Corporate social responsibility in approach to business reality-case study with cuban enterprises

Abstract

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) represents the way companies achieve enhanced ethical standards and a balance of economics, environmental and social imperatives addressing the concerns and expectations of their stakeholders. At present a predominant attitude of rejection, which rules towards social responsibility is still observed. This research aims to determine if CSR is a part of the business strategy implemented by Cuban companies. The research shows that, theoretically, the studied Cuban enterprises interpret CSR as taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on the stakeholder. Practically, they try to fulfill the expectations of only two of the stakeholder-groups. It was also determinate that there is coherence between corporate values and the action taken by companies. Although the knowledge about the CSR is scarce, and the often interpretation of the CSR is as a concept that helps them be more competitive, CSR is included only on a very basic level in their business strategy. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.