CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN A SUPPLY CHAIN CONTEXT IN THE PROCESS OF GLOBALIZATION

Organizations of the 21st century can no longer limit themselves to producing and marketing products or services without any concerns for the impact they have on society. If they want to be trusted by their customers, employees and the public at large, they have to be more socially responsible. The article deals with the possibilities and applying the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in a supply chain context in the process of globalization. Corporate social responsibility is an impulse and a mean to discuss the extent of any obligations of the organization towards its immediate environment. With increased globalization and offshore sourcing, global supply chain management is becoming an important issue for many businesses. Supply chain management is an area with increasing of strategic importance due to global competition, outsourcing of noncore activities to developing countries, short product life cycle, and time compression in all aspects of the supply chain. Management attention has moved from competition between firms to competition between supply chains. The capability to establish close and long-term relationships with suppliers and other strategic partners has become a crucial factor in creating competitive advantage. The aim of the article is to focus attention on the most important application area of corporate social responsibility within an integrated supply chain.