Corporate social responsibility in emerging markets: Opportunities and challenges for sustainability integration

Abstract

In emerging markets, Corporate Social Responsibility and social entrepreneurship practices emerge as drivers of social inclusion and welfare. In countries with considerable demands for social and economic transformations, Corporate Social Responsibility provides a positive force for addressing society's major challenges such as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this paper, we examine how two projects selected by the United Nations Development Programme (UNPD) orient their operations toward responsible management practices in a transition economy context and answer two questions: 1) Does Corporate Social Responsibility supporting social entrepreneurship pave the way for greater inclusion?, and, 2) How do the Corporate Social Responsibility practices help achieve the SDGs? By focusing our analysis on stakeholder theory, we highlight how context can influence the strategic management process of social inclusion choices. Both cases provide practical implications of how the insertion of responsibility thematic in core business strategy acts as an effective driver for the development of fundamentally important SDGs.