A study about the social actions in the Brazilian retail sector

Abstract

abStr actThe purpose of this article is to analyze the social actions undertaken by Brazilian retail companies. The study is justified by the need to have an on-going assessment of actions of this nature, bearing in mind that over the last 15 years many retail companies have been developing many social initiatives. The empirical data were taken from the database of information recorded by the Centro de Excelência no Varejo, of the Fundação Getulio Vargas. In order to assess the data, an adaptation of the James Austin (2000) model was made. Analysis of the data was predominantly exploratory, and involved the descriptive analysis, factor analysis, and cluster analysis. It was also made the cross analysis of the clusters generated with some of the variables. The results indicated a strong relationship between the social and economic value generated by the actions of companies and characteristics relating to their size, partnerships and the geographic spread of the actions. KEy wordSSocial and environmental responsibility; Social and environmental action; Retail companies; Economic value; Social and environmental value. rE SUMoA finalidade deste artigo é analisar as ações sociais empreendidas por empresas varejistas brasileiras. O estudo é justificado pela necessidade de se ter uma avaliação das ações dessa natureza, uma vez que nos últimos quinze anos muitas companhias de varejo têm buscado desenvolver iniciativas sociais. Foi feita uma pesquisa empírica, a partir do banco de dados disponibilizado pelo Centro de Excelência no Varejo, da Fundação Getulio Vargas. Para avaliar os dados, procedeu-se a uma adaptação do modelo de James Austin (2000). A análise dos dados foi predominantemente exploratória e envolveu análise descritiva, análise fatorial e de cluster. Realizou-se também a análise cruzada dos clusters gerados 117• a sTUDy abOUT THE sOCIaL aCTIOns In THE brazILIan rETaIL sECTOr • FranCIsCO JOsÉ Da COsTa • rUbEns Da COsTa sanTOs com algumas das variáveis. Os resultados indicaram um relacionamento forte entre o valor social e econômico gerado pelas ações das companhias e das características relacionadas a porte e parcerias desenvolvidas, e pela amplitude geográfica das ações. Pal aV r a S -c HaV EResponsabilidade socioambiental; Ações sociais e ambientais; Empresas varejistas; Valor econômico; Valor social e ambiental. iNtrodUctioNThe attention that companies in Brazil pay to social issues is growing. In fact, as one of their priorities many companies choose to meet the demands of the less privileged members of the public, by developing specific programs for these communities. In this context many retail companies develop social initiatives to encourage the economic and social development of the communities they have chosen. The Getulio Vargas Foundation has been recording these efforts and they have been analyzed by the Centro de Excelência no Varejo (GVcev). Since 2003 this center has been sponsoring the Prize for Social Responsibility in the Retail Sector, thereby recognizing the role that retail companies p...