Enhancing Organizational Resilience Through Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of Firms in Bosnia and Hercegovina During COVID-19 Pandemic

In December 2019, the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, which greatly affected the global economy, since it created a crisis that had not been seen before, affecting not only peoples’ lives, but also the survival of organizations. National economies and businesses around the world have had to suspend or reduce their operations, reduce the number of employees, reschedule financial obligations, intermitcompletely or slow down the movement of goods and people. However, the crisis caused by COVID-19 can also be assumed as an opportunity for companies to see how resilient and well prepared they are for managing risks and adapting to new circumstances. In times of crisis, the public is much more sensitized to the behavior of companies towards society, which was especially evident when many employers unscrupulously laid off workers, closed plants, increased the prices of products or services, asked for state aid, while at the same time paying large managerial bonuses or dividends to shareholders, which the public strongly condemned. Therefore, in this paper we present the results of research related to the investigation of organizational resilience observed through corporate social responsibility in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this research is to determine the level of social responsibility of companies towards employees in a period of crisis, i.e. during the duration of the global COVID-19 pandemic, and to show what is important for achieving greater resilience of companies in periods of crisis. The research was designed as a survey research that included 241 respondents. The research results indicate that Bosnian companies demonstrated a high level of social responsibility towards their employees, understanding the importance of preserving their health and life, as well as the resilience and sustainability of their organization.