| Abstract | Korporativnom filantropijom smatra se svako poduzetničko djelovanje koje za cilj ima ulaganje u poboljšanje društvenog i socijalnog stanja. Najčešće filantropske aktivnosti očituju se kroz donacije sredstava za dobrotvorne projekte, ali ne moraju uvijek i isključivo biti vezane uz financijsku stranu poslovanja. Filantropija je pojam koji su prepoznali i opisivali brojni mislioci još u antičko doba. Sama riječ filantropija korijen ima u grčkim izrazima filein što znači ljubiti i antropos što znači čovjek. Zbog toga se može zaključiti da je filantropija pojam koji najbolje opisuje čovjekoljublje odnosno ljubav prema ljudima. Kroz povijest se značenje i tumačenje riječi mijenjalo, ali je humanitarni karakter uvijek bio prisutan. Filantropija je kulturni i sociološki fenomen koji ima temelje u tradicionalnim duhovnim i religijskim vrijednostima i djelovanjima. Moderna filantropija vezana je uz humanizam i prosvjetiteljstvo filozofske pravce XVIII. i XIX. stoljeća. Temelje moderne filantropije postavio je Andrew Carnegie u svome djelu The Gospel of Wealth u kojem je iznio stav da svi uspješni pojedinci imaju socijalnu obavezu i odgovornost podrediti dio svoga bogatstva široj društvenoj zajednici i njezinom napretku. Iz toga je vidljivo da se moderna organizirana filantropija razvila upravo iz individualnih dobrotvornih inicijativa. Brojni su pojedinci kroz povijest pokazali načine kojima treba težiti osoba ili organizacija kako bi se ostvario opći napredak i razvoj. Kada je bilo očito da pojedinci nemaju dovoljnu samostalnu moć utjecaja na sva društvena pitanja i rješavanje svih socijalnih problema počeli su se organizirati u skupine te svojim djelovanjem doprinositi globalnom boljitku. Korporativna filantropija se razvila upravo iz činjenice da su pojedinci pomoću svojih poslovnih djelovanja bili u mogućnosti snažnije utjecati na stanje u zajednici i doprinijeti kvaliteti poslovnog okruženja. Iz toga se razloga pojavila potreba za financijskim investiranjem u znanost, obrazovanje, kulturu, sport i druge društvene sfere čije im je unapređenje bilo u interesu. Korporativna filantropija kakvu poznajemo danas oživila je u Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama sredinom XX. stoljeća kada su se poduzeća izborila za slobodnije humanitarno djelovanje bez pretjeranog uplitanja države u dobrotvorne aktivnosti. Također, velik problem korporativne filantropije koji je donekle aktualan i u današnje vrijeme jest percepcija javnosti o korporativnim filantropskim aktivnostima. Brojna se filantropska djelovanja doživljavaju kao pokušaji popravljanja poslovnog ugleda ili pak ublažavanja štete stvorene poduzetničkim djelovanjem. Zbog toga se korporativna filantropija i dalje razvija te se pokušava integrirati u strateško poslovanje kako bi cjelokupan aktivni proces bio zaokružen, a doprinos globalnom unapređenju što veći. |
| Abstract (english) | Every entrepreneurial activity whose goal is to investment into, and improvement of general social conditions is considered to be Corporate philanthropy. Most common philanthropic doings are manifested through humanitarian aid donations. However, they are not necessarily linked to the financial side of the business. Philanthropy as a term was recognised and described by many thinkers and philosophers as far as the ancient times. The word itself draws its roots from Greek expressions filein, which would mean to kiss or to love, and word antropos meaning human. Therefore, it can be concluded that the philanthropy is a term that best describes benevolence and thus the love towards human beings. The meaning and the interpretation has been tweeked, changed and perfected, but the humanitarian character always stayed present. Philanthropy is a cultural and sociological phenomenon which origins from traditional spiritual and religious values and forces. Contemporary version of philanthropy is based on Humanism and the Enlightenment - philosophical schools of thought from XVIII and XIX century. The foundations of modern philanthropy were set in Andrew Carnegies piece The Gospel of Wealth, in which the idea that all successful individuals have a social obligation and responsibility to subordinate a portion of their wealth to the overall community and its advancement was crafted. That is an obvious evidence that contemporary organised philanthropy has developed from individual humanitarian initiatives. Through history, countless individuals have showed models to which an organisation or an individual should strive to contribute to the general progress and social development. Once when it became clear that a single person do not have a sufficient enough capability to influence all relevant social issues, they started to aggregate and founding the organisations designated to contribute to the global wellbeing. Corporate philanthropy emerged from the fact that successful and powerful individuals, through their business activities, have had enough possibilities to influence the overall circumstances in the community and contribute to the quality of the business environment. That was the source of the need for the investments in science, education, culture, sports and other social spheres. Because innovation in these areas became everyones interest. Corporative philanthropy known today came to life during the middle of the XX century in the United States. At that time corporations managed to achieve less government control and restrictions regarding humanitarian activities. Another issue for the corporative philanthropy, significant even today, is the public perception of philanthropic activities. Many such actions are seen as an attempt to improve the reputation of the company, or minimisation of the damage created by the corporate operations. That is one of the main reasons why corporative philanthropy is being developed and integrated from the start into the business strategies, making the whole process more unified and the contribution to the comprehensive improvement greater. |
