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The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Corporate Social Responsibility Activities of Greek Companies

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Sustainability and Social Responsibility: Regulation and Reporting

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Abstract

The main objective of this chapter is to investigate the effect of economic crisis in Greece on companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) budgets. We have content-analyzed the CSR reports of twelve companies operating in Greece during the period 2008–2014 in order to identify the companies’ CSR activity patterns. In most of the companies examined, CSR activities reached their peak in 2009 and started declining since then, probably due to the adverse economic circumstances. Furthermore, the companies have reprioritized their CSR interests, doubling their society-related activities and reducing nearly by half those addressing the company personnel. Even though the study examines a limited number of companies, it makes an important contribution to the CSR literature in Greece, where CSR is a rather new concept both in terms of research and practice. Contrary to the majority of studies focusing on the effects of short recession periods on CSR, we focus on a long recession period and show how companies adapt to pressures during a period of adverse economic conditions and the way they learn to redeploy their resources allocated to social causes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Kang et al. (2016) examined the CSR–CFP relationship, positing that (a) slack resources lead to CSR, (b) CSR enhances performance, (c) CSR will help compensate for past irresponsible behavior by the company, and (d) CSR will help prevent subsequent occurrences of social irresponsibility, acting as insurance. Their study found support for the CSR-CFP positive link and also that CSR often follows after an act of corporate irresponsibility. The authors, explaining the strong correlation they found between CSR and CSIrr, suggest that companies are trying to “wash away their sins” of the past; however, this “washing away of sins” usually does not happen.

  2. 2.

    Kavoura and Sahinidis (2015) studied 26 large companies in Greece, from the nine largest industries to determine their CSP, for the years 2008–2013, using the Corporate Responsibility Index (CPI). The companies were assessed on their CSR activities in terms of categories such as the environment, society, market, and workforce. The author’s findings indicated a decline in the number of activities the companies were getting involved with, following the course of the country’s economic crisis. However, there was greater engagement (Most companies moved upward in the CPI index) in the projects the companies chose to support contrary to the author’s expectations. Similar findings were reported by Placier (2011) in her study of two Czech companies.

  3. 3.

    The United Nations Global Compact is an initiative launched by the United Nations, bringing together businesses from 170 countries, which agreed to adopt sustainable and socially responsible practices and report to the UNGC accordingly. The UNGC is a framework comprising of ten principles, categorized in four areas: human rights, labor, anti-corruption, and environment (www.unglobalcompact.org).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Business Administration, Technological Education Institute of Athens, Aghiou Spyridonos 28, Egaleo, 12210, Athens, Greece

    Alexandros G. Sahinidis

  2. Bank of Greece, Athens, Greece

    Dimitra Daskalaki

  3. University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Elisavet Mantzari

  4. Technological Education Institute of Central Macedonia, Serres, Greece

    Ioannis Mantzaris

Authors
  1. Alexandros G. Sahinidis
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  2. Dimitra Daskalaki
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  3. Elisavet Mantzari
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  4. Ioannis Mantzaris
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alexandros G. Sahinidis .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Isenberg School of Management , University of Massachusetts Amherst , Amherst, MA, Massachusetts, USA

    Graham Gal

  2. Isenberg School of Management , University of Massachusetts Amherst , Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    Orhan Akisik

  3. Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst , Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William Wooldridge

Appendix: CSR Activities Per Year, Per Company, and Per Category

Appendix: CSR Activities Per Year, Per Company, and Per Category

1.1 Tables

See Tables 11.1 and 11.2.

Table 11.1 The CSR categories
Full size table
Table 11.2 CSR activities reported by companies
Full size table

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Sahinidis, A.G., Daskalaki, D., Mantzari, E., Mantzaris, I. (2018). The Impact of the Economic Crisis on the Corporate Social Responsibility Activities of Greek Companies. In: Gal, G., Akisik, O., Wooldridge, W. (eds) Sustainability and Social Responsibility: Regulation and Reporting. Accounting, Finance, Sustainability, Governance & Fraud: Theory and Application. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4502-8_11

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