RESPONSABILIDAD SOCIAL DE LAS EMPRESAS Y ÉTICA EMPRESARIAL: CAMINOS HACIA LA SOSTENIBILIDAD

Corporate social responsibility and business ethics: paths to sustainability

 

Por Vera Lúcia Steiner¹ y Cleide Calgaro²

 

ABSTRACT

The issue of corporate social responsibility has intensified in recent decades and organizations should seek to adhere to this strategy, which has ethics as one of its presuppositions, in the pursuit of sustainability. The general objective is to analyze ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) or CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) from the perspective of the principle of business ethics with a view to sustainability. And specifically: i) to verify which business practices are considered essential in ESG from the perspective of business ethics; ii) to verify how the ethical element constitutes a fundamental axis for the success or failure of a company in its quest for sustainability. The methodology used was bibliographic and descriptive, consisting of a review of the existing bibliographic material on the topic studied and was exploratory in nature with a qualitative approach. The relevance of this study lies in the fact that companies must overcome the reductionist concept of economic development and embrace the environment, in a way that encompasses the social, ethical, legal-political, economic and environmental facets of sustainability. The conclusion is that organizations must act responsibly, ethically and transparently in pursuit of sustainability, and can use environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies to do so.

Keywords: corporate social responsibility; business ethics; future generations; strategy; sustainability.

RESUMEN

La cuestión de la responsabilidad social de las empresas se ha intensificado en las últimas décadas

¹Post-Doctorate in Law. PhD in Tourism and Hospitality, Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Law and Business Administration from the University of Caxias do Sul (UCS). Graduating in Philosophy (2024). Professor of Undergraduate Law and Permanent Professor of the Postgraduate Program in Tourism and Hospitality – Master’s and Doctorate at the University of Caxias do Sul. Expert and researcher. Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1982-0730. Address to access CV: http://lattes.cnpq.br/1817048552645934. E-mail: vlsteine@ucs.br.

²Post-Doctorate in Philosophy and Law both from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul – PUCRS. PhD in Social Sciences from the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos – UNISINOS. PhD in Philosophy from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul – PUCRS. PhD in Law from the University of Santa Cruz do Sul – UNISC. Member of the Humanities and Social Sciences Advisory Committee of FAPERGS: Full Member (2019-2022/2022-2024). President of the International Advisory Board of the Interdisciplinary School of Fundamental Rights Praeeminentia Iustitia – Peru. Sociologist, Pedagogue and Psychoanalyst. She is currently Professor of Undergraduate and Postgraduate Studies – Masters and Doctorate – in Law at the University of Caxias do Sul – UCS. She is the leader of the «Legal Metamorphosis» research group at the University of Caxias do Sul – UCS. Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1840-9598. CV: http://lattes.cnpq.br/8547639191475261. E-mail: ccalgaro1@hotmail.com.

y las organizaciones deben tratar de adherirse a esta estrategia, que tiene la ética como uno de sus presupuestos, en la búsqueda de la sostenibilidad. El objetivo general es analizar la ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) o CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) desde la perspectiva del principio de la ética empresarial con vistas a la sostenibilidad. Y en concreto: i) comprobar qué prácticas empresariales se consideran esenciales en ESG desde la ética empresarial; ii) comprobar cómo el elemento ético constituye un eje fundamental para el éxito o fracaso de una empresa en su búsqueda de la sostenibilidad. La metodología utilizada fue bibliográfica y descriptiva, consistente en una revisión del material bibliográfico existente sobre el tema estudiado y fue de carácter exploratorio con un enfoque cualitativo. La relevancia de este estudio radica en que las empresas deben superar el concepto reduccionista de desarrollo económico y abarcar el medio ambiente, de una forma que englobe las facetas social, ética, jurídico-política, económica y medioambiental de la sostenibilidad. La conclusión es que las organizaciones deben actuar de forma responsable, ética y transparente en pos de la sostenibilidad, y para ello pueden utilizar estrategias medioambientales, sociales y de gobernanza (ESG).

Palabras clave: responsabilidad social de la empresa; ética empresarial; generaciones futuras; estrategia; sostenibilidad.

 

1 INTRODUCTION 

           The subject of corporate social responsibility has been discussed more intensively in recent decades, as mentioned by Barbieri and Cajazeira (2012). In the 20th century, the topic came to be widely and publicly discussed with a trial of a lawsuit in which the parties were Dogde and Ford, who mentioned how the company was run by Henry Ford, who often made decisions that were contrary to the positions of the shareholders (Ashley, 2018).

           In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, known as Rio 92, took place in Rio de Janeiro, where several countries discussed the use of non-renewable natural resources and the increase in environmental pollution. Later, in 2012, Rio+20 took place, which helped to define the sustainable development agenda for the coming decades, so that various segments of civil society began to attach importance to social responsibility.

It is important to clarify the differences between the terms «sustainable», «sustainability» and «sustainable development», as these terms have different meanings of their own. Sustainability is based on social foundations (it concerns people and how they live, taking into account basic aspects such as education, violence, leisure, employment and health), economic foundations (it encompasses the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services, considering their impact on social issues) and environmental foundations (it encompasses natural resources and their exploitation by communities and companies) (ABNT, 2016). Cordeiro, Leite and Partidário (2010) stress that in order for sustainability to actually occur, and not just be theoretical elucidations, it is necessary to have mechanisms to assess whether or not it exists.

           The general objective of this study is to analyse ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) or CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) from the perspective of the principle of business ethics with a view to the sustainability of the organization. The specific objectives are: i) to verify which business practices are considered essential in ESG/CSR/CR based on business ethics; ii) to verify how the ethical element constitutes a fundamental axis for the success or failure of a company in its quest for sustainability.

           The methodology used to achieve the objectives is bibliographic, which consists of a review of existing bibliographic material (scientific articles, theses, dissertations, electronic and physical books) that contain the topic to be studied. It is also descriptive, through the analysis of documents, because it helps in the search for opportunities for organizations to visualize ways of using ESG practices to achieve sustainability. It is exploratory in nature, with a qualitative approach.

           The following hypotheses were developed: i) can a company adopting CSR trigger internal and external changes? ii) does Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) have ethics as its pillar? iii) is it possible for a company to achieve sustainable development and sustainability objectives by adopting CSR?

           The relevance of this research undoubtedly lies in the fact that companies need to move beyond the reductionist concept of economic development and enter into an ethical interaction with the environment, with both concepts seeking a common goal: the preservation of nature for future generations. Sustainability must be multidimensional, encompassing social, ethical, legal-political, economic and environmental aspects.

           The article is divided into three sections, the first of which looks at corporate social responsibility and its role within the social context, with a view to balancing the market, people and the environment. Next, ethics and corporate ethics are analyzed in order to demonstrate the importance of ethics in the attitudes of organizations. Finally, it is understood that sustainability can be achieved by organizations, as they have and play a relevant role in society and by acting ethically they can become socially responsible, and sustainability must be multidimensional, encompassing the social, ethical, legal-political, economic and environmental facets.

2 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

           In the 20th century, the subject of corporate responsibility, which is the translation of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance), began to be discussed widely and publicly after the trial of a case in which the parties were Dogde and Ford, who mentioned how the company was run by Henry Ford, who often made decisions that were contrary to the positions of the shareholders (Ashley, 2018). It is possible to say that the first formal works on social responsibility were shown in the publication of the book Social Responsibilities of the Businessman, by Howard Bowen (2013), which represents the decisive milestone that begins the modern era of literature on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) (Bernardo et al., 2015).

           According to Castelo Branco (2020, p. 48), «In Brazil, the emergence of the social function of companies occurred through the creation of the Association of Christian Business Managers (ADCE) in the 1970s and the decline of the Welfare State.»

           The aim of corporate social responsibility is for businesspeople to commit themselves to sustainable development by associating economic development actions with actions aimed at the quality of life of their employees, the community in which they operate and society as a whole, in a transparent and ethical manner (Reis, 2009).

           According to Ackerman (1975), social responsibility implies permanent monitoring and systematic assessment of environmental conditions, focusing the analysis on the needs of the different stakeholders linked to the organization. In this way, a company’s social responsibility encompasses wide-ranging actions and policies aimed at contributing to the social balance of the community in general and justifying the existence of the organization itself.

           Ferrel, Fraedrich and Ferrel (2001) advocate that a company’s social responsibility is an obligation to society, with the aim of mitigating the negative impacts generated and maximizing the positive ones. According to Costa and Viscondi (2000), the commitments that a company makes when it adopts Corporate Social Responsibility are much more than legal ones, as the company must adopt conduct and strategies that seek to continuously improve its production processes so that they also have appropriate consequences for preserving and improving the quality of life of societies, from an ethical, social and environmental point of view.

           According to Aguilera et al. (2007), CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) means that companies take action both inside and outside themselves, with internal actions referring to changes in production methods with the aim of reducing impacts, including environmental impacts, as well as changes in relations with employees, and external actions referring to making investments in infrastructure and participating in community actions, resulting in greater added value for everyone involved. Furthermore, the adoption of CSR practices promotes brand positioning, strengthens corporate image and positively influences customer preference and loyalty (Aguilera Castro & Puerto Becerra, 2012).

           In 1998, the Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility was founded to act as a bridge between entrepreneurs and social causes. The institution seeks to contribute to social, economic and environmentally sustainable development, encouraging the formation of a new business culture based on ethics, principles and values (Instituto Ethos, n.d.).

In order to demonstrate the attitudes that companies and their partners/shareholders should take towards sustainable development, the United Nations (UN) launched the Global Compact in 2000 with the intention of mobilizing the world’s business community to adopt internationally accepted core values in their business practices, as shown in Chart 1.

Table 1 – UN Global Compact

HUMAN RIGHTS	Companies must support and respect the protection of internationally recognized human rights.
	Ensure that they do not participate in violations of these rights.
WORK	Companies must support freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining.
	The elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor.
	The effective abolition of child labor.
	Eliminate discrimination in employment.
ENVIRONMENT	Companies must support a preventive approach to environmental challenges.
	Develop initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility.
	Encourage the development and dissemination of environmentally friendly technologies.
ANTI-CORRUPTION	Companies must fight corruption in all its forms, including extortion and bribery.

Source: Adapted from UN (2000).

           According to Cruz (2021), social responsibility in organizations has come to replace the philanthropic actions that some companies used to practice, which returned part of their profits to society. For Carroll (2004) there are four types of responsibilities that every organization must follow, according to CSR, in order to achieve sustainability, as shown in Figure 1. Continuing, the author (Carroll, 2004) mentions that philanthropic responsibility relates to the social activities that organizations carry out that are not required by law.

See Figure 1 – Corporate social responsibility pyramid

           Organizations, through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actions, go far beyond merely fulfilling society’s expectations, becoming directly involved in regulatory actions and the production of public goods. This means adopting a new politicized concept of CSR, capable of encompassing these new roles assumed by companies, transcending an economic vision, for which CSR actions are purely aimed at creating value for companies in the long term. This new politicized concept of CSR is capable of adapting to a new global, post-national context, marked by new relations between the state and society (Habermas, 2001).

           For Corrêa et al. (2010) it is very important that, with the development of new technologies and technological innovations, companies should find new ways of operating in increasingly complex environments, incorporating the vision of economic, social and environmental sustainability into their strategies. In this way, they will be able to succeed in their business and at the same time meet sustainability.          

           Some scholars (Drucker, 2001; Melo Neto; Froes, 2001; Mcintosh et al., 2001) define social responsibility as one of the procedures that companies should adopt with a view to social, economic and environmental well-being, planning actions to mitigate problems with education, health and environmental preservation. As for Mazzioni, Di Domenico and Zanin (2010), corporate social responsibility is based on the assumption that the company will act with concern for sustainable development in the economic, social and environmental dimensions, as well as stipulating long-term strategies to reduce the impact on the locality in which it operates.

           According to Schroeder and Schroeder (2004), doubts arise as to the consequences of companies adopting the corporate social responsibility system in order to increase their power internally and externally. In this way, companies will become protagonists and providers of the common good, dictating rules and standards of conduct and ethics in society.

          One of the consequences for the company that begins to assume its social commitment or social responsibility, as distinct from social philanthropy, is its acceptance by consumers who look favorably on this type of attitude, because the company creates «programs to help women and children, or to train health workers or environmental protection projects». (Zouain, 2000, p. 161).

           According to Ribeiro et al. (2020), global capital market investors, realizing this, have begun to change their investments, including environmental, social and governance criteria, looking for companies that are responsible from a sustainability point of view.

           It is clear that organizations are being called upon by the market itself to collaborate in the design and provision of innovative solutions to deep-rooted problems in society, which is why the number of companies adhering to the theme of corporate social responsibility is growing, resulting in managers and civil society becoming aware of the social and environmental difficulties inherent in the exercise of business activity, as well as the impact on the environment. According to Freitas (2018), the interaction of CSR and governance must be adopted according to the characteristics of each company, and must involve stakeholders transparently so as not to create or frustrate expectations and thus the company will be able to increase its value in the market. As a result of globalization, the business market and consumers have started to look at companies that are committed to social welfare and community social development (Fischer, 1999). In this way, the concern and commitment of companies to implement corporate social responsibility in all its dimensions is becoming more evident, as the company is now seen as having efficient management (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2000).

          According to Leandro and Rebelo (2011), the difference between corporate philanthropy and corporate social responsibility lies in the fact that the latter makes the company take attitudes and actions in a systemic way that become part of the company’s daily life, i.e. the company becomes proactive, while in the former, the company is reactive and only acts when conflicts arise from specific needs. Social responsibility must also be differentiated from social marketing, as the latter is a «strategic tool whose focus is social transformation through responsible social action on the part of companies.» (Zenone, 2006, p. 24).

           For Montagna (2015), social responsibility is about the business and everything that surrounds it, understanding the needs of the parties and incorporating them into the business. It is part of the mutual growth between the individual, society and the company itself; it is something in motion that is constantly evolving and adapting with the aim of always improving.

           Therefore, it is possible to say that this refers to a new social paradigm, in which companies and their decisions in the search for results and innovation are oriented towards the social sector, seeking to invest in financial and human resources in a systemic way with transparency and ethics, promoting the technical and managerial improvement of corporate social action.

           More than 30 years on from the Brundtland Commission’s report on sustainable development, we can see that both people and legislators are now more concerned about sustainable development in its economic and socio-environmental aspects. Montagna (2015) also differentiates between socially responsible companies and social enterprises, arguing that socially responsible companies are characterized by investment in or support for social or environmental projects that benefit the population, while social enterprises are companies designed and built solely with the aim of solving a social problem usually arising from poverty or misuse of natural resources.

            Thus, corporate social responsibility in organizations is something that is going to become very widespread, but ethics must always be the goal in business actions, whether in projects, internal or external policies, so that this concern is not something fleeting, but perennial.

 

3 ETHICS AND BUSINESS ETHICS

           In order to delve into the subject of business ethics, it is imperative that we look at what is meant by ethics, briefly, the thoughts of some philosophers, without the intention of going into depth or even exhausting the subject.

           The concept of ethics has been studied since ancient times by various philosophers.  Without the intention of going into the evolution of ethics, we will mention the concept of Immanuel Kant, who created a categorical imperative in which morality is internal, comes from human reason and the autonomy of each individual to create rules of conduct.

           According to Singer (2002), it is first necessary to define what should not be understood by ethics, and according to the author (2002) it is not ethical (a) to stop talking about sex issues; (b) ethics cannot be used in practice and (c) ethics can only be talked about in connection with religious issues. Furthermore, (d) ethics is relative or permeated with subjectivity. Ethics requires people to make a universal judgment, in other words, it is the primacy of the collective over the individual, after examining all the possible alternatives that could have better consequences for all the people affected.

           The author called this definition the principle of equal consideration of interests, which considers interests impartially. In another work, Singer (2004) argues that ethics must have developed from the feelings and behavior of «social mammals», because human beings have the reasoning to explain their behavior and global communications have created a duty to explain human behavior to the whole world. Thus, ethics must be seen as something that serves the interests of the whole of world society and not just one particular place, and this is the result of globalization.

In 1979, Hans Jonas (2006) published his work on the principle of responsibility, in which he sought a «new ethics», in contrast to the way in which man has been using technological advances. This theory places responsibility at the heart of ethics, the ethical foundations of which are the preservation of the environment. It is man’s responsibility to use his ability to perpetuate life on the planet, because his physical space is the whole Earth. In addition, ethics and responsibility today should be identified as synonyms. Human action must reflect ethics and ethics must always be questioned (Jonas, 2006).

           According to Vázquez (1975), ethics is the science that studies the moral behavior of men in society. And Gouvêa et al. (2002) attribute an important contribution of ethical reflection to the growing concern with interpersonal relationships and respect for otherness. Corroborating this idea, Bews and Rossouw (2002) state that ethics brings people’s trust to organizations. For Jonas (2006, p. 352), «Responsibility is care recognized as an obligation towards another being, which becomes ‘concern’ when there is a threat to their vulnerability.» Human beings are endowed with knowledge that enables them to know how they should act: whether for good or for evil. This possibility exists because man has autonomy in his decisions.

           The author also mentions that causal power is a condition of responsibility. The agent must answer for his actions: he is responsible for their consequences and will answer for them, if necessary. In the first instance, this must be understood from a legal point of view, not a moral one. The damage caused must be repaired, even if the cause was not a bad act and its consequences were neither foreseen nor desired (Jonas, 2006). Hans Jonas (2006) continues, exemplifying his thinking based on the idea of heritage, that a degraded heritage would also degrade its heirs. Protecting heritage in its need to remain similar to what it is, in other words, protecting it from degradation, is an ongoing task and preserving it should be a common goal. In this way, it is possible to infer that the author presents the idea that man belongs to nature and must act responsibly with all the heritage that belongs to humanity. This thought is in line with article 225 of the Federal Constitution/1988 (Constituição…1988), which provides for the preservation of nature not only for present generations, but also for future generations. Therefore, the responsibility that Hans Jonas proposes is entirely feasible for using technology to avoid damage. According to Jonas (2006, p. 47), there is a new order that must be followed and ethics is the guiding principle, in other words, human actions must be compatible with life on Earth. This means that man cannot take actions that jeopardize the life of humanity, of future generations.

           Corroborating Jonas’ idea, Boff (2003, p. 11) defines ethics as: «a set of values and principles, of inspiration and dedication that apply to everyone, because they are anchored in our own humanity». We can say that business ethics should be a principle that permeates all areas of the company, as it has a direct impact on its entire operation. It should start with the top management right down to the simplest employee. In this way, the company keeps its name and brand untarnished in the market. And for a company to act with social responsibility, ethics must be one of the pillars of its actions.

         In this way, it is possible to infer that the author presents the idea that man belongs to nature and must act responsibly with all the heritage that belongs to humanity. This thought is in line with article 225 of the Federal Constitution/1988 (Brasil,1988), which provides for the preservation of nature not only for present generations, but also for future generations. Therefore, the responsibility that Hans Jonas proposes is totally feasible for using technologies to avoid damage. Therefore, the responsibility that Hans Jonas proposes is totally feasible for using technologies to avoid harm.

           According to Jonas (2006, p. 47), there is a new order that must be followed and ethics is the guiding principle, in other words, human actions must be compatible with life on Earth. This means that man cannot take actions that jeopardize the life of humanity, of future generations. Accordingly with ISO 26.000, an organization’s way of acting ethically is based on «the values of honesty, fairness and integrity. These values imply concern for people, animals and the environment, as well as a commitment to address the impact of its activities and decisions on the interests of stakeholders.» (ABNT, 2010, p. 12). Moving on to the subject of business ethics, Calvo (2014) mentions that business ethics has become consolidated as practical and applied knowledge that legitimizes business activity in order to justify or not justify its actions, behaviors and decisions. In order to analyze business ethics, we must first analyze morality as a premise in the universal dimension, so that, from there, we can conceive of human activity as an ethical activity linked to economic activity (De Lucca, 2009).

           Silva Filho, De Benedicto and Calil (2008) argue that when a company sets up shop somewhere, it starts to consume various resources, not only natural resources, but also the intellectual resources of its employees, as well as their physical effort. Therefore, for a company to be socially responsible, it must act ethically and transparently towards everyone, otherwise there will be disastrous consequences as a result of the company’s negligence. In addition, the way in which the company acts also affects its standing in the eyes of the community, and ethics can be a differentiator for the company in the market, as well as constituting good business practices.

           Antonik (2016, p. 226), making a comparison with the Holy Bible, mentions that there are 10 commandments of business ethics, namely:

I – You shall not disseminate misleading or amoral advertising.

II – You shall not sexually harass.

III – You shall not coerce people.

IV – You shall not sponsor poor performance, friends or relatives.

V – Treat employees with respect.

VI – You shall dismiss arrogant and haughty managers.

VII – Honor customers.

VIII – You shall not bribe public officials or buyers of your products or services.

IX – You shall not pollute or commit sacrilege against the environment.

X – You shall make a profit as a result of your ability.

           With these commandments, the company will respect people and the environment and will be more competitive in the business world.

           Ethics should be the guiding principle of business actions, anywhere in the world, because society is yearning for this commitment. In Brazil, given the cases of corruption and money laundering, Congress has made or improved laws such as Law No. 12.683, of 2012, which is the Anti-Money Laundering Law (Law No. 12.683, 2012), and Law No. 12.846, of 2013, which is the Anti-Corruption Law (Law No. 12.846, 2013), which typify various practices considered unethical, which are considered crimes and have penalties.

According to Leisinger and Schmitt (2002), business ethics do not inhibit the company’s economic interest. On the contrary, ethics is the accessory element intended to form the method of morality for the performance of the economic task. Ethical criteria are not dissolved in the process of shaping business goals. It is possible to equalize the interest of profit with acting morally. In this way, corporate action complements each other. A company that has well-formulated rules is on the road to ethics. However, these standards cannot be imposed «from the top down» (2002, p. 125). There must be communication programs in the company to disseminate these essential contents to employees, in which they will be discussed and analyzed by everyone so that there is a good understanding, so that it can have an effect. In addition, the company must be accountable and audited to demonstrate its transparency.

           Thus, business ethics is an ethic that provides moral answers to business problems, making the company contribute to sustainable development.

4 SUSTAINABILITY

           Manzini (2008) states that in order to achieve sustainability, we need to change the way we live, the way we think, the way we produce and consume, both for individuals and companies, regardless of whether they are public or private. Ferreira (2019, p. 164) mentions that for companies, sustainability «is a path of no return». Society and investors are beginning to demand that companies become economically, socially and environmentally sustainable, both now and in the future. The company must also be transparent to all those around it (stakeholders), by disclosing its accounts through the social balance sheet. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) sustainability report, which is an international organization, is being used by more than 100 countries and, in Brazil, 231 of the largest companies use it, and 93% of the world’s 250 largest companies publish their GRI report (Ferreira, 2019).

         At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, the 17 goals that countries have committed themselves to in order to achieve sustainable development were defined, which involve various areas of action to achieve environmental preservation, social justice and economic growth and became known as Agenda 2030 (UN, 2015). Figure 2 shows these goals:

See Figure 2 – The 17 goals for achieving sustainable development

          Sachs (2002) points out that sustainable development is an ethical ideal in which the conservation of biodiversity can be a necessary condition for eco-development and, to achieve this, there must be local and participatory planning between the population and the authorities. The author goes on to say that progress in this direction can help developing countries invent their own endogenous patterns of development that are fairer and more respectful of nature, mentioning that social sustainability is essential, as it is the very purpose of development. 

           Corroborating this idea, Mileipe (2011, p. 106) cites the Earth Charter, an unofficial document that contains a set of visions of an understandable ethic, permeating elements such as care and responsibility that foster a new «re-enchantment of the world» in the face of the challenge that sustainability imposes on us.

         Dias (2017) also exposes some changes when he mentions that, for a long time, corporate accounting was concerned with financial results. However, in recent years, with the emergence of Social Responsibility in the corporate sphere, there has been a growing demand for the incorporation of new indicators to quantify the impact of companies on external stakeholders. This is how the concept of the Triple Bottom Line emerged, which refers to a company’s results measured in economic, environmental and social terms, which are presented in corporate sustainability reports and constitute voluntary data and measurements.

           In this way, the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), which is a sustainability tripod widely promoted by John Elkington (1997), includes the three dimensions of sustainability: economic, environmental and social. In addition, it makes the company think beyond the financial sector, adding environmental and social development. Thinking of a way to assess the impacts of business activity, Savitz and Weber (2007) created a table using John Elkington’s sustainability tripod, as shown in Table 2.

Table 2 – Main indicators of J. Elkington’s sustainability tripod

Typical indicators	Economic	Social	Environmental
	Sales, profit, ROI	Labor practices	Air quality
	Taxes paid	Impacts on the community	Water quality
	Cash flows	Human rights	Energy use
	Job creation	Product liability	Waste generation
	TOTAL	TOTAL	TOTAL

Source: Adapted from Savitz and Weber (2007).

           Some authors argue that among the various fields of debate in which organizations and their political action are situated, it is in the environmental sphere, in discussions about sustainability and sustainable development, that new practices and new debates have been concentrated in recent years (Habermas, 1996, 2001; Scherer & Palazzo, 2011). Corroborating this idea, Fenker (2007) states that it is in sustainability that we must all seek a balance between man and the environment, as this will enable life to last from the present day to future generations. It is therefore the duty of entrepreneurs/managers to think not only of economic development, but also of having ethical, social and environmental values intertwined as a long-term strategy.

           According to Roumeliotis (2014), given the current situation, companies need to move beyond the reductionist concept of economic development and enter into an interaction with the environment, with both concepts seeking a common goal: the preservation of nature for future generations. This view is in line with Camprubí et al. (1998), since sustainability must be sought in the short and long term, as there are attitudes that bring immediate results and others that are not so immediate, always balancing the use of natural resources.

           Sustainability must be multidimensional, encompassing the social, ethical, legal-political, economic and environmental facets. It is important to emphasize that sustainable development is based on the principles of sustainability, which are: balance, equity and complementarity between the dimensions of sustainability. In addition, the results of one dimension can reflect those of another, i.e. an environmental indicator can be reflected in the social dimension (Falcão; Gomes, 2012; Santos, 2013). Sustainability is based on social foundations (it concerns people and how they live, taking into account basic aspects such as education, violence, leisure, employment and health), economic foundations (it encompasses the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services, considering their impact on social issues) and environmental foundations (it involves natural resources and their exploitation by communities and companies) (ABNT, 2016).

           Therefore, sustainability in organizations ensures not only quality of life, but also environmental safety for its customers and everyone with whom it interacts.

5 METHODOLOGY

          The methodology used to achieve the objectives is bibliographic, which consists of a review of existing bibliographic material (scientific articles, theses, dissertations, electronic and physical books, documents and legislation) that contain the subject to be studied. It is also descriptive, through the analysis of documents, because it helps in the search for opportunities for organizations to visualize ways of using ESG practices to achieve sustainability. It is exploratory in nature, with a qualitative approach. Based on these readings, the text was constructed and the conclusion drawn.

6 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS

           Organizations, through their Corporate Social Responsibility actions, or also known as Corporate Social Responsibility, are going far beyond just fulfilling society’s expectations by getting directly involved in regulatory actions and the production of public goods. This means adopting a new politicized concept of CSR, which is capable of encompassing these new roles taken on by companies, transcending an economic vision, for which Corporate Social Responsibility actions are purely aimed at creating value for companies in the long term. This new politicized concept of CSR is capable of adapting to a new global, post-national context, marked by new relations between the state and society (Habermas, 2001). Following this line of reasoning, among the various fields of debate in which organizations and their political action are situated, it is in the environmental sphere, in discussions about sustainability and sustainable development, that new practices and new debates have been concentrated in recent years (Habermas, 1996, 2001; Scherer & Palazzo, 2011).

           More than 30 years on from the Brundtland Commission’s report on sustainable development, we can see that both people and legislators are now more concerned about sustainable development, in its economic and socio-environmental aspects. In this way, corporate social responsibility in organizations is something that will become very widespread, but it is essential that actions are guided by ethics, whether in projects, internal or external policies, so that this concern is not something fleeting, but perennial. According to Leisinger and Schmitt (2002), business ethics does not inhibit the company’s economic interest; on the contrary, ethics is the accessory element that aims to form the method of morality for the performance of the economic task.

           In short, business ethics is an ethic that provides moral answers to business problems, making responsible companies contribute to sustainable development.

 

           REFERENCES

 

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