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A. B. M. Assunção et al.
voluntarily or by legal force), even in items that refer to the financial return and legal
commitments made with regards to workers themselves.
Despite the growing debate around CSR, the effort to raise theoretical reference
on representations and perceptions of stakeholders about the concept still deserves
to be the target of a higher number of studies. In this case study, we explored the
social meaning of CSR by analyzing qualitative data, thus contributing to the scope
of qualitative investigations that examine how individuals define corporate social
responsibilities in general (Maignan 2001; Matten and Moon 2008; Duarte and Neves
2012). The results suggest a multidimensional conceptualization of socially responsible corporations on the part of the participants, although the aspects of external and
explicit CSR prevailed over the internal and implicit aspects in this specific case.
Aligned with definitions that propose the adoption of social and environmental
considerations in business operations as an important part of corporate social responsibilities (Carroll 1999; Bakker et al. 2005; Dahlsrud 2008), it seems critical that
current definitions of CSR consider how organizations manage their relationships
with different stakeholders. However, in the evaluated case, the relationship or
responsibility towards some of the stakeholders did not prevail, especially public
suppliers; they were only mentioned once. Consumers, on the other hand, were not
even cited. Given the emphasis stakeholder management receives in the literature on
CSR, this may be unexpected. Just as surprising is the notion that the main target
of socially responsible actions most often mentioned by the participants would be
directed towards local communities and, secondly, the environment, even before
the workers themselves. Also considered significant are notions that incorporate
ethical and legal business responsibilities (Carroll 1999; Dahlsrud 2008), in this
case covering both implicit (mandatory or non-mandatory) and explicit corporate
responsibilities (Matten and Moon 2008).
In addition, the results of this study indicate that the dimensions proposed in
the Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility Scale (PCSR-Scale) are relevant for
workers in the Brazilian context, since all of them were mentioned at least once by
the group of workers participating in the research. The less mentioned dimensions
of the PCSR-Scale in the free association answers of the participants are those closer
to the traditional representation of corporate responsibility (with prevalence of the
economic aspects of profitability and management) as well as the responsibilities
towards workers closer to economic and legal aspects, such as wage payment, stability
and compliance with labor legislation.
However, it is worth noting that this is an exploratory and qualitative study that
does not claim to argue statistical validity, or be extensible to any other companies
or even other units of operation within the same company analyzed. In addition,
the results did not provide support for socio-professional variations (position, level
of education, age group). For such, a larger sample would be necessary, as well as
the use of statistical analysis tools that were not applied in this study. Despite these
limitations, the results may be useful for the management of this unit, since they
allow a better understanding of aspects that workers relate to CSR, in addition to
serving as a basis for future studies.
A. B. M. Assunção et al.
voluntarily or by legal force), even in items that refer to the financial return and legal
commitments made with regards to workers themselves.
Despite the growing debate around CSR, the effort to raise theoretical reference
on representations and perceptions of stakeholders about the concept still deserves
to be the target of a higher number of studies. In this case study, we explored the
social meaning of CSR by analyzing qualitative data, thus contributing to the scope
of qualitative investigations that examine how individuals define corporate social
responsibilities in general (Maignan 2001; Matten and Moon 2008; Duarte and Neves
2012). The results suggest a multidimensional conceptualization of socially responsible corporations on the part of the participants, although the aspects of external and
explicit CSR prevailed over the internal and implicit aspects in this specific case.
Aligned with definitions that propose the adoption of social and environmental
considerations in business operations as an important part of corporate social responsibilities (Carroll 1999; Bakker et al. 2005; Dahlsrud 2008), it seems critical that
current definitions of CSR consider how organizations manage their relationships
with different stakeholders. However, in the evaluated case, the relationship or
responsibility towards some of the stakeholders did not prevail, especially public
suppliers; they were only mentioned once. Consumers, on the other hand, were not
even cited. Given the emphasis stakeholder management receives in the literature on
CSR, this may be unexpected. Just as surprising is the notion that the main target
of socially responsible actions most often mentioned by the participants would be
directed towards local communities and, secondly, the environment, even before
the workers themselves. Also considered significant are notions that incorporate
ethical and legal business responsibilities (Carroll 1999; Dahlsrud 2008), in this
case covering both implicit (mandatory or non-mandatory) and explicit corporate
responsibilities (Matten and Moon 2008).
In addition, the results of this study indicate that the dimensions proposed in
the Perceived Corporate Social Responsibility Scale (PCSR-Scale) are relevant for
workers in the Brazilian context, since all of them were mentioned at least once by
the group of workers participating in the research. The less mentioned dimensions
of the PCSR-Scale in the free association answers of the participants are those closer
to the traditional representation of corporate responsibility (with prevalence of the
economic aspects of profitability and management) as well as the responsibilities
towards workers closer to economic and legal aspects, such as wage payment, stability
and compliance with labor legislation.
However, it is worth noting that this is an exploratory and qualitative study that
does not claim to argue statistical validity, or be extensible to any other companies
or even other units of operation within the same company analyzed. In addition,
the results did not provide support for socio-professional variations (position, level
of education, age group). For such, a larger sample would be necessary, as well as
the use of statistical analysis tools that were not applied in this study. Despite these
limitations, the results may be useful for the management of this unit, since they
allow a better understanding of aspects that workers relate to CSR, in addition to
serving as a basis for future studies.