Year IX, No.11/2010 297

THE IMPACT OF THE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSABILITY CONCEPT OF THE ROMANIAN BANKING SYSTEM

Radu LOLESCU, PhD student University of Craiova

1. Introduction been appreciated as being the best short report in from 2009. Dominic Social responsibility is defined as Bruynseels, the president of BCR talks a way of meeting the needs and about the concept of social responsibility expectations of the society, but this from the Romanian Commercial Bank definition has been enlarged by the and he states that” we all live and work in World Business Council for Sustainable our communities and we may choose Development as being ”The continuing whether we want or not if we should commitment by business to behave actively get involved in their lives. We, as ethically and contribute to economic a bank, are the major beneficiary of the development while improving the quality community, through the businesses we of life of the workforce and their families conclude with the people. That is why it is as well as of the local community and vital, that we should give back a part of society at large.”(Holme, Watts: 2000) our success. Therefore, we demonstrate The European Council considers that we can bring value to the community that this concept does not represent only through our business activities, but we the materialization of some legal may also add more value if our requirements, but also the investment in participation goes beyond this”. human capital, environment and the When we talk about social responsibility relations with the stakeholders. (EU we have to mention the fact that the Green Paper, 2001) development level of the Romanian Milton Friedman states that in a free Commercial Bank is situated at a market society ”there is one and only one social share, calculated for net assets of 20,5%. responsibility of business--to use its On 30 June 2009 the net interest resources and engage in activities revenues were 1.711.199 lei, revenues designed to increase its profits so long as from commissions of 293.461 lei, it stays within the rules of the game, operational revenues of 2.210.239 lei, which is to say, engages in open and free and operating revenues 205.579 lei. In competition without deception or this period BCR had 8700 employees. fraud”.(Friedman, 1970) The Romanian Commercial Bank received in October 2008 from START 2. The projects of the BCR Bank Internship Romania, the Excellence Diploma for Internship strategies. In the analysis of the concept of In March 2009 BCR was corporate social responsibility in the awarded the prize for the best Private banking system I will analyse the Bank in Romania by the magazine materialization of the Corporate Social Euromoney. For the ongoing social Responsibility (CSR) actions in the case responsibility projects, BCR has been of the Romanian Commercial Bank which awarded in the reporting period the published in 2009 a short report on CSR, following distinctions: according to the Global Reporting • The Excellence Prize for Social Initiative (GRI) standards. This report has Initiatives awarded in the first prize award 298 Finance – Challenges of the Future edition Felicia – People for heart, mind  projects for the maintenance and and soul, for the project the Grand modernization of the roads infrastructure: Encyclopaedia; active participation in funding the • Silver Award in the category ”Social National Railway and National Roads Responsibility and Dialogue with the co- Company from Romania; interested groups” in the Romanian  projects for paper recycling Public Relation Award 2009 for the which started from April 2009, and were project My Finances. implemented in three of the BCR BCR has been involved in the headquarters, gathering more than 28 following social responsibility projects: tons of paper.  2% for NGOs, in some The simple enunciation of these subsidiaries of BCR ; projects proves the fact that BCR is  the BCR employees have involved in sustainable fields and that the designed an implementation project for concept of sustainable developed can be entrepreneurship which was entitled found in the bank‟s policy. ”Start Business”; The Romanian Commercial Bank  “Give for Christmas” took place has been contributing yearly, for 16 in December 2009 and had two main years, with almost 2 million Euro for the goals: supporting a large number of sustainable development of the society, unprivileged persons and stimulating the supporting the projects which pointed out involvement of the BCR employees in the the Romanian national priorities and the communities where they work and live by developed visions of the bank. organising some charitable actions If we discuss the projects which around the country; refer directly to the society, we can find  BCR has developed together out that the banking system has various with the Red Cross, in September 2009 contradictory opinions: some economic the project the ” Food Bank”; analysis place the CSR concept in the  personal Branding is an banking system only in the field of educational project where BCR wants to marketing and public relations. With the improve the quality of the local business help of these projects, the banks are environment trying to get closer to their clients, as  BCR is the strategic partner of Dominic Bruynseels also mentioned, the organisation Save the Children which also made a reference to the old Romania; saying ”Love all, Serve all” and  along with these projects there implemented it the BCR policy. are some other projects entitled ” BCR The trend in the social orchard” and ”BCR Hopes”; responsibility in the banking system from  projects for the improvement of Romania seems to be a positive one, the environment: the project Turceni because the concept of social which involved the participation of BERD responsibility is a relatively new on in for funding to rehabilitate 6 units from Romania and becomes a way of the Energetic Complex Turceni, and developing a company and a special funding of the Energetic Complex concept in the banking sector where Craiova; image and reputation is everything.  projects for the improvement of Placing the concept of social the water quality: participation in the responsibility in the banking system public auction organised by the Water means the comeback of the banks to the Company Aries SA(local operator) in customers, to the stakeholders; without order to expand and rehabilitate the these the development of this system water and sewerage systems from Turda, would be impossible. The world banking county Cluj; system has understood that not only Year IX, No.11/2010 299 corporations rules the world and that the current general manager of Erste Bank emergence of this world economic crisis has declared on 12 October 2006: ” We is due to a great extent to the will start to implement a new ambitious carelessness towards customers and the business plan. In no more than a year desire to make profit without giving back our clients will feel the affiliation of BCR anything to the society. Maybe this way to Erste Bank with respect to the of understanding the phenomenon of products and services offered at corporate social responsibility and to act European quality standards” in this way will represent a solution to The structure of the shareholders overcome the world crisis. on 31 December 2009 from Kanter sustains that the society was of 10,1% Criteria Caixa Caixa Corp accepts and favours more the companies S.A., employees 3,3%, private investors which implement the concept of social 6,6%, Erste Foundation 26,1%, responsibility in its actions. Kanter institutional investors 47,1 represented mentions that ”super corporations create by placement funds, insurance partnerships among sectors, combining companies, retirement companies, their capacities for the common good. banks, etc. If we analyse the structure of They have the potential to solve the the shareholders, we can notice that the social and environmental problems and Erste Foundation has the majority of as a derived product to give back the shares. From this point of view we have trust of the people in business. I hope to make a reference to the statement of this is the 21st century mode for the future Milton Friedman, the winner of the Nobel of capitalism”(Kanter, 2003). Prize for Economics (1976) who stated that ” the central idea is that the manager 3.Erste Foundation and its role is the agent of the persons holding the in CSR corporation or the charitable institutions and that its main responsibility is towards This study on the BCR report them”.(Friedman, 1970). To act for any regarding social responsibility has been other purpose means to abandon their chosen because of the fact that the responsibility and a real ”theft” from the Romanian Commercial Bank is part of pockets of the shareholders. Peter the international financial group Erste, Drucker talks about this ironically:”If you where the major shareholder is the have an employee in an executive foundation with the same name. Erste position who wants to get involved in Bank took over the Romanian market, a CSR, fire him, as fast as you market which registered the most can”(Drucker, 1946). ascending dynamic trend as compared to The fact that the major shareholder , the , , of the banking group Erste is the , Croatia, Serbia and Ukraine. foundation with the same name whose After the BCR takeover, the number of main purpose is the social responsibility Erste Bank customers reached 15,6 towards society violates Friedman‟s million, and the market share for the assumption according to which the single banking services for population in Central responsibility of the managers is to act in and was of almost 15% the interest of the shareholders and of which represented a significant some economic analysis who saw percentage at that period for Central and corporate social responsibility as a Eastern Europe. On 12 October 2006, market or public relation form. The Erste the BCR takeover by Erste Group has Foundation was founded in 203 and is been concluded. The Austrian Bank has the most important foundation in Central paid 3,75 billion Euro for 61,88% of the and Eastern Europe. Its projects are shares of the bank. Andreas Treichl, the focused on three fields of activity: the 300 Finance – Challenges of the Future development of the society, culture and attention of the public opinion, pointing European consolidation. The purpose of out these social actors which come to this foundation is to continue the actions help the people, helping thus the entire of the Erste bank group which had society”. started 190 years ago in Austria. The Erste Foundation has 4. Conclusions organised in the period 2008-2009 a competition for social projects for The Romanian banking system countries from Central and Southern has to take over the entire social Europe. The focus was on 8 countries: responsibility concept and unfortunately Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, for the old way of making business in Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Romania, this concept has to become Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. fundamental element in the re-launching Boris Marte, Member of the Board and development of the Romanian of Directors of the Erste Foundation, economy and society. The Romanian presents the importance of such a banks have to understand that the competition among the states from current situation represented by the Central and Eastern Europe: ” The economic crisis is not a moment to give countries from Central and Eastern op the concept of social responsibility but Europe have been confronted with major the moment when only with the help of socio-economic crisis and violent such a mentality of sustainable conflicts, and that is why there is a lack of development of the institution and society respect and appreciation for the social at large, we can overcome the current integration activities. That is why we crisis. would like to bring these aspects to the

REFERENCES

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