A practical tool for firms that have been informally engaged in CSR and that want to advance in its process to include it as a strategic tool

Given society’s expectations regarding business performance and responsible behavior, it has become imperative that corporations implement CSR practices to address the needs and interests of their stakeholders in order to maintain their social license to operate. The current situation of the world has shifted the perception of the role of business in society and today it is widely agreed that businesses have other responsibilities than maximizing profits and increasing shareholders’ wealth. However, the ambiguity of the definitions of corporate social responsibility and of its components, and the lack of confirmation of a positive economic link impacting on the financial performance of companies have created an obstacle to the implementation of strategic CSR. The purpose of this project is to develop a useful tool for companies in developing countries that have been informally engaged in corporate social responsibility practices and that want to formally implement these practices from with a strategic approach. The framework aimed at (a) providing a process model that firms can use to identify current CSR activities, (b) assessing the relevance of these activities to its business strategy, and (c) developing and enhancing CSR strategies to improve the business overall performance. Even though many barriers where recognized during the development of the case study, it has been concluded that the company used to develop the case study is in good standing to implement strategic CSR practices. Moreover, many of the identified practices that are being performed by the company have a direct link to its overall performance, and what is now required is to develop measurement tools for achieving a more realistic evaluation