Corporate social responsibility in Latvia: a benchmark study

Purpose – The purpose of this is to present the characteristics of emerging concepts and practices of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in Latvia.Design/methodology/approach – The paper includes reviews of CSR concepts and related values, a mail survey of CSR benchmarks, action research on emerging SCR programs, and concluding remarks on prospective CSR development. Survey data are supplemented with validation checks and selected interviews. This empirical survey information is intended be the starting point for comparative studies of CSR in Latvia.Findings – The survey shows understanding and CSR applications at a very early stage of development. Minimization of external social costs is unknown to most respondents. Conceptual understanding is complicated by traditional beliefs in conflict with remnants of collectivist expectations. Follow up interviews suggest the most common CSR principle is the ethical “doing right” to achieve business goals. As related research done by authors of this study show, ...