Corporate Social Responsibility in the Opinion of Polish and Foreign Students in Management Program of Lublin University of Technology

The emergence of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept resulted in the introduction of the subject to the curricula of management faculties at many universities worldwide. Business schools and management departments educate future decision-makers of the national and global economy. Therefore, in order to be able to anticipate future development trends in the area of CSR, surveys of students’ opinions on the responsibilities of business toward society are conducted. This study aimed to answer the question about the way in which students prioritize particular dimensions of CSR. In particular, it focuses on whether the respondents consider the economic dimension to be fundamental, given their different socio-cultural contexts. An additional aim of the research is to verify A. Carroll’s original CSR model, as expressed in terms of the economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic dimensions. The research included two groups of students at the Faculty of Management of the Lublin University of Technology—Polish and foreign. The results obtained in both study groups differ from A. Carroll’s original CSR model system. They also differ from each other. In the group of Polish students, the bottom and top dimensions of the pyramid are economic and legal, and in the group of foreign students, they are philanthropic and legal, accordingly. The shapes of the two pyramids are also different, which may be caused by different socio-cultural contexts and specific social needs. The adopted model turned out to be useful for studying the CSR structure expressed in the form of a four-element pyramid. It also allowed the weighting of the perceived importance by the respondents of each individual dimension of CSR. This study helps to predict future corporate social responsibility activities and trends in business.