THE STAND Of SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY wITHIN THE STRATEGY Of BUSINESS ORGANIzATION

The article reviews the essence and the main principles of the strategic management, discusses the strengths and weaknesses that may be caused by the strategy of the organization. The content and the concept of the social responsibility of a business organization is dissertated mainly through the wide elaboration of the argument for and against business organizations to bear and implement the social responsibility. The links between the strategy and the social responsibility have been uncovered by merging the theories and various aspects of the strategic management and the social responsibility as well as the importance of the integration of the element of social responsibility into the strategy of the business organization is revealed. The most recent t models of the formation of organizational strategy, in which the element of the social responsibility as well as the ethic and moral principles may be detected, are presented. Eventually the measurement and assessment problems of the implementation of social responsibility within the framework of organizational strategy are thoroughly discussed.


Introduction
Various management questions are becoming more critical in the recent times, where economic crisis is robustly gaining momentum.Nevertheless, the discussion pertaining to the management of a business organization on various levels should incorporate the deliberation regarding their social responsibility.Inasmuch as profit is an objective it fails to exempt from the responsibility before various stakeholders, for instance, workers and society.
Implementation of the social responsibility is crucial in respect of the external environment of the organization and the moral condition of the society.Social responsibility expects from a business organization voluntary responsiveness and responsibility in solving certain social issues that are abundant and still robustly mounting in the modern society.The link between the (strategic) management of a business organization and social responsibility ought to be discussed.In addition, we should search for the opportunities to incorporate the element of social responsibility into the management of a business organization and its strategy.
the aim of the article is to discuss the possibilities of integration of the social responsibility element into the strategy of business organization.The analysis of scientific literature is applied to attain the aim of the paper.
The structure of the article: firstly, the concept of the strategic management and the features of the strategy are discussed and then the main features of the social responsibility are described.Later on, the premise to integrate the element of social responsibility into the strategy of the business organization and several integration models are presented.At the end the problem of the measurement of the level of social responsibility integration and implementation within the strategy is discussed.

The Concept and the Content of the Organization Strategy
"Strategy" concept is derived from the ancient Greek times.Greek word "strategeia" described an art of being a General responsible for the overall action planning and implementation in the war against enemies.This concept appeared in the science of management only at the beginning of 20 th century, when businesses are in a way compared to war.
Strategic management is frequently perceived as a considerable aspect of the management of a modern organization exploited for gaining competitive advantage in the market.Nonetheless, this approach to the strategic management is constricting and does not reflect its essence.The broad-er concept perceives strategic management as a constant, dynamic and consistent process, on the basis whereof the organization manages prompt adaptation to the changes in the external environment and effectively employs its potential (Vasiliauskas 2002).The strategic management ability encompasses situation simulation skills, understanding of a changing situation, formulation of the changed strategy and its implementation (XXI amžiaus iššūkiai... 2006).
In the course of the strategic management process, the strategy of the business organization is developed and implemented.This strategy is defined as the totality of decisions of the organization, describing essential future aims, actions and tools to attain them (Vasiliauskas 2002).The goal of the strategy is to assist the organization to the desirable results in an unpredictable environment (Drucker 2004).Therefore, the strategy of the organization is the totality of strategic decisions aimed towards the attainment of desirable results, while considering the parameters of external and internal environment of the organization.
the essence of the strategy may be more thoroughly revealed through the discussion of the features of the strategy and its main components (Vasiliauskas, 2004): 1.The strategy has target orientation defined at a certain level.
2. The concurrent part of the strategy is the actions and the measures of its implementation.
3. The span of the strategy is a mediumterm (3-7 years) period or time.
4. The strategy is formed by taking into account the potential of the organization resources, which determines the strengths and weaknesses of the organization.
5. The strategy is formed with regard to the state of the organization environment, which determines the strengths of the organization and the pending threats.
6.The strategy is considered effective when it brings a bigger contribution to the creation of the added value of the organization.
7. The strategy is considered more effective where a greater competitive advantage is derived for the organization.
The strategy of the organization becomes structured and logical due to the totality of decisions.The analysis of the strategy preparation theories provides us with two conditions, which should be taken into account when making any strategic decision: operational freedom restraints and ambiguous situations, multi-stage aim system (XXI amžiaus iššūkiai... 2006).Each strategic decision can be assessed according to its content, process and the aspects of context (Arimavičiūtė 2005).
The ability of the top executives to make rational decisions, which affect the final result -the strategy, determines the overall success of the organization.It is worth noting that strategy development is most affected by the economic factors and competition, and the strategy should serve the interests of the executives as well as public interests.
Nevertheless, strategy may not always provide only advantages, it has deficiencies as well.Certain conditions can imply advantages and deficiencies of the strategy (Arimavičiūtė 2005): 1. Strategy displays the course.Strategy refers the organization to the direction of plausible development in the current conditions.However, to make strategy adjustments a close analysis of the future is advisable.

Strategy coordinates efforts. Chaos
must arise in the absence of strategy.
Nonetheless, a high level of effort coordination can lead to a "group thinking" syndrome, which limits the organization in noticing new opportunities.

Strategy describes the organization.
Strategy outlines and describes the main features of the organization.This creates attitudes towards the organization and enables the valuation of the organizational management.However, the organization's valuation on the sole basis of its strategy is too simplistic, the layout and the complexity of the vast organizational dimensions can be overlooked.4. Strategy ensures logic.Strategy eliminates ambiguity and ensures order, which simplifies the understanding of the processes and facilitates communication.Nonetheless, creativity is generally inconsistent.Consequently, strategy can also be perceived as a reality simplifying theory, which might slightly distort the view.Nevertheless, organizations that pursue strategic management even in unfavourable external conditions have greater possibilities than the those that organize their business on the current operations and their adjustments.Consequently, strategic management is the most reliable means to adapt to the environment, irrespective of the stage of the economic cycle, since it facilitates the survival and the ability to enlarge the business and achieve positive results (Marčinskas, Smilga 1996).

Concept and content of the business social responsibility
Social responsibility is a conscious formation of the economic, political and moral relationships between the organization and the society; variety of its structural forms; responsibility for its deeds and actions; ability to carry out obligations and apply the social sanctions in cases of soundness or culpability (Leonavičius, 1993).
the formal meaning of the social responsibility is the obligation of the organization to accept decisions and act in the way to please the needs, interests and create welfare for the society and the organization.Concequently, organization ought to distinguish good form bad and commit to good (Daft, 2003).
Social responsibility can be described as aphilosophy, procedures and actions of the organization, which are directed towards the welfare creation and enhancement for the society and it is also one of the underlying organizational aims.This implies the creation of the social responsibility priorities closely related to the traditional standards of business, which involve the organization into the social problems (Boone and Kurtz, 1987).
there are 2 viewpoints of the social responsibility (Vyšniauskienė, Kundrotas, 1999): 1.The actions of the organizations must be orientated towards the maximization of profits.By increasing its profit, the organization will bring benefit to the whole society and will create a maximum social use by providing workplaces and paying taxes.This attitude is based on the classical social re-sponsibility theories, which are found in Milton Friedman's arguments.2. The organizations should be sensitive towards the needs of their external environment.Notwithstanding the primacy of profit, business should be socially reactive and provide assistance to the society in the field of solving the problems which the society finds alarming.the business does not only provide goods and services, it creates social problems as well.Therefore the society requires justice and not charity.The society only asks business organizations to solve the problems which are mainly created by the actions of the business.Nevertheless, by bearing social responsibility the business should not give up its striving to attain its financial goals and become less profitable or competitive in the market.
Notwithstanding the theoretical viewpoints, social responsibility of business organizations in today's world is understood as the voluntary struggle of the business organizations to involve the social and environmental problems into their joint activities and the relations with the various interest groups.It is stressed that the orientation of today's business towards a socially responsible practice arises from the tendency of business actors to realize and bear the responsibility against everyone who may be influenced by the outcomes of business activities.
Business is responsible for various social affairs and the existence of social problems in the society, therefore the social responsibility of business is related to such issues as (Pruskus, 2003):

■ how business organizations bear and implement various commitments towards the society; ■ how the aspirations of business match
the attitudes accepted by the society; ■ to what extent business contributes to the increase of the general welfare.Social responsibility is perceived as a voluntary response of the organization and its obligation to show initiative in solving certain social problems.This is a voluntary activity, it surpasses the governmental and other types of legislatory requirements and includes socially responsible actions named as an object of social responsibility.they can be carried out in three formscharity, development of social programs and additional activity (for instance, more extensive information provided to consumers concerning the product features than regulations require) (Pruskus, 2003).
Generally, society or in other words, all persons who can be divided into certain stakeholder groups and their surrounding environment are perceived as the subjects of social responsibility.Stakeholder groups can be highly diverse: society, communities, professional unions, buyers, owners, suppliers, traders, workers, governmental institutions, investors, partners and other domestic and foreign stakeholder groups (Daft, 2003).
the subjects of social responsibility can be subdivided into the internal and external, according to their direct or indirect effect on stakeholder groups.Internal social responsibility subjects or beneficiaries are clients, workers, stockholders and owners.External social responsibility subjects are specific external beneficiaries (e.g.particular stakeholders, which are affected by the organizations) and the main external beneficiaries (society and communities) (Fundamentals of... 1992).
all stakeholder groups have a certain level of influence on the organization and its operation.Therefore, they should be addressed properly and responsibly.Nevertheless, certain stakeholder groups are more significant to the organization, given that without their presence organizations could not operate effectively (workers) or their activity would lose meaning (clients).the Government and the society also have a great impact on the activity of the organization.Therefore, the satisfaction of the stakeholders with the activity and the policy pursued by the organization is of great importance, since s they are capable of producing a negative effect on the organization.
Generally, a socially responsible organization could be described as an organization, which is taking into account the effects of its activity on all of the interest groups and correspondingly invests into their wellbeing (Daft, 2003).
According to S. C. Certo ir S. T. Certo, the organization at least ought to pursue legally required social responsibility implementation activities, voluntary decide on performing social responsibility implementation activities, which are not defined by regulations, and inform stakeholders about the level of socially responsible activities pursued at the organization (Certo and Certo, 2006).
Organizations can strive to secure and build the welfare of the society in countless areas.The areas of social responsibility are welfare of the employees, satisfaction of consumers with goods and services, improvement of the social structures of the society, maintenance of the minorities, preservation of the quality of living environment, etc. Nonetheless, the most familiar and continually mentioned are the city and consumer environment, workers and their quality of life (Certo and Certo, 2006).The responsibility of business within these areas is formed and defined by the opinion of the society.The society observes, whether the business organizations are implementing their social responsibility commitments and do not tolerate departure from it.If business fails to respect its commitments of social responsibility, the society reacts respectively.
the needs of the society have changed and this influenced the changes of the requirements of the society towards business.That is roky business organizations must realize the importance of doing away with the emerging social problems and meeting the needs of the society.Otherwise, the organizations may loose human resources, reputation and profit as well (Pučėtaitė, Vasiljevas, 2005).

Premises of the integration of social responsibility into the strategies of business organizations
Forecasting and intuition, rational analysis and social processes are interrelated in the form of "golden triangle" of the strategy formation.Thus, strategy construction ought to acknowledge the social environment and its problems, conversely the constructed strategy will conceal the real situation and will not aspire to the efficient results and aims.Conclusively, principles of the social responsibility ought to be a part of the or-ganization's strategy in the course if its formation.Only the assurance of social aspects will vouch long-term perspectives.
a range of social changes can have a great impact on the organization.They can affect not only the merchandise and service demand.Changes in the social environment influence significantly the overall operational environment of the organization, therefore noticing social changes in time, forecasting and reacting to them is vital (Global strategic... 2005).Business organizations ought to devote enough attention to the social trends in order to profit from the new strategic possibilities and to surpass their competitors.Timely reaction can be assured by identifying the social aspects in the strategy of the organization as an element of social responsibility.
admittance of the social responsibility provides not only the attainment of social aims or the solution of the social problems.It also provides a tangible benefit to the quality of the organization's activity, competitiveness and creates favourable conditions for the implementation of the direct aims.
The decisions of the organizational strategic management create the process of change which affects ambiguously individual people, organizations and even the society, thus various social systems undergo a certain level of shock (Bosas, 2004).In view of the fact that organizations produce certain negative effect on the social sphere, they ought to take the responsibility.
the main arguments, which constitute the assumptions and prompt business organizations to take social responsibility and integrate it into their strategy, are (Pruskus, 2003) the following: Moreover, there are some more arguments affirming the obligatory character of the social responsibility of businesses and valid reasons explaining why business organizations must bear social responsibility (Vyšniauskienė and Kundrotas, 1999): 1.The main interest of the organizations is increasing the welfare of the society the organizations are operating in. the social responsibility is one of the instruments for building and increasing the welfare of the society.2. The socially responsible action is understood as a moral and ethic action.3. Social responsibility improves the image of the organization.

The organization exists only if it is use-
ful for the society and bearing the social responsibility increases the benefit to the society.5.The social responsibility is important in the case of avoiding the regulation by the government.Socially responsible organization looks more reliable and the attitude of the authorities towards such organizations is much morefavourable.
6.The socio-cultural norms require to bear social responsibility.7. Business has an ability to solve those social problems, which cannot be solved by the government.8. Social responsibility by increasing the price of stocks satisfies the expectations of the stockholders.9. Business organizations have an ability to solve social problems or even prevent them, before l they become too acute.Nonetheless, tangible benefits, attained via socially responsible activities, encourage business organizations to promote social responsibility, for instance, the possibility to match the consumer needs and reputation, brand and reliable reputation formation better.
However, there are arguments, which try to refute the need of organizational involvement into the social sphere.Part of the arguments related to social responsibility correlate with the views of M. Friedman.Main dispute points for business organizations to take social responsibility are profit maximization principle, social involvement expenditures, inadequate social accountability level and the scarcity of social problem resolution ability (Pruskus, 2003).
the declaration and implementation of the social responsibility contradicts the main function of the organization -profit maximization.Partial profit allocation to the resolution of the social problems opposes the economic interests and the nature of businesses.Social responsibility would create additional expenditures, which would be levied on consumers, would increase commodity and service prices and thus reduce the welfare of the buyers and the society.
Even presuming that business organizations should be involved in theresolution of social problems, their personnel fails to t possess the experience, which would enable them to resolve social problems.Frequently, the personnel are only well trained in the sphere targeted towards the achievement of the strategic aims of the organization.
there are some more factors apart from those discussed above, which try to refute the need of business social responsibility (Vyšniauskienė, Kundrotas, 1999): 1. Social responsibility may be illegal.
For instance, the enterprise financially encourages its employees, but in the malfeasant ways.

I Involvement of the organization into
the social activities may not be measured.3. Social responsibility weakens the primary aims of the organization.4. Organizations receive a lot of power.
If business organizations bear social responsibility, their influence on the society would increase even more.

Organizations fail to liaise sufficiently
with the society, so they cannot solve its problems.6. Organizations, which implement the schemes of social responsibility, are not sufficiently supported by the society.
Nevertheless, competition stresses the importance of creating and efficiently empowering the advantages of the organization (Sūdžius, 2002).Strategic management should not be perceived only as a process for strategic decision-making, rather the creation of long-term competitive advantage (Global strategic... 2005).
In this instance, the declaration and implementation of the social responsibility creates organization's reputation, an important attractiveness factor to its customers and ensures sustainability in the market.
the implementation of the social responsibility would increase personnel's motivation, decrease the possibility for strikes and disputes, create better working conditions, increase productivity, reduce personnel fluctuation and improve employee health, as well as decrease the hiring costs.However, despite the benefits of the social responsibility, the implementation process is expensive and time consuming.
Finally, the aim of the optimal activity and progress factors is timely ensurance of the country's economic and market development, full satisfaction of the social needs for the engagement in the present activity in person's life, family, and the development of the activities of the organization's community (Makštutis, 2001).thus, a striving towards the social welfare should motivate innovative organizations, which are undoubtedly a part of the society, to integrate the principles of the social responsibility into the the organizational strategy.
Thus, P. F. Ducker's statement that everyday dealings of the executives are frequently directed towards the urgent problems is accurate.On the other hand, does it ever occur to us that the given time and effort consuming task is merely dealing with symptoms?(Drucker, 2004).Perceptibly "prophylactic" means are necessary and integration of the social responsibility element into the organization strategy would be welcome.

Models of the integration of social responsibility into th strategies of business organizations
An organization should understand the importance of its interplay with the environment and other organizations in order to sustain competitiveness in the dynamic market.In the highly competitive and saturated market, classical strategies start to lose their power (Drūteikienė, 2007).The image of the organization is one of the factors effecting the competitive position of the organization and could be applied as one of the tools for the consolidation of social responsibility into the general strategy of the organization.
Recently, organizational strategies started to involve not only the economic and technical systems, but also more attention and funds are devoted to the ethical values and aims (Socialinės įmonių... 2005).To achieve its highest level social responsibility must be interrelated with the organizational strategy.Executives should not perceive social responsibility as a burden levied by the government and the society, rather as a part of strategy focused on the creation of the long-term possibilities, a tool balancing company's activity and creating social satisfaction with the organization.
Most known organizations do not have well defined and abstracted social responsibility principles in their strategies.The main aspects of the development and implementation of the organizational strategy are competition, substitutes, suppliers and consumers.Interpretation of these models fails to provide a clear link between the social responsibility and the implementation of its activities.
New models of the organizational strategies incorporate the development and implementation principles of the social responsibility into most of the activities of the organization.Social responsibility, ethical aspects and values are seen as important as the competitiveness and marketing aspects.Nevertheless, social aims fail to contradict the profit objective, whereas common coordination and implementation, on the contrary, can create synergy effects between these aims.
according to Oliver Schmid-Schonbein, balance itself is the aim of business (Bosas, 2004).This model reflects the cohesion of owners, environmentalists, consumers, workers and the social attitude towards the activity of the organization (Picture 1.).
Every participant uses different characteristics, which determine the overall valuation of the organization.Consumer attitudes towards the organization through market characteristics have a direct effect on the organization's financial indicators.the negative consumer attitude will have influence on the selection of products and will change the situation in the market.
Social and environmentalist attitudes can have analogical direct effect on the organization's characteristics, as well as indirect, via consumer attitudes.
the presented model is closely related to the social responsibility issues.Consequently, strategic decisions and their direction should encompass the projected financial and market indicators, at the same time evaluating the effect of the organization's activity on the environment and the possible social changes.
Social responsibility and ethics are a concurrent part of D. P. Baron's integrated strategy of the organization (Picture 2.).according to D. P. Baron, formation of integrated organizational strategy requires consideration of direct and indirect environmental aspects, as well as reflection on morality and social responsibility (Baron, 2006).Reflection on moral and social questions does not indicate inadequate concentration on profit maximization.Contrarily, it indicates that strategy and actions should be seen I on the plane of moral principles, and this would have a magnifying effect on the company's value-added.D. P. Baron stresses that social responsibility and moral principles are evident in everyday activity of the organization when included into the business organization strategy.In this way a greater consumer trust and loyalty are ensured, which in the long-term perspective is expressed in the income and profit growth, it increases the satisfaction of the shareholders and owners', as well as the value of the organization (Baron, 2006).
D. E. Hawkins recommends to use a responsible strategy (Picture 3), which means that business organization's strategy should be formulated while thoroughly considering the business organization's obligations to all of the stakeholders (Hawkins, 2006).
the purpose of the responsible strategy module is the integration of social responsibility elements into all functions and activities of the business organization.At the same time it is important to integrate them into the strategy of the organization, since social responsibility encompasses various resources, environment protection, wastes, pollution, social changes, ethical commerce, technologies, energy sources, risk management, brands, organizing for change and many other aspects (Hawkins, 2006).
It is obvious, that business organizations, which try to embed social responsibility principles into their operational activities, have to integrate them into their business strategy.Otherwise, only desul-Picture 2. Integrated strategy framework (Baron, 2006) Picture 3. Responsible strategy design (Hawkins, 2006) tory manifestations of socially responsible activities will be present, which do not bring tangible benefits and can jeopardize the effectiveness of organization's activity, image and welfare of the society.

The problem of the measurement of the social responsibility level in the organizations
the level of social responsibility adopted by the organizations relies on plethora of factors.The level of social responsibility is most affected by the ethical norms of the organization's members and its culture.Nonetheless, social values, position and norms are quite influential (Pruskus, 2003).
Determining the level of the implementation of the social responsibility in the organization is a complex task.Generally, we can separate two extreme levels of the implementation of social responsibility and between them we see an infinite number of levels (Picture 4).
the low level of social responsibility in the organizations was determined if organizations' strategies were worked out proceeding only from the achievement of economic aims, and limited social responsibility was adopted unconsciously or consciously declared for the marketing purposes.In general, the concept of "social responsibility" in the strategies of such or-ganizations is used for profit enhancement purposes.It can be compared to a defensive outlook protecting from the negative social and other stakeholders' attitudes and valuations.These organizations can be regarded as followers of the classical social responsibility theories, since they follow profit enhancement principle and pursue a minimal level of social responsibility activities, equal to the legally required level.
the highest level of social responsibility in the organizations was determined if the concept of social responsibility was integrated into the strategy of the organization and social responsibility activities were implemented on the individual bases, at a much higher level than legally required.The strategies of such organizations not only have a distinct market orientation, but also incorporate indirect market environment, moral aspects, social responsibility and ethical principles into their strategy.Integrated strategy is not contradictory to the profit objective, it emphasizes businesses as a part of the society and compatibility principle for various factors.
Nevertheless, the level of the social responsibility in the organization can be stated only subjectively, since there is an infinite number of levels, therefore only an indicative measurement of the social responsibility level is possible, which is Picture 4. Model of spectrum of social responsibility (Boone and Kurtz, 1987) frequently based on the opinions of workers, environment or the society.Wood and Jones showed in their social activity model that social responsibility valuation, criteria and indicators depend on the particular stakeholder group (Moir, 2001).However, social responsibility of the organization can also be evaluated on the basis of the opinion of the organization itself.
It should be noted that unambiguous valuation of the social responsibility and its implementation level in the organization is a complex task due to the subjective nature of the indicators.Moreover, it is difficult to estimate if the involvement of the organization into certain activities was deliberate or accidental, and whether the involvement into the social activities is appropriate, adequate and useful.

Conclusions
Social environment and its problems ought to be considered in the strategy formation process.Plethora of presumptions prevail on the integration of social responsibility into the strategy of the organization, therefore social environment changes cannot be ignored.Only the expediently balanced efficiency, ecological and ethical elements in the strategy provide businesses with the long-term perspectives.
resolution of the strategic problems and the achievement of the strategic aims become possible due to the concentration on the innovative strategic possibilities and their coherent implementation, which requires a constructive interplay with the environment and diverse groups of stakeholders.Thus, social aims should be anticipated in the organizational strategies considering the social changes, as well as opinions and needs of the society.
Recently, formation of the organization's strategy started to involve not only economic and technical system, but also more attention and funds are devoted to the social-ethical values and aims.Social responsibility must be interrelated with the organizational strategy to achieve its highest level and to ensure the organization's attractiveness to customers and sustainability in the market.
New models of organizational strategies perceive social responsibility, ethical aspects and values to be of the same importance that is attributed to s competitiveness and marketing aspects.Nevertheless, social aims fail to contradict the profit objective, contrarily, they form strong competitive advantages and create favourable long-term perspectives.
Nonetheless, today we also face the issues of the measuring of the social responsibility level adopted in the organizations.to form a positive image and reputation of the organization a simple declaration about the social responsibility principles in the organizational strategy is insufficient.It should be noted that unambiguous valuation of the social responsibility and its implementation level in the organization is a complex task due to the subjective nature of the indicators.
Business organizations ought to integrate the element of social responsibility into their strategy, otherwise the organization's efficiency, image and social welfare can be adversely affected.In conclusion, it may be said that the principles, ways and integration tools of the social responsibility into the organization's strategy ought to be analyzed further

1 .
Positive long-term perspectives are created.Socially irresponsible organization would not be able to function in the modern market, due to the social pressure.