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Many scientific articles have been written about management students' perceptions of corporate social responsibility. Most of these investigations were carried out on small samples, made up of students from a single university. Very few investigations have compared students from different universities and countries. The main objective of this paper is to investigate whether students' countries operate as an explanatory variable for their perceptions of this concept. Fifty-four previous articles were reviewed, identifying some important conceptual problems and a high amount of methodological diversity. The second objective of this paper is to describe and analyze these problems and methodologies, with the aim of contributing to the development of this field of research. A sample of 1992 undergraduate students in management courses who were studying at 18 universities located in three countries (Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) was selected. A definition of corporate social responsibility was adopted. This concept was operationalized through a set of 18 indicators. An exploratory factor analysis showed that these indicators operationalize the main dimensions of social responsibility. It was found that there are statistically significant differences between the perceptions of the students from the 18 universities, but when comparing universities from the same country, these differences disappear. In addition, it was found that the relationship between perception and country is independent of gender, age, work experience and the degree that students are pursuing. This work contributes to our current knowledge in this field of study, because it shows that the university environment of each country operates as an explanatory variable for students' perceptions of social responsibility. Also, this work contributes to the design of appropriate methodological strategies for carrying out comparative studies on the perceptions of social responsibility, both locally and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enterprises increasingly publish sustainability reports to address concerns about their environmental and social impact. However, the voluntary nature of these reports and the lack of independent auditing often lead to skepticism regarding their authenticity, with some perceiving them as mere marketing or greenwashing tools. This study aims to investigate whether the publishing of sustainability reports truly reflects transparency and responsible behavior. The relationship between the publishing of sustainability reports, environmental responsibility policies, and transparency policies is analyzed. The research was conducted in Uruguay. A quantitative methodology was used. The sample was made up of a group of companies that evaluate their social and environmental responsibility practices. This is a non-probabilistic sample, which includes companies that publish sustainability reports and companies that do not publish them. The environmental responsibility and transparency of both groups were compared. Thirteen indicators were used to measure environmental responsibility, and eight indicators were used to measure transparency. To evaluate the relationship between the variables, different statistical techniques were used: chi-square, difference of means test, and simple correlations. Our findings reveal that: (1) enterprises publishing sustainability reports tend to have more developed environmental responsibility policies and greater transparency compared to those that do not publish, and (2) interestingly, the choice of reporting standards, particularly the Global Reporting Initiative, does not significantly impact the observed outcomes. Furthermore, the relationship among report publication, environmental responsibility, and transparency is influenced by enterprise size but remains unaffected by public trading status or capital origin (local or international). Despite its methodological limitations, this work contributes to the debate on the sincerity of companies that publish sustainability reports. Its results contribute to reducing the skepticism and distrust that exists about these reports. Also, the work contributes to the study of the relationship between environmental responsibility and the publishing of reports because it included segments of companies that are not considered in most research: medium-sized companies and private companies that are not listed on the stock market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of a robust, widely accepted theory on corporate social responsibility has meant that business leaders are often unaware, or doubtful, about the presence of social responsibility across a wide spectrum of business practices in which it is manifested. Since undergraduate students on management-related degree programs are future business leaders, it is important to enquire into the knowledge they have on this subject. To this end, a sample was selected of students from universities in ten Spanish-speaking Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. A structured questionnaire was used to measure their knowledge of 18 social responsibility practices representative of three dimensions of the concept: internal responsibility, responsibility towards external stakeholders of the value chain and responsibility towards the environment. It was found that there is a widespread lack of knowledge about the business practices that constitute social responsibility actions, that some practices are better known than others (the best known are those related to the environment while the least known are those related with the external stakeholders of the value chain), and that the extent of this knowledge depends on the country where the universities are located. In addition, it was found that the relationship between knowledge and country is not mediated by gender, age, work experience, degree program studied, or year of study. These results suggest that the teaching of social responsibility in Latin American universities does not place equal emphasis on all dimensions of the concept, and that this teaching differs from one country to another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research work on the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and financial performance has been going on for seven decades. Even when the prevailing studies are those that found a positive influence of social responsibility on financial performance, strong conclusive results are still unavailable. Some explanations for this situation are based, among other reasons, on the fact that the variables have a relation mediated by multiple factors. Additionally, it is still unknown whether the results obtained can be extrapolated to all types of companies since the majority of studies have focused on large companies listed on the stock exchange. This research studied how one of those factors (stakeholder satisfaction) mediated in companies of different sizes (including SMEs) and different types of companies (publicly listed companies or private ownership companies). A questionnaire was used, including indices relative to (1) the degree of development of the company's social responsibility policies, (2) the changes in the satisfaction of four key stakeholders (employees, customers, suppliers, and shareholders) and financial performance (sales and profitability). Findings show the existence of a correlation between social responsibility and financial performance and also that such a relationship is mediated by the satisfaction of stakeholders. That relationship was also found to be independent of company sizes and the type of company This research work is intended to be a contribution towards that field of study, as it has detected a relationship between variables in medium-sized and private ownership companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge about the motivations of managers to practice corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a critical issue for those who promote its adoption. The understanding of these reasons is complicated by the fact that there are different ways of defining CSR, raising the question of whether there is any relationship between the reasons for adopting it and how it is defined. To address this issue, this research categorizes these reasons and relates them to a classification of the different ways of defining CSR. To this end, a self-administered questionnaire was applied to a non-probability sample of social responsibility managers, which included indicators for both classifications. It was found that these managers present all types of motives identified, that proactive motives outweigh reactive motives, and that there is a significant degree of correlation between the ways of defining CSR and the reasons for doing so. From these results, it can be concluded that managers present consistency between their objectives (motives) and means (social responsibility practices). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the theoretical discussion on the best way to define Corporate Social Responsibility. The methodology used is a bibliographic review through a search for articles in different catalogues (Redalyc, Ebsco, JStor, SAGE, Science Direct, and Springer), focusing on articles that addressed the study of definitions of this concept. The different ways of defining it are identified and analysed in order to find a definition can encompass all the others. The paper also proposes that locating this concept at the level of management philosophy (and not simply as a desirable or expected behaviour) facilitates the construction of agreements around a consensual definition, unlike under the predominant behavioural approach of its conceptualisation as corporate behaviour. The paper concludes by proposing to define Corporate Social Responsibility as a management philosophy based on the responsible management of the company's operational externalities on stakeholders, society, and the environment. It is concluded that this definition contributes to the theoretical discussion, strengthens empirical research, and improves the application of Corporate Social Responsibility in the corporate world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Companies that embrace corporate social responsibility (CSR) tend to adopt certain general practices, such as: establishing social responsibility areas, preparing codes of ethics, publishing social or sustainability reports, joining organizations that promote social responsibility, or starting their own foundations. The question then arises as to whether these general practices actually influence the responsible behavior of companies. This article explores the relationship between the application of these general CSR practices and the level of development of internal social responsibility (ISR). To study this relationship, information was drawn from the system of CSR indicators (CSRI) overseen by the Cristian Association of Business Managers (Asociación Cristiana de Dirigentes de Empresas, a self-evaluation system in which Uruguayan companies participate annually. The CSRI uses 25 indicators to measure the level of ISR development and record the application of eight general CSR practices. After carrying out a review of the literature, the 25 indicators were organized into nine dimensions of ISR: employees' human rights; informing employees about issues that affect them; occupational health and safety; internal environment; personal and professional development; employment protection; voluntary provision of benefits; union relations; and fair pay. After analyzing the statistical correlation between the application of general CSR practices and the level of development of social responsibility across the nine dimensions, the results indicate the following: three general practices positively correlate with the development of ISR in all its dimensions (including CSR in strategic planning, involving the management team in CSR issues, and joining an organization that promotes CSR); one practice (preparing a code of ethics) correlates with half of the dimensions; and the other four practices (publishing a social or sustainability report, assigning a full-time employee to CSR management, having a CSR team or area, and possessing a foundation) correlate with none or almost none of the dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature analysis on Corporate Social Responsibility reveals that no consensus exists on the definition of this concept. Therefore, it becomes necessary to inquire whether the different ways of defining this concept exist in the education that students in management-related degree programs (such as administration, accounting, economics, marketing, etc.) receive. The importance of this issue arises from the fact that the theoretical education on Corporate Social Responsibility that these students receive will influence the attitude that the companies they will lead in the future adopt towards this important topic. The question can be answered from two different and complementary angles: by analyzing the content of the subjects' programs that include Corporate Social Responsibility or by studying how students in these degree programs interpret this concept. In this study, the second approach was chosen, studying the interpretation of university students in these degree programs in Latin American universities from 12 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. A structured questionnaire was applied, which students self-completed through an online survey. The questionnaire contained a battery of 18 indicators on specific practices corresponding to three dimensions of social responsibility: internal, in the value chain, and towards the environment (community and environment). The way in which students interpret Corporate Social Responsibility was measured by their degree of agreement on whether these practices represent actions of Corporate Social Responsibility, for which a Likert scale was used. First, through factorial analysis and Cronbach's alpha, it was demonstrated that the indicators grouped into three factors, corresponding to each of the three dimensions. Then, through a test of difference in means, we analyzed whether a relationship exists between students' interpretation of social responsibility and a set of segmentation variables: country, gender, age, degree program they are taking, and other variables related to where they learned about this topic. We found that only a statistically significant difference exists in each of the three dimensions between students from different countries. Their opinion was independent of the other segmentation variables. These results suggest that the teaching of Corporate Social Responsibility presents important nuances between countries: some countries emphasize more than others the responsibilities towards employees, others focus more on the relationship with the environment, and others focus on the relationship of the company with the actors in its value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work explores the impact of ideological biases about private enterprise as an economic actor on customers' perceptions of socially responsible behavior directed towards them, on an individual level. The aim is to answer the question: do these biases hinder or limit customers' ability to accurately perceive socially responsible behavior by their service providers towards them? Research on the relationship between perception of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and consumer behavior has generally focused on the impact of this perception on issues such as corporate reputation, brand image, propensity to purchase certain brands, or customer loyalty. However, little research has been done on whether such perception is influenced by negative ideological biases that exist in contemporary societies about private enterprise as an economic actor. To answer this question, information was gathered from a database resulting from a survey of a representative sample of citizens in Peru (n=1524). The survey was conducted through in-person interviews in the participants' homes. The questionnaire included eight indicators of CSR practices directed towards customers and two indicators of ideological biases. The first eight indicators were used to evaluate customers' perception of the 13 service companies in Peru. These companies belong to four sectors: banking (4), department stores (3), hypermarkets (3), and telecommunications (3). The first eight indicators refer to different aspects of social responsibility towards customers. The indicators of ideological biases evaluate the degree of agreement with the following statements: 1) this company influences the government to create laws only for its benefit and 2) this company is more interested in making money than in offering a good quality product or service. Both sets of indicators were measured using five-point Likert scales. Factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha were used to verify that the eight indicators represent a single dimension. Therefore, the construction of an index that measures the perception of CSR towards customers was validated, resulting from the combination of the eight indicators. Using ANOVA analysis, it was found that the correlation between perception of CSR towards customers and ideological biases is non-existent or very low. These results are important for companies because, if confirmed in further research, they would indicate that customers can identify their CSR practices towards them independently of their ideological biases about the company as an economic actor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The ISO 26000 Guidance provides valuable conceptual and methodological guidelines for making corporate social action an effective tool through which organizations contribute to the solution of social problems within the communities they operate. These guidelines focus on their potential to contribute to the institutional strengthening of the social institutions of these communities, as well as to empower, generate autonomy, and develop skills in their final beneficiaries. Nevertheless, the academic literature has paid little attention to these guidelines. This document presents the results of pioneering research which was intended to provide information on the application of corporate social action. For measurement, a battery of 24 indicators was built and included in a structured questionnaire which was applied to a non-probabilistic sample of companies that carry out social actions. It was found that most of them apply the guidelines to a large extent and that this application correlates with the importance they assign to corporate social responsibility, with the degree to which they have incorporated it into their management, and with the construction of alliances with social organizations. Also, it was found that the application of these guidelines is independent of knowledge of the Guide and the approach to social responsibility that companies adopt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]