Chapter 1

Responsible Corporate Management and Community Involvement

Štefka Gorenak

Abstract

For at least five decades, scholars of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have attempted to find and develop a constructive relationship between business and society. Corporate ethics implies a critical assessment of discourses and practices in organizations. This contribution reports about the importance of CSR, total quality management (TQM) and total responsibility management (TRM), as well as corporate citizenship. TRM principles and standards reflect rising public expectations about CSR. Many companies develop TRM requisitely holistically, and hence successfully manage their responsibilities toward their stakeholders and their natural environment. The evolution and implementation of TRM in business practice include vision, integration innovation and sustainable indicators according the ISO 26000. TRM indicators focus on stakeholders, together with the triple-bottom-lines of economic, social and environment issues measured in terms of cost-benefit. The concept of corporate citizenship is closely linked with CSR in terms of social and environmental issues. The top ten corporate values (integrity, honesty, justice, equality, objectivity, loyalty, devotion, respect, prudence, tolerance) are what one may generally observe expressed in most corporate codes of ethics. Ethical leadership is a kind of leadership by which one can create the social, political, economic, cultural conditions required for living together. Morally proactive leadership is critical for successful responsible management and corporate citizenship. The proactive companies focus on the importance of CSR and its management, inside and outside the global company. The Gorenje Group has included the proactive and innovative TRM as well as corporate citizenship into corporate strategy. These activities are transparent and represent the holistic and systemic responsible stakeholder management at the corporate level. Introduction of requisitely holistic TRM may hence be a management innovation toward CSR and success.

Total Pages: 3-32 (30)

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