Corporate social responsibility as a factor of global competitiveness

In contemporary business, issues such as environmental protection, taking care of employees and their job satisfaction, ethical principles, supporting endangered groups, caring about young people, caring about the society and the like, are serious challenges that a company has to deal with, no matter which industry it belongs to. One of the most important principles of contemporary business is an organisation based on responsibility. An organisation has to take full responsibility for its actions in the environment in which it operates. Contemporary business puts responsibility on the level of each individual as well. Global market leaders have accepted the application of the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) with a view to satisfying customers' and other stakeholders' demands. What is seen as a prerequisite for a successful realisation of CSR concepts in a company is a genuine wish for its application by the management, management's readiness to understand the basic postulates of this concept, good communication (both internal and external), promotion of examples of good practice in the company and outside of it, motivating employees for a more active role in realising good business practices. In this paper, the authors have presented the results of a survey about young people's attitudes towards corporate social responsibility