Companies around the world are increasingly aware of the need to introduce socially responsible business, as well as the benefits that come from such a way of doing business. In order to succeed in the long term, companies, in addition to financial performance, should be responsible and transparent in their activities towards the environment and the community in which they operate. This confirms the fact that although economic performance is a prerequisite, it is not sufficient for companies to be perceived as successful. Due to strong pressure from the public and other stakeholders, such as investors, customers, suppliers, employees, non-governmental organizations, activists, creditors, governments, competitors, the media and the community, social responsibility has become a central theme for many companies. In order to successfully integrate social responsibility into a long-term business strategy, formal ethics and compliance programs and leadership in the moral dimension involved should be established within the company. The terms ethics and social responsibility are often used as synonyms, but their tasks and perceptions differ. Business ethics is integrated into the company's work at the operational level, while socially responsible business appears as a broader concept of the company's impact on its environment. Nowadays, socially responsible business has become attractive to the general public, so an increasing number of companies participate in voluntary activities related to social and environmental issues. The fact is that business ethics strives to provide a clear ethical framework within which to evaluate the company's operations. Given that business ethics has ethics as its basis, it directly affects the construction of the company's identity or character, while social responsibility represents everything that the company does to present itself positively in society and thus build the best possible image. However, if the company's identity and image are not aligned, i.e. the company strives for social responsibility that is not based on ethical values, in the long term there may be a split that leads to a decline in the company's reputation.