As empresas que desenvolvem políticas de responsabilidade social

Abstract

This paper has the purpose of discussing what motivates companies to develop policies of Social Responsibility. Based on the premise that a company is part of the economic, political and social context of a given society and that this context influences its managerial positioning, this investigative paper analyses the initiatives and actions companies undertake in order to face present and future needs so that it continues to be necessary to society. Social Responsibility concepts and understandings transform and evolve. At the beginning, company s Social Responsibility was nothing but a set of practices of social actions aimed at attending emergency needs of employees and the community where the company was located. As the concept evolved, Social Responsibility goes beyond social action practices, to the point of becoming part of the company mission statement. A company must make the option of being socially responsible if it believes that its commitments go beyond financial return, which must be linked to social profit, that which contributes to the improvement of the quality of living of all its stakeholders. The answer to the research made with companies listed in the Exame business magazine special issue, 2003 Guide of Good Corporate Governance , as models in Social Responsibility, was that the motivators to practice socially responsible actions are the possibilities of knowing if that is a reason they have the preference of their consumers and suppliers; if that is a reason their employees be proud of the company they work for and therefore be more dedicated and productive; if society admires them; if their chance of sustainability and continuity over time increases; if the chances of stronger competitiveness and better financial results can increase. All these are reasons that motivate them to make Social Responsibility not only a sporadic and peripheral activity, but mainly a strategic component of its long term planning