Innovation Through Corporate Social Responsibility

Abstract

In this chapter, the authors address institutional efforts in CSR carried out in two big European countries with different backgrounds but the same responsible goal for business and competitiveness: Spain and Poland. To illustrate how CSR pays off, the authors have selected two emblematic cases, one from each country: La Caixa Group and PKN Orlen. Although the degree of implementation of CSR is still different in the European countries in the European Union, and the institutional framework in Spain and Poland is clearly different, the two case-studies presented as best practices suggest promising new developments of CSR in both countries in the near future as CSR could be considered a vital component of innovation in national economies and a strategic variable of core's business determining future competitiveness through the social trend.

Is the corporate social responsibility–innovation link homogeneous?: Looking for sustainable innovation in the Spanish context

“…In this sense, consistent with the works of Wagner (), Mahmoud and Hinson (), and Martínez‐Conesa et al (), the positive effect of CSR on innovation is confirmed for the majority of cases analysed. Therefore, CSR can play a significant role in contributing to sustainable development while enhancing firms' innovation (Sánchez‐Hernández et al, ; p . 1099).…”

“…The contemporary approach towards CSR “implies that businesses have responsibilities beyond profit‐seeking and must to conduct their businesses in a manner that meets also social and environmental standards according to the triple bottom line (Elkington, )” (Sánchez‐Hernández et al, ; p. 1087). This approach, which is largely accepted by both practitioners and academics (i.e., Bohlmann et al, ; Chowdhury, Choi, Ennis, & Chung, ; Martínez‐Conesa et al, ; Sarkar & Searcy, ; Vanelslander, ) “gives equal weight to economic, environmental, and social dimensions” (Hussain, Rigoni, & Orij, ; p .…”

“…Last, the aim of the environmental dimension of CSR is to preserve a healthy and balanced environment (Sánchez‐Hernández et al, ). It refers to the impact that companies can have on nature, ecosystems, the Earth, air, and waste (Martin‐Castejón & Aroca‐López, ).…”

“…From this perspective, consistent with Du et al (2011;p. 1528), CSR can be defined as "a firm's commitment to maximize long-term economic, societal and environmental well- The aim of the economic dimension of CSR is to achieve harmonic development (Sánchez-Hernández et al, 2019). It "refers to society's expectations that the firm will be profitable in the long term and obtain utilities as incentives and rewards for its efficiency and effectiveness by producing and selling quality goods and services First, when firms are looking to increase their efficiency, they tend to improve their process through cost-cutting practices.…”

“…Innovation, which is a major contributor to economic development, should have social improvement as its objective. Moral values of contemporary society are changing, and firm innovation should be responsive to new shareholder demands (Sánchez‐Hernández, Gallardo‐Vázquez, Dziwiński, & Barcik, ; p. 1087). Therefore, innovation and CSR should advance hand in hand in order to guarantee the sustainable development of business and society.…”