Corporate social responsibility

exploratory analysis through a multiple case study

Abstract

Understanding the characteristics and key factors in implementing the Social Responsibility Model Management (SRMM) in Venezuelan companies is the starting point for the development of this study. Using an exploratory, descriptive and explanatory methodology through a multiple case study, ten solid enterprises from Lara state with more than ten years in the market were chosen. Some of the aims of the research are: verifying, empirically, how the chosen companies manage the SRMM; appraising the level of coincidence in the behaviors developed by the companies and their most utilized SRMM procedures; Identifying the most common problems in implementing the SRMM, highlighting the factors that facilitate and constrain their management. The results show that the firms studied, mostly, do not have a defined structure, no staff and no budget for SRMM initiatives, nor are aware of what SRMM means. Despite this, they perform activities for workers' welfare and their social environments, either because they are pressured or just for the philanthropic attitude that characterizes some ofthem.