Specifics of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Financial Sector

Abstract

The relevance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) for sustainable development is indisputable, especially in the current circumstances of the global pandemic. The pandemic circumstances, as well as the resulting crisis, have caused a change in the way corporations and other organizations achieve their economic, social and environmental goals. Therefore, the role that organizations must play in society, as well as their commitment to broader societal goals, is changing. Corporate social responsibility is becoming an integral part of the corporate philosophy and provides a framework for establishing long-term relationships with key stakeholders which is one of the main prerequisites for the survival and development of organizations. This further implies the growing importance of sustainable development and corporate social responsibility (CSR), which indicates the need for organizations to adopt socially responsible strategies and to balance between profit and the common good in order to survive in the long term. Although the importance of CSR is recognized in various business sectors, socially responsible activities are particularly important for the financial sector, as it is one of the key factors of economic development. The financial sector should be one of the pillars of the CSR development, as well as to define guidelines for other organizations striving to improve socially responsible behavior, through the development of a strategy based on building reputation and commitment to beneficiaries as primary and indispensable parts of successful business. Consequently, CSR in the financial sector is a relevant research area, given the large number of different stakeholders affected by the activities of financial institutions, whether owners, employees or beneficiaries. Despite the large number of studies in the field of corporate social responsibility, a relatively small number of studies deal with the characteristics of corporate social responsibility in financial institutions. This indicates an appropriate research gap that we seek to overcome with this research. The subject of research in this paper is the specifics of corporate social responsibility in the financial sector and the implementation of appropriate socially responsible activities. The aim is to identify how employees in the financial sector perceive corporate social responsibility in general, and in the financial sector of the Republic of Serbia in particular. An empirical research was conducted in financial institutions in the Republic of Serbia, which included 113 employees in banks and insurance companies. We used an adapted questionnaire on corporate social responsibility, which enabled attitudes of employees about the implementation of appropriate socially responsible activities. The results of descriptive statistical analysis showed that employees perceive that financial institutions are generally socially responsible. Actually, the results indicate that banks and insurance companies in the Republic of Serbia recognize CSR as a strategic and legal determinant of business success and strive to raise awareness of its employees about its importance, including it in their policies and practices which is very important because it lays the foundation for building and developing corporate social responsibility. At the same time, the results showed that statistically significant differences in the perceptions of employees are identified regarding gender, level of education and organization's activity, i.e. between employees in banks and insurance companies.