Corporate Social Responsibility: Benevolence vs. Marketing. Evidence from Latvia

A common perception about corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Latvia is that it draws more resources from a company than it can bring back. The majority of exceptions to this opinion are Latvian offices of multinational enterprises. Their corporate culture originates from their headquarters, situated in well established democracies, e.g. Western European countries, Canada, the USA. In these countries socially responsible activities have become an integral part of businesses and their daily operations. (Indriksone & Zamuška, 2006)
The overall growth in CSR activities in Latvia was observed during the so called boom years (2004-2007) when economic situation was at its best and GDP rose in two-digit numbers a year. For example, in 2004 the sponsoring market increased by 29% (Liepiņš, 2006). Companies could afford spending their resources for the benefit of the whole society. However, intensive spending ceased with the global economic recession. Having much more limited budgets for their projects companies became more concerned about how their activities pay off in economic terms. In this report authors want to analyze whether Latvian companies are more socially or profit oriented, namely whether CSR is exploited as a marketing tool and whether it is ethical to do so.…