Closing the ‘CSR gap’ through a successful CSR strategy : insights from Nike Inc.

• Autor(a) principal: Soares, Erick Tavarès-Penate
• Data de Publicação: 2016
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/21010
• topic: CSR; CSR credibility; Window-dressing; CSR gap; Credibility gap; Ethical business practices; CSR strategy; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

CSR has become an important asset for most companies. It has been at the centre of multinational companies’ strategy such as Nike Inc’s in controversial industries. However, its efficiency is questionable as such companies are still pointed out for their recurrent wrong ethical behaviours. Hence public associates CSR with practices of window-dressing: their actions often don’t represent their commitment to ‘social good’. Accordingly, even though stakeholders are increasingly sensitive to business ethics, a ‘credibility gap’ is still present in most company’s CSR. The lack of CSR credibility combined with little awareness on CSR created a ‘CSR gap’: hindering the possible benefits companies can retrieve from their investments in CSR. The market study explores beliefs related to CSR, shows the existence of the CSR gap, and how perceptions of CSR can act as barrier to an effective CSR. Insights on awareness, perceptions of CSR performance, and expectations of present CSR are gathered through an online survey. Results show lack of awareness, high expectations, negative perceptions of CSR performance and doubts on the ability of CSR to do ‘social good’. Finally, the author identifies actions that can be taken to address the ‘CSR gap’ and allow companies to fully benefit from CSR investments. Companies need to establish long term positive awareness and credibility of their CSR initiatives, to cut the association of CSR to window-dressing, by minimizing the contradiction between claims and actual events or actions.