THE EVOLUTION OF CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE DIGITAL ECONOMY: THEORETICAL ANALYSIS AND INNOVATIVE PRACTICES OF UKRAINIAN IT COMPANIES

Abstract

The article examines the evolution of corporate social responsibility under the conditions of the digital economy, in which data, platforms and algorithms become the key resources of business and generate new risks for digital human rights, cybersecurity and digital inequality. The purpose of the study is to provide a critical analysis of classical theoretical approaches to corporate social responsibility and to substantiate the need to update them through the integration of the concept of corporate digital responsibility. The authors systematize the content of the main theories of corporate social responsibility, reveal their limitations in accounting for intangible assets, new stakeholder groups and the security dimension, and argue that these approaches are no longer sufficient to describe the role of business in a highly digitalized environment. The research proposes a conceptual model that combines social and digital responsibility of companies and reflects the transition from philanthropic and reputational practices towards strategically embedded responsibility for the impact of digital technologies and data. The empirical contribution of the article is based on the analysis of innovative practices of leading Ukrainian companies operating in the field of information technology. Using case studies of three of the largest companies in this sector, the authors demonstrate how traditional instruments of corporate social responsibility, such as philanthropy, support for education, communities, health care and assistance to the security and defence sector, are combined with new elements of corporate digital responsibility, including inclusive digital products, promotion of digital literacy, dual education programmes, cybersecurity initiatives and participation in projects related to digital infrastructure. On this basis, a matrix-based toolkit is developed for assessing the balance and intensity of different directions of social and digital responsibility in the activities of companies in the field of information technology. The scientific novelty of the article lies in clarifying the content of corporate social responsibility in the digital economy and in substantiating the integrated model of social and digital responsibility of business, which reflects the influence of digitalization, war and growing social expectations on corporate behaviour. The practical significance of the obtained results is manifested in the possibility of using the proposed conceptual model and matrix toolkit for diagnostics, benchmarking and further development of corporate responsibility policies in companies that operate in the field of information technology and other sectors undergoing digital transformation. The main conclusions confirm that Ukrainian companies in the field of information technology are becoming one of the key platforms for the formation of an integrated model of social and digital responsibility, which strengthens the resilience of business models and contributes to the sustainable development of society in times of large-scale crisis.