Pharmacy business and its social responsibility

Abstract

In the modern world, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an important factor that determines the optimal use of resources for the sustainable development of the organization. The CSR is not just the responsibility of an organization to the state, people and other organizations that it encounters in the course of its activities, but the philosophy of a company that takes care of its reputation and competitive advantages in its development, as well as ensuring a decent standard of living for its employees. The pharmaceutical business, including pharmacy, is one of the most important and socially significant branches of the modern economy of the country. However, the problems of social responsibility of pharmaceutical market participants remained outside the scope of interests of domestic scientists. The above highlights the relevance and scientific novelty of the study. The aim of the research was to study the social responsibility in the field of pharmacy business. The materials of the study were primary sources of information (questionnaires) and secondary were the official websites of pharmacy chains in Russia. This article presents the theoretical aspect of the CSR (theories proposed by A. Carnegie, H. Bowen, A. Carroll, M. Friedman, etc., the main normative documents on CSR), as well as the practical aspect — the implementation of the results of this study in the educational process. The results of the analysis of public information provided on the official websites of pharmacies are presented. It is established that the information is fragmentary, the managers of pharmacy chains do not have sufficient knowledge about the concept of the CSR. The motives for developing innovative classes on the topic under study for students of pharmaceutical educational institutions are described.