Expression of social responsibility in a company providing tourism services

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Expression of social responsibility in a company providing tourism services

Evelina Jasaityte

Abstract

In today's society, there is more and more talk about the importance of social responsibility in enterprises. The concept of social responsibility is widely used, but in Lithuania it is not yet talked about enough, many often do not understand the meaning of social responsibility. Many articles state that responsibility in an organization manifests itself when an employee and society are involved in its activities. Various economic, environmental, legal and other important issues are studied, which are aimed at improving the results of the company and the quality of the work of employees. often, companies that implement the principles of social responsibility create greater trust and their reputation looks higher than those that are not socially responsible. According to Lukosiute (2018), those companies that carry out social responsibility are more likely to innovate, their services and goods are of higher quality, and consumers value such services or goods more favorably. Previous studies have shown that corporate social responsibility is an important and necessary part of an organization's strategic tool in improving reputation, satisfaction, image and trust (Lee et al., 2022). For example of tourism services is that air travel has had a significant impact on the economic, natural and social environment, and stakeholders continue to expect airports to reduce the negative impact through corporate social responsibility (Yang et al., 2020). In foreign studies, most of all it is taken into account that airports provide very high noise levels. In Lithuania, research related to the social responsibility of the airport is missing, so it is relevant to talk about it. In conclusion, it can be said that the topic of social responsibility is new on the scale of airports in Lithuania, and this is a very relevant topic in order to improve the activities of organizations. The attitude of employees is relevant when assessing social responsibility, not they can evaluate all internal processes as the main stakeholder. The problem of work: at what level is social responsibility manifested in the company in the provision of tourism services and by what means to increase the level of corporate social responsibility? The purpose of the study: to assess the level of social responsibility in the organization providing tourism services from the point of view of employees. Research methods: analysis and systematization of scientific literature, questionnaire survey (quantitative study), mathematical statistical descriptive analysis.

Keywords: social responsibility, tourism, services, airport.

Анотація

ЕВЕЛІНА, ЯСАЙТІТЕ - магістр туризму і спорту

кафедри спорту і туризму, Департамент менеджменту спорту і туризму,

Литовський університет спорту (Каунас, Литва)

ВИРАЖЕННЯ СОЦІАЛЬНОЇ ВІДПОВІДАЛЬНОСТІ В КОМПАНІЇ, ЩО НАДАЄ ТУРИСТИЧНІ ПОСЛУГИ

У сучасному суспільстві все більше говорять про важливість соціальної відповідальності на підприємствах. Поняття соціальної відповідальності широко використовується в світі, але в Литві про нього говорять недостатньо, багато хто часто не розуміють сенсу соціальної відповідальності. У багатьох статтях говориться, що відповідальність в організації проявляється, коли в її діяльність залучені співробітник і суспільство. Вивчаються різні економічні, екологічні, правові та інші важливі питання, які спрямовані на поліпшення результатів роботи підприємства і якості роботи співробітників. Найчастіше компанії, які реалізують принципи соціальної відповідальності, створюють більшу довіру і їхня репутація виглядає вище, ніж у тих, які не є соціально відповідальними. За словами Lukosiute (2018), ті компанії, які здійснюють соціальну відповідальність, більш схильні до інновацій, їхні послуги та товари мають вищу якість, а споживачі цінують такі послуги чи товари більш сприятливо. Попередні дослідження показали, що корпоративна соціальна відповідальність є важливою та необхідною частиною стратегічного інструменту організації у покращенні репутації, задоволеності, іміджу та довіри (Lee et al., 2022). Одним із прикладів туристичних послуг є те, що авіаперевезення мали значний вплив на економічне, природне та соціальне середовище, і зацікавлені сторони продовжують очікувати, що аеропорти зменшать негативний вплив за допомогою корпоративної соціальної відповідальності (Yang et al., 2020). У зарубіжних дослідженнях найбільше враховується, що аеропорти забезпечують дуже високий рівень шуму. У Литві відсутні дослідження, пов'язані з соціальною відповідальністю аеропорту, тому про це доречно говорити. На закінчення можна сказати, що тема соціальної відповідальності нова в масштабах аеропортів Литви, і це дуже актуальна тема з метою поліпшення діяльності організацій. Ставлення співробітників актуально при оцінці соціальної відповідальності, не вони можуть оцінити всі внутрішні процеси як основний стейкхолдер. Проблема роботи: на якому рівні проявляється соціальна відповідальність в компанії при наданні туристичних послуг і якими засобами підвищити рівень корпоративної соціальної відповідальності? Мета дослідження: оцінити рівень соціальної відповідальності в організації, що надає туристичні послуги, з точки зору співробітників. Методи дослідження: аналіз і систематизація наукової літератури, анкетування (кількісне дослідження), математичний статистичний описовий аналіз.

Ключові слова: соціальна відповідальність, туризм, послуги, аеропорт.

Relevance of the topic

Tourism and corporate social responsibility are closely intertwined, and according to Kumar & Kumar (2018), social responsibility is especially important for tourism organizations, as for improving the quality of life and meeting people's needs. Over the past decade, corporate social responsibility has received more and more attention (Madanaguli et al., 2022). Corporate social responsibility is a place that supports actions that promote the sustainable development of tourism, since corporate social responsibility includes the environment, community and local wisdom (Achmad, W. and Yulianah, 2022). companies carry out strategic corporate social responsibility when they integrate responsible behavior into the work of the organization (Camilleri, 2020). By launching corporate social responsibility activities, tourism companies can improve the chances of economic development, improve the quality of life in society (Madanaguli, et al., 2022). According to literary sources, responsible tourism derives from the sustainable movement of tourism (Idahosa, 2019). In the world, tourism gives not only positive sensations, but also has many negative aspects. According to Sica et al., (2020), concerns about the environment and the perception that mass tourism can have a strong negative response to the environment have led to the control and greater focus on responsible and sustainable tourism. Responsible tourism includes points in the field of the environment, legal, economic, ethical. Each of them is important in its own way and contributes to the improvement of tourism and consumer understanding

According to Idahosa (2019), the community and the natural environment are the backbone and main product of the tourism industry, it can be said that the emergence of responsible tourism is fully understandable, due to the increased climate change and the call for sustainability, along with the increase in corporate social responsibility, in private sectors, therefore, the community and society are encouraged to assimilate this

reality. main idea of responsible tourism is related to tourism, paying the greatest attention to persons involved in tourism activities, entrepreneurs, tourists and moral and ethical responsibilities (Saarinen, 2021). Social responsibility in tourism companies is conveyed through various eco-labels, aspects of sustainable tourism, such as “Green Key”, “Blue Flag”, ISO standards. “Green Key” began to be used in hotels to encourage employees, customers to take care of the environment. Another important ecolabelling that is widely used is the 'Blue Flag'. It is an international ecolabel administered by the non-profit foundation for environmental education, which promotes sustainable tourism in the waters, thus rewarding the operators of beaches and marinas who meet strict environmental requirement. (Lissner et al., 2020). The Blue Flag Ecolabel includes four main criteria that must be met in order to be granted the status of “Blue Flag” (Slater and al., 2018). Another important aspect is the ISO standards. There are a lot of them and each is assigned to a certain area of life. Very popular is ISO 9000. This standard is classified as a quality management. According to Grebliauskiene (2020), companies applying ISO 9000 standards claim that the results of operations, the quality of services, communication between employees have improved, important knowledge about the organization's activities has been acquired, partnerships with other organizations have improved. According to Slapikaite (2017), the environmental and social points of enterprises are best defined by a triple concept: the UN Global Compact, the ISO 14001 standard and the Global Reporting Initiative. Csr and ISO26000 are also included in corporate social responsibility. Each standard is important in its own way, since it covers a certain area. SA 8000 covers the activities of organizations, personnel issues, the ISO 14001 standard covers environmental issues and the ISO 26000 standard covers social responsibility issues. Corporate social responsibility includes environmental, economic and social responsibilities. Climate change and the greenhouse gas effect have a negative impact on the tourism system. The tourism system seeks to mitigate all this, to adapt to the situation that has arisen, so that it is through corporate social responsibility that suffers as little as possible. From an economic point of view - a fair profit, from an environmental point of view, so that as little harm as possible to nature, tourist areas. From a social point of view, so as not to reduce the number of travelers, consumers. community is also able to adapt in such a situation by transmitting information about climate change more and more widely, raising awareness. Ignoring the limitations of social responsibility as a means of solving real-world problems, they could conceal their irresponsible behavior. The prospect of social responsibility can be particularly useful in the case of regional airports, as it favours genuine relations between stakeholders. According to Dhakal et al. (2020), for example, in Australia, the discourse of social responsibility is usually understood through the prism of shared values, when companies encourage and / or cooperate with various stakeholders to achieve mutually beneficial or mutually beneficial solutions. The economic growth caused by airports and the associated noise pollution must be seen as asymmetric factors and as a path to the development of airport social responsibility measures. The implementation of social responsibility initiatives can be a way out of improving relations between airports and the regional community, for example by applying the ISO 26000 guidelines to involve all stakeholders in the development of social responsibility and to meet their expectations. stakeholders' concerns have been addressed, airports can position themselves as socially responsible. In this case, synergies between social responsibility initiatives achieve tangible economic, environmental and social benefits (Dhakal et al., 2020). The principles of social responsibility, which are rapidly being integrated into tourism, enable companies to behave more responsibly, in accordance with the principles of fairness and coherence from the point of view of stakeholders.

Research methodology

Airport staff were interviewed to conduct a quantitative study. 83 respondents agreed to participate in the survey and responded. this accounted for 79 % of all employees, the questionnaire survey is conducted using a questionnaire, which was placed on the website www.apklausa.lt. This questionnaire is designed to assess the level of corporate social responsibility. The online survey is carried out by sending the questionnaire link by sending through social networks. Structure of the test instrument (Table 1).

Statistical methods of data processing

The analysis was carried out using the SPSS and exel programs. The data were statistically described and depicted in a tabular way. The questionnaire used the method of the ranked Likert scale, in which the responses of the respondents were grouped, which means that all the answers are presented in ascending order: starting with a response in which the respondent completely disagrees with the statement made, and ending with a response in which the respondent fully agrees with the statement made (1 - I completely disagree; 2 - I disagree; 3 - neither agree nor disagree; 4 - agree; 5 - I fully agree. With the help of the Liqueur scale, a general assessment of the opinion of the respondent was determined.

Table 1 The structure of the questionnaire

Analysis of the results of the study data. The social responsibility of the organization providing tourism services was assessed according to the scales indicated in the table, each of which consisted of distinguished criteria and was evaluated by employees. A rating of 1 or 2 points means a very low and low level, 3 points - an average level, with a score of 4 and 5 - a high and very high level.

The summarized results of the study show that the level of responsibility of a company providing tourism services in the market is above average. The highest number of points was scored by the responsibility of the company providing tourism services in relations with the public, and the lowest number of points was scored by the scale of responsibility of the company providing tourism services in relations with employees. a very small extent, there is a very small difference in the assessment of the level of responsibility of a company in environmental protection. It can be noted that no area reaches a high or very high level, therefore, the company's decisions to improve the level of social responsibility should be focused on all stakeholders, paying special attention to the formation of relations with employees and responsibility in environmental protection.

Conclusion

When analyzing social responsibility, various models are applied, in which partially different aspects are highlighted. To determine the level of social responsibility in the studies, the most commonly used model of social responsibility is the Caroll pyramid, most often the models emphasize the legal, environmental, social, ethical and economic aspects of social responsibility and discuss the content of the means of application.

Social responsibility is relevant in the field of tourism, and its principles are applied in the provision of tourism services in hotels, restaurants, cafes, spas, in the transport sector. Social responsibility measures are implemented through participation in the Green Key, Blue Flag or other programs and by applying ISO standards, including the standard SA 26000. Tourism actively integrates the principles of social responsibility, enabling companies to behave more responsibly, in accordance with the principles of fairness and coherence from the point of view of stakeholders. social responsibility image

Table 2 Level of social responsibility of the organization providing tourist services

The results of the survey showed that for respondents - employees, the application of social responsibility in the organization is important. As a result of the research, it was found that according to all groups of scales, employees agree with the statements that the company is socially responsible. The summarized results of the study show that the level of responsibility of a company providing tourism services in the market is above average. The highest number of points was scored by the responsibility of the company providing tourism services in relations with the public, and the lowest number of points was scored by the scale of responsibility of the company providing tourism services in relations with employees. To a very small extent, there is a very small difference in the assessment of the level of responsibility of a company in environmental protection. It can be noted that no area reaches a high or very high level, therefore, the company's decisions to improve the level of social responsibility should be focused on all stakeholders, paying special attention to the formation of relations with employees and responsibility in environmental protection.

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