Lilian Soares Outtes Wanderley

Strategic corporate social responsibility management for competitive advantage

Corporate social responsibility strategy and competitive advantage are important issues for the contemporary discussion on corporations in society when taking into account social and environmental impacts. Empirically, we can see that social responsibility strategies are associated with competitive advantages, such as attracting valuable employees as well as enhancing the company image and reputation. This paper presents a theoretical review that demonstrates the association between social strategy and competitive advantage through the formulation of social strategies that influence and are influenced by opportunities, resources, skills, corporation merits, industry structure and stakeholders. Based on the literature and a case study of Carrefour, a model is proposed for competitive advantages stemming from the formulation of social strategies, which are explained based on their elements and adaptation to societal expectations. This article seeks to enrich the discussion on the strategic management of social responsibility and contribute to the literature on Corporate Social Responsibility as well as Strategy and Competitive Advantage.

COMUNICAÇÃO DA RESPONSABILIDADE SOCIAL NOS WEBSITES DE DISTRIBUIDORAS DE ENERGIA: UM ESTUDO COMPARADO BRASIL E FRANÇA

O uso dos websites corporativos como ferramenta de comunicacao da responsabilidade social vem recebendo atencao dos grupos de interesse e passando por um processo de melhoria continua no que diz respeito a apresentacao tanto em forma quanto em conteudo. O presente texto objetiva fazer uma comparacao entre as tres maiores empresas do setor de distribuicao de energia do Brasil e a empresa estatal da Franca. Como resultado, pode-se observar que as empresas divulgam de forma insuficiente suas acoes e projetos sociais na Internet, com excecao da Cemig, que teve um desempenho superior em relacao a comunicacao pela web. Em conclusao, nao foram encontradas diferencas significativas em relacao aos indicadores de divulgacao entre as empresas apesar das caracteristicas culturais. No entanto, o volume de informacoes divulgadas pela empresa francesa em cada indicador e consideravelmente maior, caracterizando tambem uma grande preocupacao com a comunicacao da responsabilidade social em detalhes.

Corporate social and environmental responsibility strategies: Carrefour and Pão de Açúcar on a comparative approach

This work is the result of a qualitative research on companies Carrefour and Pao de Acucar. The main objective was to investigate how the two major supermarkets operating in Brazil work their corporate social and environmental responsibility (CSER) practices and if they are adopted in a strategic perspective. Looking from the theories of strategy, we can conclude that both approaches were applied; the one based on the internal resources, and the other on the external environment carachterizing different performances between the two companies. Some similarities were found, such as the improvement of CSER policies, the existence of organizational values integrated strategy, and the use of CSER as an internal appeal; actions which demonstrate focus on internal environment of the company. In relation to the differences, Pao de Acucar presents a stronger focus on the internal environment, where it seeks to incorporate CSER into its organizational culture, a fact not found in Carrefour. On the other hand, Carrefour adopts an external environment perspective, as the French supermarket monitors the actions of competitors in regard to the CSER, a fact not seen in Pao de Acucar. Finally, these two companies try to use the strategic perspective of the CSER, and its main evidence is the inclusion of this theme in their strategic planning. Key words: social and environmental responsibility, corporate strategy, socioenvironmental strategy, supermarkets.