Sunulan Bildiriler
Presented Proceedings
INSTRUMENTS OF CSR INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS FOR
SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF BULGARIA AND
TURKEY
Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk Konusunda Uluslararası Kuruluşların ve
Girişimlerin Bulgaristan’nın ve Türkiye’nin Sürdürülebilir Bölgesel
Kalkınması İçin Uyguladıkları Araçlar
Desislava Serafimova1
ABSTRACT
The main purpose of the paper is to analyze and summarize the opportunities for Sustainable regional
development of Bulgaria and Turkey using the ways and means of Leading International Organizations and
Initiatives for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The paper falls in three sections. First, the contribution of
CSR for Sustainable regional development is outlined, and then major instruments for Sustainable Development
applied by CSR international organizations and initiatives are presented, and finally, CSR practices of Turkey
and Bulgaria within the context of their Regional development are discussed. It is concluded that applying
socially responsible business practices enables to implement the basic goals of the concept for sustainable
development as defined by theWorld Commission on Environment and Development (WCED).
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Sustainable Development, Sustainable Regional
Development.
ÖZET
İşbu raporun amacı, Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk (KSS) alanında öncü uluslararası kuruluşların ve
girişimlerin araçlarını kullanarak, Bulgaristan’nın ve Türkiye’nin sürdürülebilir bölgesel kalkınma imkanlarını
analiz ve sistematize etmektir. Rapor üç kısımdan oluşmaktadır. İlk olarak, Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluğun
sürdürülebilir bölgesel kalkınmanın elde edilmesindeki katkısı ana hatlarıyla değerlendirilmektedir, sonra
Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk konusunda uluslararası kuruluşların ve girişimlerin sürdürülebilir bölgesel
kalkınma alanında uyguladıkları temel araçlar sunulmaktadır, son olarak da Bulgaristan’nın ve Türkiye’nin
sürdürülebilir bölgesel kalkınması çerçevesinde sosyal sorumluluk uygulamaları tartışılmaktadır.
Sosyal sorumluluk içeren iş uygulamalarının kullanımı, Dünya Çevre ve Kalkınma Komisyonu
(WCED) tarafından belirlenen sürdürülebilir kalkınmanın temel hedefleri konseptini gerçekleştirme imkanı
sağladıkarı tezi savunulmaktadır.
Anahtar kelimeler: Kurumsal Sosyal Sorumluluk (KSS), Sürdürülebilir kalkınma, Sürdürülebilir
bölgesel kalkınma
1. INTRODUCTION
The issues of the role of CSR in society and the opportunities for sustainable development
became relevant in the second half of XX C. Their practical consideration and application in business
was helped by exceptionally various initiatives and institutions. Their manifestation involves the
formation of associations, forums, business partner networks, contracts, round tables, rating agencies,
stock-exchange indices, standards, competitions, companies for reporting socially responsible
practices, corporate responsibility and social auditing. Establishing these organizations started first in
USA in the ‘70s, while in Europe their development received a strong blast after the fall of the Berlin
wall; and today their influence encompasses the whole world.
Irrespective of the fact that CSR (Bowen, 1953;Davis, 1960; Sethi, 1975; Carroll, 1979)
andSustainable development(Meadows et al., 1968, Brundtland Commission, 1987) emerged as
separate independent units, today their content, orientation and tools are basically identical. Both
1Associate
Professor, Ph.D., University of Economics – Varna, Bulgaria. e-mail: serafimova_d@ue-varna.bg
concepts focus on the economic, ecological and social aspects of the activity not only of business
organisations, but of those in the public sector as well. Assuring synchrony and balance between the
above-mentioned three aspects is accepted as a criterion for sustainable development of private and
public organisations, separate regions and society as a whole. Today the idea that CSR is a basic
element and an essential part of the overall efforts for sustainable development is shared by more and
more international organisations and institutions. Thus for ex., CSR underpins the European strategy
for sustainable development. Some specialized agencies of the United Nations (for ex. UNIDO) use
CSR instruments in their attempt to align privateenterprises to the goal of sustainable global
development.
That is why in this paper first we systematize and characterize the affirmed international
initiatives that contribute most for developing socially responsible behavior. Then we outline the
modern tendencies and opportunities for using them aiming at providing sustainable development in
Bulgaria and Turkey. The Bulgarian experience of adopting international CSR practices during the
period of joining the European Union enables us to outline some major issues and their possible
decisions applicable to Turkey. The overview of some good CSR practices in the EU countries and the
efforts of the European Commission to encourage them can also be helpful for the future Sustainable
regional development of Bulgaria and Turkey.
2. THE CONTRIBUTION OF CSR FOR SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The idea that business has obligations before society that exceed its responsibilities to the
owners/shareholders, is widely discussed throughout XX C. This debate started as early as the
beginning of last century (Carnegie,1900, Sheldon,1923). However, more detailed interpretations of
the essence of CSR we provided as late as the 1950s by H. Bowen in his book “The social
responsibility of the businessman” (Bowen, 1953). A characteristic feature of the notions about CSR at
that time was the understanding that it results from the power and social influence business has in
society (Davis, 1960). In the following centuries a heated debated appeared on the issued raised by
Bowen and Davis. Some scholars accept their ideas and develop them further (Eels and Walton,1961;
McGuire, 1963; Sethi, 1975; Carroll, 1979 et al). While others, supporting the so-called rationaleconomic concept of business responsibilities, argue their notions and suggest various interpretations
(Levitt, 1958; Friedman, 1962).
The most prominent representative of the rational-economic concept of business responsibility
is the Nobel-prize holder and economist Milton Friedman. Only in the course of a decade he turned
into the most quoted personality who declared himself against business taking more social
responsibilities. It is enough to remind two of his basic assertions in order to characterize his
arguments: “The business of business is business.” (Friedman, 1970)and "There is one and only one
social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its
profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free
competition without deception or fraud."(Friedman, 1970). It is evident that Friedman accepts only
economic dimensions of business social responsibility and not its broader interpretation which refers
to taking actions and making expenses for solving social problems of society. Taking such actions, he
says, should be dependent on individuals’ social inclination and responsibility and not on business as a
whole.
Many scholars present their own ideas by suing as a starting point Friedman’s viewpoint
(Carroll,1991; Hill and Jones, 1992). In this respect one should take into considerations P. Drucker’s
arguments (Drucker, 1992). He does not reject the importance of profit as a goal in business, yet,
unlike Friedman, Drucker states that profit cannot be the only goal of business – it is its limiting factor
only. That is why running any type of business should have broader social grounds for rendering it
more acceptable and useful for society. The discussion on issues about responsibilities of business
keeps on nowadays as well. H. Mintzberg (Mintzberget al., 2002) criticizes the one-sided viewpoint of
business responsibilities which focuses only on achieving economic results for the benefit of owners.
M. Porter(Porter and Kramer, 2002) develops the idea further with the arguments that Friedman
unnaturally contrasts the economic and social goals of business organizations. Such contradiction in
goals reflects one’s thoughts in short-time framework only. Yet, in long-term perspective, social and
economic goals of business organisations do not counteract with each other, on the contrary, they are
united inseparably. This, CSR is already considered in a broader context – as a source of opportunities,
innovations and competitive advantages of business organizations.
Following the historical logics of changing interpretations about the role of business in
society, three levels in defining it can be identified. The first one presents the understandings about the
traditional economic role of business – to make profits. The second level encompasses the
responsibility of business to fulfill its economic function, yet, at the same time, to take into
consideration also the changing goals, values and expectations of society. The third level illustrates the
broadest understanding about CSR – to help society in achieving such global goals likes abolishing
poverty, solving ecological issues, supporting development and prosperity.
For the goals of this paper, my understanding and use of the concept CSR includes: (1)
making actions that reflect not only the economic and legal responsibilities of companies, but also
their involvement in being responsible for protecting and improving the welfare of society as a whole;
(2) voluntary sticking to socially responsible business behavior (without social or lawful constraint),
which meets the ethical norms of society; (3) taking full responsibility for the interaction (directly or
indirectly) of corporations on owners, employees, suppliers, environment, social groups, communities
and everybody else who is interested in their activities; corporations being socially involved is a
guarantee for the efforts of management to provide long-term growth which is accepted as a source of
opportunities, innovations and competitive advantages.
It is necessary to note that there are some differences in developing the ideas about CSR and
the terminology used. These differences result from the existence of two approaches – the AngloSaxon and the European continental one. The first focuses on the so-called corporate citizenship –
corporations are viewed as “good corporate citizens” of society. The second approach CSR is in the
context of achieving corporate sustainability which is closely linked to the ideas of sustainable
development.
Unlike the historical development of the CSR concept, in which the focus on the social role of
business dominates, the issues of social inequality and social aspects in the sustainable-development
concept start being important not after the 80s and 90s of XX C. As it is known from specialized
literature, in coming up with the concept about sustainable development, in the 60s and 70s of XX C
the emphasis is on its ecological dimensions. These initial ideas of achieving “ecological
sustainability” reflect the attempts to establish conditions that provide simultaneously protection of the
environment and economic development. Step by step social attention to them is attracted by the
actions of various representatives of civil society so that later the point of establishing state, regional
and international institutions on environment and development reached. Thus, at the end of XX C,
economic dimensions in the concept of sustainable development are as significant as the ecological
ones. It’s not before the start of XXI C that the notion of the social dimensions in the concept about
sustainable development also having the same level of importance as the ecological and economic
ones is established. Regardless the fact that social aspects are included in the concept of sustainable
development on a later level, today accepting the principle of equality of the economic, social and
ecological dimensions is present in both concepts – that of CSR and sustainable development.
According to the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987) “in
essence, sustainable development is a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the
direction of investments, the orientation of technological development; and institutional change are all
in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.”
WCED indicates further that “critical objectives for environment and development policies that follow
from the concept of sustainable development include: reviving growth; changing the quality of growth;
meeting essential needs for jobs, food, energy, water, and sanitation; ensuring a sustainable level of
population; conserving and enhancing the resource base: reorienting technology and managing risk;
and merging environment and economics in decision making.”
In this paper we defend the idea that applying socially responsible business practices enables
the implementation of the above-mentioned critical objectives for environment and development
policies that follow from the concept of sustainable development. The content of appropriate socially
responsible practices encompasses a broad scope – from abolishing child and coercive labor, via
protecting the environment and health of users and workers, respect for human rights, participation in
projects for supporting local communities and various social groups, to financing programs for rest
and recreation of staff. In this aspect business organizations’ social commitments are viewed as a
criterion for responsible business and a warrantee for long-term growth that exceeds the efforts for
achieving current economic efficiency.
3.CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND INITIATIVES FOR CSR
SPREADING AROUND THE GLOBEAND THEIR MAJOR INSTRUMENTS FOR
SUSTAINABLEREGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Business organizations from different regions and countries all over the world adopt the
concept of CSR in different degree. Some of them apply highly varied socially responsible practices
while others still need good examples or benchmarks of CSR to follow. Meanwhile, in the last 2
decades, various International organizations and initiatives have been established. All of them are
devoted to the same idea – the recognition and spreadingthe best CSR practices in a globalized
business environment, but they use different tools for achieving this goal.
Due to using various tools and achieving various results it is necessary for the different CSR
initiatives to be classified and systematized in groups on the ground of similarities. Our research work
enables us to make the following exemplary groups by using the aspects of viewing CSR as a
differentiating principle:
1. International initiatives and organizations for CSR spreading around the Globe (associations,
contracts, partnership networks, forums and others);
2. Regional CSR initiatives, conferences and projects;
3. CSR certification standards (social standards);
4. CSR Competitions and Awards;
5. SCR Stock Exchange indices andCorporateSustainabilityassessment
6. Social accountability and social auditinitiatives.
The theoretical debate about CSR dates back to the 1950s, yet, practical efforts for accepting it in
business circles started not before the 1970s. At the beginning these efforts referred to establishing a
Businessroundtable (1972) in USA. For the goals of our study what needs bigger attention is the
establishment of the InternationalBusinessLeaderForum (IBLF). It was established in 1990 by the
Prince of Wales as an independent NGO supported by companies, foundations and government
agencies and its establishment was provoked by realizing the role that CSR could play for providing
conditions for long-term growth. Implementing these conditions involves initiatives in 3 tracks:
1. Economic development – lowering unemployment of youth, spreading transparency, creating
conditions for economic development in countries which have gone through crises or conflicts.
2. Social development – fighting social issues like malaria, obesity, HIV/AIDS, alcoholism;
spreading education; reaction to issues that refer to migration and human rights.
3. Ecological development – initiative for providing the so-called “responsible tourism”, creating
partnerships as a reaction to climatic changes.
IBLFGlobal is supported by a network of companies from Europe, America, Asia and the
Middle East and more than 200 affiliated organisations worldwide. The recent active regional offices
are established in Moscow, Mumbai and Beijing.
The next initiative for stimulating CSR is the Global Compact of UN. It was affirmed by the
World economic forum in January 1999 in Davos, Switzerland. Its establishment is based on the idea
that through socially responsible activities and sticking to ethical business behavior companies can
contribute to turning globalization into a driving force of development. Initially, in the compact there
were formulated 9 and later 10 principles in the field of human rights, conditions of labor, protecting
the environment and fighting corruption in view of affirming them as good business practices.
At the moment the Global compact is the largest international initiative for affirming CSR. In
it there participate 8400 companies and stakeholders like UN, business associations, nongovernmental organizations and trade unions from 161 countries. They participate voluntary in the socalled “Global-compact network”. This is a platform for exchanging knowledge and dialogue, a tool
for exchanging the best practices and associating on the ground of the idea for keeping globally
accepted principles and responsible business behavior. Until recently the members of the Global
Compact have publishes 32 752 social reports.
Another organization with a large contribution for spreading CSR is the Business Social
Compliance Initiative (BSCI), established in 2003 by FTA. The Ethical Code of BSCI published in
2004 is the basis in the process of joining, membership and monitoring of the participants in the
initiative. It requires compliance with the following conditions: freedom of association and right of
collective working negotiation; prohibition of all forms of discrimination; prohibition of child labor;
prohibition of coercive labor and disciplinary measures; fair remuneration; safe and healthy working
conditions; protection of the environment; accepting a policy of social accountability; designing a
policy for fighting corruption.
Recently the BSCI members are more than 1500 international corporations, merchants,
retailers, importers, as well as more than 140 representatives of particular branches, organizations and
associations from different countries. The basic mechanism through which the application of new
practices is spread is the requirement for suppliers of the BSCI member countries to meet the leading
social standards (SA8000). The document, describing the BSCI system is translated into different
European languages and is accessible in the official webpage of the initiative. Writing and translating
it have been financed by the European Commission.
There are also other international organizations which undertake initiatives for spreading CSR
such as: the Business for Social Responsibility (US Non-for-profit business association), World
Economic Forum (International business association), World bank, CSR Asia (Asian Social
enterprise), Grameen Bank (Bangladeshi Social enterprise). In this paper they are not the object of a
detailed analysis, because we are trying to characterize leading organizations that have made the
largest impact on the development of CSR and created opportunities for sustainable development.
At the end of XX C there started the writing of a number of social standards for certifying
companies. Some of them are focused completely on CSR – for ex. SA 8000 (1998). Others cover only
some aspects of CSR - AA 1000 (1999), OHSAS 18001:2007 (1999), Good Corporation Standard
(2000). The most used CSR standard until recently is SA 8000 (Social Accountability 8000). It was
made in New York by the non-governmental organization Social Accountability International
(SAI).The standard defines the requirements for a policy and procedures in respect to keeping human
rights, remuneration for labor, observing all other rights guaranteed by the UN charts and the
conventions of the International labor organization.
Currently SA 8000 is largely spread among various companies, trade associations,
professional unions, governmental and non-governmental organizations, international organizations
for spreading CSR (like for ex. BSCI). A characteristic feature of SA 8000 is that the companies
certified by it are required to require the standard from their own suppliers too. Thus, enforcing CSR is
stimulated under the pressure of world leading companies. Applying SA 8000 started in 1998 when 8
companies were certified and their number has already grown to 3231.
The International Organization for Standardization has launched an International Standard
providing guidelines for Social responsibility named ISO 26000 and released in 2010. As a guidance
document the ISO 26000 is an offer, voluntary in use, and encourages organizations to discuss their
CSR issues and possible actions with relevant stakeholders. As ISO 26000 is a guidance standard
instead of a certifiable system, we do not have relevant information about companies certified with
this standard.
A popular form for stimulating CSR is annual competitions and awards for socially
responsible business. They have different names. Some are oriented to companies round the world,
others – to particular regions (there are specific awards for CSR for Europe, USA, Canada, Asia, Latin
America, Africa, the Arabic countries). Traditional organizers of such competitions are IBLF, BSCI
andUN. Among the founders there are also famous rating agencies, for ex. the Forbes. Often partners
of competitions are representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations, educational
institutions, media, trade unions, branch organizations and others.
Among the most popular international CSR competitions are:





The Gold Stevie CSR International business awards of the Forbes with partners Dow Jones
andWall Street Journal,established in 2003, the award crystal pyramid (a symbol of the pyramid in
Maslow) carried by a 24-carat Stevie.
Awards for CSR of IBLF with the partner EC, established in 2003, money award and a diploma.
BSCI awards for socially responsible enterprises with partners the National round table for
introducing social standards and the UNDP, established in 2006, award – a diploma and additional
bonuses (free participation in fairs and presentations at international forums).
Media award “Best CSR program” established by media partners and representatives of academic
circles in 2006, award – a crystal statue and PR media company.
European award for CSR – innovations for a better world established by independent European
consultancies with the support of EC in 2008, award – a statuette.
Apart from the above-mentioned awards, there are also other types of prizes – in more than 70
competitions which affect CSR directly or indirectly. For ex. such are: Good Corporation Award of
the Institute for business ethics; theEuropean Business Awards for Corporate Sustainability;CSR
Awards of Business Travel Association;The Responsible Business Awards, Social Enterprise Awards,
Sustainability Leaders Awards, International Green Awards, The sustainable City Awards,Global 100
Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, 100 Best Corporate Citizenship, Top 10 CSR Initiatives
and many others.
For assessing investors’ interest in socially responsible behavior different indices are
established. They insure the so called Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) or Sustainability
investing – investors are diversifying their portfolios by investing in companies that set industry-wide
best practices with regard to sustainability. The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices are established in
1999 to evaluate the sustainability performance of the top 2500 companies worldwide (that is, largest
companies, based on the size and price of their respective stocks). DJSI criteria have 3 dimensions –
economic, environmental and social. The FTSE4Good Indices are created by Financial Times &
London Stock Exchangein 2001, designed to measure performance of companies that meet globally
recognized corporate responsibility standards. Eligible companies must meet criteria requirements in 3
groups – environmental, social and governance. Both rating agencies form a global (for the whole
world) and several regional indices. Initially Dow Jones specifies indices that encompass Europe,
North America and USA, while FTSE differentiates indices for Europe, UK, USA and Japan. Later
their territory was enlarged.
There are also other indices that include social criteria for assessing corporations (for ex.
Domini 400 Social Index, ASPI Eurozone Index и 100 Best Corporate Citizens Index). Some of them
are applied only in certain countries or comply with particular aspects of CSR. In the last couple of
years there grows the number of independent research agencies in Europe, North America and Asia
which establish their own indices for assessing socially responsible corporations. For ex. such are:
KLD (USA), CoreRatings (UK), Deminor Ratings (France),and many others.
Assessing CSR and sustainability through the above-reviewed indices is done by external
organizations and takes into consideration investors’ interest. A different aspect of social assessment,
which affects other stakeholders as well, is public disclosure of information on behalf of the
corporations themselves in specially prepared (by them or by external auditors) social reports. The
ground for designing these reports is the TripleBottomLineconcept(TBL, 1997) – companies’ activity
is assessed based on three types of criteria – economic, ecological and social. Thus one can specify the
impact of business on the overall economic framework, environment and society. That is why for TBL
the abbreviation РРРis used– people, planet and profit. A logical continuation of this idea for social
accountability was designed in 1997 –theGlobal Reporting Initiative (GRI)which currently offers the
largest used rules for making social reports. In 1998 the Social Audit Network is established which
offers more detailed guidelines for the particular elements of social audit.
Accepting CSR as a criterion for sustainability was affirmed at the conference for sustainable
development in Johannesburg (2002). A year earlier in June 2001 the European commission presented
the Green Paper ‘Promoting a European framework for CSR’, followed by an official press release for
CSR which defined the future EU strategy on this issue. Some European governments undertake
initiatives for spreading CSR in their own countries and design national CSR strategies. In Holland the
Socio-economic council issues a manual with CSR recommendations. UK and France appoint special
ministers on the issues of CSR. France and Denmark ratify special laws for covering the social impact
and the influence on the environment in companies’ annual reports.
In 2004 EC accepted a directive for the requirements to the annual reports of companies
operating on EU territory. This directive refers to the public presentation of information that has to do
with the social and ecological aspects of companies’ activities and that can be published as part of
their reports for corporate management. Later in 2007 and 2014 this initiative was affirmed by
resolutions of the European parliament for stimulating the application of the social-accountability
principles on behalf of European business organizations.Some of the most recent ideas for
encouraging CSR involve the appointment of an ombudsman of CSR in EU. On 14 November 2012 a
directive was published by the European Commission which aims to improve the gender balance
among non-executive directors in large listed companies(currently dominated by one gender – 85%
men). By 1 January 2020a minimum of40%of non-executiveboardpositionsmust be held bywomen.
A characteristic feature of the viewed above leading international CSR initiatives is the
tendency towards uniting the efforts and implementing more joint projects. Thus for ex., BSCI includes
in its Ethical Code the requirement for compliance with the principles of the Global Compact. At the
same time in the process of external evaluation of the applicant members BSCI recommends
certification with SA 8000 and an audit by external auditors licensed by the founders of the very same
standard. In turn, the representatives of the Global compact unite their efforts with IBLF and
TransparencyInternationalin the joint project “Business against corruption”. The latter contains
guidelines for action and presents examples for handling corruption practices. Webelieve that joint
efforts for implementing common projects would contribute better for developing social responsibility
in business in Bulgaria and Turkey.
4. CSR PRACTICES OF TURKEY AND BULGARIA WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF THEIR
REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
4.1. Regional agencies of international organizations for CSR spreading around the Globe
The leading international organizations for spreading CSR have their regional agencies in
Bulgaria and Turkey. They were established in different historical times but have identical mission
and focus on sustainable regional development (see Table 1).
Table1. Leading CSR international initiatives for Sustainable Regional Development of Bulgaria and Turkey
Indicators
InternationalBusinessLeaderF
orum (IBLF)
Global Compact of UN
Business Social Compliance
Initiative (BSCI)
Year of
establishment
1990
1999
2003
Affiliate in
Bulgaria
1998
2003
2004
Affiliate in
Turkey
2015
2002
2004
Objective
To be a leading organization in
introducing CSR practices that
bring benefit for business and
society and help sustainable,
economic and ecological
development
Defining the principles for social
behavior through which
companies can contribute for
turning globalization into a
driving force of development
Designing means and procedures
for implementing the European
program for social agreement in
business
Founders in
Bulgaria
The Prince of Wales, President P.
Stoyanov and 12 Bulgarian
companies
UN representatives for Bulgaria,
President G. Parvanov and
Bulgarian organizations
Founders in
Turkey
B20 Turkey establishes a national
“Business Leaders Forum”
Representatives of UNDP and
the Turkish Confederation of
Employers Association (TISK)
Does not establish separate
managing organs and structures
in separate countries
Members in
Bulgaria
More than 220 international and
Bulgarian companies and nongovernmental organizations
More than 120 companies, NGOs
and academic institutions
Retailers and wholesalers,
various associations
Members in
Turkey
Turkey’s top 100 company’s
Chairmen and CEOs
Almost 290 participants from
business and academic
institutions
Retailers and wholesalers,
producers
Focus
Relevant social and business
issues characteristic of the region
and oriented to all stakeholders
A platform for exchanging
knowledge and good practices
for observing generally accepted
values and responsible business
behavior
Stimulating producers from
developing countries who are
providers of EU companies to
follow socially responsible
policies
Requirements
for
membership
Ratifying the standard for
business ethics of IBLF as a
model for responsible behavior
on behalf of business
organizations
A special procedure for
recognizing membership and
listing the name on the Internet
page of the Global Compact
BSCI Ethical code underpins the
process of joining, membership
and monitoring
Requirements
for social
accountability
Requirement for transparent
management
“Press release of progress”
annually filled in
Does not establish separate
managing organs and structures
in separate countries
Social audit by an external
organization and publishing the
report
Historically the first representative agency of a leading international organization in the region
was BBLF which was established in Bulgaria in 1998 as part of IBLF. BBLF was set up by 12
multinationals operating in the region and was opened by the Bulgarian president P. Stoyanov and the
Prince of Wales who declared its objective – to spread CSR and help sustainable development of the
country. At the moment BBLF has more than 220 international and Bulgarian companies and NGOs.
Some of the more important initiatives and projects of BBLF implemented until today are: introducing
BBLF’s ethical code, project ‘Career days”, master business classes for students and classes in
business for pupils, the program HE+AL for healthy lifestyle, issuing a Manual for responsible
business, the newspaper “Business leader” and annual competition for socially responsible business.
Since October 2004 BBFL has been the national coordinator of Environment Business awards of the
EC. It has the right to nominate Bulgarian companies which take part in the European competition.
IBLF has not established an affiliated organization in Turkey so far. Irrespective of this fact,
for more than 10 years under the initiative of IBLF various activities have been organized for
spreading CSR in Turkey. They have been held together with the Turkish Economic and Social
Studies Foundation (TESEV), the UNDP, The British Council and British companies operating in
Turkey (Ararat, 2005). One of the largest initiatives in this respect was the meeting in March 2015
organized under the patronage of IBLF - B20 Higl Level meeting in Istanbul.
The Business 20 (B20) group brings together business leaders from G20 economies, and
advocates for critical business issues. Turkey is one of the member countries of G20 which in unison
account for 85% of global economy and 80% of world trade. That is why in 2015 Istanbul is hosting
the annual group meeting whose objective is „to facilitate exchanges between business communities
from different countries and to develop consensuses around critical issues for businesses“. In 2015
B20 Turkey establishes a national “Business Leaders Forum” involving Turkey’s top 100 companies’
Chairmen and CEOs. The 100 Business Leaders, who steer Turkish economy, will gather togetherat
special meetings periodically throughout the year and actively exchange their ideas on taskforces work
and B20 Turkey process. (http://b20turkey.org).
Another international organization that exerted considerable influence on spreading CSR and
sustainable development in the region is the Global Compact (GC). It set up its own regional
representative agencies first in Turkey in 2002 and within a year in Bulgaria.
The Global Compact Network Türkiye (www.globalcompactturkiye.org) was launched in
October 2002 by UNDP and the the Turkish Confederation of Employers Association (TISK). The
Local Network is Turkey's largest and most inclusive sustainability platform. Today it has about 290
participants from business and academic institutions among which are: Akkök Holding, Anadolu Efes,
ARGE Consulting, Bilim İlaç, Borsa İstanbul, Borusan Holding, Coca-Cola İçecek, Deloitte Türkiye,
Doğuş Otomotiv, Istanbul Bilgi University, KalDer, Koç Holding, Sabancı Holding and others.
Similarly to its initiatives round the world and in Turkey, its focus is on keeping the 10 GC principles
of responsible business and stimulating social accountability of the member countries.
In Bulgaria GC started operating in 2003. Global Compact Bulgaria involves more than 120
organizations. Actually it is an association of large, medium and small private companies, NGOs and
academic institutions which share the 10 universal GS principles: applying socially responsible
practices, striving for exchanging experience, initiating dialogue or partnership with other entities like
government, local authorities, employers’ organizations, civil society organizations and academic
institutions.
The basic initiatives and projects of GC Bulgaria concern the external environment, health,
education and youth. More significant among those are: (1) the Project “Cooperation and partnership
in applying the principles of Global Compact in Bulgaria” (2005); (2) Joint publication of Global
Compact, BFBL and TransparencyInternational “Business against corruption – guidelines for action”
– it presents examples for overcoming corruption practices; (3) Round table “Business in Bulgaria
against child labor” (2008); (4) GC Bulgaria is initiator of the survey on “How Bulgarian media cover
the topic of CSR; (5) it is a Partner in the competition “Socially responsible company of the year”.
The third international organization with essential contribution for spreading CSR in Europe is
BSCI. Its intense activity in separate countries started in 2004 with issuing the “Manual in
management for applying sustainable social standards”. It is characteristic that BSCI does not set up
separate managing organs and structures in separate countries. Its activity is made popular by
presenting various documents in different languages (including Bulgarian and Turkish) which are
published directly with the support of the EC. The most important of these documents, with ultimate
significance for facilitating the practical introduction of socially responsible practices in Bulgarian and
Turkish organizations are: a questionnaire for self-assessment in applying for certification with CSR
standard and declarations and conditions concerning its ratification and compliance, a manual in
management and a system of BSCI. One of its largest initiatives is holding national round tables for
spreading CSR in countries which represent big markets for import on behalf of BSCI member
companies. In 2006-2007 such round tables were held in 12 countries, among which Bulgaria and
Turkey.
Later in the course of years there continued the campaigns for spreading CSR ideas in
Bulgaria and Turkey. Thus for ex., EC organized 65 events for making popular socially responsible
practices among small and medium-sized enterprises during only two years (2004-2006).
4.2. Regional CSR initiatives, conferences and projects in Bulgaria and Turkey
Representatives of Bulgaria and Turkey take part in various regional projects aiming to spread
CSR. One of the first similar projects is the regional forum for developing social responsibility of
small business held in Zagreb, Croatia, under the initiative of EC and BSCI. In 2007 there started the
regional CSR project‘Accelerating CSR practices in the new EU member states and candidate
countries as a vehicle for harmonization, competitiveness, and social cohesion in the EU’ funded by
the ECand UNDP.It encompasses Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Poland and
Slovakia. Participants were also business networks from UK, Germany and Spain which contributed
for exchanging experience and good practices in the field of CSR. The aspiration was for the applicant
countries to use this way and affirm the principles of sustainability on national level through which to
achieve compliance with the old EU member countries.
Making CSR popular on regional level is done also through holding conferences. Both in
Bulgaria and Turkey the first similar conferences were held in 2006. In Bulgaria the topic was “How
do we integrate CSR policies in business operations?” and the conference was organized under the
initiative of the National round table for introducing social standards and was supported by EC. A year
later BBLF started organizing its annual conferences on the CSR topic. In 2006 in Turkey there were
held 3 conferences concerning CSR: (1) Conference „International Sponsorship CSR“organized
byArya Sponsorships and Communication; (2) „Civil Society Organizations and CSR” at 15th
National Quality Conference organized by the Quality Association in Turkey; and (3) Symposium
“Winning the Consumers Hearth: Corporate Social Responsibility” organized by the Private Sector
Volunteers Foundation, Marketingİst Magazine and Zarakol Consultancy.
Another form for making CSR popular, which is spread in both countries, is organizing
National round tables for introducing Social Standards in business. The first similar initiative both in
Bulgaria and Turkey started in 2004. Its founders were the German Federal ministry for economic
cooperation and development (BMZ), the German Agency for Technical Corporation (GTZ) andthe
Foreign Trade Association of the German Retail Trade (AVE).Establishing the initiative is part of a
three-year project based on the principles of public-private partnership in 11 countries. The aim is to
attract small and medium-sized enterprises to complying with national legislation with social content
and spread the application of international CSR standards (mainly SA 8000). The idea is in this way to
increase trust respectively in Bulgarian and Turkish business in society and on foreign markets.
According to ‘Turkey CSR Baseline Report of UNDP’in 2008therewere only two associations
in Turkey dealing exclusively with CSR and sustainable development – the CSR Association of
Turkey and the Turkish Business Council for Sustainable Development. Some organizations are not
dedicated to CSR only but theyplay an active role in promotingitin Turkey – such as the Private Sector
Volunteers Foundation, TÜSEV’s (Third Sector Foundation of Turkey), the Turkish Society for
Quality (KalDer), TÜSİAD (Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association), The Union of
Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB).
4.3. CSR certification standards
Until 31 March 2015 there are certified 101 facilities of Bulgarian companies with the
standard SA 8000. The first of them is TNT Bulgaria in 2005. Until recently in Turkey 9 companies
from 7 industries have been certified. The first being Alarko Carrier San. Tic. A.S.in2004 г.,and in
2005 – Topkapı İplik San.ve Tic.A.Ş. and Yesim Tekstil Sanavi Ve Ticaret,A.S. Certifying with the
standard SA 8000 can be done only by accredited auditors accredited by the international organization
SAI. In Bulgaria such companies are for ex. TÜV Rheinland BulgariaиBureauVeritasCertification, in
Turkey – TÜV Rheinland Turkey.
4.4. CSR Competitions and Awards in Bulgaria and Turkey
In Table 2 a comparative characteristic of the most popular CSR competitions in Bulgaria is
done.
Table 2.CSR competitions and awards in Bulgaria
AWARDS
INITIATOR
IN
BULGARIA
RESPONSİBLE
BUSİNESS
AWARDS
BBLF
 IBLF
 European
commission
PARTNERS
(award for
external
environment)
YEAR OF
ESTABLISH
2003
MENT
INTERNATİON
AL BUSİNESS
AWARD GOLD
STEVİE
FORBES
 Dow Jones
 Wall Street
Journal
RESPONSİBLE
BUSİNESS
ENTERPRİSE
AWARDS
NATIONAL
ROUND TABLE
FOR
INTRODUCING
SOCIAL
STANDARDS
 German and
Bulgarian
governmental and
non-governmental
organizations
 UNDP
EUROPEAN CSR
AWARD –
INNOVATİON
FOR BETTER
WORLD
INDEPENDENT
EUROPEAN
CONSULTANCIES
Responsible Business
Company Awards
“MONEY”
NEWSPAPER
DELOİTTEBULGARIA
 Ministry of labor
 European
 GC Bulgaria
commission
 Partnership for
 Media partners and
CSR Association
business leaders
from EU countries
2004
2006
2008
2008
TYPE OF
THE
AWARDS
MONEY
AWARD AND
DIPLOMA
24CARAT STEVİ
E WITH A
CRYSTAL
PYRAMID
A DIPLOMA AND
FREE
PARTICIPATION
IN FAIRS OR
OTHER
ACTIVITIES
A STATUETTE
AND DIPLOMA
A STATUETTE
AND DIPLOMA
NUMBER
OF
CATEGORI
ES
5 + A SPECIAL
AWARD
11
(ASSOCIATE
D WITH CSR)
3
1
5
1. MICRO AND
SMALL
ENTERPRISE
2MEDIUM-SIZED
ENTERPRISE
3. LARGE
ENTERPRISE
ONE GENERAL
CATEGORY –
BUSINESS
ORGANIZATIONS
FROM VARIOUS
INDUSTRIES AND
SECTORS.
THE FIRST 10
NATIONAL
WINNERS ARE
AWARDED. THE
FIRST ONES
REPRESENT
THEIR OWN
COUNTRY AT
THE EUROPEAN
FINALS.
REGISTERED
AND OPERATING
LEGALLY IN AN
EUROPEAN
COUNTRY, WITH
AT LEAST 2YEAR-LONG
ACCOUNTING
HISTORY, WITH
NO DEBTS
1. Investor in
 BEST CSR
external
PROGRAM
environment
 LONG-TERM
2. Investor in
PROGRAM
education
FOR
3. Investor in
PROMOTING
human capital
DEVELOPM
AWARD
4. INVESTOR IN
ENT
CATEGORI
SOCIETY
 PROGRAM
ES
5. Cause-related
FOR SOCIAL
marketing
INCLUSION
 OTHER
CANDIDAT
ES
Business
organizations
without being
necessary for
them to be BBLF
members
BUSINESS
ORGANIZATI
ONS
FROM
ALL
OVER
THE WORLD
1.HOTEL
2. LARGE HOTEL/
HOLIDAY
VILLAGE
ORGANIZATIONS
FROM THE
TAILOR, TEXTILE
AND TOURIST
BRANCHES
 Social
responsibility to
employers
 Social
responsibility to
external
environment
 Ethics and
responsibility to
stakeholders
 Participation in
projects with longterm socially
favorable effect
 Charity
As seen from the table, most often initiators of the competitions are international CSR
organizations with representative agencies in Bulgaria. IBLF is the first structure not only in Bulgaria,
but in Eastern Europe as well, that establishes its own CSR awards. In the very same period of time
there started the international Gold Stevie competition. It awards the most popular business prizes
worldwide, also called “Business Oscars” and there is a special section for CSR. Gold Stevie winners
from Bulgaria are: Astra Zeneca–Bulgaria (2007 and 2011) and Overgaz–Bulgaria (2008). In Bulgaria
there are held other CSR competitions. They are less popular and have smaller scope. For ex. the
Junior Achievement-Young Enterprise (JA-YE) Europe award for encouraging small enterprises to
have more socially responsible way of thinking. With emphasis on charity are the awards of the
Bulgarian donation forum for distinguishing the most outstanding Bulgarian corporate philanthropists
and others.
According to ‘Turkey CSR Baseline Report of UNDP’ (2008) there are many CSR related
awards given by different national stakeholders such as PR companies, Media and the NGO
community. Some of them are: CNBC-E a Turkish–American TV broadcaster’s “The Best of Business
Word Awards” (awarded Turkcell’s “Kardelen” project as the Social Responsibility
Achievement);European Business Awards for Environment (REC Turkey); AcademyCSR in Banking
Award and others. In the last couple of yearshighly-achieving Turkish companies have been
recognized as Gold, Silver and Bronze StevieAward winners. The Gold Stivie winners are:
AstraZeneka Turkey (2014); Unilever Turkey (2013);Isbank Turkey(2012). The Silver Stivie winner
is: ING Bank Turkey(2014). The Bronze Stivie winners are: AkbankTasTurkey (2014);Anadolu
EfesTurkey (2014); BP Turkey (2014); Isbank Turkey (2013); Kale Group Turkey (2013); Shell &
Turcas Petrol A.S.Turkey (2013) and Vodafone Turkey (2012).
4.5. SCR Stock Exchange indices andCorporateSustainabilityassessment in Bulgaria and Turkey
Until now in Bulgaria there haven’t been established stock-exchange indices for assessing
CSR and corporate sustainability. Some Bulgarian companies have been involved in the process of
socially responsible investing (SRI), but generally its popularity is not big yet. The activity of the
subdivisions of particular international companies in Bulgaria is subject to assessment with social
stock-exchange indices. On corporate level these companies are assessed with social indices in other
countries (like for ex. Devnya cement, part of the Italcimenti group, is assessed with the The Dow
Jones Sustainability Index).
According to ‘Turkey CSR Baseline Report of UNDP’ (2008) it is worth underlining that
Social Responsible Investment in Turkey is not known. Some other researchers (Koenig, 2013)assert
that in Turkey there is a lack of interest from social investors and outlined two
noteworthyintermediaries that support social ventures: the Social Change Lab at Özyeğin University
supported with CSR grants from JP Morgan Turkey and m-spark, an accelerator program for mobile
social innovation launched by the co-founders of Galata Business Angels, a Turkish business angel
network. The same author concluded that “most potential social investors such as large Turkish
corporate or family foundations, high net worth individuals or business angels, however, are unaware
and have not shown much interest in this field.”
Today some Bulgarian and Turkish private companies invest money in socially responsible
initiatives in order to pay less tax, which is the short-term decision. The long-term focus – on socially
responsible investment (SRI) using the information from CSR stock exchange indexes – is just
undergoing development and affirmation as a popular practice in business environment of the two
countries.
4.6. Social accountability and social auditinitiatives in Bulgaria and Turkey
The first large initiative for spreading the assessment and reporting of socially responsible
practices in Bulgaria is carried out by the UN Global Compact. Its idea is to periodically publish
reports that share the positive experience and successful social practices of business organizations
from various European countries including Bulgaria. In 2008 a special study was carried out for
assessing social-accountability practices, called „Accountabilityrating Bulgaria“. The study was
designed by the international rating agency and CSR consultancy in Central and Eastern Europe
Braun&PartnersNetwork. The companies subject to analysis in the study were selected based on the
classification of the “Capital newspaper about the one hundred Bulgarian companies according to total
revenues”. The overall assessment of the level of social-accountability practices in Bulgaria in this
period of time is 14.6 out of aggregate option 100. In other words, there are covered only 14.6% of all
indicators determined by the international rating agency for using in the process of assessment and
public disclosure of socially responsible practices of companies. The sector with the best overall
performance in Bulgaria in respect to social accountability is the financial one, with general
assessment 17.24.
One of the first initiatives in Turkey aiming for promoting the publishing of social reports is
the appeal in 2003 of the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB) to joint stock corporations to
disclose their CSR policies and reporttheir CSR activities in the social report which is part of their
annual report. Ten years laterKoenig (2013)foundfrom its survey that few organizations make their
reports publicly available or provide information on their financial accounts. Besides, the researcher
noticed that many report on their activities and the number of beneficiaries reached rather than
outcomes or impact.
It is evident that the degree of publicly disclosed information on the issues of social
accountability in Bulgaria and Turkey legs behind considerably from the understanding of social
accountability of the leading international organizations. Irrespective of the fact that recently there
grows the number of companies carrying out social audit and publishing social reports, these practices
in the region do not have traditions and are not developed enough yet.
6. CONCLUSIONS
In Bulgaria, similarly to the remaining former socialist countries, there is certain delay in
affirming the initiatives for stimulating CSR and sustainable development compared to the developed
market economics. The actual manifestation of these initiatives has been felt stronger in the last
decade. Some of them have identical visions on the essence and dimensions of CSR, as well as on the
means of promoting it. Others have different understanding of the whole scope of socially responsible
business behavior, while a third part focus their efforts only on separate aspects of it and on affirming
these aspects as good management practices. A similar conclusion has been made about Turkey as
well – one can report certain lagging behind in the speed of accepting and applying CSR practices
compared to some European countries and USA.
At the same time a large part of the initiatives have been organized individually, that is why
often they duplicate each other – mainly the conferences with CSR topic and the awards for socially
responsible business. Part of these initiatives is organized with the cooperation of the same partners –
UN, the Global Compact network, the European commission. Most regional initiatives are organized
with the help of foreign partners. Among them most influential are Great Britain, Germany, EC as a
whole and USA.
For both Bulgaria and Turkey it is characteristic that initially the most were the initiatives of
the leading international organizations that promoted ideas for CSR and sustainable development.
After 2005 one observed that the initiatives were more pragmatically oriented and strived for not only
promoting CSR in the region, but for helping the application of CSR in practice. There grows the
number of the established local organizations and initiatives and the events organized by them –
conferences, projects and competitions. In the reviewed almost 20-year-long period of time of CSR
ideas emerging and being affirmed in the region, the smallest is the role of rating agencies and social
stock-exchange indices, followed by the social-accountability and social-audit practices. Considerable
lagging behind is observed also in respect to the number of certified companies with the standard CSR
– SA 8000. It is only in the last 3-4 years that Bulgarian business organizations became more active in
this respect, while in Turkey the number of companies certified with SA 8000 is still too small.
Currently the interest in CSR as a tool for sustainable regional development is still growing
because of the increasing expectations of society from business organizations. Indirectly they are
associated also with the global issues of peace and prosperity that dominated in the second half of XX
C, as well as their logical follow-up in the beginning of this century that concerns the fight with
terrorism, global heating and poverty.
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