Corporate Social Responsibility in Companies of the Primary Sector in the Czech Republic, a Preliminary Study

Over the past years the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement has been rapidly growing in significance as a strategic management instrument. The role of business in society is changing and companies no longer operate in isolation but are a part of the business environment. CSR has been characterized as a concept in a variety of ways such as legally complying with the letter of the law, complying with the social and environmental codes of conduct engaging in corporate philanthropy, and the broader impact that business has on society among others. The aim of this paper is to assess the CSR within companies of the primary sector. An analysis was made within companies of NACE Section A2 Forestry and Logging, which have information available on the internet. From the 1040 companies only 298 have their own web page and only 117 presented their CSR there. The preliminary study includes companies according to given criteria which were subsequently analyzed in approaches to CSR based on reporting in this field. The most common certification was ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, CFCS 1004 and PEFC, which promotes sustainable forest management through forestry certification. From public information it arose that neither support nor cooperation with non-profit organizations were proven, except for one joint-stock company and one forestry state enterprise (LCR, s.p.). (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V.