The Incorporation of Social Responsibility: A Case Study on a Brazilian Cosmetic Company

Abstract

Brazilian organisations are challenged to increase in size and pursue growth relatively fast to compete with other emerging countries. The heavy focus on growth may cause the implementation of practices of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to remain as a neglected or low priority topic. Nevertheless, some organisations embed CSR into their strategic management processes, going beyond the law. Some examples of Brazilian laws that enforce CSR practices are the environment legislation (Brasil, Ministerio do Meio Ambiente. Consultoria Juridica. Legislacao Ambiental Basica/Ministerio do Meio Ambiente. Consultoria Juridica. Ministerio do Meio Ambiente, Brasilia, UNESCO, 2008a), the inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace (Brasil, Dispoe sobre os Planos de Beneficios da Previdencia Social e da outras providencias. Subsecao II Da Habilitacao e da Reabilitacao Profissional, art. 89. Constituicao. Lei nr. 8.213, de 24 de julho de 1991, 1988a), and consumer protection (Brasil, Dispoe sobre a protecao do consumidor e da outras providencias, Lei n. 8.078, de 11de setembro de 1990, 2008b; Brasil, Dispoe sobre a protecao do consumidor e da outras providencias, Lei n. 8.078, de 11de setembro de 1990, 2008c). Our primary interest is the evaluation of CSR actions. There are several contributions from both industry and academy for this purpose. They can be presented to the community in the form of best practices or assessment frameworks. This article presents a summary of the application of a case study in a Brazilian company in the field of cosmetics. A survey, followed by structured walkthroughs has been conducted, aiming at making a cross-reference between the evidence of actions of the company and the perceptions of respondents. They are based on a multidisciplinary approach to understand the outcomes related to the social responsibility. The following specific objectives were established: (a) to identify and characterise sustainability indicators and reports used in the Boticario Group to measure and present the results of its sustainable management. (b) Identify and analyse the social responsibility actions carried out by the group. As an instrument of analysis, the Sustainability Report for the years 2012–2016 was adopted, as well as an employee’s perception survey. The results presented in this article can be useful to understand how social and environmental responsibility concepts become part of the culture of Brazilian companies.