SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AS A MODERN PRINCIPLE OF PLANNING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SECURE BUSINESS IN TRADE

Abstract

The increasing role of society as a factor in the development of a company actualizes the introduction of the corporate social responsibility concept, its boundaries and its impact on economic results. The implementation of corporate social responsibility activities and programs forms a positive image of the company as of a responsible employer, manufacturer and counterparty, which simultaneously strengthens the company's competitive position and increases its level of security. Nevertheless, the integration of environmental and social programs into the company's business processes requires investments and, respectively, the coordination of these projects with strategic business development initiatives to ensure a certain balance between desired goals and real opportunities. That is the reason for the relevance of researching the practice of planning of socially targeted events and determining the relationship between their implementation and the performance results of the company. The article considers the current practice of implementing the principles of corporate social responsibility in the activities of world trading companies in the context of ensuring their economic security. The author of the article investigated the level of implementation of corporate social responsibility tools in the practice of 19 world trade leaders in terms of their turnover. It is proved that trading companies with high rates of corporate sustainability implement social initiatives in accordance with the developed plans and strategies for their implementation. The author identifies priority areas for the implementation of social projects of trading companies, among which the most common are creation of decent working conditions, gender equality, implementation of educational initiatives to rationalize consumption and production in terms of human physiological needs and careful use of resources, of the fight against climate change and their consequences. The hypothesis regarding the dependence of business economic security on the activity of implementation of corporate social responsibility projects was also checked. Based on the correlation analysis, a direct relationship has been established between corporate sustainability indicators and the main performance results of trading companies, which determine their level of economic security.