CSR in Poland: Institutional Context, Legal Framework and Voluntary Initiatives

The paper explores the level of CSR development in Poland and focuses on the roles of stakeholders actively involved in fostering the CSR concept in the country. The stakeholders include: (1) regulators (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Economy, the Warsaw Stock Exchange and Polish Accounting Standards Committee); (2) NGOs (Responsible Business Forum and CSR Info); (3) media (Gazeta Prawna, Forbes, Manager magazine and Polityka journals); (4) business organizations (mainly subsidiaries of multinational companies and large enterprises partially state-owned) and (5) the Big 4 audit firms (Deloitte, KPMG, PwC). In order to delineate their efforts as regards promotion of CSR activities we use institutional-stakeholder approach. In the paper we characterize the social and political legacy of Poland – the country that has been changing its socioeconomic system for the last 25 years. We also scrutinize Polish accounting regulations and guidelines, which have built a legal framework for CSR disclosures. Our study also draws attention to the role of the Stock Exchange, the Ministry of Economy, and the Polish Agency of Entrepreneurship Development in promoting CSR-related actions. In order to explain media involvement we analyze the criteria of CSR rankings and awards and results of the companies. Finally, we outline the activities undertaken by NGOs in Poland and summarize research projects conducted by audit firms. The results of our study suggest that Polish business organizations still face many challenges in terms of CSR implementation. The main problems derive from misperception of CSR concept and unclear impacts of CSR adoption on business. A notable finding which emerged is that CSR evolution in Poland is in progress which calls for a need for further educational and promotional initiatives directed particularly at SMEs.