CSR development in Belarusian banking sector
Liapich, Iryna (2014)
Liapich, Iryna
Saimaan ammattikorkeakoulu
2014
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201405168367
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201405168367
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this thesis was to gather the knowledge about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities currently implemented by Belarusian banking industry and identify the major areas of these activities. The study also aimed to evaluate, through content analysis, Belarusian banks' level of CSR disclosure. Another objective of the thesis was to highlight the social responsibility of banking sector in Belarus.
The study utilized qualitative research method. The data for the theoretical part of this thesis was collected from books, articles and Internet sources about CSR and CSR reporting. For mapping CSR situation in Belarus the research reports, conference materials, non-profit organizations information on CSR and legal regulations of the previous years were collected. The information used in the empirical part was gathered through the annual reports presented on banks' websites and other printed materials like company staff newspapers and corporate magazines, promotional brochures, press reports from websites. In order to accomplish the research, qualitative data has been also collected through interviews with the representatives of chosen Belarusian banks. Further the results were compared to the theoretical part.
The results of the study show that Belarusian banks believe that CSR is an important concept for their business today and consider philanthropic activities to be the most important part of their CSR. Based on the findings it can be concluded that annual CSR reporting has not become a widespread activity in the Belarusian banking sector therefore banks are still in the course of exploring proper ways to report their CSR. Contrary to expectations, the suggestion that companies considered to be more ‘high profile’ than others are likely to disclose more CSR information than those considered to be lower in profile, was not fully supported by the research data.
The study utilized qualitative research method. The data for the theoretical part of this thesis was collected from books, articles and Internet sources about CSR and CSR reporting. For mapping CSR situation in Belarus the research reports, conference materials, non-profit organizations information on CSR and legal regulations of the previous years were collected. The information used in the empirical part was gathered through the annual reports presented on banks' websites and other printed materials like company staff newspapers and corporate magazines, promotional brochures, press reports from websites. In order to accomplish the research, qualitative data has been also collected through interviews with the representatives of chosen Belarusian banks. Further the results were compared to the theoretical part.
The results of the study show that Belarusian banks believe that CSR is an important concept for their business today and consider philanthropic activities to be the most important part of their CSR. Based on the findings it can be concluded that annual CSR reporting has not become a widespread activity in the Belarusian banking sector therefore banks are still in the course of exploring proper ways to report their CSR. Contrary to expectations, the suggestion that companies considered to be more ‘high profile’ than others are likely to disclose more CSR information than those considered to be lower in profile, was not fully supported by the research data.