CSR Formalisation Across Organisational Characteristics: A Multi-Dimensional Exploratory Study of Slovak Organisations

Formal CSR systems help organisations convert responsible intentions into repeatable governance, stakeholder-engagement and monitoring routines, yet comparative evidence on how such formalisation varies across organisational contexts in Central and Eastern Europe remains limited. This study examines CSR formalisation across industry sector, ownership structure and geographic scope in 62 medium-sized and large organisations in Slovakia and translates the findings into an implementation framework for SMEs. A 25-item criterion-based self-assessment instrument captured five dimensions: governance, environment, labour, community relations and the business environment. Group differences were tested using Kruskal–Wallis analyses (α = 0.05). Ownership emerged as the clearest discriminator: ownership categories differed significantly in the overall formalisation index (p = 0.0002; approximate η2H = 0.287) and across all five dimensions, with corporations operating through a Slovak branch reporting the highest median (85%). Sector and geographic scope did not differentiate the overall index. The study contributes by distinguishing CSR formalisation from realised CSR outcomes, integrating stakeholder, institutional and CSR-maturity perspectives, and identifying transferable management disciplines—assigned responsibility, written commitments, training, stakeholder dialogue, documented controls and periodic review—that can strengthen systematic CSR management irrespective of ownership. The findings provide a multidimensional Central European perspective and a proportionate roadmap for SMEs, while the cross-sectional associations are interpreted non-causally.