Social Responsibility as a Competitive Advantage for Companies: A Sustainability Research in Paraná's Cooperatives in Brazil

Author(s):  
Manoela Maria Caron Moura ◽  
Ubiratã Tortato
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahnoor Zahid ◽  
Hina Naeem ◽  
Iqra Aftab ◽  
Sajawal Ali Mughal

Purpose The purpose of this study is to scrutinize the effect of corporate social responsibility activities (CSRA) of the firm on its financial performance (FP) and analyze the mediating role of innovation and competitive advantage (CA) in the relationship between CSRA and FP in the manufacturing sector of an emerging country, i.e. Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach Data has been collected through an electronic structured questionnaire from 300 middle-level and top-level managers by surveying different manufacturing firms of Gujranwala, Pakistan. The study’s hypotheses have been checked by analyzing the reliability and validity of data and applying confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling through statistical package for the social sciences and analysis of moment structures. Findings Outcomes of this study supported the hypothesized model. It has been found that the CSRA plays a significant positive role in determining the FP of the firm. Furthermore, the CA and innovation have been proved as significant mediators between CSRA and FP. Originality/value The first time examining the intermediation of innovation and CA in the relationship between CSRA and FP is the primary input of this study to the literature. Practically, this study’s findings will help strategy makers of manufacturing firms in emerging countries develop better strategies for implementing CSRA, enhancing innovation, seeking CA and improving FP.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-76
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Zadros

AbstractThe concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) since several dozen years has been recognized as one of the most important solutions used by companies that want to build competitive advantage through concern for economic effects, people and the environment. Important role in the management of CSR by these companies is the implementation of its standards and norm and their reporting. However, the question arises whether such activities are sufficient to actually talk about the company as a socially responsible organization. In the presented article, a broader analysis of this problem was undertaken, trying to answer what determines the company's recognition as socially responsible.


Author(s):  
Susan Saurage-Altenloh ◽  
Phillip M. Randall

The chapter addresses how ethical actions deliver value through sustainable competitive advantage. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has a proven role in developing audience trust that increases brand equity among target audiences and stakeholders, thus ensuring that the brand sustains its competitive advantage through improved profitability and reputation in the market. Not only do businesses have a social responsibility to the markets from which they earn revenues, but buyers expect ethical businesses to have an established CSR program in place. Businesses that engage in CSR activities within the process of corporate brand management experience stronger reputation that drives loyalty and sales, resulting in a competitive, sustainable market advantage.


Author(s):  
Nicolae Al. Pop ◽  
Sebastian A. Vaduva ◽  
Dan Cristian Dabija ◽  
Ioan S. Fotea

To build a better and more profitable corporate image, Western firms have been investing in social responsibility. The Romanian consumer has fairly recently been exposed to this holistic marketing concept since the Revolution of 1989, and in this regard, in this article, the authors verify conventional corporate social responsibility principles of building customer loyalty as well as goodwill from stakeholders. The paper explores the competitive advantage and its various components in which companies make use of marketing instruments that influence CSR activities of retailers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 4954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Adamik ◽  
Michał Nowicki

Research problem: Revolution Industry 4.0. forces companies to face specific competence-related, technological, organizational and even ethical challenges. The use of innovative “tools” associated with that revolution not only brings new technological challenges, opportunities to build new competitive advantages, new areas of activity, and new types of business benefits but also doubts, questions, or even pathologies and paradoxes. Sometimes, entities that do not fully understand the essence of the new concepts, methods, or techniques use them incorrectly or abuse them for private goals and expose themselves to criticism—sometimes even social condemnation. These are examples of the lack of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of these organizations. This situation also has reached co-creation. In theory, it is a very positive concept, aimed at building competitiveness, or various types of competitive advantages of companies by creating value for clients with their participation. In economic practice, unfortunately, it is not always successful. Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to identify and characterize the key paradoxes and areas of potential pathologies of creating competitive advantage based on co-creation without CSR in the case of companies operating in the age of Industry 4.0. Originality/value of the paper: A theoretical study based on the extensive literature review describing paradoxes, ethical and CSR problems of co-creation in organizations creating competitive advantage in the age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and a qualitative methodology of research. This study attempts to systematize paradoxes of co-creation and the areas and industries in which the related pathologies of co-creation occur particularly often and distinctively in economic practice. The empirical studies were conducted as a review of case studies of companies that use the concept of co-creation in an irregular way (paradoxical or with pathologies). This study identified and characterized the key 31 paradoxes and pathologies of creating competitive advantage based on co-creation in the case of 14 companies operating in the age of Industry 4.0. Implications: The identification of main dilemmas, paradoxes and pathologies of co-creation; signaling the role of governance and CSR in processes of the valuable use of co-creation in the age of Industry 4.0. Based on the observations described in the paper, it is worth recommending that when becoming involved in co-creation, one should observe ethical standards and assumptions of CSR, and require the same from partners and other parties involved. Otherwise, the risk is that instead of co-creation, the result achieved will be exactly the opposite to that intended, which is co-destruction, and condemnation instead of glory. This is why it is worth considering the paradoxes that are key to co-creation and approaching solutions in a conscious way.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Sima Ghaleb Magatef

<p>This study seeks to identify the impact of the application of social responsibility on the creation of a competitive advantage. The study has been applied on Jordanian private universities. 200 copies of the questionnaire were distributed over managers and officials at these institutions. 82% of the 164 questionnaires which were distributed over the study sample ware recovered. A group of social responsibility dimensions represented by the local community, employees, customers (students at private universities), the environment and studying its impact level on the creation of competitive advantage for Jordanian private universities have been focused upon.</p><p>The hierarchical cluster has been used, where universities have been divided into groups. The results show that the first group of private universities uses social responsibility at a high and notable scale, while the second group uses social responsibility at a low scale. The results show that the group using social responsibility at a high scale, its competitive advantage is high, while the second group which uses social responsibility at a low scale, its competitive advantage is low.</p><p>The study demonstrates the importance of social responsibility and the interest of Jordanian private universities to apply it for its positive and clear impact on the creation of a competitive advantage in the market.</p><p> </p>


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