلاً من: الاستبيان والمقابلة لجمع البيانات، إو طُبقت الدراسة على عينةٍ عشوائية (احتمالية) بأسلوب العينة العشوائية المتعددة المراحل، من الخبراء والمهتمين في مجال البيئة بمنطقة القصيم ، وبلغ عدد العينة (664 مفردةً)، وقد توصلت الدراسة إلى مجموعةٍ من النتائج، أهمها: كشفت نتائج الدراسة الميدانية عن أن هناك ستةَ عشر مؤشرًا للمسؤولية المجتمعية في مجتمع البحث، جاء اثنا عشر مؤشراً من هذه المؤشرات عند مستوى مرتفع، وبلغت الدرجة الكلية لهذا المحور (المتغير المستقل) عند (2.69) بانحراف معياري (.10762)، وهذا يدل على أن هناك موافقةً مرتفعةً بين أفراد عينة الدراسة على درجة توافر مؤشرات المسؤولية المجتمعية في مجتمع البحث، وخلُصت الدراسة إلى مجموعةٍ من التوصيات، أبرزها: تعمل وزارة البيئة وكل المؤسسات المعنية بالبيئة في المملكة العربية السعودية بتصميم برامج موجهة نحو الجمهور؛ بهدف دعم ممارسات المسؤولية المجتمعية نحو البيئة، وكذلك العمل على وضع خطة استراتيجية كبرى للطوارئ لمواجهة حدوث الكوارث البيئية.