The development of socially responsible behaviour in current business environment on the basis of the heritage of the Corporate Social Responsibility of the Bata Company up to the year 1945

Abstract

The Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the Created shared values (CSV) have been a widely discussed topic of the current business environment. CSR and CSV have not only been part of the current business environment but they also have a deep tradition. An example of such tradition has been the business philosophy of the Bata Company Inc. by the year 1945 and its founder Tomas Bata (1876-1932). The research being introduced here has been focused on the historical data analysis connected with the functioning of the Bata Company Inc. between the years of 1894 to 1945. The time period is bordered by the year of establishing the company and its nationalization in 1945. The research was aimed at mapping the functioning of CSR and CSV of the Bata Company Inc. and making use of the research results in current business practice. CSR and CSV of the Bata Company Inc. by the year 1945 was really complex and thought-out in detail business strategy which enabled Tomas Bata to build just in a few years a company which was the greatest shoe exporter in the world in the year 1928. This company developed out of a small family-run business. There has not been any complex study so far describing CSR or CSV of the Bata Company Inc. Our goal is to implement the findings in the current business environment. The article being introduced deals with the matter of CSR in the Bata System of Control. The research is based on several research methods. They are a method of oral history (interviews with the witnesses of the time who experienced functioning of the Bata System of Control), biographic research, phenomenological research and data content analysis.