Abstract

Background. In the last few years not only the economists but also researchers from other fields such as law, media, etc. have been interested in corporate social respon-sibility. The relevance of the topic and the realisation of corporate responsibility were not only observed from a theoretical point of view, but also from practical points. Therefore, it can be clearly stated that CSR has become one of the most popular research topics in recent years, however, it seems that the competencies of the corporate leaders from CSR approach is a rather neglected research topic.

Methodology. The present research is devoted to this research topic through a quantitative primary research in order to have an insight into this area as well.

Findings. The detailed and complex study of the inner factors of the corporate leaders (both of their individual values and attitudes) reveals that self-enhancement shows a positive linear correlation with responsible corporate management among the Hungarian leaders of SMEs, and certain attitudes (altruistic benefit, moral benefit, and CSR≠PR attitudes) have determining roles, however, not exclusive.

Keywords: individual value, corporate social responsibility, CSR attitude, corporate managers.

INTRODUCTION

In the last few decades, especially in the 1990s, corporate social responsibility and business ethics have become important concerns in the global business world.

The topic has been examined from a different aspect, however, because of its constant change and development it remained a topic of interest in the scientific life. The social responsibility of corporations has become such a multidisciplinary science that many disciplines show interest in it e.g.: politics, political theory, media, finance, law, marketing, and business theory. Topic related articles can be even read in the daily newspapers, while articles related to corporate social responsibility can be found in the issues of the Financial Times every second day.

There are more and more corporations that voluntarily decide to take on such strict social and environmental regulations that go beyond the regulations of the country they operate in. It can be explained by the fact that corporate decisions not only influence the direct environment of the corporation, but also the society. CSR is a complex management approach, which has its impact on all aspects of business activities and on the competitiveness of the corporation.